Wednesday May 15th, 2019

The exercise:

Write about something that is: unwarranted.

2 comments:

Greg said...

Ok, let's get to it and see if we can catch up by the end of the week at least!

Unwarranted
The Safe Passage felt to Lord Derby like it had been tunnelled out by a giant worm: the tunnel was a compressed oval shape and ridged all the way along. His footsteps were never on the level, and it left him feeling slightly exposed because he was always off-balance. The light was yellowish-grey, but there was so little to see that it didn't really bother him. It was hard to judge how long he was in there for either, as nothing really seemed to change. One thing he was grateful for was a distinct lack of oversized pigeons, or whatever had gone hurtling through this tunnel so fast.
After some time a dark spot appeared in front of him and steadily grew, and he finally recognised it as his apparent exit. He found himself slowing down, subconsciously not wanting to fly out of the Safe Passage at speed, and realised that he had no idea how fast or slow he might be travelling in here relative to the outside world.
"You know, Ernest," he muttered to himself. "This is one of those occasions when you probably should have let Andy finish speaking. Even if he would have tried to find a way to stop you going into this thing."
The black spot had grown to a shimmering black oval now, slightly taller and slightly wider than him, with tiny pinpricks of light like stars dotted here and there.
"This had better not be a view of the destination," said Lord Derby, and stepped through as bravely as he could manage.

"Ah, Derby, good of you to come," said the King. Lord Derby glanced around the room, quickly assessing that both the King in Yellow and the King of England were present, and that there was a third man in blue robes he didn't know. He bowed low to the King.
"Your Majesty," he said. He turned to the King in Yellow and bowed as well. "Your other Majesty," he said. "And I'm afraid I have no idea who you are," he said to the man in the robes.
"Gray," said the Warlock, standing up and offering his hand. Lord Derby shook it. "Did you see anyone else in the Safe Passage while you were there?"
"No," said Lord Derby. "Though... well, this may not the place to talk about it. Let us speak afterwards." A thought struck him, and he raised a hand to his forehead. "Does anything happen?"
"No," said Gray. He looked uncomfortable. "You shouldn't really-"
A sense of laughter, an impersonal, mocking humour filled the room and suddenly there was a cascade of jasmine flowers across the floor and couch.
"That was unwarranted," said King Richard. His tone was pleasant with just a hint of an edge to it. "If you wouldn't mind being a touch more verbal, please, your other Majesty."
Lord Derby noted the King's choice of words and turned back to the two monarchs.
"I suspect you want my report," he said.

Marc said...

Greg - me too!

Well, the end of the weekend at least.

No more splats. I suppose I can be grateful for that. And I am very much looking forward to seeing how this plays out, with these four in one room together.