Part 13 : Interlude 3

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In the snow-cave


“What was this Armor Stuff you had” the Owl asked “How come it didn’t work?”

“It did work. “The old man replied. “I’m alive ain’t I? They just threw a buncha crap at us and it couldn’t protect me from all of it. Poor Chris. He didn’t have any real protection.“

“Old people get to be old nowadays for reasons.”The Graybeard told his children. They were his children, if not of his body then of his mind. They were his children in any and all ways that mattered.

Biology be damned. He told them.

“One reason is having a healthy degree of paranoia. How much is healthy? Enough to keep you alive.”

“I had a healthy degree of paranoia. Chris didn’t. I’m still alive. He isn’t. I’d planned ahead, he didn’t. I’d had a western style Duster made to suit my paranoia.”

“I’d had it made out of Kevlar.”

“Mere Kevlar was insufficiently paranoid to my mind, at that time. It was a specific type of Kevlar, soaked in what the geeks call a non-newtonian fluid. That STILL hadn’t been good enough for me. I’d also had ‘impact gel pads’ strategically inserted throughout the lining. This made for a HEAVY coat. Unsurprisingly it was also warm. In the frigid weather I had wanted warm so I was wearing that Duster. It saved my life.”

“Chris hadn’t been sufficiently paranoid. He was learning but he learned too slow. Slow learning can sometimes be fatal. It was in his case. “ He concluded

The Owl and the Pussycat ate raw meat. BubbaCat growled. The Owl and Gretchen were silent. The Grey Beard continued his story.
“This is about me now.” he said. “This is from my point of view”

To Be Continued
The Last episode was
Part 12: At the Mining Camp (continued)
the first episode was
Part 1 : Winter Storm

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