Search Results for 'top'

Forums Search Search Results for 'top'

Viewing 20 results - 601 through 620 (of 782 total)
  • Author
    Search Results
  • #1230
    TracyTracy
    Participant

      With the weak Scottish sun warming their backs, India Louise and Cuthbert made sand castles on the deserted beach. Very few holidaymakers visited The Orkneys in the days when the Wrick twins were growing up (Elizabeth was tempted to add ‘whenever that was’ but refrained) and they had the beautiful sweep of coastline to themselves, all but for their nanny, the eccentric Breton, who was sitting on a tartan blanket in the sand dunes practicing her Scottish accent. Nanny had heard somewhere that a Scottish accent had been voted the ‘most reassuring in an emergency’, and in her position as nanny, she felt it would be an advantage, especially while working for the eccentric and adventurous Wrick family.

      Seagulls squawked overhead as she recited “… pRRoid te the lowkel in-abitents und steps av bin tayken in RResunt yeers… to improve the appearance of the city …… impRRoov the appeeRents uv the citay…

      Nanny’s studies were interrupted by shrieks from the two children, who were running down to the waters edge, pointing towards an unusual object which appeared to be floating towards them on the incoming tide.

      By the time Nanny reached the children the mysterious floating contraption had beached itself on the sand. As India Louise and Cuthbert paddled over to it, a wizened and emaciated Ella Marie Tindale whooped and cackled “Hooley Mooley, that was quoot a rood!”

      Och aye, ma wee bairns, dinnae tooch it!” shouted Nanny “Ye dinnae ken owt aboot it, och! Oof, and what ‘ave we ‘ere, what eez zeess?” she said, lapsing back into her natural French accent, in a state of shock at what the tide had brought in.

      The twins became alarmed immediately, backing away and asking nervously “Is it an alien?” “Is it a ghost?” so Nanny resumed the reassuring Scottish accent.

      Nay ma wee poppets, och and it’s nowt but anoother mummay!

      Cuthbert and India Louise exchanged looks surreptitiously. “What does she mean, ‘another’ mummy?” whispered Cuthbert to his sister. “How did she find out about the mummy in the unlocked room?”

      “I don’t know!” she whispered back “Maybe she heard me telling Bill!”

      Nanny gave both of the children a cuff round the back of the neck, reminding them of their manners.

      Help ze lady off and ztop zat rude wheezpering!

      #1229

      “Is there a probable Becky still at the Serendib Facility ~ in-the-rural-mountainous-central-region-of Sri-Lanka-in-the-2030’s ~ Godfrey?” Elizabeth hurriedly included some background information in her question to appease her publisher, the erudite and enigmatic Godfrey Pig-Littleton.

      Elizabeth was amused to note that erudite was almost an opposite to rude, but as Elizabeth could vouch for, neither was mutually exclusive, as Godfrey was clearly equally at ease exhibiting both ends of the rude spectrum. But I digress, she said to herself, turning her attention to Godfrey.

      Elizabeth,” he said with a frown, “At your request I have had installed all manner of information retrieval systems, both objective and subjective, and yet you will insist on asking me questions instead of accessing the information yourself.” Godfrey shivered, attempting to wrap his velvet smoking jacket closer round his spare frame. The rich claret colour suited him perfectly, but it was clearly inadequate against the bitter cold. “Put another log on the fire, Liz, it’s colder than a witches tit in here today!”

      “Don’t be rude, Godfrey” replied Elizabeth with a sniff. “I’m too cold to move, you do it. I’ve been absolutely frozen ever since Al sent us all to the South Pole. As a matter of fact, there’s been a cold snap all over the globe, which is why” she continued “I am trying to get us all out of there and back to Sri Lanka! We don’t want to start another Ice Age, Godfrey, this has to stop.”

      “Ah, those were the days” smiled Pig Littleton. “I remember it well. It all started when Aunt Jeanne du Bappe was writing her book and wanted more ice for her G&T. Somehow it all escalated out of control, and before you could say Boo to a Goose, the whole place was covered in glaciers. A few million years later, when she’d slept off the effects of the gin, it was just beginning to thaw…”

      “Dear old Jeanne, where is she now? I haven’t heard from her for…er, aeons.”

      “Oh, she’s in fine fettle, got a job in The City you know. They say she’s quite something in The City these days, got quite a name for herself in Design & Communications.”

      “Has she now! She’s done well for herself then, last I heard she was tiling kitchens in New Venice.”

      Pig Littleton snorted. “Aunt Jeanne du Bappe, tiling in New Venice? Don’t be ridiculous, Liz, you’re getting your timelines in a twist. I expect that was one of her protegée’s, Aunt Jeanne’s been in The City for —well…”

      Godfrey was uncharacteristically stumped.

      Elizabeth wasn’t going to miss an opportunity to tease her old friend. “For how long?”

      “For a very long Now”

      “Well, I must say, that’s a fine thing isn’t it, to start an ice age and then bugger off to The City while everyone else freezes their tits off” said Elizabeth, blowing on her hands to warm them.

      “You do realize, Liz dear, that every time you mention the word Cold, or Frozen, or Ice Age, you are increasing the potential of the Ice Age in the Probability Pool?”

      Godfrey, the Probability Pool has frozen over. We’ll be skating right over the top of it instead of dipping into it, if we don’t start a thaw soon!”

      #1225
      TracyTracy
      Participant

        Becky was relieved that Al hadn’t taken the introduction of the new characters too badly. He and Sam seemed to dash off again rather quickly though. Becky was starting to feel a bit lonely, what with Tina away for so long as well as Al and Sam being so wrapped up with the kitchen tiling that they hardly had time to stop for a chat anymore. Gawd only knows how many tiles it takes to tile a kitchen, Becky thought, even a kitchen in the city.

        #1224
        TracyTracy
        Participant

          Of course, there were probable versions of Snettie and Snooter that remained in Spreal, as well as probable versions that left Spreal much earlier. There was a probable reality in which Snooter and Snettie, and their freinds Spagwan and Illiofilly (sometimes spelled Iliophile) journeyed north a decade previously, as indeed there are probable realities in which Snooter and Snettie journeyed north, but Spagwan and Iliophile stayed behind.

          “This could go on ad infinitum Godfrey, I better rein myself in” remarked Elizabeth, more to herself than to her friend Pig Littleton, who appeared to be engrossed in scrutinizing peanuts one at a time before popping then into his mouth and chewing them thoughtfully.

          “Where were you planning to go with it, anyway?” asked Godfrey, inspecting another peanut.

          “Well, I didn’t have a plan actually. I just started writing, really. And kept on writing until I reined myself in, and then….”

          “And then what happened?” asked Godfrey, a trifle mischievously.

          “And then the writing stopped.” Elizabeth laughed.

          “How very singular, Liz dear” Replied Godfrey wryly. “You’re not making very good progress on Volume Two, I must say.”

          “Anyway, Godfrey, I’ve got a bone to pick with you!” Elizabeth pushed her keyboard away and turned to face her publisher. “You’ve been tampering with my vowels again! It’s jolly well not cricket you know, old bean.”

          Godfrey Pig Littleton focused on Elizabeth’s keyboard, a single peanut held alot as he concentrated, and the keys started to type on their own. Elizabeth swung round and read:

          “…Oonyway Goodfrey, Oo’ve goot a boon to pook wooth yoo! Yoo’ve boon toompering wooth moo vooells agoon! Oot’s jooly wool noot crookit yoo knoo, oold boon….”

          GODFREY!!” shouted Elizabeth. “Stop it! Nobody’s going to understand that Nonsense!”

          #1222
          TracyTracy
          Participant

            “Oh no! Last night’s frost has killed all the blibilong plants!” exclaimed Snettie, shivering in the unnatural cold. “Honestly, this global freezing is spoiling everything. If blibilong plants can’t stand this cold, then nothing will grow here anymore, and I am sick to death of eating leopard seal with no greens.”

            “Ugh, don’t remind me. What I wouldn’t give for a nice fresh sun warmed bobbit fruit. All the smikkerts have migrated north as well, I haven’t seen one for months” replied Snooter. “I don’t know if I can stick around here for much longer myself.”

            “But this is our home, Snooter!” Snettie started to cry, her tears freezing on her cheeks. We’re Sprealians, we’ve always lived here. Where will we go?”

            Snooter hugged Snettie. “I suppose we’ll have to go north, like the rest of them.”

            Snooter and Snettie gazed around at the deserted city. Alabash had been built around the shores of Lake Flom, in the mild and temperate regions of central Spreal (later, much later, Spreal was referred to as Gondwana, but Snooter and Snettie didn’t know that. And they certainly didn’t know that the remains of their civilization was to disappear under masses of ice for so long that all memory of them was long forgotten, and that anyone mad enough to suggest that they once existed would be considered a bit of a nutter).

            Snettie, I think the time has come” Snooter said solemnly. “I think we have to go north. There’s only old Spagwan left here now besides us, and his daughter Illiofilly. We’ll never survive here with just four of us, even if it didn’t get any colder, and it is getting colder, every day. Why, the first four floors of all our buildings are iced up now for heaven’s sake. What happens when the ice reaches the top floors? Then what?”

            “We’ll all be dead by then, Snooter” Snettie sighed “By rights we should probably be dead now. When we run out of furniture to burn to keep warm, then what? All the trees are dead and buried in ice.”

            “We’ll come back though, when it warms up again. This can’t last forever, and when it’s over, we’ll come back.” Snooter said optimistically.

            “How long do you think it’ll be?” Snettie asked her husband.

            “Oh, not long, a few years at most. Don’t worry, you’ll be back home before you know it, but for now, let’s go and find some warmth and some decent food, eh?”

            “Ok, but first I want to leave something, some message or clue or something, in case anyone comes back here before we do, so they know we’re coming back”

            #1221

            SHA!”
            WHAT?!”
            “Any bloody idea where we’re going?”
            WHAT?”
            “I SAID ‘Any BLODDY idea WHERE we’re GOING?’”

            Sha stopped her snooter. “Are you kidding me? Of course I know! We’re going back home!”

            The others were silent for a moment…

            “Come on, you saw the sign, didn’t you?

            https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a7/Scott_base_in_antarctica.jpg/450px-Scott_base_in_antarctica.jpg

            “The sign?”
            “Of course darlings! It said seventeen kilometers and 39 meters to London, we’ll be home by the end of the day!”
            “Seventeen? That’s what? Ten miles at best!”
            “Gosh, never occurred to me it was so close! Ya such a genius Sha!”

            “Is Akita still unconscious?”
            “Yeah, bugger if I know how he can sleep an’ all, being that skinny with all the bumps on the road”

            #1214
            TracyTracy
            Participant

              “This is a long process, Godfrey , a very long process” Elizabeth said with a wry chuckle. She had left her characters to their own devices for so long she didn’t know where to jump in again with her directing.

              “The process is the point, dear” Pig Littleton replied dryly. “Pass the peanuts, would you?”

              “There are hundreds of probable possibilities, in fact there are so many of them that I hardly seem able to find a place to start.”

              “Start anywhere Liz, and then stop when you’re finished.” Godfrey said with his mouth full of peanuts. “Ideas are like peanuts, you can savour them one at a time…”

              “Or shove a whole handful in your mouth at once, eh Piggy” retorted Elizabeth, frowning as Godfrey tried to munch, swallow and speak all at the same time. “If I shove too many in my mouth at once, I can’t remember each individual peanut, it all becomes a glob of sticky….”

              “Peanut butter spread? And what’s wrong with that?” Pig Littleton smiled.

              “Well for one thing Godfrey, all those bits of peanuts stuck in your teeth is rather off putting you know.”

              “Why?” asked Godfrey.

              “Why?” Elizabeth repeated, perplexed.

              “Yes, why? Why do you perceive the physical evidence of my enjoyment of peanuts captured for a moment between my teeth as off putting?”

              “When you put it like that, dear Piggy, I confess I don’t have an answer” Elizabeth replied with a snort. “As a matter of fact, I have no idea where this conversation is leading at all!”

              “Aha, and there you have it!”

              “Have what, Godfrey? What on earth do you mean?”

              “Well, why should it be leading anywhere in particular? The process is the point, Liz, not the destination!”

              “Hang on a minute, are you trying to tell me that this conversation about peanuts is a meaningful process with a point?”

              Godfrey Pig Litteton laughed, spraying bits of peanut everywhere and nearly choking. “Who said anything about meaningful?”

              “Well what’s the point of it if it isn’t meaningful?”

              “If it’s meaning you want, you can read all sorts of things into it. On the other hand, if it’s fun you want, why worry about meaning?”

              Elizabeth shook her head, perplexed. “Is it fun that I want?”

              “Don’t you know?!” asked Godfrey, in mock surprise.

              “Well of course I want fun! Everyone does, surely!”

              “Then why” Godfrey said with exaggerated patience “worry about meaning?”

              “I’m not worried about meaning, Piggy, you’re twisting my words, you tricky rascal!”

              “My dear Elizabeth, I quote you: ‘What’s the point of it if it isn’t meaningful’”

              “Pfft” she replied. “I might delete that comment. Trouble is, if I do, the rest of it won’t make sense.”

              “Worried about making sense now, are we, dear?” said Godfrey with a sly grin.

              Godfrey, you’re making me sound so old fashioned, worrying about sense and meaning! Pass the peanuts.”

              #1213
              EricEric
              Keymaster

                Georges and Salome’s journal

                From Salome’s account of her introduction to the Turmak People (Part 4)

                Legends of the past can tell you a lot more on the present than what sometimes is actually revealed by present events. I discovered the truth of this statement when we arrived with Cil at the capital of Tùrmk. As Cil was discussing with officials of the Turmaki Gatherings, I was offered to go to their House of Remembrance. It was, I gathered, a sort of physical repository of the knowledge of the Turmaki that would allow me to bridge the gap of my abysmal ignorance of their history.

                I was only barely starting to understand the odds of the physical configurations of space in this dimension, and I was nonetheless more than eager to add history to my previous geography lessons.
                Turmaki are living in a sort of interesting land forming a sort of circle at the centre of which lies the most beautiful sea I have ever seen, with a very subtle and vivid shade of deep indigo blue. Most of Turmakis’ activity was directed inward of the circle, and the outer sea wasn’t a matter of interest to them. Later at the House of Remembrance, I learned that there had been an agreement in the past with the other sentient races to not mingle, so even if there was not physical barrier, all they focused their attention upon was their land, and theirs only.
                Their Capital City, Tùrmk, may probably be seen as a very rudimentary city by all Earth-biased accounts. However, at that time, I had not really seen much of the Earth to be blasée anyway, so I was quite receptive to the beauty of its simplicity. It was located at the foremost point of an inner peninsula known as the Nirgual’s Head, facing twelve beautiful islands on which sacred temples had been erected.

                My fascination for the beauty of these islands led me to discover more about their significance. In the House of Remembrance, a similar structure of twelve doors led me to learn that the twelve families held significance even here and throughout Alienor as well. Representatives of the families were chosen among the Guardians, as I remembered Georges had discovered and interestingly some of them had had quite an influence upon the history of the various people of Alienor. I couldn’t really trace it back to tangible proofs, but as I said, some legends are quite telling — thus corroborating Cil’s earlier statements.

                I have not much time left to start telling them now, but I will probably tell more about the Legends of the Six ‘Fudjàhs’ —or Power Objects.

                (Part 3)

                #1204
                EricEric
                Keymaster

                  “What did you do with Baba Yolanda?” the usual gang asked Angela Goose when they saw her coming alone.

                  “Oh bugger Baba the Loon, I’ve put her in an Eiders Nursing Home, she’ll be comfy there and I’ve got enough feather ruffling at home, I had to admit the Eiders Nursing Home are more equipped than I am.”

                  “Oh, zheers Angela, good zing for you” Jobby the baby pygmy hippo wanted to applause. “Now we can go see Barry the White Bear!”

                  “Hang on a minute,” Angela interrupted “Don’t you think we should enroll Baboona and Obaboon? They are quick-witted and smart like humans those two, could be helpful to worm a bit of information out of Barry…”

                  “Oh, that’s it, you don’t think we’re good enough, how rude” Weirdy the Weasel feigned being hurt

                  “Oh, stop it Weirdy, we’re all fine, you’re right; let’s go now, we’ll see what comes when it comes…”

                  #1163

                  Day of the Dead soon, Leo, might be a good day to go through that door” Bea said.

                  “Well that’s the day that Baked Bean Barb is coming round with that book she found, Bea” replied Leonora.

                  “She can come with us, the more the merrier eh! We could have a bit of a party you know, maybe have a bonfire on the top of the mound and then go through the door, might be fun.”

                  “It’s all very well you saying we’ll just go through the door, Bea, but it’s not that easy.”

                  “Why not?”

                  “Because it isn’t a door, that’s why! It’s a pile of boulders blocking a cave entrance!”

                  “All the more reason to invite lots of people to the party then! It will be a boulder moving out of the way of the door party, and when the door way is clear, we can all go through it. Aren’t you dying of curiosity to see what’s inside that mound?”

                  “Yeah, I am. And we have to do it soon, because Jose will be back and then we’ll have to move. Might not be so easy then. Ok, let’s go for it. I’ll make a list who to invite.”

                  “Some nice big strong strapping lads is what we need.”

                  “No kidding”

                  “To move the boulders, I meant” Bea said, rolling her eyes.

                  #1159

                  “You tempestuous fool” Becky cried and slapped Gayesh soundly across the face. “Don’t give me those unspoken looks!”

                  Gayesh sighed. “Ah, the infinite pleasure I had in mind is naught but an elusive dream.”

                  Elizabeth read the last two lines she’d been working on to her publisher, Godfrey Pig-Littleton.

                  Godfrey snorted. “Elizabeth, really! You jest, I hope.”

                  “Well, I was just trying to fit each of the four themes into one chapter, they all seemed to fit together so easily” Elizabeth replied. “Why not? Tempestuous, Elusive Dreams, Unspoken Looks, and Pleasure”

                  “You seemed to have fit them all into two sentences, never mind a chapter. And your characters sound like characters in a play.”

                  “Well they are characters in a play, Godfrey” replied Elizabeth.

                  “Ham actors, that’s what I meant. Anyway, Liz” Pig-Littleton said with a slightly mischievous grin, “What if Gayesh doesn’t want his face slapped by Becky?”

                  “What do you mean?”

                  “What if Becky doesn’t want to slap Gayesh?”

                  “Well, she will if I write it into the play, surely!” Elizabeth started to frown. She knew that once she invented her characters that they continued to exist in a reality of their own, being free to create their own realities in whatever probable dimension they found themselves in, but she had never really stopped to think about the ramifications of her continuing to write incidents into their lives.

                  “Maybe Becky has moved on from where you left her last time you wrote about her, in a completely different direction” Godfrey continued “And maybe she doesn’t want to play along with your theme word game. I mean really, is it fair to make her? Maybe she was having more fun doing whatever it was she was doing while you weren’t even thinking about what she should do. Quite rude really to interrupt her just so that you could do your word theme games. Bit of a cheek, I’d say.”

                  “Oh Godfrey, that’s easily explained” Elizabeth had remembered Probabilities, which was always a handy excuse in continuity disputes. “Another probable character will do what I write for them to do, there are probably hundreds of probable characters now, all going in different directions.”

                  “Is that wise? Really Elizabeth, that sounds outrageously irresponsible. Hundreds of probable characters running amok, and you have absolutely no idea what they’re all getting up to.”

                  “Well they’re not my responsibility Godfrey, for heavens sake!”

                  “Well if they’re not your responsibility, then who’s responsible for them?”

                  “Nobody is responsible for them!”

                  “Well that sounds like a recipe for chaos if you ask me” Godfrey said with a sniff. “You’ve unleashed hundreds of probable Becky’s into reality, not to mention Leo’s and Bea’s….”

                  “And Pig-Littleton’s” Elizabeth interjected under her breath.

                  “… and Sanso’s and Dory’s” Godfrey, who hadn’t heard Elizabeth, continued to reel off the characters names. “I mean how big do you think reality is? The rate you’re filling it up with probable characters there’ll be no space left!”

                  Elizabeth started to laugh. “Oh Godfrey, you’re a case. Ahahah! They don’t take up any space at all! Anyway, GodfreyElizabeth turned back to her notepad. “Listen to the latest chapter and tell me what you think:

                  “You tempestuous fool” Becky cried and slapped Gayesh soundly across the face. “Don’t give me those unspoken looks!”

                  Gayesh sighed. “Ah, the infinite pleasure I had in mind is naught but an elusive dream.”

                  Godfrey Pig-Littleton was impressed. “Elizabeth, how perfectly you incorporated the four themes into one brilliantly short chapter”

                  Elizabeth closed her notebook with a satisfied smile and yawned. Let them all do whatever the bloody hell they all want to, I’m off to bed. Plenty of probable characters available in the morning, waiting in the wings.

                  #1146

                  “Oh My God” exclaimed Bea. “I had a dream about the DOOR!”

                  “Oh, well done! The question is, did you remember it?” asked Leonora.

                  “As a matter of fact, Leo, I did!” replied Bea with a happy smile. “As a matter of fact, although I’m not too sure how factual matter really is, but anyway, I did remember the dream, and I wrote it all down.”

                  “Gosh, up early this morning, weren’t you?” asked Leo, who was sipping coffee at the kitchen table and watching the sun come up over the mountains through the open door.

                  “Oh I didn’t write it down this morning, silly! I wrote it all down last week.”

                  Leo placed her cup on the table and rubbed her eyes, frowning. “Wait a minute, let me get this straight…..”

                  Bea laughed ~ she was in rather a jolly mood, despite the early hour. “I had the dream last week, Leo, but I only just realized this morning that the dream was about THE DOOR

                  “So what did you learn about the door, then?”

                  Bea frowned. “Well I’m not really sure. But it seemed so significant because it was that scary door, you know, the dreams I’ve been having for years about that door in that bedroom that’s too scary to get near, never mind go through….would you like to read it? Maybe you can interpret it for me.”

                  “If I must” sighed Leonora “You better pour me another cup of coffee then and pass me those cigarettes.”

                  Leonora read from Bea’s Dream Journal:

                  I was sorting winter clothes out on an upstairs landing of a cottagey gabled house,
                  and decided to use the upstairs bedroom instead of the downstairs one.
                  The bedroom was a recurring dream one, gabled attic with dormer windows kind of room.
                  Then I saw the door and remembered this was the door I was always too terrified
                  in dreams to open; it was so scary that I always wanted to use this bedroom
                  but never could because of that terrifying door and whatever lay beyond it.

                  “Didn’t you do a waking dream and go through that door?” Leonora asked. “Oh, yes here is is…”

                  Remembering that I had done a waking dream and gone beyond the door once,
                  I marched up to the door, flung it open and strode through.
                  Suddenly an almost overpowering fear and dread stopped me in my tracks
                  but I carried on anyway.

                  “Oh, bloody well done, Bea! Good for you, girl!” Leonora could be a bit waspish at times, but she was a kind old soul underneath.

                   It was a bit like a old slightly shabby but once grand hotel foyer, high ceilings
                  (not the same as when I went through in the waking dream, which was then rows
                  of closed doors on either side).  The foyer opened out on the left into a large old
                  fashioned restaurant dining room, with one person over on the far side sitting at
                  a table.  I carried on straight ahead through opaque etched glass double doors
                  onto an upstairs outdoor terrace.  There was a city scene below.  On the left
                  was a shallow ornately shaped ornamental pool.

                  “Reminds me a bit of our trip to Barcelona, this does, eh” Leo commented.

                  “Yeah, I’m sure that had something to do with the gargoyle imagery” replied Bea.

                  A woman squeezed past me holding a small thick book and I knew she was
                  going to jump off the terrace which was several storeys up.  She collapsed into
                  the pool, writhing backwards, baring a flat white breast and dropping the book.

                  “Flat breast, hahah Bea, that weren’t you then, obviously, was it!”

                  Bea chuckled. “Not bloody likely! I reckon that bit slipped in the dream because I can’t find a comfortable bra lately”

                  “You and me both” replied Leo. She continued reading from the journal.

                  I picked up the book, and somehow ended up with two books, which seemed like guide books. I couldn’t hold onto the two books with the creature in my hand, which was weird, like a very heavy small furry grey reptile, or gargoyle.

                  “Maybe it was a baby dragon?”

                  “Don’t say that!” retorted Bea, who had a horror of dragons. “The thought did cross my mind too, though” she admitted.

                  I was holding it with one hand round its middle and the fat grey belly of it
                  was bulging out under my fingers.  It was unbelievably heavy for such a small creature
                  and I didn't want to hold it, so I passed it to a boy. (Twice I was holding the creature,
                  and twice I passed it to the boy, but I can't recall the other time)
                  Back inside the building, I followed the boy down a big wide staircase that
                  curved round to the right at a landing below.  I started to fall down the stairs and
                  knew it was because of the book that I was holding that the woman had been holding
                  when she collapsed into the pool, so I threw the book down the stairs to save myself,
                  and felt the tumbling down from the books perspective, although I stayed in
                  the same place, clutching the banister.

                  “Well I am amazed that you remembered so much, Bea! Going through the doors and finding the books reminds me of Jane’s Library you know”. Leo was starting to go into an altered state.

                  “Are you going into an altered state, Leo?” asked Bea. “Are you channeling Juani Ramirez again?”

                  “The creature, the gargoyle, was representing ‘a different species of awareness, of consciousness’” continued Leonora, as Bea hastily started taking notes. Leo wouldn’t remember what she’d said while she was channeling Juani, so it was essential that Bea record what was said.

                  “The weight was a marker to help you recall the creature, as well as being symbolic of denseness”

                  Bea couldn’t help making a snirking noise. Dense eh, she said under her breath.

                  “The door” continued Leonora “Is a signpost, a marker.”

                  Just then the phone rang, snapping Leonora out of the trance. Bea picked up the telephone, but there was nobody there.

                  “Pffft” said Bea.

                  “More coffee?”

                  #1136
                  TracyTracy
                  Participant

                    The interior of the Fly-boat was a bit like a Tardis, in that it was very much bigger on the inside than it appeared from the outside, and quite a different shape, too. While the exterior of the fly-boat resembled a cross between a duck and a bee, the interior was circular. There was a high point in the centre of the ceiling, and richly embroidered tapestries draping down to the floor in sumptuous folds, looking for all the world like a yurt.

                    Yukailli Airlines has a decidedly exotic and oriental air, Dory thought as she perused the in flight magazine, which was written in a charming but indecipherable script resembling the Voynich Papers.

                    “This is your captain speaking” a disembodied voice boomed. “Welcome aboard! My name is Ignoratio Elenchi, and I trust that you will have a most enjoyable flight with Yukailli AirBoats. There will be no obligation to fasten your seatbelts and you may smoke all through the flight. Our cabin crew will be preparing Vedic Stew over an open fire in the central area of the craft at 11:11. For your in-flight entertainment, up on the open air flight deck there will be a continuous light show by Aurora Borealis. If you want us to stop the flyboat at any point to take snapshots” continued Ignoratio, “Please don’t hesitate to ask.”

                    #1129
                    TracyTracy
                    Participant

                      Dory was glad she’d brought her puzzle book with her to the airport. The stopover at Heathrow was turning out to be much longer than anticipated. Further delays on all flights to Long Pong had just been announced, and Dory sighed as she fished in her capacious flight bag for a pen.

                      #1128

                      When Balbina woke up from that which had been her longest and strangest projection out of her body ever, all the memories of this fantastic adventure were oddly still fresh and crystal clear in her mind.

                      She doubted that it may have been as real as she has perceived it to be; but the funny rabbit, before they all entered the long dark tunnel, had winked at her and told her there would be signs for her.

                      Outside the window, the sunlight was starting to show on the Cordillera de la Costa, the nearby mountains.
                      She was feeling strangely rejuvenated by this unexpected night spent in far-away travels, and it was almost as if her whole body was feeling better than it ever was.
                      But of course, it was more of the same. Fabella, the nurse would soon enter and great her with a…

                      “Did Madam sleep well?”
                      “Quite, yes”… Her voice was quivering. Hardly the youthful voice she had during her projections out of the body.

                      So, there she was again, in that old people house, and no way out of this mis…

                      “What?!” she made the nurse busy cleaning her instruments repeat —to which she was far too pleased to comply.
                      “Yes, Madam, your son phoned this morning and told he would come for you…”

                      Her son? That was most unexpected.

                      What did the rabbit said already? Help would come from the most unexpected corners… Well, she had almost forgotten that this corner still existed!

                      “Did he say something else?”
                      “Oh, I’m not really allowed to tell, M’am…”
                      “But of course, you can’t really resist (little goose)” simpered the old wincing lady in a whisper to herself.
                      Fabella was indeed continuing, unstoppable “… but he seems to consider it’s too expensive to have you here, and would love to have you home with him”

                      Well, of course, you can’t really expect him to be so generous for no reason Balbina was thinking… But anything would probably be better than this old fools’ home. Even her son’s home.

                      Besides, it was located outside Caracas, near the mountains… And if the funny rabbit’s directions were correct, it was very, very close from where her hosts (provided they existed of course) were to re-emerge.

                      She’d never imagined that falling into the abyss of sweet madness would be so exciting.

                      #1118

                      The corridors were unusually long and Malvina was thinking of urging Leormn back to the cave, but she pulled herself together and began to sing a well known song of her friends’ world.

                      :fleuron:

                      Mandrake was trying desperately to relax, but apparently Yikesy wasn’t seeing it that way. Vincentius was so patient that it wasn’t human… well he wasn’t human after all, and Mandrake was beginning to doubt the baby could be human too, his dark rocky face notwithstanding.

                      After all he had done to amuse him, the baby’s responses were quite disappointing. His subtle puns, his witticisms and his elaborate jokes all overlooked… And worse, that devilish baby dared pull his tail! Mandrake couldn’t help a disgraceful meow before he ran away from the scoundrel.
                      Vincentius had told him the baby was a bit young, but the cat was suspecting a particularly mischievous tendency.

                      The baby stopped crying and shouting. That’s when Mandrake realized someone was coming.
                      Strange song really, he had never heard that language before… maybe it was just jibberish. He sprang on his feet and sidestepped skillfully another attempt of the little one to catch his tail. It was the occasion he was waiting for.

                      :fleuron:

                      Focused on her 100th kilometer, Malvina hadn’t notice she was arrived. Vincentius was attending to the child’s need and she had just the time to notice the cat who had just snaked under her petticoat.

                      Mandrake, be careful! I almost walked on your tail…

                      — Meow! (that one was quite elegant and he was proud of it) Well, he said ironically, I was trained by the boy…

                      She laughed at the idea of Mandrake tormented by Yikesy.

                      — He’s Yike a cyclone, not resting until complete exhaustion.
                      The trace of bitterness in his tone surprised him, though he began to relax under her smile. That was a long time since he hadn’t purred like that… he really liked her presence and energy, and it seemed to influence the kid also.

                      — Are you going to make him sleep? he asked eagerly.

                      — Oh no, I’ve merely soothed your energy and the baby is responding quite readily to the newborn calmness of the room.

                      — That was rude, he said as if offended, but he was grateful for it. Vincentius, my dear fellow companion in this godforsaken place, he called to divert attention from him. Look at who’s here.

                      The semi-god turn quickly his head and bowed it slightly before returning to his main preoccupation.

                      — He’s a bit rude too. He had barely welcomed you…

                      — Well he’s quite aware I’m not here for him or the baby.

                      #1111
                      AvatarJib
                      Participant

                        With the winter coming so fast (no more season you see), Dory was busy tidying her patio waiting for the next plane to Long Pong.
                        All the dusty trinkets and the artworks she had brought back from her different excavations; she had to put them into some shelter, just in case. Last week the temperature had plummeted so quickly. She had to take the warm clothes out of the closets and realized she also had to change some of them in the process. Some unfriendly moth had eaten the wool of her favorite sweater…
                        She was feeling dull and empty. Almost like she had no more purpose. Doing that cleaning and tidying was a way of distracting herself from that impression, she knew it would pass.
                        Since the departure of her friends, Yann and Yurick, she had felt a bit lonely, even with Dan being present.
                        She lacked a new excavation project, one that would fill in her blood with excitement and passion.

                        An odd thought made her shudder. For a moment she had considered the idea of having a baby.

                        — “No!”
                        Really, she should find something worthy of her unlimited energy and not something that would chain her in habits and force her attention outside of her. Though, she seemed quite short of energy lately… However, it was not the time, not the place… and merely not the life for it.

                        She wondered : what were her friends doing?
                        Yann and Yurick were most probably preparing their new book, and Finn had told her last time that she was on the verge of adopting a baby Orangatun“she would need spare jungle in her garden”, she chuckled at the sudden vision of Finn gardening her jungle… Well at least it would give her a good distraction.

                        She stopped her tidying and came back inside the house. Where was the wireless phone again? Apparently everything was a mess… she’d have to rethink the “no” she had given Dan last time he had asked her if she needed a butler.

                        Oh! under her former favorite sweater, of course! She took the phone and composed Finn’s number. Maybe she would extend her trip from Long Pong to New Zealand…

                        #1074
                        TracyTracy
                        Participant

                          “What on earth is Al suggesting now, I wonder” mused Becky, who was catching up with the latest additions to the Reality Play. Frowning, she wondered how to handle it. It was often a challenge when one of the other writers interfered with her story line plans.

                          “Well, be honest, Becky” she said to herself “You were floundering a bit with all this boring tropical romance stuff, wafting around the Facility with nothing more interesting to do than sip cool drinks and wink at Gayesh.”

                          Becky put the sheaf of printed pages on the table beside her, lost in thought. The warm still evening air was beginning to be stifling, and she felt trapped, smothered in the blue velvet embrace of the night, sickened by the scent of the perfumed flowers and rotting fruit, and suddenly bored beyond endurance.

                          “I’m going back home” she decided. “I’ll leave a deposit of cells here, swap places with Becky Tooh, and she can come back here and take her chances with Gayesh and the clone experiment.”

                          Perhaps her babies and her lush of a husband back home would be more exciting.

                          “I can always swap back again later if it gets tedious in New Venice” she added, having a moment of trepidation at the thought of her responsibilities as a mother of triplets. She liked to keep her options open, keep an escape plan on the back burner.

                          With a light heart and a spring in her step, she grabbed the papers off the table and ran upstairs to pack.

                          “Maybe a stop over in Long Pong on the way” she decoded. “Oh look at that!” she said to herself “I meant to say decided and wrote decoded instead. Pfft” she grumbled “That must be because I’m worried about decoding all the other strange additions to the Reality Play that have been spewed forth lately. Sheesh, do Al and Sam honestly think I will ever catch up now? Oh bugger it all, Long Pong, here I come!”

                          #1072

                          This door is influenced by the energy you irradiate.

                          You have to trust your energy in order for it to lead you to the most fulfilling place.

                          Irtak drew his hand closer to the rippling surface of the door. Its aspect was so changing that it was like he was seeing all the tiniest elements that composed the matter, whatever it was. Hesitating, he asked Leormn.

                          — Are you trying one of your tricks on me? It’s like I’m hypnotized.

                          He’s not trying to lure you in… said Jeckle.
                          The vibration you are currently feeling is the resonance of your energy with the one filtering through that door. said Heckle. I suspect it comes from another realm…
                          But it is close to this one, Jeckle added. His muzzle quivered with excitement. I feel a friendly energy filtering from the other side.

                          The waves of curiosity emitted by his friends were compelling, and Leormn could feel it. He himself was very interested by what he could feel was some kind of counterpart of himself. He was familiar with the energy but it was somewhat different from his own.

                          Our strong desire is maintaining the door open. We can go safely through it and return in no time… he suggested in a soft persuasive tone.

                          Arona, who was feeling a bit forgotten, grunted and added a tad dubious :
                          — I’m not sure we should do it. We should tell the others… Where are they by the way?

                          Apparently, the dragons and the boy were more fascinated by what was leaking out of her drawing. She’d been a bit surprised that one of her creations… if one could call the few brushstrokes a creation… that it could produce such an odd reaction. She couldn’t help but notice that the two words were anagrams.

                          Leormn looked at her with a renewed interest.

                          I’m feeling you are connected to that other realm, dear Arona. We all are in a way, but it’s like your lineage came from that… gate. Would you dare find out about your origin?

                          She looked at him dubiously. His gaze was so intense that one moment…

                          — Are you serious? she asked.

                          He grinned… Who knows… if you don’t go you may never find out ;)) and I’m sure the others can take care of themselves when we are gone.

                          Saying that he jumped on the other side like he was acting on a whim.

                          The twins looked at each other and followed him… and Irtak was next…
                          What was she to do?
                          It was almost as if the door was staring at her. Challenging her… and she didn’t really like to be alone in these dark corridors.
                          She jumped in and felt completely stretched out for what seemed a few seconds. She almost lost sense of who she was when an image started to form in her mind.

                          It expanded until she was surrounded by a warm sensation of well being and lightness. She was completely safe in this place.
                          A sudden woosh and a sensation of cold. She fell on the floor, her members suddenly failing her. The light was completely different and she couldn’t hear anything. Panic began to overwhelm her and she realized she couldn’t emit any sound either.

                          As suddenly as it was gone, her sense of hearing reappeared.

                          Who was shouting like that?

                          AronaArona!

                          The directedness in the tone was enough to make her recover her balance. She stopped shouting and began to notice her other senses… nothing particular at first, but she had the weird impression that it was different. Looking around her, she saw that the dragons were sniffing around like puppies and Irtak was following them like one of them.

                          — Where are we? she asked Leormn.
                          The sound of her voice was lower-pitched than usual, and Leormn started to laugh at her look of dismay.

                          Hahaha! I don’t know yet… but we have all the time to discover.

                          — Can’t we come back to the cave now? I don’t feel comfortable here… look at the sand, it’s purple… maybe it’s some kind of bacteria or something, maybe it’s contagious…

                          He gave her one of those irritating wink. She was about to retort bluntly when she realized there was no way back.
                          The door had disappeared.

                          #1063
                          AvatarJib
                          Participant

                            The creaking sound of the door reminded her of a young lampürnok during the mating season on the Duane. Loads of lamprunki (plural for lampürnok) near Mount Elok’ram in her little village.

                            The pock-marked face of Pavel appeared at the door.

                            — Pheeeebe! I am sooo glaad we meet again.

                            He entered and sat on what was supposed to be a bed.

                            — I can’t say I’m glad, Pavel.

                            She snorted.

                            — Last time I saw you, you were running away with one of my possessions. And by the Elder gods! Couldn’t you do something about your monstrous face with all that I taught you? Well, Georges was always better than you could be… I wonder where he is currently…

                            She had said that more to herself than to get any answer from him. He didn’t depart from his smile and his apparently joyous mood.

                            — Well, at least I saved you from a cerrrrtain death. And I know how grateful you arrre inside yourrrrself.

                            That horrid accent of his. It had always made her shudder. But she had to cope with it… for now. She needed to know where she was and why he seemed so sure he would find her there at that very moment. What was he looking for, and how was the Baron involved in all this.

                            — You know that I never liked small-talk. Why don’t you tell me what you want and stop pretending to be what you can’t be? All you can do is work for someone else. You’re too stupid and too coward to take any initiative. You’re too numb to use your imagination…

                            She didn’t like the quavering quality of her voice. She had to be dead tired that she was loosing her temper like that.
                            She cowered back in her chair as he started to move closer, his face suddenly twisted in anger. It was obvious he wouldn’t touch her, he still feared her, she could see it in his eyes… but he also knew that she was quite powerless at the moment. She’d almost drowned in that mass of water, it had changed her in a way she couldn’t fathom yet, and she could feel a small ball of anguish deep inside. She thought for a moment he would beat her. Though he managed to compose his fake joyful expression again.

                            — Listen Pheeeebee, I’m not the impulsive lad you knew. And though I’m not as good as the Dandy I can still impress you, I’m sure of it. But we’re not here to speak about parlor tricks or measure our prowess.

                            She couldn’t help but notice that he had lost his accent.

                            — The Baron… yes I work for him now… another old friend of yours… I wonder how old you are

                            As she was frowning he continued.

                            — Nonetheless, he needs your help in Hawaii.

                            A dim light in her mind. So he was after the skulls too. She had to be more cautious about what she could blurt out, especially in her condition.

                          Viewing 20 results - 601 through 620 (of 782 total)