I hope that the public works department does something nice for your last day. Which (somehow) reminds me of the lobster broil from last year that resulted in an horrendous mess to clean up -- I trust you're missing that one this year? I've added to Empires; I hope it all makes sense :)
The send off As the last colour was selected from the panel on the door there was a clicking sound. It started slowly and got faster until it sounded like a chain unravelling at speed from a ratchet. A sweet, musty smell like rotting oranges rose around Samual and Lord Derby, and a sudden gust of air extinguished the candles. Samual wasn't sure if he preferred the gloom to the odd greenish light that the candles had cast. When the noise stopped nothing else had changed. Lord Derby looked at Samual, raising an eyebrow, and gently pushed on the door. It swung slowly open, seemingly heavy, revealing what looked like a penitent's cell beyond it. There was a narrow cot-bed against the back wall and at right-angles to it, but pressed up against it, was a tiny square table barely the size of the pillow. Two candle stubs weighed down some papers on the desk, and that was the extent of the furnishing. "How curious," said Lord Derby. Samual looked at him. "It seems a strange thing to lock away behind such puzzles, milord," he said. "Perhaps it was a cell for a dangerous prisoner?" "I wonder how dangerous," said Lord Derby. He ran his hand through his hair. "Look at the floor, Samual." "It's... not there," said Samual, shock creeping into his voice. The floor ended a couple of centimetres beyond the threshold of the door, and only reappeared at the far side of the room to support the bed and table. The two men stood at the doorway and looked down into the hole where the floor should be. After a moment Samual relit a candle and brought it to the doorway, where the flickering, eerie light did little to illuminate things better. "Think of it as an escape tunnel," said a voice behind them.
They sat outside the building on a mostly bare patch of limestone rock; Samual was cross-legged, propping his elbows on his knees and his chin on his hands while Lord Derby somehow contrived to sprawl elegantly. The newcomer, a thin young man with yellowish skin that stretched tightly over high cheekbones and made his eyes look sunken, sat with his feet planted on the ground and his knees splayed so that he could look at the other two through them. He was wearing leather clothes: a tough-looking jacket with wrist and waist straps, and trousers with ankle straps. His boots were also leather, dusty and scuffed. "There was a send off," he said. "Not exactly a celebration, more a confirmation that she was leaving. She was adamant that she had to go, she said she had to get the information back to someone, or somewhere. I was young, I didn't really understand." Samual rubbed his nose, his hand concealing the surprise on his face. For him the young man was still young, imagining him younger was hard. "There are children here?" asked Lord Derby, managing to capture Samual's thoughts in a much more graceful manner. "Not so many now," said the man. "They grow up." "I see," said Lord Derby, and Samual thought that he, personally, didn't see at all. "Where did she go?" "We don't know," said the young man. "She went, and that was the end of it. Oh, she took the zbornat with her, but we don't know if she meant to."
Greg - they did not. Other than the crew who were there saying nice things the last time I saw them, which was at lunch. But the owner of the cafe at the main beach gifted me with a free breakfast of Belgian waffles, which I ate at coffee break in front of the rest of the crew, so that made up for it :P
And yes, thank everything that is good in this world, I got out before this year's lobster fest. It's in September some time.
I will check out Empires and try to add to it before Sunday.
The arrival of the new fellow was terribly unexpected and I'm glad that my initial feeling of it being ominous proved to be unwarranted. This is yet another intriguing development in this tale. Well executed as well, by the way :)
2 comments:
I hope that the public works department does something nice for your last day. Which (somehow) reminds me of the lobster broil from last year that resulted in an horrendous mess to clean up -- I trust you're missing that one this year?
I've added to Empires; I hope it all makes sense :)
The send off
As the last colour was selected from the panel on the door there was a clicking sound. It started slowly and got faster until it sounded like a chain unravelling at speed from a ratchet. A sweet, musty smell like rotting oranges rose around Samual and Lord Derby, and a sudden gust of air extinguished the candles. Samual wasn't sure if he preferred the gloom to the odd greenish light that the candles had cast.
When the noise stopped nothing else had changed. Lord Derby looked at Samual, raising an eyebrow, and gently pushed on the door. It swung slowly open, seemingly heavy, revealing what looked like a penitent's cell beyond it.
There was a narrow cot-bed against the back wall and at right-angles to it, but pressed up against it, was a tiny square table barely the size of the pillow. Two candle stubs weighed down some papers on the desk, and that was the extent of the furnishing.
"How curious," said Lord Derby. Samual looked at him.
"It seems a strange thing to lock away behind such puzzles, milord," he said. "Perhaps it was a cell for a dangerous prisoner?"
"I wonder how dangerous," said Lord Derby. He ran his hand through his hair. "Look at the floor, Samual."
"It's... not there," said Samual, shock creeping into his voice. The floor ended a couple of centimetres beyond the threshold of the door, and only reappeared at the far side of the room to support the bed and table.
The two men stood at the doorway and looked down into the hole where the floor should be. After a moment Samual relit a candle and brought it to the doorway, where the flickering, eerie light did little to illuminate things better.
"Think of it as an escape tunnel," said a voice behind them.
They sat outside the building on a mostly bare patch of limestone rock; Samual was cross-legged, propping his elbows on his knees and his chin on his hands while Lord Derby somehow contrived to sprawl elegantly. The newcomer, a thin young man with yellowish skin that stretched tightly over high cheekbones and made his eyes look sunken, sat with his feet planted on the ground and his knees splayed so that he could look at the other two through them. He was wearing leather clothes: a tough-looking jacket with wrist and waist straps, and trousers with ankle straps. His boots were also leather, dusty and scuffed.
"There was a send off," he said. "Not exactly a celebration, more a confirmation that she was leaving. She was adamant that she had to go, she said she had to get the information back to someone, or somewhere. I was young, I didn't really understand."
Samual rubbed his nose, his hand concealing the surprise on his face. For him the young man was still young, imagining him younger was hard.
"There are children here?" asked Lord Derby, managing to capture Samual's thoughts in a much more graceful manner.
"Not so many now," said the man. "They grow up."
"I see," said Lord Derby, and Samual thought that he, personally, didn't see at all. "Where did she go?"
"We don't know," said the young man. "She went, and that was the end of it. Oh, she took the zbornat with her, but we don't know if she meant to."
Greg - they did not. Other than the crew who were there saying nice things the last time I saw them, which was at lunch. But the owner of the cafe at the main beach gifted me with a free breakfast of Belgian waffles, which I ate at coffee break in front of the rest of the crew, so that made up for it :P
And yes, thank everything that is good in this world, I got out before this year's lobster fest. It's in September some time.
I will check out Empires and try to add to it before Sunday.
The arrival of the new fellow was terribly unexpected and I'm glad that my initial feeling of it being ominous proved to be unwarranted. This is yet another intriguing development in this tale. Well executed as well, by the way :)
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