Using the bowie knife that was built into the large frontal buckle of
the anti-electron suit, which, by the way, I was still entirely wearing,
I cut the carpet down its center, making two semi-circular pieces, each
with a moon shaped appearance, much like a wing. I based my idea in part
on the observation that the Canitaurs and Zards had apparently lost, or
disregarded, the springs of my time and instead used a hammock of
springy, elastic cords that spread across the face of the furniture.
Simply put, they stretched elastic ropes across an empty frame, almost
like a trampoline made of individual cords. This created a very
comfortable springing feel, for they gave enough bounce to render the
surface pliable, but not overly soft. Taking the bowie knife again, I
thrust it into the couch, and cut away the cushioning to reveal the
support. To my great relief, I found that it was constructed in a manner
similar to the other couches that I had seen. There were about two score
of the cords, each being between three and four feet long. These I
unattached and laid them down in a pile.
Next, I took the four main support beams for the couch, one running
along each side and two down the center in a crescent shape, with the
same curve and slope as the carpet, as they were designed to contour the
same wall. Then I disassembled the table and took from it two of its
main beams, which were about a foot shorter than their curved
counterparts. These I did not fully remove, instead loosening their
screws and swiveling them to extend outwards from the table at a right
angle, tightening them again afterwards so that they were secure.
Once that was accomplished, I went to the frame that had held the carpet
down and took the pins and fasteners which were used to secure it. These
I placed on the crescent beams from the couch, which used the same
standard size. Once I had secured the carpet sections to the beams, I
attached the couch's beams, via the cords, to the long beams sticking
outward from the table, running the ends of all the cords through
another cord that could, upon being pulled, adjust their height by
pulling or releasing, thus controlling the distance between the upper
and the lower beams, and changing the amount of slack in the carpet that
was stretched between them. I then removed the legs from the tabletop,
leaving just it and the beams together, the carpet being attached to the
beams.
Thus my plan was completed, it being, in case you hadn't guessed, a
primitive hang glider, the carpet being a sail and the beams the wings,
the whole being steerable by either raising or lowering one side or the
other, and the altitude being adjustable by raising or lowering the two
simultaneously. I felt keen joy at my skills in air travel at that
moment, and as I stepped back to admire my work, I felt that peculiar
satisfaction of having made something and finding that it was good.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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