Your prompts are starting to tell stories again: a chain reaction leading to an opening, something wild happening that's a mistake... what's going on in Osoyoos these days at all? Though when I ask that, I guess the most important thing is that you're not part of the riots and violence that's sweeping your downstairs neighbour at the moment.
A mistake The gunshot was as loud as an explosion, and the stairwell rang briefly with the echo of it. Collins’s ears rang for longer, and even Tony shook his head a couple of times as though trying to dislodge water from his ears. “Stay here,” he said, and Collins had to struggle to hear his words. Tony descended the stairs quickly and grabbed hold of the Robes. They were empty; they came up easily in his hands as a pile of loose clothing. He dropped them again and kicked them a couple of times, as though checking that nothing small was hiding in there. Collins could see his lips moving, though he couldn’t hear any words, and made out what the…. Which paralleled what he was thinking as well. Tony looked up at Collins, who was standing still as instructed, and then back down at the Robes. He hesitated, his fingers twitching, and then he half-bent, reaching for the Robes in the pile on the floor. He stopped, started to straighten up again, and then changed his mind once more and grabbed the Robes and tucked them under his arm. Collins shook his head, his hearing starting to return. The shaking didn’t seem to do anything but it was instinctive. “…osts can’t wear clothes,” he heard, though it was a low mumble still with some high-pitched whine left over from the gunshot effects. “And if it was the bloody dog it managed to run off damn fast that I didn’t see it.” As Tony started up the flight of stairs that Collins was standing on Collins saw Ethelred step out of the wall next to where the Robes had collapsed. He was wearing completely different clothes: what looked like a coarse tunic of somekind, pinned together at the neck by narrow, uneven pins that might be made of bone or some other natural material. His trousers ended mid-calf and looked as though they were made of canvas or crudely-tanned leather, and his shoes were similarly crude-looking; to Collins they looked like slippers that had been worn and treasured for fifteen years. He was almost certain that his grandfather had had a pair that looked just like them. Tony stopped, two steps below him. “Move,” he said, waving the gun. “Slowly. Any more funny business and I’ll shoot you in the knees and drag you into that room myself. You can fix things without needing your legs.” Collins swallowed hard, which seemed to help his hearing. “No,” he said. Behind Tony Ethel was walking steadily towards them. “You’re making a mistake, boy,” said Tony. His lips pulled back slightly from his teeth and his eyes narrowed. “You just watched me shoot whatever was in these Robes. You can be next. In fact, you will be next if you get moving now, and no more back-chat.”
2 comments:
Your prompts are starting to tell stories again: a chain reaction leading to an opening, something wild happening that's a mistake... what's going on in Osoyoos these days at all?
Though when I ask that, I guess the most important thing is that you're not part of the riots and violence that's sweeping your downstairs neighbour at the moment.
A mistake
The gunshot was as loud as an explosion, and the stairwell rang briefly with the echo of it. Collins’s ears rang for longer, and even Tony shook his head a couple of times as though trying to dislodge water from his ears.
“Stay here,” he said, and Collins had to struggle to hear his words. Tony descended the stairs quickly and grabbed hold of the Robes. They were empty; they came up easily in his hands as a pile of loose clothing. He dropped them again and kicked them a couple of times, as though checking that nothing small was hiding in there. Collins could see his lips moving, though he couldn’t hear any words, and made out what the…. Which paralleled what he was thinking as well.
Tony looked up at Collins, who was standing still as instructed, and then back down at the Robes. He hesitated, his fingers twitching, and then he half-bent, reaching for the Robes in the pile on the floor. He stopped, started to straighten up again, and then changed his mind once more and grabbed the Robes and tucked them under his arm.
Collins shook his head, his hearing starting to return. The shaking didn’t seem to do anything but it was instinctive.
“…osts can’t wear clothes,” he heard, though it was a low mumble still with some high-pitched whine left over from the gunshot effects. “And if it was the bloody dog it managed to run off damn fast that I didn’t see it.”
As Tony started up the flight of stairs that Collins was standing on Collins saw Ethelred step out of the wall next to where the Robes had collapsed. He was wearing completely different clothes: what looked like a coarse tunic of somekind, pinned together at the neck by narrow, uneven pins that might be made of bone or some other natural material. His trousers ended mid-calf and looked as though they were made of canvas or crudely-tanned leather, and his shoes were similarly crude-looking; to Collins they looked like slippers that had been worn and treasured for fifteen years. He was almost certain that his grandfather had had a pair that looked just like them.
Tony stopped, two steps below him. “Move,” he said, waving the gun. “Slowly. Any more funny business and I’ll shoot you in the knees and drag you into that room myself. You can fix things without needing your legs.”
Collins swallowed hard, which seemed to help his hearing. “No,” he said. Behind Tony Ethel was walking steadily towards them.
“You’re making a mistake, boy,” said Tony. His lips pulled back slightly from his teeth and his eyes narrowed. “You just watched me shoot whatever was in these Robes. You can be next. In fact, you will be next if you get moving now, and no more back-chat.”
Greg - just trying to provide workable prompts for your various tales without being too direct about it :)
The empty robes was an unexpected and well played maneuver. Ethel stalking up behind Tony is a great image as well.
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