The exercise:
Write about: two for one.
Well, we all survived, and mostly had a pretty good time doing so. Morning was mostly Easter, afternoon was mostly birthday.
Aiming for a return to Hindsight tomorrow, by the way. No, I haven't forgotten about it.
2 comments:
I am glad that the dual celebration was successful; I suspect I'd have largely ignored Easter if it were down to me, as birthdays seem more meaningful, but maybe I'm just grumpy :-D
Well, looking back, it looks like it's been almost a full month since we last met the Inspectral. I hadn't realised it was that long!
Two for one
The airfield was visible from half-way down Hope street, blocked off by a chain-link fence that, while clearly unclimbable, still looked like it could be knocked over by a determined car-driver. The fence was still standing though and didn’t even look rusty from this distance.
“Did you win?” asked the Inspectral, and Collins found himself surprised that it was the Inspectral asking; he’d expected that he’d have to ask himself if Ethel didn’t just tell them.
“No,” said Ethel. “Neither time. First time I was playing a young woman, Ashley or Marion, I forget now but she had a very pretty face. I overheard her talking before the match, she was on the phone to someone and she was talking about what she planned to do if she won the money and it was very sweet. I remember that I found myself thinking that I should just let her win since I didn’t have any real plans for it. Then we started playing and she turned out to be a demon at the table and all thoughts of letting her win went out of my head; I was struggling just to stay in the game. It was best of 35, and she won 17-5 and I swear, I was – ah, the Crisis centre!”
“Very interesting,” said the Inspectral, and Collins wondered if he meant the story or that they were now stood outside the Crisis centre and Timothy was crossing the road to the airfield. He turned and barked once, then carried on to the chainlink fence.
“The doors are still boarded up,” said the Inspectral. He shivered, though Collins was sure that ghosts couldn’t feel the cold. “There’s no obvious signs that anyone’s been here. But… I have a feeling we’ll be back here again. Some things never change.”
Adams had already crossed the road and was looking at the fence. “There’s barbed wire running along the top,” she said, pointing. It was twined loosely around the top of the fence making it hard to see, and Collins wondered how many teens had punctured their hands trying to climb over before they realised. “And there’s a hole down there.” She pointed along the fence, and they all saw where strands of wire had been twisted out and snipped apart to permit access.
Collins looked down at Timothy, who looked back up at him, and then backed up just a little, crouching and pulling his body backwards towards his hind legs. Then he stretched and jumped, bounding over the fence from a standing start and leaving a clear 30cm of space between the barbed wire and his stomach.
“I guess we’re goi—”
“What is this?” The Inspectral interrupted him, pointing to the kerb just behind them. Adams got there first, kneeling and pulling a small leather pouch, perhaps half the size of a man’s wallet, from where it was caught in the grate of a drain.
“Rubbsh, I expect,” said Adams. She turned it over and found a press-stud. Opening it out revealed three keys on little chains. “It’s a key-wallet,” she said. “Probably forgotten during the evacuation.”
Ethel leaned over her shoulder and looked at it. “Too shiny,” he said. “That’s been dropped recently. There’s a pocket as well.” Adams pulled a slip of paper out that had a name and address written on it. “Tony Stubbs,” said Ethel. “Well, well, well.”
“Two for one,” said the Inspectral. “Tony as well.
Timothy barked on the other side of the fence.
Greg - time flies when you're stuck inside not doing a whole hell of a lot...
But it is indeed good to have these guys back. I have missed them. Looking forward to what comes next!
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