How are the days for you? Is everything turning into one long weekend, or are you still distinguishing work-days from non-work-days?
Following Adams walked slowly down the tunnel running her left hand against the wall. As she walked, Collins noticed that she was hunching a little, pulling her head into her shoulders, and she was a little closer to the side wall than she really needed to be. She looked cautious, perhaps even nervous, and he wondered if she knew more about William and Tony than he did. He rubbed his bracelet without really thinking about it, and it warmed very slightly at his touch. The tunnel was perfectly straight and after two or three minutes Ethel remarked on it. Collins, who had had a bet with himself on how long Ethel could manage to stay silent for, decided he’d been wrong by ninety seconds, but it was still nice to hear that cheerful, if muted, voice trying to whisper about the surroundings. “Ground here must be pretty stable, huh, Harold? You get kinks and bends when they have go round things.” “I’m not a geologist, Ethel,” said the Inspectral. “I leave that to the experts. Let’s just follow this nice, straight tunnel without making too much noise.” Ethel pondered that. Then, “Ah, you mean because if they hear us, they’ll be able to see us coming!” “Yes, Ethel.” The Inspectral didn’t sigh, but Collins shivered as the air around him noticably chilled. “They probably suspect that someone will follow them, but for the moment at least I think they don’t know who, or how close we are.” “Right you are, Harold.” Silence prevailed for another minute, and then, just as Collins was starting to wonder how long the tunnel was, it stopped. There were doors on both sides; blue painted steel with bulky locks. One of them was slightly ajar, and there was a quiet squeaking coming from the other side. Adams looked at it, then tried the handle of the other door, turning it carefully and pulling; them pushing when that had no effect. It stayed closed, and she turned back to the Inspectral and shrugged. He walked past her, and Collins noted how careful he was not to touch her. He remembered accidently putting his hand through the Inspectral’s arm and shivered again. The Inspectral laid a hand on the door, and then stepped through it. A moment later and he stepped back. “Storage and generator,” he said quietly. “Sensible to keep locked. Our rabbits have gone through the open door, so I will guess that they don’t have the key either and don’t want to risk the door locking itself. We will leave it ajar I think.” Ethel nodded. “Lead on, Adams.” Adams pushed the door a little further open, enough to squeeze through, and they followed her. Collins, bringing up the rear, noticed that the Inspectral walked through the door again rather than pretend to squeeze past, and he realised that leaving the door ajar was a decision taken for the living. Then he stepped through himself, and the squeaking intensified as did the leathery rustle of wings and a musty smell. They had found the bats, and they were restless.
Greg - well Kat is still working from home, so we're distinguishing weekends that way. And we're trying to keep some semblance of routine during the week for the boys, which helps. Otherwise I'd be quite confident that today is Thurednesday the 50th of March.
I like that Collins was betting on how long Ethel could keep quiet. And the Inspectral's response to his inability to do so :)
And yay, they've found the bats. Sorry, restless bats. Delightful.
2 comments:
How are the days for you? Is everything turning into one long weekend, or are you still distinguishing work-days from non-work-days?
Following
Adams walked slowly down the tunnel running her left hand against the wall. As she walked, Collins noticed that she was hunching a little, pulling her head into her shoulders, and she was a little closer to the side wall than she really needed to be. She looked cautious, perhaps even nervous, and he wondered if she knew more about William and Tony than he did. He rubbed his bracelet without really thinking about it, and it warmed very slightly at his touch.
The tunnel was perfectly straight and after two or three minutes Ethel remarked on it. Collins, who had had a bet with himself on how long Ethel could manage to stay silent for, decided he’d been wrong by ninety seconds, but it was still nice to hear that cheerful, if muted, voice trying to whisper about the surroundings.
“Ground here must be pretty stable, huh, Harold? You get kinks and bends when they have go round things.”
“I’m not a geologist, Ethel,” said the Inspectral. “I leave that to the experts. Let’s just follow this nice, straight tunnel without making too much noise.”
Ethel pondered that. Then, “Ah, you mean because if they hear us, they’ll be able to see us coming!”
“Yes, Ethel.” The Inspectral didn’t sigh, but Collins shivered as the air around him noticably chilled. “They probably suspect that someone will follow them, but for the moment at least I think they don’t know who, or how close we are.”
“Right you are, Harold.”
Silence prevailed for another minute, and then, just as Collins was starting to wonder how long the tunnel was, it stopped. There were doors on both sides; blue painted steel with bulky locks. One of them was slightly ajar, and there was a quiet squeaking coming from the other side. Adams looked at it, then tried the handle of the other door, turning it carefully and pulling; them pushing when that had no effect. It stayed closed, and she turned back to the Inspectral and shrugged.
He walked past her, and Collins noted how careful he was not to touch her. He remembered accidently putting his hand through the Inspectral’s arm and shivered again. The Inspectral laid a hand on the door, and then stepped through it. A moment later and he stepped back.
“Storage and generator,” he said quietly. “Sensible to keep locked. Our rabbits have gone through the open door, so I will guess that they don’t have the key either and don’t want to risk the door locking itself. We will leave it ajar I think.” Ethel nodded. “Lead on, Adams.”
Adams pushed the door a little further open, enough to squeeze through, and they followed her. Collins, bringing up the rear, noticed that the Inspectral walked through the door again rather than pretend to squeeze past, and he realised that leaving the door ajar was a decision taken for the living. Then he stepped through himself, and the squeaking intensified as did the leathery rustle of wings and a musty smell. They had found the bats, and they were restless.
Greg - well Kat is still working from home, so we're distinguishing weekends that way. And we're trying to keep some semblance of routine during the week for the boys, which helps. Otherwise I'd be quite confident that today is Thurednesday the 50th of March.
I like that Collins was betting on how long Ethel could keep quiet. And the Inspectral's response to his inability to do so :)
And yay, they've found the bats. Sorry, restless bats. Delightful.
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