For all Astra knew, the gnats might extend for miles along the coast. She
decided to take a chance that the goo was the correct goo and that it
would perform as advertised. She got as close inshore as she could whilst
keeping everything but her head below the surface, then rose up and
sprinted through the surf and across the beach towards the pool.
By the time she reached it, she was almost blinded by the gnats in her eyes. She nearly dived in full length, but there could be dangerous rocks beneath the opaque surface of the water, so she took the few additional seconds to wade in. As soon as she did so, the gnats left her alone, so it looked as though the stuff might really work. The pool was waist-deep and covered with a thick layer of the dark, waxy goo. She held her breath, closed her eyes, and then ducked under the surface. When she came up she was covered from top to toe in the stuff. It took a noticeable effort to open her eyes and she had to snort to clear her nostrils. Even when she had done this, the foul smell seemed much less noticeable than before. She must be becoming accustomed to it. Astra looked down at herself. There was no gap to be seen anywhere in the sticky, shiny, waxy stuff that covered her. Its colour varied a little from place to place, from dark-brown to almost black. Her wet underwear was plastered to her skin underneath a thick layer of it which had also soaked right through the material. The garments were now all but invisible. From the heavy weight of her long hair, it felt like it was encrusted with at least a pound of the stuff. Pulling on any part of her hair moved all of it, since each individual hair was firmly stuck to all of its neighbours. See the most beautiful woman in the world, she thought self- mockingly. Not that she had ever believed that, but it had been flattering that Fred had seemed to think so. Astra wondered whether she would ever be able to remove all of the gunk and be truly clean again. But that wasn't something that she should be worrying about right now, she decided. And the good news was that the gnats seemed to be giving her a wide berth. Perhaps she had been over- enthusiastic. Covering herself to the neck up might well have been enough to repel them. But it was too late to have second thoughts. It occurred to her that the goo had another advantage too: it formed an effective disguise. If news of her escape had reached this region, then even if she should be seen the chance of anyone recognising her now was remote. In fact, she thought, I doubt if my own mother would recognise me now. Besides, nobody is going to want to come close enough to recognise me, if I smell anything like I suspect I do.
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7/12/2004 12:07:46 PM
Extending Enabled
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