Daily writing prompts from June 9th, 2008 to December 31st, 2022
Monday March 1st, 2021
The exercise:
Write about: a flood.
Work was very, very busy this morning. It was like somebody decided to see how many things that needed my immediate attention could they find to throw at me at once.
That was nice of them! So, what's the number of simultaneous crises you can handle then? :-D
A flood The elevator change was just getting out of one elevator in a pool of light surrounded by echoing darkness and getting into the next. This time Steve positioned himself next to the elevator controls to avoid having to move people around, and Gabriel noticed that Julia waited till Marvin was in before picking the spot furthest away from him that she could get. He bit back a sigh; he'd have to talk to at least one of them when he got back to his desk. The mine got warmer as they descended and Julia wriggled out of her jacket, folding it over her arm. Steve looked unbothered, but his clothes were lighter than those the rest of them were wearing, and Gabriel had been down here before and knew what to expect. His jacket was wool; good for keeping the wind out, and not too hot down here either. The smell changed as well, though he couldn't put his finger on what it was. There was definitely something metallic, and there was oil as well, but another note added itself in, muted and undertone. He sniffed once or twice, and then stopped; it was sparking no memories and he didn't want anyone thinking he might be getting ill. The elevator halted at last with a clang of metal against rock and jolted them all around a bit. "It does that," said Steve. He sounded unapologetic, almost as though he'd been hoping to scare them. His voice, normally gruff and bass, sounded weaker and thinner down here, as though the darkness were bleeding off its strength and energy. Out of the lift there was more darkness; just black nothingness in some directions, a formless void that made you wonder what you'd fall into if you tried moving that way. A string of lights -- plastic housing long white glass bulbs -- were pinned somehow up into the roof of a rock tunnel that led away from the elevator and seemed like the only sensible direction to go. Marvin was already standing at the entrance to the tunnel with Sarah just behind him. Steve reached up to his hard hat, which he'd insisted they all wear before coming down, and turned on the lamp there. Here it seemed to do nothing, but when he looked into the darkness the beam of light picked out dark rock striated with green and blue. "Headlamps on," he said. "Don't want no-one tripping over and breaking a leg now. And watch out for slippery bits, there was a bit a flood last week."
Greg - like, two? Maybe? Depending on their complexity, I suppose.
I feel vaguely tense while reading this. Possibly just the fact that they're descending deep into the earth, but I suspect that there is something more going on.
2 comments:
That was nice of them! So, what's the number of simultaneous crises you can handle then? :-D
A flood
The elevator change was just getting out of one elevator in a pool of light surrounded by echoing darkness and getting into the next. This time Steve positioned himself next to the elevator controls to avoid having to move people around, and Gabriel noticed that Julia waited till Marvin was in before picking the spot furthest away from him that she could get. He bit back a sigh; he'd have to talk to at least one of them when he got back to his desk.
The mine got warmer as they descended and Julia wriggled out of her jacket, folding it over her arm. Steve looked unbothered, but his clothes were lighter than those the rest of them were wearing, and Gabriel had been down here before and knew what to expect. His jacket was wool; good for keeping the wind out, and not too hot down here either. The smell changed as well, though he couldn't put his finger on what it was. There was definitely something metallic, and there was oil as well, but another note added itself in, muted and undertone. He sniffed once or twice, and then stopped; it was sparking no memories and he didn't want anyone thinking he might be getting ill.
The elevator halted at last with a clang of metal against rock and jolted them all around a bit.
"It does that," said Steve. He sounded unapologetic, almost as though he'd been hoping to scare them. His voice, normally gruff and bass, sounded weaker and thinner down here, as though the darkness were bleeding off its strength and energy.
Out of the lift there was more darkness; just black nothingness in some directions, a formless void that made you wonder what you'd fall into if you tried moving that way. A string of lights -- plastic housing long white glass bulbs -- were pinned somehow up into the roof of a rock tunnel that led away from the elevator and seemed like the only sensible direction to go. Marvin was already standing at the entrance to the tunnel with Sarah just behind him.
Steve reached up to his hard hat, which he'd insisted they all wear before coming down, and turned on the lamp there. Here it seemed to do nothing, but when he looked into the darkness the beam of light picked out dark rock striated with green and blue.
"Headlamps on," he said. "Don't want no-one tripping over and breaking a leg now. And watch out for slippery bits, there was a bit a flood last week."
Greg - like, two? Maybe? Depending on their complexity, I suppose.
I feel vaguely tense while reading this. Possibly just the fact that they're descending deep into the earth, but I suspect that there is something more going on.
Or about to come.
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