Date: Mon, 7 Jul 1997 19:15:03 -0700 (PDT) Subj: [Matoaka] The Marathon Matoaka lay on her litter at length trying to sleep, but she just could not find rest; thoughts were racing through her mind. Slowly, she sat up feeling drowsy. Putting the wooden bowl back in her bag, she stumbled over the dream gum cubes she saved at every meal, took it in her hand for a moment, and set it back in the bag. She looked around the hut as if searching for something. She grabbed her bag, flung it over her shoulder, did the same with the bow and arrows, and walked outside hut. Still indifferent to her environment, Matoaka walked up to the river until she found a deserted place. She put down her bag and bow and undressed tossing her new mundane towels to the ground. Carefully she slipped into a shallow corner of the river to wash herself; the coolness of the water was gratifying and released some of her tension. Done, she opened her bag, pulled out a towel she had fashioned to resemble one of her tribal earthly dresses and donned it. After preparing her mixture, she painted her head with steady strokes while looking at herself in the river. Matoaka walked back toward the village, but did not ‘enter’ it; she circled it looking for a small clearing while gathering wood. After starting a small fire, she spread a towel on the ground and kneeled on it. After placing a cube of dream gum in her mouth, she began invoking Ketchi_Manito incessantly chanting in Algonquian, raising her arms to the stars and prostrating herself occasionally. To GM: GM-Matoaka will keep going until she gets interrupted, has a vision, drops unconscious, and/or any other unforeseen situation that would make her quit. -- HELP! MY TYPEWRITER IS BROKEN! -- E. E. CUMMINGS