OK, so where did today's prompt come from? Because that's a very specific image you have there! :) Luckily it can be made to sound ominous when said by the right person, so the story continues!
The Dancer in the Vines “Destroy.” The Inspectral’s voice was chilly and emotionless at the best of times, but somehow he managed to imbue that word with the cold of the crypt and the immense uncaringness of a giant walking amongst ants. “Destroy what, Ethel?” “Couldn’t tell you, old chap!” Ethel’s cheerfulness, his bonhomie, was such a stark contrast to the Inspectral’s words that Collins felt the hairs on his arms rise. He glanced over at Adams, curious if she felt it too, but she was leaning forward, her elbow on her knee and her hand cupping her chin, staring at Ethel as though he was a suspect in an investigation. “I can tell you about the ritual and why it’s performed but I can’t give you specifics or intent or anything like that. You know that, Harold; I don’t know why you’re even asking.” “Because it might be very, very important,” said the Inspectral softly, and the ghostly whisper made Collins shiver as though an icy wind were blowing over his spine. “Every piece of information, no matter how small or seemingly insignificant – I want to know it. Everything.” He looked around. “That goes for you two, too. I don’t care what it is or what you think of it, I need to hear it if it involves this case.” “Of course!” Adams voice was strident compared with the Inspectral’s and Collins jumped. “Yes, exactly,” he said, struggling to find words that weren’t also ‘of course.’ “Well, I’ve given you everything,” said Ethel. “If I think of anything, or if anything else turns up, I’ll let you know, obviously. You directly, Harold, right?” “Yes.” “Great. Then I’ve got to go and see if it’s just kids playing games or if there’s really a Peruvian cult here in Mooreton trying to summon the Dancer in the Vines in the primary school playground.” He rose and left the office briskly, and as the door closed behind him a calm seemed to settle over the office. Collins both liked it and resented it a little: it was such stark contrast to the energy that Ethel seemed to bring with him. “I remember when you’d have had to have asked which primary school,” said the Inspectral. Bleak morosity seemed to be carried by his words. “Now there’s only one.” “There’s been only one for fifteen years,” said Adams. She screwed up her face, thinking. “Maybe twenty actually. I think there were two when I went to school, but I went to Mooreton Primary School, so maybe I’m wrong.” “Since the Radiance,” said the Inspectral. “Well, this are all parts of the puzzle and I’m pretty certain this is not a puzzle that I’d have chosen to solve if given the choice. Adams, go and see if the PFE is available will you? Now we know what the ritual was for there’s a chance that she might be able to tell us some more. Collins, go to the front-desk and ask for Timothy. Don’t leave there without him and bring him straight up here. No diversions.”
Greg - there's a vineyard across the street from our house, and Kat was watching one of the workers out there when I got up Saturday morning. She said she couldn't tell if she was fighting the vines or dancing to music in her headphones.
I took a look, decided she was definitely fighting the vines, and went with the other prompt anyway :)
And you've done well with it, as expected. This is both bleak and cheerful, the result of having the Inspectral and Ethel together, obviously. But you handle it delightfully.
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OK, so where did today's prompt come from? Because that's a very specific image you have there! :) Luckily it can be made to sound ominous when said by the right person, so the story continues!
The Dancer in the Vines
“Destroy.” The Inspectral’s voice was chilly and emotionless at the best of times, but somehow he managed to imbue that word with the cold of the crypt and the immense uncaringness of a giant walking amongst ants. “Destroy what, Ethel?”
“Couldn’t tell you, old chap!” Ethel’s cheerfulness, his bonhomie, was such a stark contrast to the Inspectral’s words that Collins felt the hairs on his arms rise. He glanced over at Adams, curious if she felt it too, but she was leaning forward, her elbow on her knee and her hand cupping her chin, staring at Ethel as though he was a suspect in an investigation. “I can tell you about the ritual and why it’s performed but I can’t give you specifics or intent or anything like that. You know that, Harold; I don’t know why you’re even asking.”
“Because it might be very, very important,” said the Inspectral softly, and the ghostly whisper made Collins shiver as though an icy wind were blowing over his spine. “Every piece of information, no matter how small or seemingly insignificant – I want to know it. Everything.” He looked around. “That goes for you two, too. I don’t care what it is or what you think of it, I need to hear it if it involves this case.”
“Of course!” Adams voice was strident compared with the Inspectral’s and Collins jumped.
“Yes, exactly,” he said, struggling to find words that weren’t also ‘of course.’
“Well, I’ve given you everything,” said Ethel. “If I think of anything, or if anything else turns up, I’ll let you know, obviously. You directly, Harold, right?”
“Yes.”
“Great. Then I’ve got to go and see if it’s just kids playing games or if there’s really a Peruvian cult here in Mooreton trying to summon the Dancer in the Vines in the primary school playground.”
He rose and left the office briskly, and as the door closed behind him a calm seemed to settle over the office. Collins both liked it and resented it a little: it was such stark contrast to the energy that Ethel seemed to bring with him.
“I remember when you’d have had to have asked which primary school,” said the Inspectral. Bleak morosity seemed to be carried by his words. “Now there’s only one.”
“There’s been only one for fifteen years,” said Adams. She screwed up her face, thinking. “Maybe twenty actually. I think there were two when I went to school, but I went to Mooreton Primary School, so maybe I’m wrong.”
“Since the Radiance,” said the Inspectral. “Well, this are all parts of the puzzle and I’m pretty certain this is not a puzzle that I’d have chosen to solve if given the choice. Adams, go and see if the PFE is available will you? Now we know what the ritual was for there’s a chance that she might be able to tell us some more. Collins, go to the front-desk and ask for Timothy. Don’t leave there without him and bring him straight up here. No diversions.”
Greg - there's a vineyard across the street from our house, and Kat was watching one of the workers out there when I got up Saturday morning. She said she couldn't tell if she was fighting the vines or dancing to music in her headphones.
I took a look, decided she was definitely fighting the vines, and went with the other prompt anyway :)
And you've done well with it, as expected. This is both bleak and cheerful, the result of having the Inspectral and Ethel together, obviously. But you handle it delightfully.
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