The exercise:
Write something to do with: cycling.
Biked to work and back home for the first time today. Survived. Going to need a few days to recover. Looking forward to doing it regularly enough that it will be significantly easier than it was today.
2 comments:
Congratulations on becoming a cyclist again! I hope that it was broadly enjoyable, so that you won't feel tempted to just put the bike away and forget about it for another year :) Or that you swap it for Max's motorbike.... Incidently, your comment on trading places with someone who hasn't just cycled for an hour to work and back is a good idea but... which of Max, Miles and Kat will complain least when you swap with them?
Cycle
The staircase upwards was grand and intended to be imposing; Fabian started off admiring the slate-grey stone that was solid, yet somehow smooth to the point of almost feeling soft, and the arc of the steps as they swept up and around the side of the hall. They dominated the space without feeling heavy or awkward. As they reached half-way up, side-by-side and still not taking up half the width of the steps and the upper floor came into view he started to feel slightly jealous that the Museum staircase was not quite so grand, and having seen more visitors and use was not as inspiring to look at.
"There's a mezzanine," said Dread, pointing. Fabian looked, and moved the Staff to try and cast more light in that direction while Rystin asked,
"What's a mezzanine?"
"A sort of intermediate floor," said Fabian when it became clear Dread expected him to answer. "In spaces like this where you're going for grand and imposing you lose a lot of space because this hall reaches up three floors, for example. So you sometimes put some of the floor back, around the walls and especially underneath the staircases so that you regain some of the space without spoiling the look of the place. Of course, you can only access them from other staircases, or elevators, elsewhere in the building. We use some for displays of large items you don't need to get close to to appreciate. It also stops members of the bloody public from trying to touch the exhibits."
"That looks like a display," said Dread. He murmured something his breath that Fabian couldn't quite catch, like he was listening in one language and Dread was actually speaking another, and conjured a ball of yellowish-pink light and lobbed it over to the mezzanine.
On the mezzanine were several tall, whitish panels that might have a yellowish tint (but it might have been the light ball Dread had sent) that looked to be about twice as tall as Fabian. They were arranged from left to right to draw the eye across and were painted with pictures of the moon in various stages of fullness.
"Those were supposed to have been destroyed during the Tenrith War," said Rystin. Fabian thought he sounded upset. "Those are the Cycle of Monnia."
Dread said nothing, but the ball of light started to gradually recede from the mezzanine.
"What do they do?" asked Fabian into the stony silence.
"They're religious," said Rystin. "Spider-elf. They were at the centre of the Temple of Monnia, which was destroyed early on in the war. The Empire insisted that the destruction was an accident, a sad casualty of war. Which, if the goddamned Cycle of Monnia weren't sat right there would be a lot more believable!"
Dread's ball of light winked out. "Onwards and upwards," he said quietly.
Greg - well I managed to do it again on Tuesday, so that's okay. If I can at bare minimum do it once a week I'll be happy, with the goal to nudge it up to twice a week sooner than later.
And... Kat, I'm pretty sure, but only because the boys need very little reason to complain as it is.
Hmm, this feels like the first of many unsettling discoveries. Finally remembering to be curious about what the Auditors would be wanting to find there.
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