Hmm, so this is ominous :) Are you going on holiday, leaving the current job, moving house, or just abandoning the kids so that you and Kat can start a new life in a ski resort in the Maritime Provinces where you'll pretend to be French immigrants? As it happens, I'm going to Kyiv next week, but my departure is mostly planned already for that :)
Planning a departure I checked I had the key with me as we left, and I gestured in the direction of the administration building, which wasn't far from a direct route back to our little base. "We should probably return the key," I said. "It's not like it'll do us much good after we've left." Ben nodded, and Jimmy nodded a second later. "Is it worth looking for more rooms like this?" he asked. "I mean, there was some good stuff in there, and it's light enough we can still carry more like that." Ben's eyes lit up, and I shrugged. "We’re planning our departure, and I'd rather leave," I said. "Greed tends to get people hurt more often than not." "We've been lucky so far," said Ben. "Yeah, and for how long can we stretch that luck before it runs out?" We walked in silence along the streets while they all thought about that, and I could see greed warring with sense on their faces. I chose not to say anything as I suspected that giving them something to argue against would only make their minds up faster. Instead I admired the architecture of the city; in the morning light the gold gleamed but wasn't dazzling down on the street; instead it seemed to give a warm glow to the whole place and softened and pushed away shadows. The buildings were spaced in blocks: each block was separated by a wide street or boulevard here, unlike where we'd been earlier where the streets were narrower and the buildings more densely placed. The blocks seemed to have an organising principle that I couldn't quite identify, but they all seemed to have certain amounts of buildings with specific heights, though why and what the reason was eluded me. We turned a corner and began the stroll down a long street that had the administration building at the end; side on to us this time. "We should leave," said Ben, and there was a definitely reluctance in his words. He wanted to be talked out of it. "Yes," said Jimmy, a little hesitantly. "That's settled then," I said, and said no more because anything else would have started the argument. We were half-way along the street when we heard an odd scraping, slithering noise and came to a halt. "What was that?" said Jimmy, looking around. Ben's hand slipped to his waistband where his gun was holstered, and I found my fingers twitching just a little as well. We moved back to back and surveyed a half-circle each. Nothing was moving. "I don't know," I said. "Keep your eyes open, all of us." We took a few more steps down the street and then something black and shadowy, too hard to make out its shape or nature, leaped down from a window of the administration building and landed with a heavy thump. It stumbled, seemed almost to fall and then catch itself, and then it was between us and the way home.
2 comments:
Hmm, so this is ominous :) Are you going on holiday, leaving the current job, moving house, or just abandoning the kids so that you and Kat can start a new life in a ski resort in the Maritime Provinces where you'll pretend to be French immigrants?
As it happens, I'm going to Kyiv next week, but my departure is mostly planned already for that :)
Planning a departure
I checked I had the key with me as we left, and I gestured in the direction of the administration building, which wasn't far from a direct route back to our little base. "We should probably return the key," I said. "It's not like it'll do us much good after we've left."
Ben nodded, and Jimmy nodded a second later.
"Is it worth looking for more rooms like this?" he asked. "I mean, there was some good stuff in there, and it's light enough we can still carry more like that." Ben's eyes lit up, and I shrugged.
"We’re planning our departure, and I'd rather leave," I said. "Greed tends to get people hurt more often than not."
"We've been lucky so far," said Ben.
"Yeah, and for how long can we stretch that luck before it runs out?"
We walked in silence along the streets while they all thought about that, and I could see greed warring with sense on their faces. I chose not to say anything as I suspected that giving them something to argue against would only make their minds up faster. Instead I admired the architecture of the city; in the morning light the gold gleamed but wasn't dazzling down on the street; instead it seemed to give a warm glow to the whole place and softened and pushed away shadows. The buildings were spaced in blocks: each block was separated by a wide street or boulevard here, unlike where we'd been earlier where the streets were narrower and the buildings more densely placed. The blocks seemed to have an organising principle that I couldn't quite identify, but they all seemed to have certain amounts of buildings with specific heights, though why and what the reason was eluded me.
We turned a corner and began the stroll down a long street that had the administration building at the end; side on to us this time.
"We should leave," said Ben, and there was a definitely reluctance in his words. He wanted to be talked out of it.
"Yes," said Jimmy, a little hesitantly.
"That's settled then," I said, and said no more because anything else would have started the argument.
We were half-way along the street when we heard an odd scraping, slithering noise and came to a halt.
"What was that?" said Jimmy, looking around. Ben's hand slipped to his waistband where his gun was holstered, and I found my fingers twitching just a little as well. We moved back to back and surveyed a half-circle each. Nothing was moving.
"I don't know," I said. "Keep your eyes open, all of us."
We took a few more steps down the street and then something black and shadowy, too hard to make out its shape or nature, leaped down from a window of the administration building and landed with a heavy thump. It stumbled, seemed almost to fall and then catch itself, and then it was between us and the way home.
Greg - a departure can mean many things... :)
Ooooooh dear. Well, they finally found one. For better or for worse. And at least it's only one of them!
For now...
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