Sunday February 16th, 2014

The exercise:

Write about: the pyramid.

My cold is better today but I feel worse.

How does that work, you might wonder? Well, my nose hardly bothered me at all today. It didn't run very much, so there was almost no blowing and I don't think I sneezed at all. My cough was far less frequent than it has been. Good stuff, all of that.

Trouble was, the muscles that I wasn't aware I was clenching every time I've coughed the last few days were very, very sore when I woke up this morning. So basically my entire chest, my upper back, and, worst of all, my abs. Which meant that every time I did cough today, it hurt like [expletive deleted] [expletive deleted].

So yeah, hopefully another decent sleep tonight will get rid of the last of this stupid cold and then I can finish healing.

Mine:

It arose in the solemn silence following a lengthy incantation, sliding up out of the earth with startling speed. Even the men who had called for it, who had expected its emergence, took hurried steps backward. After an initial pause the quicker thinkers took several more.

Watching from my hiding spot in a tree at the edge of the vast clearing, I wondered if I was far enough away myself. Just how wide would the base be once the pyramid completed its ascent toward the stars?

I held my position, figuring that if I needed to flee at the last moment the men I came to observe would be too busy worrying about their own hides to notice me saving my own. Though that didn't mean my heartbeat was anywhere near normal, or that my shirt wasn't soaked with sweat.

In the end, there was plenty of breathing room between me and the bottom level of the pyramid. I'm pretty sure most of the men who had summoned it managed to survive its arrival as well, though to be fair I couldn't see what happened on the far side of the structure.

No words were spoken for quite some time, as though they were stunned that it had actually worked. I could hardly blame them for that. But then, eventually, voices began to fill the void once more. It was difficult to tell who was speaking from where I was, and I guessed the men had the same difficulty since their heads were turning this way and that in apparent confusion.

Then I realized that the words were coming from within the pyramid.

2 comments:

Greg said...

Well, I seem to have a fairly heavy cold as well, but no cough (at least so far), so between that and the distance I probably can't blame you for it. The dogs have had a cold last week as well, so I'm telling people I've got Kennel Cough :)
Good luck with clearing the cold and getting better though; the muscle ache that comes with coughs is always an (actual) pain.
Hmm, I love the detail of people standing too close to the pyramid in this story, it's a great touch that helps bring the scene alive. Of course, I'm desperately curious as to the purpose of the pyramid now, and the voices emanating from it....

The pyramid
My dearest Ellie,
I write to thank you again for agreeing to take the children for three weeks at Easter. George and I have been unable to take the waters at Bad Schiffhafen since last October, and are feeling positively dry. Though it is still a three day journey I find myself almost anxious to get started; naturally the lodge at Bad Schiffhafen is beautifully appointed and I suspect that some of my enthusiasm is simply for the furnishings alone!
There is little to update you on as regards the children: Maurice will be arriving direct from boarding school where he has been learning Latin and Greek this term. He can be ridiculously pretentious as a cover for shyness, so don't be at all surprised if he addresses you in either of those languages. Samantha and Charles are still little monsters if you give them too much sugar, so I would recommend porridge, toast and fruit at most meals for them.
As for the pyramid... well, Maurice is just about old enough to visit it, I expect, though I'm sure you'll use your judgement. I would not let him take Samantha or Charles though, as the temptation to offer them as sacrifice will be rather strong at his age. Perhaps you could provide him with a rabbit? I will, of course, reimburse you at the earliest opportunity.
In other news, mother has died again, but I believe that this will be for less than four weeks this time; and father is replanting the ivy as he complains that it doesn't cover the old stonework enough to entice archaeologists.
See you at Christmas!

Suzie.

Marc said...

Greg - aw, that sucks. I hear dog colds are the worst. Have you tried eating doggie biscuits as a cure yet? :P

Yeah, me too. At some point I should probably continue one or two of the dozen pieces of started here.

That is a fun little letter, with so many great details that I can hardly pick a favorite. Though the line about the rabbit does stand out...