Roger Zelazny. Sign of chaos
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Roger Zelazny
THE AMBER CHRONICLES - BOOK EIGHT
SIGN OF CHAOS
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CHAPTER 1
I felt vaguely uneasy, though I couldn't say why. It did not seem all
that unusual to be drinking with a White Rabbit, a short guy who resembled
Bertrand Russell, a grinning Cat, and my old friend Luke Raynard, who was
singing Irish ballads while a peculiar landscape shifted from mural to
reality at his back. Well, I was impressed by the huge blue Caterpillar
smoking the hookah atop the giant mushroom because I know how hard it is to
keep a water pipe lit. Still, that wasn't it. It was a convivial scene, and
Luke was known to keep pretty strange company on occasion. So why should I
feel uneasy?
The beer was good and there was even a free lunch. The demons
tormenting the red-haired woman tied to the stake had been so shiny they'd.
hurt to look at. Gone now, but the whole thing had, been beautiful.
Everything was beautiful. When Luke sang of Galway Bay it had been so
sparkling and lovely that I'd wanted to dive in and lose myself there. Sad,
too.
Something to do with the feeling. . . . Yes. Funny thought. When Luke
sang a sad song I felt melancholy. When it was a happy one I was greatly
cheered. There seemed an unusual amount of empathy in the air
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