Seeds of Wisdom: "Man's mind, once stretched by a new idea, never regains its original dimensions." -- Oliver Wendell Holmes
I was delighted last night to find a group of old friends hanging around in my mail box. Most of us met on the Prodigy Writer's Board in the late '80s. Many of us fought in the infamous e-mail "wars," and when the atmosphere on prodigy finally grew too oppressive for us we jumped ship to Genie. From there we spread out to other services across the internet, but we kept in touch through e-mail until the mid '90's when we drifted apart. We called ourselves the "Wits." (Writers in Transition, IIRC) and this is my version of our story ...
It all started with a little yellow box. The writing on the outside of the box promised a world of fun and information. It looked innocent enough, but had I known what was inside, I would have thought long and hard about opening it. Once I did, my life changed forever. Once open, the swirling winds contained within the box were set free. They scooped me up like the tornado that caught Dorothy in the WIZARD OF OZ and carried me away to a far off land. The land of Nalps.
Just inside the walls of this wondrous city, I found myself standing before a maze. Being the curious Kat that I am, I entered it. For weeks I wandered, and encountering many of the interesting inhabitants of the maze. I played their games, answered their riddles, performed the tasks they set before me to gain entrance to the other parts of this fascinating place. Then one day, after I'd dispatched some multi-headed beast, I was granted permission to move to the third level, but instead of the familiar walls of the maze, I found a great abyss and a sign that read "next level under construction." I waited around a bit with some other maze mavens, but I grew impatient. After weeks of entertaining activity, this idleness chafed. Finally, I discovered a magic carpet tossed carelessly in the corner of the waiting room, so I unfurled it and climbed aboard.
The carpet took me out over the city. I could see all of the early settlers staking their claims and having fun while they set up their homesteads. I visited quite a few before I found a comfy niche with the Writer's Guild. These writers were friendly and quickly welcomed me into their group. They were a jovial lot for the most part and I made some real friends there. We punned and we partied on the beach. We had some serious and often heated discussions on what is or is not "art." I had found a home.
We were having so much fun, that at first we didn't heed the warning signs. The City Censors and the Topic Patrol were mere nuisances and it amused us to thwart them (which we did with astounding ease!). But suddenly Governor ByMore enacted rules regarding both public and private gatherings. He imposed surcharges and levied high taxes. This was too much. Nalps had become our home. We couldn't allow this to happen. We formed committees and a strong (or so we thought) underground. We fought a valiant battle, but in the end we lost. Bymore was just too mighty, too entrenched for mere settlers to vanquish.
I wandered into town one day in search of my friends and all I found was dust, abandoned buildings and tumbleweeds rolling in the cold wind of change that blew in from the north. As I walked along Main Street, my boot heels echoing in the profound silence, I heard a faint keening. It was the plaintive song of the Ghost Writers, who had fled Nalps after the war was lost. I followed the sound, and there at the edge of town, I found a message scribed in the dirt. It read, "Follow the light to the Land of the Lamp."
I looked around searching for this mysterious light, and found it flickering faintly in a nearby forest. With much trepidation, I entered the forest, hoping to find my missing friends. Deep in the forest, I found a small clearing. The source of the light, a small golden lamp, sat alone in the center. I carefully picked up the lamp, and remembering my legends and lore, I rubbed it. Instantly, I found myself transported to a room with high walls which were inscribed with hieroglyphics.
It took quite some time before I learned to decipher any of these signs and symbols. The Land of the Lamp was not a user friendly corner of Cyberspace. As I broke the code and read the messages on the wall, I was thrilled to see some familiar names. My friends were here!
A familiar voice called out from the darkness beyond a doorway that finally opened in the wall. I turned to see Mary, my friend and soul mate. Mary and I had spent many nights sitting around the camp fire in Nalps discussing life and common interests. I was thrilled. She took my hand and together we made our way through the darkness (just as there are no cats in catsup, no ham in hamburger, there are no lamps to light the way in the Land of the Lamp) to the place where our fellow Prodigals had gathered. They killed a fatted calf (or was it a Fatted Lady?) and welcomed us to our new home.
The situation in the L.O.T.L. was copesetic for a time. Our friends were there, the rules were loosely defined, the rent was low, but communication was difficult. Everywhere you went, you encountered those infernal hieroglyphics. We all had to learn this new language to open doors, to meet, to gather as friends do. Though, I became accustomed to this odd method of communication, it remained an annoyance. Never tolerant of such obstacles, however, Mary grew restless. She began to roam, seeking new and more comfortable lands. The inevitable happened, the L.O.T.L was finally forced to raise the rent to handle the influx of refugees. Mary split for good.
She settled in NALaland and I visited her there for a spell. They had copied the hieroglyphics method of communication from the L.O.T.L, and though the rent was low, Mary grew restless again. This time she called to me from her new home in Waola-waola. Again she invited me to visit, and I found her new place quite comfy with many of the amenities of the old kingdom of Nalps. But unlike Nalps, the rulers were benevolent and showed no inclination towards tyranny.
I considered relocating, but I didn't want to leave the rest of my friends in the L.O.T.L. Then a wondrous thing happened. Most of the kingdoms in Cyberspace began to install windows in their walls to allow the inhabitants to communicate with the inhabitants of other kingdoms, so I pulled up stakes and set off for Waola-waola.
I've been quite content here for awhile. I've made new friends and kept most of the old ones, though we don't get together as often as we used to. Each of us has found our own little niche in Cyberspace, and now Joann has given us WITS END to call home.
I'm slowly learning that navigating around Cyberspace is not as difficult as I once thought. There are vast resources and wonderful worlds to explore. Like a baby bird, I find my comfortable nest here in Waola-waola grows confining. I long to test my strengthening wings and soar through Cyberspace on my own. Look out world - here comes CyberKat!
I wrote this in 1995. We were still a bit cautious about the Big Brothers at Prodigy, so I wrote it as a fairy tale. Nalps is, of course, Prodigy. The Land of the Lamp is Genie and Waola Waola is AOL. I don't remember what NA was - another service similar to Genie - plain text and cheap!
Chatting with the Wits again brings back old memories and I have Joann to thank for this file. I lost it, and she still had it tucked away. It pays to have friends!
Posted by Cyberkat at March 28, 2002 7:41 PM | TrackBack