The Free Radical

(The Wind That Shakes the Barley by It Bites from their 2008 album The Tall Ships)

Among the ruins and the bones, Rodney was preparing to address the Brethren. He had promised them the Legend of the StoryKeepers. He wasn’t sure that “Legend” was quite right; legends tend to have a bit of notoriety surrounding them… and this, well, it had always been a pretty well-kept secret.

But there was still time… Rodney composed himself alongside the story welling up inside. There had been some minor adjustments in the local forest… and new pathways had to be established.

All that was rotten, all that had been compromised for so long was tumbling down. The well-worn pathways– neural or otherwise– were choked with obsolescence. It hadn’t taken much to bring down the old facades.

Even some of the young new growth was subject to the sudden cull. “”No,” thought Rodney, “it won’t do to have things carry on in the same vein. No, not at all.” It was the time of the Shakeup. Soon everything would be different… Just wait until Rodney told his tales! What would they do then? How would the world change?

The old lines of power were choking on their own predilection for abuse… while the most ancient lines of power were clearing, reestablishing themselves across the globe. The Shift was about power… or maybe it was just the awareness of such… a sort of remembering. Yes, Rodney was remembering… remembering everything. He was a catalyst.

Rodney cleared his throat and…