Wednesday February 26th, 2014

The exercise:

Write something that has to do with: rising above.

Got to bed relatively early last night. Max woke up extra early this morning. There is no winning.

Mine:

The spectators in the stadium were so absorbed in the action on the playing field that not a single person in the stands noticed when the massive black blimp first appeared overhead. Not that its arrival would have garnered much concern - such airships were a common sight at major sporting events such as that one.

It floated menacingly while the game continued to unfold far below, the captain steering the ship in slow circles. Eventually it was spotted by a man in the midst of rolling his eyes at an official's missed call. He pointed it out to his friends, who directed those around them to look up. Not long after that every eye in the stands was turned its way.

And still it circled above them.

During a timeout on the field players and coaches realized that the spectators were no longer... well, spectating. Then they too were standing with their heads tilted back, just as puzzled as everyone else.

Satisfied that they had everyone's attention at last, the crew aboard the blimp began to drop their bombs.

2 comments:

Greg said...

Max must be able to sense when you've had enough sleep to wake up, but not enough to want to wake up and choose to wake up at that moment. You should encourage him, that kind of psychic ability will serve him well in later life!
Your blimp was sinister before it started dropping bombs, and the fact that the crew are so sure of themselves that they can afford to wait that long is quite terrifying too! Nice work!

Rising above
The caterpillar slipped the pipe of the hookah into his mouth and gazed thoughtfully at Alice. Then he blew into the pipe, causing bubbles to gurgle and pop in the hookah. After a few moments the gurgling ceased, and a much larger bubble began to form out of a tube below the caterpillar, which quickly scurried onto it.
"Where are you going?" asked Alice. Blood-loss had made her woozy, and she put her hand again to her head, smearing bloody fingerprints across her face.
"I'm rising above you," said the caterpillar accurately. The bubble was as large as Alice's head now and fully formed. Slowly it began to ascend. "The Red Queen will have her guards on the way now. You're bad company."
"Guards?" asked Alice. She felt sleepy, and the pain in her hands wasn't helping. She had the odd idea that she'd been throwing hedgehogs at someone.
"Oh yes," said the caterpillar, drifting higher. Air-currents started to push the bubble around. "Yes, I can see them now. And... well, it looks like the White Rabbit is just a pair of gloves already. It's been nice knowing you!"
"Wait," said Alice, but her tongue seemed too large for her mouth. "Wait, I've got drugs!"
As the caterpillar laughed, blown away on the breeze, the Cheshire Cat's grin appeared in mid-air.
"Drugs, you say?" he enquired.

Marc said...

Greg - he will receive no encouragement from me on this front :P

Such a delightfully disturbing scene you've created here. I do so enjoy your takes on established settings.