I've been to a lot of place for breakfast in Vienna this week -- this is partly because they do breakfast very well here, and partly because although it's expensive, there tends to be so much that you don't want to eat again until the evening. Which sets things up very well for sightseeing and walking around all day! Are you taking the kids to see this farm, by the way, or have you already been?
And... I was not expecting this to need to be split over two posts (sigh). Still, you may remember Cin from a while back :)
The kangaroo The licensing office was quiet; it was late evening and they would be closing up in an hour. There was the noise of old Tony washing the cups in the tiny kitchen at the back, and the heater in the waiting room was hissing a little like it was losing gas, but otherwise it was warm, slightly shadowy, and had a feeling that everything was settling down to wait out the darkness till morning. Then the door swung open, letting in a blast of frigid autumnal air, and a woman with bright red hair stomped inside. "Good evening, miss," said Albert, who was sat at the counter. His brain, never very fast on the uptake anyway, struggled to switch gears after his expectations for the evenings were so bluntly denied. "How can I be of ass-" "Kangaroo," said the woman. "And you're already an ass, you proved that last time you were here." There was silence while Albert worked his way through the words, and then tried to decide which one to tackle first. "I'm always here, miss," he said at last. The shake of her head told him that he'd picked the wrong one. "Kan. Gar. Oo." "Yes miss?" "It's a marsupial," said the woman. "Australian. Jumps around a lot." "Yes miss." "So what, and this is before I start yelling, mind you, was it doing in my plane?" Albert thought about this, trying his hardest not to seem stupid, but he couldn't find an answer that was likely to get her to calm down, so he defaulted back to SOP. "Can I get your name, please, miss?" "Cin." Albert grinned, now he knew how to react. "Ah, like Madame Cyn," he said. Her fist came towards his face with the grace and power of a Canadian Goose and just for a moment before he blacked out his mind threw up the fact that this had happened the last time he'd made that suggestion to this woman. "I heard that," called Tony from the back. "I'll be right with you. Cincinatti, isn't it?" The woman looked up, startled. "You remember me?"
"I allus remember the gentlefolk what are clear and open," said Tony, setting the last cup on the draining board. "Youse were very persuasive, and youse fists were eloquent in their action and no more than need be, neither. Plus you weighed a tad under that of a full grown Newfoundland, and that's an ideal weight for a lovely woman such as youseself." "There was a kangaroo in my plane," said Cin, her anger dissipating as she lost grip on anything to be angry with. "It started jumping around when we reached cruising altitude." "Ayup, that'll be the ballast," said old Tony. He kicked Albert aside and sat down behind the counter. "Used to be as only ships needed ballast, but since the country went all toasty-like and bits started glowing at night; well, we put a kangaroo on the planes so as to be used as ballast. Stops you flying too high, but if you finds youseself in a radstorm you can kick the kangaroo out and go higher." "The kangaroo kicked my co-pilot out," said Cin. "Not that that was a great loss to humanity, mind, but it's not like I can replace him up there." "True, true," said Tony. "Kangaroo should have been tied down, sport. So youse all'll be wanting a refund then?" "Nope," said Cin. "I just came in to let you know what happened and that I'm keeping the kangaroo." "Nice of youse," said Tony as she turned and walked out into the night.
3 comments:
I've been to a lot of place for breakfast in Vienna this week -- this is partly because they do breakfast very well here, and partly because although it's expensive, there tends to be so much that you don't want to eat again until the evening. Which sets things up very well for sightseeing and walking around all day!
Are you taking the kids to see this farm, by the way, or have you already been?
And... I was not expecting this to need to be split over two posts (sigh). Still, you may remember Cin from a while back :)
The kangaroo
The licensing office was quiet; it was late evening and they would be closing up in an hour. There was the noise of old Tony washing the cups in the tiny kitchen at the back, and the heater in the waiting room was hissing a little like it was losing gas, but otherwise it was warm, slightly shadowy, and had a feeling that everything was settling down to wait out the darkness till morning. Then the door swung open, letting in a blast of frigid autumnal air, and a woman with bright red hair stomped inside.
"Good evening, miss," said Albert, who was sat at the counter. His brain, never very fast on the uptake anyway, struggled to switch gears after his expectations for the evenings were so bluntly denied. "How can I be of ass-"
"Kangaroo," said the woman. "And you're already an ass, you proved that last time you were here."
There was silence while Albert worked his way through the words, and then tried to decide which one to tackle first.
"I'm always here, miss," he said at last. The shake of her head told him that he'd picked the wrong one.
"Kan. Gar. Oo."
"Yes miss?"
"It's a marsupial," said the woman. "Australian. Jumps around a lot."
"Yes miss."
"So what, and this is before I start yelling, mind you, was it doing in my plane?"
Albert thought about this, trying his hardest not to seem stupid, but he couldn't find an answer that was likely to get her to calm down, so he defaulted back to SOP. "Can I get your name, please, miss?"
"Cin."
Albert grinned, now he knew how to react. "Ah, like Madame Cyn," he said. Her fist came towards his face with the grace and power of a Canadian Goose and just for a moment before he blacked out his mind threw up the fact that this had happened the last time he'd made that suggestion to this woman.
"I heard that," called Tony from the back. "I'll be right with you. Cincinatti, isn't it?"
The woman looked up, startled. "You remember me?"
"I allus remember the gentlefolk what are clear and open," said Tony, setting the last cup on the draining board. "Youse were very persuasive, and youse fists were eloquent in their action and no more than need be, neither. Plus you weighed a tad under that of a full grown Newfoundland, and that's an ideal weight for a lovely woman such as youseself."
"There was a kangaroo in my plane," said Cin, her anger dissipating as she lost grip on anything to be angry with. "It started jumping around when we reached cruising altitude."
"Ayup, that'll be the ballast," said old Tony. He kicked Albert aside and sat down behind the counter. "Used to be as only ships needed ballast, but since the country went all toasty-like and bits started glowing at night; well, we put a kangaroo on the planes so as to be used as ballast. Stops you flying too high, but if you finds youseself in a radstorm you can kick the kangaroo out and go higher."
"The kangaroo kicked my co-pilot out," said Cin. "Not that that was a great loss to humanity, mind, but it's not like I can replace him up there."
"True, true," said Tony. "Kangaroo should have been tied down, sport. So youse all'll be wanting a refund then?"
"Nope," said Cin. "I just came in to let you know what happened and that I'm keeping the kangaroo."
"Nice of youse," said Tony as she turned and walked out into the night.
Greg - glad you enjoyed your time there. Or at least the food there :)
We took them as part of the return trip from Kamloops. They loved it. I should share some pictures.
Ah, how could anyone forget Cin :D
This... was an impressive take on an admittedly out of left field, challenging prompt.
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