Excerpt: Angel's Melody

6 unto thy fingertips.

Utter failure. Pride and heart wounded, the good doctor carried a briefcase solemnly through the rubble, not stopping for broken bricks nor contemplation. A quickened pace left his own shattered confidence lagging behind him. He moved as swiftly as his shadow would let him, seeming to drag him down by the ankles as its visage loomed ever longer in the bright street lights. Black, white, black - the striped pattern of the crossing flashed before him as he paced ever onwards; the only thought running through his mind was “I want to go home”.

The sky was a milky grey as dawn began to break, and the hours of the maelstrom left behind only diluted memories. The wailing hydraulics of the S32 reeled up by him, and his weight steepened the gradient. Yes. He was fighting an ever-uphill battle. There was still so long to go. As he finally reached a moment of respite, the mechanical rocking of his cradle let his consciousness slowly begin to float away. Just before he left the bleary echoes of the waking world, the rhythmic pistons reminded him of a certain someone he knew...