{"id":2647,"date":"2015-01-07T08:18:03","date_gmt":"2015-01-07T13:18:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.skelleyverse.com\/?p=2647"},"modified":"2014-12-06T12:43:21","modified_gmt":"2014-12-06T17:43:21","slug":"the-floodgates-were-opened","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/runeskelley.com\/skelleyverse\/the-floodgates-were-opened\/","title":{"rendered":"The Floodgates Were Opened"},"content":{"rendered":"<ul>\n<li><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright wp-image-24\" src=\"http:\/\/runeskelley.com\/skelleyverse\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/06\/k-avatar.png\" alt=\"k-avatar\" width=\"81\" height=\"81\" \/>It never ended.<\/li>\n<li>were opened three times a day<\/li>\n<li>indistinguishable from the rustling of a tree<\/li>\n<li>Limping up to the altar<\/li>\n<li>graveyards for machines<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The floodgates <em>were opened three times a day<\/em>, to manage the pressure. Beatitude manifested spontaneously in the cold stone building. <em>It never ended.<\/em> And if it wasn&#8217;t bled off on a regular schedule, the strain would become too much for the ornate stained-glass windows to handle.<\/p>\n<p>No one could go inside, of course. \u00a0Too intense. Just being within a two-block radius at any of the thrice-daily ventings of surplus divine grace tended to overload most people&#8217;s sensibilities. No one lived that close to the cathedral anymore. Respectable businesses couldn&#8217;t operate in the hot zone, so the textile district had shifted north, abandoning the old work floors to be <em>graveyards for machines<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>I camped under a disused loom in one of the old mills, just yards from one of the huge double doorways that served as relief valves. After two days I felt accustomed to the bizarre climate of the zone, like a mountaineer adjusting to thinner air. But already my skin was raw and my mind was growing brittle. I had to make my move.<\/p>\n<p>I knew the floodgate schedule well, so I was ready when the doors gave forth their gust of rose-scented golden light. I was off to one side, and dashed inside the building after the radiance had diminished, seconds before the doors boomed shut again.<\/p>\n<p>The bird roosted on the pulpit. I couldn&#8217;t look directly at it, the glow from its plumage was too dazzling. The pressure was building fast, but I knew that right now it was as low as it ever got. <em>Limping up to the altar<\/em>, I shut my eyes and groped toward the shining creature. I only needed one feather.<\/p>\n<p>The bird spread its huge wings with a sound <em>indistinguishable from the rustling of a tree<\/em>. I kept my eyes closed tight and leaned forward until I feared I would lose my balance. I strained to reach the shimmering avian beast.<\/p>\n<p>I only needed one feather.<\/p>\n<p><a title=\"Stichomancy Writing Prompts\" href=\"http:\/\/runeskelley.com\/skelleyverse\/stichomancy-writing-prompts\/\">about stichomancy writing prompts<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/runeskelley.com\/skelleyverse\/stichomancy-writing-prompt-generator\/\">try our stichomancy writing prompt generator!<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>It never ended. were opened three times a day indistinguishable from the rustling of a tree Limping up to the altar graveyards for machines The floodgates were opened three times a day, to manage the pressure. Beatitude manifested spontaneously in the cold stone building. It never ended. And if it wasn&#8217;t bled off on a [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[319,4],"tags":[336,309],"class_list":["post-2647","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-stichomancy-prompts","category-writing-prompts","tag-bird","tag-religion"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/runeskelley.com\/skelleyverse\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2647","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/runeskelley.com\/skelleyverse\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/runeskelley.com\/skelleyverse\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/runeskelley.com\/skelleyverse\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/runeskelley.com\/skelleyverse\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2647"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/runeskelley.com\/skelleyverse\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2647\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2677,"href":"https:\/\/runeskelley.com\/skelleyverse\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2647\/revisions\/2677"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/runeskelley.com\/skelleyverse\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2647"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/runeskelley.com\/skelleyverse\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2647"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/runeskelley.com\/skelleyverse\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2647"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}