Re Hindsight: I actually don't mind which order we go in, but I'm happy to go first and let you conclude the tale -- you did start it after all, and it'll allow you to wrap up any loose ends we might have missed. (I think we've actually covered everything you listed at the start, somehow, but I might be wrong).
Re the poem: I doubt I've got enough stanzas left to explain the guard, but the idea behind it is that in the confusion the guard punches the wrong person (though given Spud doesn't treat people very well, there might be some unconscious desire in there too) and knocks Spud off the cliff accidentally before Red or Emma can do it. This way neither of them actually has to kill anyone -- Emma's too squeamish and I think Red would talk a good game but not actually go through with it unless he was really angry and had lost control -- but Spud gets a certain amount of come-uppance. And you're right, potatoes are not especially aerodynamic :)
Sigh. And all my notes have made this too long for one post, sorry :(
A game of hide and seek I thought the creatures would keep me awake, but actually I was tired enough that I feel asleep pretty quickly. My dreams were mostly about running away from people wearing heavy leaden boots who kept shouting things that were so indistinct I couldn't understand them. It sounded like gibbons hooting, but when I tried to tell them that, they started chasing me again. I woke up feeling not exactly refreshed, and found Jimmy looking pale and nervous, cooking things over the fire. "Bad dreams?" I asked, and he nodded. I didn't say anything else, I could guess that they'd been similar to mine. Ben came in and sat down. "The creatures stopped running around about a half-hour before dawn," he said. "Everything's quiet out there now, so let's eat and go." "Anyone remember the way out of here?" asked Jimmy, passing over hot strips of meat. Ben looked at me, and I chewed the meat thoughtfully. "I'm not sure," I said. "Let me go look." Looking over the city from the doorway of our little lair, I started with the river as I knew we'd walked alongside it, and tracked it back. The building itself blocked my view of where we needed to go, but that was good enough. From the position of the sun in the sky, it looked like we'd be heading South-east or thereabouts. Our packs were heavier than we arrived with, partly because of the jewelery and books, but also because we'd picked up some more water and food from the docks when we'd found the slaughter. Heavy in a good way, for once. We set off down the street, noting that the stones seemed more scuffed -- but of course it might have been our imaginations. At the bottom we turned right, and the street seemed familiar but then the whole city was starting to get a familiar feel to it. I mentally crossed my fingers and tried not to look like I was leading the way.
We stopped abruptly at the next crossing. Further down the street in the direction I thought we should go, there was a black shape standing on a rooftop. We pressed in against the side of the nearest building and considered this. "It might be like yesterday," said Ben. "They've posted a guard or two to try and herd us again." "It didn't seem to see us," said Jimmy. I nodded. "Let's try and go round it. We'll go left here, and down a parallel street." We sneaked, as quietly as we could, around the street corner, all eyes on the black shape. It never moved, and when we were out of its range of view we relaxed just a touch. The parallel street was thankfully just a few tens of metres away, and that was empty. Until about half-way down, when we spotted another black creature standing guard on a rooftop. "Two of them, in daylight," said Ben. "Think they're upset about something?" "I'm almost wishing that the Elizabethtowners would turn up," I said. "A distraction now would be great." "Another parallel street?" asked Jimmy. I sighed. "Not sure we have a choice," I said. "Maybe we could have shot it down if we had a sniper rifle, but...." "No point wishing for things we don't have," said Ben. "Let's go!"
Greg - it's a deal! Not sure it'll all get wrapped up neatly, but I'll see what I can do.
Ah, that makes sense. Thank you!
Hah, I could just see them not being able to figure out which way was out. Thankfully Red is around. Although these rooftop creatures definitely seem problematic. I hope, for the lads' sake, that there aren't even more lurking around looking for them.
3 comments:
Re Hindsight: I actually don't mind which order we go in, but I'm happy to go first and let you conclude the tale -- you did start it after all, and it'll allow you to wrap up any loose ends we might have missed. (I think we've actually covered everything you listed at the start, somehow, but I might be wrong).
Re the poem: I doubt I've got enough stanzas left to explain the guard, but the idea behind it is that in the confusion the guard punches the wrong person (though given Spud doesn't treat people very well, there might be some unconscious desire in there too) and knocks Spud off the cliff accidentally before Red or Emma can do it. This way neither of them actually has to kill anyone -- Emma's too squeamish and I think Red would talk a good game but not actually go through with it unless he was really angry and had lost control -- but Spud gets a certain amount of come-uppance. And you're right, potatoes are not especially aerodynamic :)
Sigh. And all my notes have made this too long for one post, sorry :(
A game of hide and seek
I thought the creatures would keep me awake, but actually I was tired enough that I feel asleep pretty quickly. My dreams were mostly about running away from people wearing heavy leaden boots who kept shouting things that were so indistinct I couldn't understand them. It sounded like gibbons hooting, but when I tried to tell them that, they started chasing me again. I woke up feeling not exactly refreshed, and found Jimmy looking pale and nervous, cooking things over the fire.
"Bad dreams?" I asked, and he nodded. I didn't say anything else, I could guess that they'd been similar to mine. Ben came in and sat down.
"The creatures stopped running around about a half-hour before dawn," he said. "Everything's quiet out there now, so let's eat and go."
"Anyone remember the way out of here?" asked Jimmy, passing over hot strips of meat. Ben looked at me, and I chewed the meat thoughtfully. "I'm not sure," I said. "Let me go look."
Looking over the city from the doorway of our little lair, I started with the river as I knew we'd walked alongside it, and tracked it back. The building itself blocked my view of where we needed to go, but that was good enough. From the position of the sun in the sky, it looked like we'd be heading South-east or thereabouts.
Our packs were heavier than we arrived with, partly because of the jewelery and books, but also because we'd picked up some more water and food from the docks when we'd found the slaughter. Heavy in a good way, for once. We set off down the street, noting that the stones seemed more scuffed -- but of course it might have been our imaginations. At the bottom we turned right, and the street seemed familiar but then the whole city was starting to get a familiar feel to it. I mentally crossed my fingers and tried not to look like I was leading the way.
We stopped abruptly at the next crossing. Further down the street in the direction I thought we should go, there was a black shape standing on a rooftop. We pressed in against the side of the nearest building and considered this.
"It might be like yesterday," said Ben. "They've posted a guard or two to try and herd us again."
"It didn't seem to see us," said Jimmy.
I nodded. "Let's try and go round it. We'll go left here, and down a parallel street."
We sneaked, as quietly as we could, around the street corner, all eyes on the black shape. It never moved, and when we were out of its range of view we relaxed just a touch. The parallel street was thankfully just a few tens of metres away, and that was empty. Until about half-way down, when we spotted another black creature standing guard on a rooftop.
"Two of them, in daylight," said Ben. "Think they're upset about something?"
"I'm almost wishing that the Elizabethtowners would turn up," I said. "A distraction now would be great."
"Another parallel street?" asked Jimmy. I sighed.
"Not sure we have a choice," I said. "Maybe we could have shot it down if we had a sniper rifle, but...."
"No point wishing for things we don't have," said Ben. "Let's go!"
Greg - it's a deal! Not sure it'll all get wrapped up neatly, but I'll see what I can do.
Ah, that makes sense. Thank you!
Hah, I could just see them not being able to figure out which way was out. Thankfully Red is around. Although these rooftop creatures definitely seem problematic. I hope, for the lads' sake, that there aren't even more lurking around looking for them.
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