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My scribblings are found at my webpage:
http://ca.geocities.com/troythomas1/

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A Place Between the Ending and the Beginning
By Troy Thomas - troythomas1@yahoo.ca

My other stories are located at the following address:
http://ca.geocities.com/troythomas1/

Princess Tutu and its characters are the creation of Ito 
Ikuko and property of Hal Film Maker. Ranma 1/2 and its 
characters are the creation and property of Rumiko Takahashi.

***

Drosselmeyer walked forward but arrived nowhere. He stood 
still, and was brought backward until he arrived at where he 
had just before been.

He was standing on a giant clock gear as though on a record, 
spinning endlessly.

The expression on his face though showed he didn't care that 
he was stuck where he was but annoyed at a far more distant 
problem, something he could barely reach even if he tried. 
And he had.

"I search, but do not find!" He ground his teeth, and then 
chewed at his finger tips. "How long has it been? How long 
will it be?" He pulled at his hair, and then clawed at his 
eyes. He wailed to where a sky would've have been, had he 
himself been where a sky might actually exist, "I cannot be 
denied much longer, or I'll go mad!"

A little girl with a drum appeared at his side, but he gave 
her no attention until she played her instrument in an 
excited manner. "I found something-zura!" she said.

"What have you found, Uzura?" asked Drosselmeyer, after a 
moment of composing himself.

Uzura pointed far above her to a scene appearing like on a 
television screen.

Watching what she pointed at, Drosselmeyer saw a beaten and 
bleeding boy cradling in his arms a paling and cooling girl. 
The pain on the young man's face delighted and brought hope 
to Drosselmeyer that perhaps he yet might find....

The girl in the boy's arms opened her eyes.

"What is this?" Drosselmeyer shouted, angrily.

"Is it love-love-zura?" asked Uzura, quietly rapping on her 
drum, almost totally riveted as she watched the boy and girl. 
"A happy ending-zura?"

"But it could be perfect!" Drosselmeyer stopped for a moment, 
and then grinned. "It will be perfect!"

He walked to the edge of the gear, a thoughtful expression 
lighting his face. He then jumped from the gear, still 
absorbed in his thoughts. He landed, but his face was now 
covered with determination.

His footing was nothing, but in front of him there was a 
crank. Grabbing it, he began to turn it round and round. This 
slowed, and then even stopped, all the giant clock gears 
surrounding him.

Uzura landed beside Drosselmeyer. "Are we watching it all-
zura?" she asked.

"Yes! Again and again!" replied Drosselmeyer, turning to a 
place where the boy and girl appeared again as though on a 
screen. "We will watch until we can find where we can make it 
better, this story! Make it perfect so it will never die!"

The gears slowly began turning, but in the opposite 
direction.

"Do we need to-zura?" asked Uzura.

"It must be!" said Drosselmeyer. "It cannot be otherwise! And 
you, Uzura, will help me!"

"I don't know, but maybe okay-zura," said Uzura. She sat, and 
intently watched the reverse story playing out before her. 
"Love-love-zura," she quietly said.

"Tragedy," said Drosselmeyer, grinning.

***



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