Daily writing prompts from June 9th, 2008 to December 31st, 2022
Thursday November 8th, 2018
The exercise: Finally got to October's entry. So let us hit up Empires, the November edition. Just this one and then December to go. Think we can reach some sort of conclusion in that time span?
If you're still running a month behind adding to it when we reach December, then we can't finish until January :-P So, more interesting developments, and I like how deeply involved the Mayor is -- the revelation about him being the father of twins makes a lot of sense and explains his interest in the whole affair. The extension of the connection is also a nice touch -- we start to see why he thinks this might be utopian rather than a nightmare. And -- thanks? for leaving me to puzzle out how you disabled Gunther and Gandalf off-screen....
Mine: Stacey flinched as the Mayor lunged at her, his hands stretching out and his fingers nearly claw-like with rage? desperation? she couldn't tell. But even as he threw himself at her she saw his eyes roll-up in his head and his mouth twisted into a scream that got trapped in his throat and stifled, and he collapsed on the floor at her feet. A strong smell of sweat hit her, and she wondered then just how nervous he'd been the whole time. She turned round, forcing herself to walk normally and not run, not panic. She stepped through the doorway in the bookcase, and then closed it behind her. The Mayor probably knew how to open it from the inside, but she thought she recognized that look on his face, and having to think after being psychically separated was hard. Unwanted, the memory of the steel door closing in the morgue slipped into her head, and she looked back at the bookcase. This wasn't the Mayor's house... would Dr. MacDonald have protected himself like that? If the bookcase was shielded as well the Mayor could lie in there till he died. We'll come back when we're better prepared said Ana in her head. Can you tell me why you're worrying more about the Mayor than me though? Pretty please? It wasn't funny but it made her laugh anyway as she hurried through the room and found Ana on the couch, her hands tied to her feet across her body. The knots were easy to undo, but practically impossible for Ana to manage herself unless she was a contortionist. "What happened to Gunther?" said Stacey. "I don't know," said Ana. "I can spy on things a little through you, so you know more than I do." "There was thumping upstairs," said Stacey. "Someone or something doing something. Then... I'm pretty sure something severed the Mayor's connection." "God knows how he got that connection in the first place," said Ana. "I mean I love your... our parents but, and I mean this nicely, it's not that easy sharing a mind with one person. Having our father in our heads all the time too...." Stacey thought about it. Their relationship with their parents was as unusual as they themselves: for Ana, these were much younger people who never seemed to know if they were in charge of her or if they should treat her like a grandmother or aunt. Things had got easier as Ana got younger and their parents got older, as the ages corrected themselves, but she knew that Ana didn't really feel like she'd had parents since she'd not yet had her childhood. "Don't move!" said a hoarse voice from the stairs.
"David?" said Ana as Stacey said, "Ben?" "Ben," said the voice, and footsteps thumped down. The wild-haired, bright-eyed man stumbled on the last step, and Ana stepped forward to catch him and sit him down on the couch. "What happened?" "I couldn't get the door open," said Ben, slumping. "But there were windows on the floor above, so I pulled myself up onto the porch roof and tried them. They're sash windows, no locks, it was easy to get in. Then... everything woke up and it was like I could think clearly again. I could feel David feeling it too, and there was a gap... there was a place where there should have been a third person. It was weird, but they were gone, and now I understood it I could think past it. But that's stopped again now, and there's just. I don't know. It's like a curtain, a black veil drawn over everything." Stacey looked at Ana, and Ana tsked. "When did your father die?" she asked. "Three years ago," said Ben. He frowned, his fingers pulling at the fabric of the couch. "How did you know he was dead?" "We just learned something today," said STacey. "What happened to Gunther?" "Was he the guy with sunglasses? I stuck a wastepaper bin over his head; he came up looking for me I think, but I heard him and was hiding behind the door." "A bin?" Ana's surprise showed clearly on her face. "A metal one," said Ben. He stopped pulling at the couch and rubbed his temples as though trying to massage away a headache. "I... I remember thinking about the morgue." "Severed the connection," said Stacey. "I think it's worse losing the connection when there's more people in it." Ana's mouth formed an O of recognition. "That's what Ben's pro-- Ben's and David's problem is!" Stacey nodded. "And... if it cleared up and then went away again, there must be something in the library that helps it? Or fixes it?" "So the Mayor is trapped in there without a connection. And Gunther--" "--is probably in the same state." Ben stared from one to the other. "Do you two finish each other's sentences too?" "Not usually." Ana was looking around the room, distracted. "We could just burn the house. That would tidy up loose ends." "Become a murderer?" "Well.... Oh, I get it. You don't want to be a murderer-by-proxy." "You think?" "Ok, so we keep the connection broken, open up the library and destroy the device." "If we can." Ana stamped a foot, and starting pacing. "This is ridiculous! Those silly books you used to read never had these issues. The detectives would just hand everyone over to the police and go home, and not have to worry that the police would apologise to the Mayor and go and arrest the detective." "The Hardy Boys," said Stacey. "Go figure, real life is harder than a children's book." "So what then?" Stacey sighed. "I guess we're going to have to steal the device, any books or papers on how to use it, and leave Crimson Fall. Let Mariah and Maria keep the Mayor until we're gone, and then reinstate the connection."
Stacey left Ben sitting on the couch to rest and, reluctantly, returned to the library - this time with Ana by her side. That helped ease her nerves, a little.
"Where should we go?" she asked, studiously ignoring the mayor where he lay twitching feebly on the floor.
"I have somewhere setup already," Ana said, nudging the mayor with her foot before following in Stacey's wake. "It was supposed to be for when I grow too young to mask the truth of what's happening to me from the prying eyes of those who currently know me. We'll have some time there, and privacy. Actually, with you there it might last longer than I had planned on..."
"So, what? You stay locked away inside while I go out and get groceries and earn a living so that we can afford rent?"
"Rent won't be an issue," Ana said with a faint smile. "Neither will income. You'll be able to live whatever life you like. You'll be happy there, I think. Nice weather, nice scenery. Very nice scenery, actually..."
"Are we just talking landscape?" Stacey said with a laugh that failed to mask her discomfort. They were standing outside the room with the... object inside. "And what of you?"
"Plenty of time on my hands. To study whatever that thing is in there. Maybe find some answers. For all of us."
The twins stood in silence for a time. Then, in an unspoken agreement that required no special connection, stepped forward as one into the room.
"Ah, a convenient carrying case," Ana said when she saw the cradle. She eyed the rest of the objects in the room with a mix of curiosity and distaste. She bent to study the membrane briefly before straightening again.
"We might need help from the others, depending on how heavy it is."
"I'd rather not have to rely on them any further," Ana said, though Stacey suspected her twin mostly didn't want anyone to know where they were heading next. "Perhaps we should just take the... egg... thing."
"Egg thing? How very technical of you. Also: I'm not touching that thing. We don't know how it works."
"You heard the mayor, it requires the hospital in some way in order for it to do anything."
"Yes, because he obviously fully understands how it works."
They stood in silence once again. Behind them the mayor stirred, a little more vigorously than he had before, serving as a reminder that they couldn't linger there endlessly.
"I'll gather any paperwork that seems pertinent. Find a bag to put the egg in. Maybe some gloves, if that would make you more comfortable. Then we'll get out of here."
In the end all Stacey could find were a pair of elbow length yellow rubber latex gloves under the kitchen sink and a reusable shopping bag in the hall closet. Both seemed... insufficient to her, but the mayor was growing steadily more restless and she could hear Gunther shifting around upstairs. How long before the giant managed to get that tin can off his head?
"This is not how I imagined my day would go when I woke up this morning," she muttered as she stood over the cradle, fingers twitching and starting to sweat inside the gloves. The bag sat open beside the cradle, ready to receive its package. "At all. Not at all."
After a soft but fierce curse she took a deep breath and plunged her hands through the membrane covering the cradle and made contact with the egg.
4 comments:
If you're still running a month behind adding to it when we reach December, then we can't finish until January :-P
So, more interesting developments, and I like how deeply involved the Mayor is -- the revelation about him being the father of twins makes a lot of sense and explains his interest in the whole affair. The extension of the connection is also a nice touch -- we start to see why he thinks this might be utopian rather than a nightmare.
And -- thanks? for leaving me to puzzle out how you disabled Gunther and Gandalf off-screen....
Mine:
Stacey flinched as the Mayor lunged at her, his hands stretching out and his fingers nearly claw-like with rage? desperation? she couldn't tell. But even as he threw himself at her she saw his eyes roll-up in his head and his mouth twisted into a scream that got trapped in his throat and stifled, and he collapsed on the floor at her feet. A strong smell of sweat hit her, and she wondered then just how nervous he'd been the whole time.
She turned round, forcing herself to walk normally and not run, not panic. She stepped through the doorway in the bookcase, and then closed it behind her. The Mayor probably knew how to open it from the inside, but she thought she recognized that look on his face, and having to think after being psychically separated was hard. Unwanted, the memory of the steel door closing in the morgue slipped into her head, and she looked back at the bookcase. This wasn't the Mayor's house... would Dr. MacDonald have protected himself like that? If the bookcase was shielded as well the Mayor could lie in there till he died.
We'll come back when we're better prepared said Ana in her head. Can you tell me why you're worrying more about the Mayor than me though? Pretty please?
It wasn't funny but it made her laugh anyway as she hurried through the room and found Ana on the couch, her hands tied to her feet across her body. The knots were easy to undo, but practically impossible for Ana to manage herself unless she was a contortionist.
"What happened to Gunther?" said Stacey.
"I don't know," said Ana. "I can spy on things a little through you, so you know more than I do."
"There was thumping upstairs," said Stacey. "Someone or something doing something. Then... I'm pretty sure something severed the Mayor's connection."
"God knows how he got that connection in the first place," said Ana. "I mean I love your... our parents but, and I mean this nicely, it's not that easy sharing a mind with one person. Having our father in our heads all the time too...."
Stacey thought about it. Their relationship with their parents was as unusual as they themselves: for Ana, these were much younger people who never seemed to know if they were in charge of her or if they should treat her like a grandmother or aunt. Things had got easier as Ana got younger and their parents got older, as the ages corrected themselves, but she knew that Ana didn't really feel like she'd had parents since she'd not yet had her childhood.
"Don't move!" said a hoarse voice from the stairs.
"David?" said Ana as Stacey said, "Ben?"
"Ben," said the voice, and footsteps thumped down. The wild-haired, bright-eyed man stumbled on the last step, and Ana stepped forward to catch him and sit him down on the couch.
"What happened?"
"I couldn't get the door open," said Ben, slumping. "But there were windows on the floor above, so I pulled myself up onto the porch roof and tried them. They're sash windows, no locks, it was easy to get in. Then... everything woke up and it was like I could think clearly again. I could feel David feeling it too, and there was a gap... there was a place where there should have been a third person. It was weird, but they were gone, and now I understood it I could think past it. But that's stopped again now, and there's just. I don't know. It's like a curtain, a black veil drawn over everything."
Stacey looked at Ana, and Ana tsked.
"When did your father die?" she asked.
"Three years ago," said Ben. He frowned, his fingers pulling at the fabric of the couch. "How did you know he was dead?"
"We just learned something today," said STacey. "What happened to Gunther?"
"Was he the guy with sunglasses? I stuck a wastepaper bin over his head; he came up looking for me I think, but I heard him and was hiding behind the door."
"A bin?" Ana's surprise showed clearly on her face.
"A metal one," said Ben. He stopped pulling at the couch and rubbed his temples as though trying to massage away a headache. "I... I remember thinking about the morgue."
"Severed the connection," said Stacey. "I think it's worse losing the connection when there's more people in it."
Ana's mouth formed an O of recognition. "That's what Ben's pro-- Ben's and David's problem is!"
Stacey nodded. "And... if it cleared up and then went away again, there must be something in the library that helps it? Or fixes it?"
"So the Mayor is trapped in there without a connection. And Gunther--"
"--is probably in the same state."
Ben stared from one to the other. "Do you two finish each other's sentences too?"
"Not usually." Ana was looking around the room, distracted. "We could just burn the house. That would tidy up loose ends."
"Become a murderer?"
"Well.... Oh, I get it. You don't want to be a murderer-by-proxy."
"You think?"
"Ok, so we keep the connection broken, open up the library and destroy the device."
"If we can."
Ana stamped a foot, and starting pacing. "This is ridiculous! Those silly books you used to read never had these issues. The detectives would just hand everyone over to the police and go home, and not have to worry that the police would apologise to the Mayor and go and arrest the detective."
"The Hardy Boys," said Stacey. "Go figure, real life is harder than a children's book."
"So what then?"
Stacey sighed. "I guess we're going to have to steal the device, any books or papers on how to use it, and leave Crimson Fall. Let Mariah and Maria keep the Mayor until we're gone, and then reinstate the connection."
Stacey left Ben sitting on the couch to rest and, reluctantly, returned to the library - this time with Ana by her side. That helped ease her nerves, a little.
"Where should we go?" she asked, studiously ignoring the mayor where he lay twitching feebly on the floor.
"I have somewhere setup already," Ana said, nudging the mayor with her foot before following in Stacey's wake. "It was supposed to be for when I grow too young to mask the truth of what's happening to me from the prying eyes of those who currently know me. We'll have some time there, and privacy. Actually, with you there it might last longer than I had planned on..."
"So, what? You stay locked away inside while I go out and get groceries and earn a living so that we can afford rent?"
"Rent won't be an issue," Ana said with a faint smile. "Neither will income. You'll be able to live whatever life you like. You'll be happy there, I think. Nice weather, nice scenery. Very nice scenery, actually..."
"Are we just talking landscape?" Stacey said with a laugh that failed to mask her discomfort. They were standing outside the room with the... object inside. "And what of you?"
"Plenty of time on my hands. To study whatever that thing is in there. Maybe find some answers. For all of us."
The twins stood in silence for a time. Then, in an unspoken agreement that required no special connection, stepped forward as one into the room.
"Ah, a convenient carrying case," Ana said when she saw the cradle. She eyed the rest of the objects in the room with a mix of curiosity and distaste. She bent to study the membrane briefly before straightening again.
"We might need help from the others, depending on how heavy it is."
"I'd rather not have to rely on them any further," Ana said, though Stacey suspected her twin mostly didn't want anyone to know where they were heading next. "Perhaps we should just take the... egg... thing."
"Egg thing? How very technical of you. Also: I'm not touching that thing. We don't know how it works."
"You heard the mayor, it requires the hospital in some way in order for it to do anything."
"Yes, because he obviously fully understands how it works."
They stood in silence once again. Behind them the mayor stirred, a little more vigorously than he had before, serving as a reminder that they couldn't linger there endlessly.
"I'll gather any paperwork that seems pertinent. Find a bag to put the egg in. Maybe some gloves, if that would make you more comfortable. Then we'll get out of here."
In the end all Stacey could find were a pair of elbow length yellow rubber latex gloves under the kitchen sink and a reusable shopping bag in the hall closet. Both seemed... insufficient to her, but the mayor was growing steadily more restless and she could hear Gunther shifting around upstairs. How long before the giant managed to get that tin can off his head?
"This is not how I imagined my day would go when I woke up this morning," she muttered as she stood over the cradle, fingers twitching and starting to sweat inside the gloves. The bag sat open beside the cradle, ready to receive its package. "At all. Not at all."
After a soft but fierce curse she took a deep breath and plunged her hands through the membrane covering the cradle and made contact with the egg.
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