The exercise:
Today's location shall be: the swamp.
Very relaxing day off. One of Kat's former teaching colleagues is staying with us for a few days so we spent some time with her at the beach this afternoon before joining her for dinner out.
Back to harvesting for local orders tomorrow morning.
Mine:
Kevin swam lazily through the dark waters, following the rowboat at a safe distance. Two of the occupants were working the oars while a third was busy baiting their fishing hooks. It was tempting to give the boat a nudge, causing a hook to catch a finger or two, but Kevin resisted the temptation.
The silent pursuit continued for another ten minutes before the rowboat's anchor was dropped overboard. Flies flew in noisy circles overhead as the fishermen grabbed their rods and looked for a direction to lay claim to, their voices loud in Kevin's ears as he moved ever closer.
Three lures hit the water, one after the other, but none of them came even close to Kevin's position. With a wide smile he glided the rest of the distance to the boat. Unseen, he came to a stop beneath it.
Diving deeper, he turned and came rushing back toward the surface as fast as he could manage. With a muted thunk his head hit one side of the boat with enough force to tip it over, spilling the three men into the water with him.
6 comments:
It's a busy time of year for you definitely! House-sitting, house guests, and the harvest all going on concurrently. I admire your energy, actually!
Which reminds me, when are you buying yourself a horse and justifying it as needing it for ploughing the farm? ;-)
I was really enjoying the atmospheric feel to your story, and then got almost completely surprised by him turning out to be a crocodile! (I say almost, the bit where he glided to a stop caught my attention because I'd not realised he was swimming, so it was less of a surprise that he wasn't in a boat.) Nice work!
The swamp
Charles Ascugimento, Head of Building Security, frowned at the plans laid on the desk in front of him.
"I may be misreading this key incorrectly," he said, his slightly belligerent tone of voice indicating that he didn't think this was so, "but you appear to want to put a swamp on the third floor mezzenine."
"A small one!" The speaker was a short man dressed in a white lab coat with a shock of mostly white hair that was stained nicotine yellow at the ends. His hands were shaking, and every so often they'd stray to his pockets, only to be jerked back again in front of him as he realised what he was doing.
"Well yes," said Charles, pursing his lips. "The third floor mezzenine could hardly accommodate a large swamp."
"Aha, yes, yes," said the short man. "So we can do it, yes?" There was something odd about his accent, thought Charles. Something, well, not European, really, despite his claims to be Hungarian.
"No," said Charles. "Look, there's no retaining wall here. The swamp will simply waterfall over the edge of the mezzenine to the floor below. All over –" he checked the building plans, though he didn't need to, "All over the children's city-farm exhibit."
"Ah yes, nutritious!" said the short man, and then looked appalled. "Did I just say something?" he asked, his eyes darting from side to side.
Charles sighed, and nodded while his foot gently depressed a switch beneath his desk that locked all the doors in his office.
"I think you'd better explain yourself," he said. "This swamp, to me, looks like an incubator of some sort...."
The short man's hands finally darted into his pockets with the air of having seized control from his brain and pulled out a packet of cigarettes and a lighter.
"Do you smoke?" he said. "Because I do, and it's been at least twenty minutes since my last five."
Thay call us the swamp people.
People from near and far know not to mess with me or I will use them for bait. Bait for what you ask?... gater bait! You should be really scared of me. If you do somthing to us swampies, I will hunt you down, FOREVER!
Greg - the key is the afternoon naps :)
And your surprise might have been lessened had you taken in that bit about him swimming in the very first sentence :P
Now you've got my curious about what exactly the swamp was meant for...
Ruby - you've got me convinced, I'm definitely not messing with the swamp people!
THE SWAMP
Laying in the middle of nowhere whistling with glee,
seing a crocodle as happy as me,oooww no I need to flee,
running to my car but I can't find my keys!!!!!!!!!
crocodile*
The Swamp
It's a dark, damp place,
Where the wind has a face,
Bewarned I say,
Or else you'll lose your way,
A place where the sun never meets,
It is no sweet little treat
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