Our main character continues his walking on water adventure, which he's starting to get the hang of. Some of the foam from the sea's movement actually seems to bruise his shins. It's more after-effects from this new place's density and "realness" factor. He soon hears a wonderous noise that captivates him. He hears a waterfall that seems to emit sounds of joy -- like giants' laughter.
Then he noticed another "ghost," which was the guy whom the "big ghost" called "Ikey." It's funny: in today's day and age the "i" would be lower case and it would stand for an iPod accessory. This guy was struggling (and harming himself in the process) to steal a golden apple from this majestic tree. Just the weight and tinsel strength of the lilies growing around the tree made it hard for him to get close enough. Some apples fell and he tried to fill his pockets with the golden fruit. They were so heavy that he had to give up on the idea of filling his pockets and take only two.
"Fool. Put it down" came a bellowing voice. It was a bright angel, who told him, "You cannot take it back. There is not room for it in Hell."
This puts a most forboding gloom over the story, as the reality of Hell being a very real and imminent place takes its place in the "fresh realization" sector of the reader's mind.
The angel tries to talk the ghost into learning to eat the apples, explaining that he will learn great things. What it could learn is a mystery at this point.
Posted by Doug Van Pelt at April 11, 2007 10:04 AM