I see you're catching up with comments again! I thought that the yearlong prompt might have been what was slowing you down, as I think you guessed :) And yes, you did conveniently provide a series of prompts that allowed me to push things forward a little in Lord Derby's little tale. And I now realise that not all of our characters there are going to make it to the end of the tale, but I suppose that's life (and death). Sorry it was a little grim, but Grace is not a nice person and the King in Yellow really isn't interested in humans. And Labdaris has an axe to grind, of course.... The prompt today threw me, and I spent a few minutes wondering how I could fit a houseboat into Carcosa. Then I realised that I have a much better setting for it, and might be able to answer your comment on this post :)
The houseboat WrongStart, Sixticton's foremost primary school, had reluctantly accepted Get wormed as their slogan and had gently facepalmed when the Mayor (a Golden Retriever who had won the last two elections on popularity alone) had woofed enthusiastic approval. Confronted with the reality that their slogan might make the national newspapers, though they'd do everything they could to keep that from happening, they picked a typeface for it and put it on a small plaque round the back, next to the catering entrance. "Oh dear," said Emma, looking at the Headmaster. "I thought we were going with Bodoni?" The Headmaster sucked air through his teeth and tapped his foot. He stared around at the blue sky for a minute, but when he looked back down, Emma was still watching him. She had folded her arms across her stomach and her gray eyes were intent. "It's the usual story," he said. "We -" "- ran out of money." Emma joined him in what probably should have been the school slogan. "Yes, quite. So we went with Houseboat instead. It's not terrible, and it is free." "Yes, yes." Emma looked at it again. "But the kerning...." "The what now?" "Kerning. The spacing between the letters. It makes it look like it says Get worried." "We did have that accident with the swimming teacher." The Headmaster looked up at the sky again, and when he refused to look down even after five minutes Emma walked off to the staff room.
"When are we getting the kids back?" She wasn't normally this direct, even when dealing with the pickleballers in autumn, but talking to the Headmaster always left her wanting to slap someone. Ideally him, but she needed this job. "Oh, there's been an update on that!" Simon looked up from grading art-pieces from the five-year olds. "Two of the divers returned yesterday." "They've been gone for nearly six months!" "Yes, it turns out the kids have set up some kind of society down in the caves and the divers have been living there and helping them get running water and agriculture." "What?" "And maybe some Aztec religion." "What?" "We've been invited on a tour." "What?" Simon smiled happily, then looked down at the art-work he was grading. "Do you think Tracy Emin is good inspiration for five-year-olds?" he said. "The Headmaster was very enthusiatic, but...." He held up a sodden piece of yellow paper. "I'm pretty sure someone just peed on this."
Greg - I have a list of characters in the Derby tale that better survive, but I'll keep them to myself because that's none of your concern. Though, obviously, you'll hear about it if you do end up offing any of them... :)
Thank you for taking this opportunity to answer some questions of what's been going on down there. Unexpected answers, but quite satisfactory in their own way :D
2 comments:
I see you're catching up with comments again! I thought that the yearlong prompt might have been what was slowing you down, as I think you guessed :) And yes, you did conveniently provide a series of prompts that allowed me to push things forward a little in Lord Derby's little tale. And I now realise that not all of our characters there are going to make it to the end of the tale, but I suppose that's life (and death). Sorry it was a little grim, but Grace is not a nice person and the King in Yellow really isn't interested in humans. And Labdaris has an axe to grind, of course....
The prompt today threw me, and I spent a few minutes wondering how I could fit a houseboat into Carcosa. Then I realised that I have a much better setting for it, and might be able to answer your comment on this post :)
The houseboat
WrongStart, Sixticton's foremost primary school, had reluctantly accepted Get wormed as their slogan and had gently facepalmed when the Mayor (a Golden Retriever who had won the last two elections on popularity alone) had woofed enthusiastic approval. Confronted with the reality that their slogan might make the national newspapers, though they'd do everything they could to keep that from happening, they picked a typeface for it and put it on a small plaque round the back, next to the catering entrance.
"Oh dear," said Emma, looking at the Headmaster. "I thought we were going with Bodoni?"
The Headmaster sucked air through his teeth and tapped his foot. He stared around at the blue sky for a minute, but when he looked back down, Emma was still watching him. She had folded her arms across her stomach and her gray eyes were intent.
"It's the usual story," he said. "We -"
"- ran out of money." Emma joined him in what probably should have been the school slogan.
"Yes, quite. So we went with Houseboat instead. It's not terrible, and it is free."
"Yes, yes." Emma looked at it again. "But the kerning...."
"The what now?"
"Kerning. The spacing between the letters. It makes it look like it says Get worried."
"We did have that accident with the swimming teacher." The Headmaster looked up at the sky again, and when he refused to look down even after five minutes Emma walked off to the staff room.
"When are we getting the kids back?" She wasn't normally this direct, even when dealing with the pickleballers in autumn, but talking to the Headmaster always left her wanting to slap someone. Ideally him, but she needed this job.
"Oh, there's been an update on that!" Simon looked up from grading art-pieces from the five-year olds. "Two of the divers returned yesterday."
"They've been gone for nearly six months!"
"Yes, it turns out the kids have set up some kind of society down in the caves and the divers have been living there and helping them get running water and agriculture."
"What?"
"And maybe some Aztec religion."
"What?"
"We've been invited on a tour."
"What?"
Simon smiled happily, then looked down at the art-work he was grading. "Do you think Tracy Emin is good inspiration for five-year-olds?" he said. "The Headmaster was very enthusiatic, but...." He held up a sodden piece of yellow paper. "I'm pretty sure someone just peed on this."
Greg - I have a list of characters in the Derby tale that better survive, but I'll keep them to myself because that's none of your concern. Though, obviously, you'll hear about it if you do end up offing any of them... :)
Thank you for taking this opportunity to answer some questions of what's been going on down there. Unexpected answers, but quite satisfactory in their own way :D
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