I ran as hard as I could. Now that I'd found myself a 'flashlight' in my glowing hands, I could see the walls, allowing me to run in near darkness without worrying about knocking myself out on a wall or anything.
It was the other traps I had to worry about. The sudden falls down to the next floors, the surprise rocket elevators up to the ceiling. I totally felt like I was acing this action movie. And I was doing amazing! Rolling, ducking, running. Compared to the utterly dismal showing earlier with Surge, this had to be an improvement as long as I--
I skidded to a halt upon catching sight of a glowing mass in front of me. Glowing mass. Red and Yellow. SURGE. Automatically I shot off a blast of red. Surge retaliated with---a blast of ice?
"Yo! Sac! Watch where you're aiming that! You nearly took our heads off." A familiar voice called out of the darkness.
I gasped from the cold shock. trying to get feeling back into my frozen arm, as I ducked back around the corner. "Devoto?" How did he know it was me?
"Who else would be in this building? Where are you? Get over here and help me with Steel."
All other thought went out of my head. "You found him? He's actually here?"
"I'm here, Issac." Steel replied.
I knew then something bad had happened. Because I recognized his voice, but, it didn't have the same sort of quality to it. He sounded weak.
I wasn't the complete fool. I didn't rush right out to help him. I peered around the corner long enough to see that the one big glowing blob actually was two people, one supporting the other.
"Steel? Devoto?"
"You know you can just call me Danny. That works too. Are you going to help me out or just shoot heat lasers at me?"
"I wouldn't do that, on purpose." I muttered. because you know, I might hit have hit Steel. "What happened? How'd you find him? And how did you know it was me?" I asked coming forward. "No, wait." I slipped one of Steel's arms over my shoulder. "Tell me later, Surge is after me!"
"Surge?" Danny said. He didn't sound like he believed me.
"Yes, Surge!"
"Did he hurt you, Sac?" Steel asked. Even up close he didn't sound good. His skin felt chilled as well, though that might just be from his proximity to Danny.
"No. Well, yah, kinda. I'll explain later. We should really keep moving." This guy probably was watching us now. I kept my head on a swivel for any other glowing figures moving towards us.
"How about we move outside?" Danny replied. "Sac, can you cut a hole through the walls?"
A hole in the wall? I felt like hitting myself. Here I was with powers, and I didn't even think about that! Of course I didn't know I had these powers to begin with, but with Surge, I totally needed to work on thinking on my feet. "Guess we're about to find out." I said lifting a glowing hand to the nearest wall.
Layters!
--> Issac
Saturday, September 28, 2013
Friday, September 27, 2013
Busy Busy Busy
Whew. Things got a bit wild during and after Pirate's day. I'm still cleaning up the mess. Hopefully I'll be back to posting more regularly soon!
Karen<3
Karen<3
Thursday, September 26, 2013
Another Post
I've stayed pretty low in the school radar since my Mom got sick.
I guess aloof would be a better word.
People didn't bother me, and I didn't bother them.
I've heard people call me untouchable, but that's because they don't know me.
Those who do know me, know that they can always find my help in the school library during lunch time. That's where I catch up on homework. And even with the crazy life I lead, I find a distinct pleasure in teaching. Maybe, when my mom gets better, and I don't have to work like crazy...I will be able to go to college and earn my teaching degree.
But now.
That's changed.
My life has become a nightmare in the one place where I thought I could live in reality. Apparently, you can't do that, when you're no longer 'untouchable.'
Apparently people feel jipped that they thought I was this 'cool' guy.
Apparently, delivering pizza doesn't make you cool.
At least not in Annalina Aileen's eyes.
(Alex)
I guess aloof would be a better word.
People didn't bother me, and I didn't bother them.
I've heard people call me untouchable, but that's because they don't know me.
Those who do know me, know that they can always find my help in the school library during lunch time. That's where I catch up on homework. And even with the crazy life I lead, I find a distinct pleasure in teaching. Maybe, when my mom gets better, and I don't have to work like crazy...I will be able to go to college and earn my teaching degree.
But now.
That's changed.
My life has become a nightmare in the one place where I thought I could live in reality. Apparently, you can't do that, when you're no longer 'untouchable.'
Apparently people feel jipped that they thought I was this 'cool' guy.
Apparently, delivering pizza doesn't make you cool.
At least not in Annalina Aileen's eyes.
(Alex)
Wednesday, September 25, 2013
I swam in desperate circles around the tank. Twitching as something kept attacking my side. Yet, I could see no predator. What was happening?! And was it just me, or was the water feeling...wetter?
I swam further. Yes, yes it was feeling wetter. Harder to move through as I completed each circle.
And with each circuit, I felt like my skin was growing tighter, and the need to hide, to get away from these invisible attacks, to bury myself into the gravel, stronger.
The yellow plant couldn't even distract me from this foreign feeling.
I had to get...get....There! I spotted the castle decoration. That seemed like a safe place. I could hide in the hole in it. I had to get in there. Now.
I pushed my head through it, wiggling my body to force myself further in. I had to get all the way in so nothing in the tank could see me, or get me while I was this vulnerable. While the water was this wet and hard to swim through.
The fit was tight. I definitely would need help getting back out. But the urge to hide myself only grew stronger, So I wiggled deeper into the castle. Deeper then should have been possible. Flinching as more jabs of pain hit me. How my attacker could fit in here I didn't know, and I couldn't see when the next jab would strike. It was pitch black in here. Yet, I moved forward, pulling myself through the tunnel.
Soon, I saw light again. I needed to get to that light. I clawed my way forward wanting to get out of the tight space. out of the darkness.
And finally, I pulled myself into sunlight.
I crouched there in the entrance, breathing fast and shallow from the exertion.
Yes there was sunlight outside the cave I found myself in. But there was something different about this light. I blinked as it hit me. There was no water out there. None! Just air. I filled my lungs with air.
Wait, I'd blinked.
I blinked again. I could close my eyes! I shivered. This felt...so weird. Everything seemed more twitchy. My ears were twitching, my tail was twitching, my nose...well you get it. I was bombarded with new senses. The fact that I had hands! Okay, well paws. Limbs to move...
I wasn't a stupid goldfish anymore!
I definitely wasn't human, I could see my fur covered nose after all. Yet, the fact that I could recognize that I wasn't human, that I could remember that I had been human, told me that whatever creature I was now...had a much better memory then the goldfish had had!
#Henry
I swam further. Yes, yes it was feeling wetter. Harder to move through as I completed each circle.
And with each circuit, I felt like my skin was growing tighter, and the need to hide, to get away from these invisible attacks, to bury myself into the gravel, stronger.
The yellow plant couldn't even distract me from this foreign feeling.
I had to get...get....There! I spotted the castle decoration. That seemed like a safe place. I could hide in the hole in it. I had to get in there. Now.
I pushed my head through it, wiggling my body to force myself further in. I had to get all the way in so nothing in the tank could see me, or get me while I was this vulnerable. While the water was this wet and hard to swim through.
The fit was tight. I definitely would need help getting back out. But the urge to hide myself only grew stronger, So I wiggled deeper into the castle. Deeper then should have been possible. Flinching as more jabs of pain hit me. How my attacker could fit in here I didn't know, and I couldn't see when the next jab would strike. It was pitch black in here. Yet, I moved forward, pulling myself through the tunnel.
Soon, I saw light again. I needed to get to that light. I clawed my way forward wanting to get out of the tight space. out of the darkness.
And finally, I pulled myself into sunlight.
I crouched there in the entrance, breathing fast and shallow from the exertion.
Yes there was sunlight outside the cave I found myself in. But there was something different about this light. I blinked as it hit me. There was no water out there. None! Just air. I filled my lungs with air.
Wait, I'd blinked.
I blinked again. I could close my eyes! I shivered. This felt...so weird. Everything seemed more twitchy. My ears were twitching, my tail was twitching, my nose...well you get it. I was bombarded with new senses. The fact that I had hands! Okay, well paws. Limbs to move...
I wasn't a stupid goldfish anymore!
I definitely wasn't human, I could see my fur covered nose after all. Yet, the fact that I could recognize that I wasn't human, that I could remember that I had been human, told me that whatever creature I was now...had a much better memory then the goldfish had had!
#Henry
Tuesday, September 24, 2013
"You're up early." A low sultry voice remarked.
I'd heard her voice before. It had occasionally spoken when the Hands of Death had been trying to eat me. I flattened myself further into the warm bed, Maille had made for me. I was in more trouble then I'd thought. I knew Maille had no intention of harming me, but this other voice. I wasn't so sure. I vaguely remembered that tone, chattering like one of us once. Higher pitched, longer length. I hadn't liked it. It had thrown me and my companions into a frenzy. (She'd screamed. I'm pretty sure that she can break glass with a voice like that. Though I haven't had her try it yet.)
"Me? Well, I-I couldn't sleep." Maille replied. I heard the banging of metal, a hiss of air like something was cooking, then a scent of food. "It was too cold last night."
"You didn't complain at all about being cold this last winter. And why are you cooking bacon? You don't eat bacon."
Whoa, they'd been living together for at least a year. Again, I have no idea how I didn't pick up on this.
"I needed some protein, this was the closest thing, and I don't like rubbery bacon. If it's thick and doesn't bend, I like it just fine."
"But why are you complaining of the cold?"
"I'm probably coming down with a cold or something Isabelle, what's with the twenty questions again?"
Again? Did Isabelle query Maille often then? Why?
"You were pretty late getting home last night, Did Howard keep you later?"
Ah. Jealousy. She wanted to stay at work later with Howard, and she was jealous that Maille had.
Of course, I made all these connections later. Which was annoying. This could have been more helpful in the moment. Namely, I would have bitten Isabelle as often as possible. You know, to discourage her from going anywhere near the creep. And some revenge. Personal justice.
Maille exhaled. "You know he keeps us as late as possible. I got stuck cleaning up a spill in the cleaning closet."
"The...closet."
"Yah, I'd gone in there earlier to grab a new syringe, and apparently I moved something a bit too far, in any case Howard came in later and found the mess. It took me a while to clean it up."
If you want to sell a lie. Don't go into too much detail. It makes people suspicious. Though, of course, with Isabelle, too much detail is better then too little. Otherwise that jealousy rages again.
"Oh, I'm glad I wasn't there then." Isabelle said, sounding mollified.
She never liked working more then she had to. Cleaning up messes, she would avoid at all costs.
"I wish I hadn't been there either, I still feel like I smell like the cleaning agents. Bacon?"
"I can't smell it on you.....and....Thanks."
~Martin Elek
I'd heard her voice before. It had occasionally spoken when the Hands of Death had been trying to eat me. I flattened myself further into the warm bed, Maille had made for me. I was in more trouble then I'd thought. I knew Maille had no intention of harming me, but this other voice. I wasn't so sure. I vaguely remembered that tone, chattering like one of us once. Higher pitched, longer length. I hadn't liked it. It had thrown me and my companions into a frenzy. (She'd screamed. I'm pretty sure that she can break glass with a voice like that. Though I haven't had her try it yet.)
"Me? Well, I-I couldn't sleep." Maille replied. I heard the banging of metal, a hiss of air like something was cooking, then a scent of food. "It was too cold last night."
"You didn't complain at all about being cold this last winter. And why are you cooking bacon? You don't eat bacon."
Whoa, they'd been living together for at least a year. Again, I have no idea how I didn't pick up on this.
"I needed some protein, this was the closest thing, and I don't like rubbery bacon. If it's thick and doesn't bend, I like it just fine."
"But why are you complaining of the cold?"
"I'm probably coming down with a cold or something Isabelle, what's with the twenty questions again?"
Again? Did Isabelle query Maille often then? Why?
"You were pretty late getting home last night, Did Howard keep you later?"
Ah. Jealousy. She wanted to stay at work later with Howard, and she was jealous that Maille had.
Of course, I made all these connections later. Which was annoying. This could have been more helpful in the moment. Namely, I would have bitten Isabelle as often as possible. You know, to discourage her from going anywhere near the creep. And some revenge. Personal justice.
Maille exhaled. "You know he keeps us as late as possible. I got stuck cleaning up a spill in the cleaning closet."
"The...closet."
"Yah, I'd gone in there earlier to grab a new syringe, and apparently I moved something a bit too far, in any case Howard came in later and found the mess. It took me a while to clean it up."
If you want to sell a lie. Don't go into too much detail. It makes people suspicious. Though, of course, with Isabelle, too much detail is better then too little. Otherwise that jealousy rages again.
"Oh, I'm glad I wasn't there then." Isabelle said, sounding mollified.
She never liked working more then she had to. Cleaning up messes, she would avoid at all costs.
"I wish I hadn't been there either, I still feel like I smell like the cleaning agents. Bacon?"
"I can't smell it on you.....and....Thanks."
~Martin Elek
Monday, September 23, 2013
We Found Steel! Part 4
"NO!!!" I reacted like a wild animal, fighting to get out of his grip. I would NOT become a mind slave to him.
It was like fighting against a brick wall. Or concrete, Maybe even steel. Because this guy was not moving. It was like he'd become a statue or something for all my struggle. "LET ME GO!"
He raised an eyebrow. "Your fighting skills are pathetic."
Gee Thanks. I already knew that part. "What do you expect? I'm not Steel. I don't even have powers!" I shot back.
He chuckled. "Oh, now that is good news to hear. The Tower, can't unlock a hero's abilities anymore? They truly are on their last leg then."
"They are not! We're doing just fine!"
He adjusted his grip again, sending another harsh electrical shock through my body. "Doing just fine? You can't even rescue yourself."
Another dozen lightning bolts went through my system. I couldn't stay quiet this time, I screamed in agony.
"What are you waiting for, a hero?" He asked, once more upping the shock level. "There are no heroes here." I could barely hear him through my own screams. I clawed uselessly at his grey skin. It barely left a mark. "Your precious Steel can't even save you now."
That struck a cord. "What. What did you do to him?" I demanded hoarsely.
"Does it matter? He's become rather useless now. He can't even rescue himself."
No! "Not true!"
"A fan of him are you?" He laughed, truly sounding evil this time. "Change your loyalties now. He's as good as dead."
I didn't know if I had much of a choice in that. For a different vibration, like I was being pounded with a jack hammer, went through me. First he had Steel, then he had me...with the collar. A control collar. No. No. I wouldn't help him with his plan. I just had to fight...
"NO!" I yelled as a flash of heat rushed through me right into my hands.
It was Surge's turn to cry out in pain. He dropped me, staggering back a step. Somehow I managed to get to my feet. "Leave me alone! Leave Steel alone!" I yelled (yes I'd totally lost it at that point. I mean who would demand Surge to leave Steel alone? Certainly not a rookie like me.)
"So the young hero finally shows his teeth." Surge replied, straightening, already recovered from whatever I'd done to him.
"Oh you want to see teeth?" I said through gritted teeth. I raised my hands. "Here's my teeth!"
I don't know who was more shocked. Him or I, when two burning red bolts of light, like a laser, shot straight at him.
The guy wasn't an enemy of Steel for nothing though. His reflexes were inhumanly good. He rolled to the ground, the red beams passing over him.
I didn't see what he did next. For I took off running in the opposite direction, throwing red blasts over my shoulder as often as I could. I had no idea how I was doing that. Frankly, at that point I didn't care. I had to get out of there! No, I had to find Steel. And Devoto! But most certainly I didn't want to refind Surge. Not when he could control my collar if I got in his reach.
--> Issac
Friday, September 20, 2013
Friends
Somehow, even that news that my eyes could glow in the dark,
Didn't stop us from becoming firm friends from then on.
But could it last?
I mean, I may have shown him the secret behind the sunglasses.
However, I had many many more secrets, that wouldn't be as easy to handle.
If I ever reveal them to him.
Unlikely.
Some secrets were meant to remain secrets.
Catchya on the Flip Side!
Danny
Didn't stop us from becoming firm friends from then on.
But could it last?
I mean, I may have shown him the secret behind the sunglasses.
However, I had many many more secrets, that wouldn't be as easy to handle.
If I ever reveal them to him.
Unlikely.
Some secrets were meant to remain secrets.
Catchya on the Flip Side!
Danny
Thursday, September 19, 2013
The Reveal
I grabbed his hand, pulling him to his feet. "Lets go outside." I said in a low voice, conscious that my mom was still in the house.
"Why?"
"In case this goes sour, I don't want my mom freaking out." I said only half teasing.
"What? She doesn't like arm wrestling?" He asked following me outside.
I chuckled. "We're not wrestling Jake. You showed me your secret, I can show you mine."
I admit, I was nervous. There have been more then one incident where 'friends' had left me in hysterics after seeing my eyes. After all these years, I've gotten used to it. But it does still hurt my mom to see me not make friends easily. Hence her surprise at having Jake here.
"I doubt what I'm going to see will be worse then my scar." He commented, after a moment.
I chuckled. "No, it's not anything like that."
"So either I'm going to stare at you and ask 'why are you even wearing sunglasses?' or I just might go running down the street screaming my head of?"
"Pretty much." I turned to face him. "I don't always have to wear the sunglasses when I move. Some people can handle it."
Jake visibly steeled himself. "What are we waiting for? I can handle this."
I could believe he could handle my eyes, but that was only the tip of the iceberg of secrets I was keeping. I nodded. "I'm trusting you will."
As casually as I could, I reached up and removed my sunglasses.
Revealing my inhuman golden colored eyes.
Jake visibly paled, making the burn on his face stand out even more. "Wow." he managed. "That's...that's..."
"Weird?" I supplied. "Inhuman, demonic, crazy. Trust me, I've heard the gambit when it comes to descriptive words."
Strangely enough he relaxed. "Demonic was what I first thought. Though gold isn't as bad as the blood red vortexes of doom I had been picturing."
"Vortexes of doom?" I repeated, raising an eyebrow. "That's a new one."
He ran his left hand through his hair. "Hey, the mind comes up with crazy things. I also considered Medusa, and black holes that suck away the soul."
I grinned. "Let me guess, You expected me to suck your blood too?"
He shrugged. "The thought crossed my mind when you asked to come outside."
I shrugged. "It's not as...intense to see my eyes in natural light."
"Not as intense? How can your eyes get more intense?"
"They tend to...glow in dimmer environments."
Catchya on the Flip Side!
Danny
"Why?"
"In case this goes sour, I don't want my mom freaking out." I said only half teasing.
"What? She doesn't like arm wrestling?" He asked following me outside.
I chuckled. "We're not wrestling Jake. You showed me your secret, I can show you mine."
I admit, I was nervous. There have been more then one incident where 'friends' had left me in hysterics after seeing my eyes. After all these years, I've gotten used to it. But it does still hurt my mom to see me not make friends easily. Hence her surprise at having Jake here.
"I doubt what I'm going to see will be worse then my scar." He commented, after a moment.
I chuckled. "No, it's not anything like that."
"So either I'm going to stare at you and ask 'why are you even wearing sunglasses?' or I just might go running down the street screaming my head of?"
"Pretty much." I turned to face him. "I don't always have to wear the sunglasses when I move. Some people can handle it."
Jake visibly steeled himself. "What are we waiting for? I can handle this."
I could believe he could handle my eyes, but that was only the tip of the iceberg of secrets I was keeping. I nodded. "I'm trusting you will."
As casually as I could, I reached up and removed my sunglasses.
Revealing my inhuman golden colored eyes.
Jake visibly paled, making the burn on his face stand out even more. "Wow." he managed. "That's...that's..."
"Weird?" I supplied. "Inhuman, demonic, crazy. Trust me, I've heard the gambit when it comes to descriptive words."
Strangely enough he relaxed. "Demonic was what I first thought. Though gold isn't as bad as the blood red vortexes of doom I had been picturing."
"Vortexes of doom?" I repeated, raising an eyebrow. "That's a new one."
He ran his left hand through his hair. "Hey, the mind comes up with crazy things. I also considered Medusa, and black holes that suck away the soul."
I grinned. "Let me guess, You expected me to suck your blood too?"
He shrugged. "The thought crossed my mind when you asked to come outside."
I shrugged. "It's not as...intense to see my eyes in natural light."
"Not as intense? How can your eyes get more intense?"
"They tend to...glow in dimmer environments."
Catchya on the Flip Side!
Danny
Happy Pirate's Day!
Arr Mateys! I be throwen down da anchor of me ship until the tides be right once more. Then, tis off to gets me buried treasure!!!
*ahem*
Hey guys! I'm totally taking a break from recapping my meeting Prince Charming right now because unless you've been living under a rock you totally know that IT'S PIRATE DAY! It's like the...well third most popular holiday after Christmas and Halloween! Seriously.
So much excitement that has been rolling through the town since yesterday evening.
Seriously.
I'm sure it's soon to become a three day holiday.
Celebrations today totally take the cake compared to the other holidays.
Alright, Alright, just in case you have been living under a rock.
Pirate day is a holiday full of fun and pleasure.
For kids, it means Gold Dollars hidden around parks, in houses, all over the place.
For adults. Well, It's still Gold. Gold BRICKS!
Alright, not brick sized bricks. They're more like a twix chocolate bar size brick. But still! It's gold! Real shiny, rich gold.
The catch?
Well. It's 'buried.' Hundreds upon thousands of boxes hidden around town.
You see everyone above the age of 18, receives a number card a couple of days before Pirate's Day.
Each gold brick has a number stamped on it.
Just after the end of the Pirate's Parade at dawn, the search begins! If you find the lockbox containing your number before the sun sets, you get to keep the gold.
If you can't find it. You don't get it.
But! What makes it even more fun?
Once the sun sets, it's every pirate for themselves! Any unclaimed lockboxes will open to any number card. So it becomes an intense 'battle' to get as much gold as you can. So if you come across other lock boxes while searching for your own, you can take mental note of where it is, and hope it's still there when the sun sets. Some people get really into it. Cameras and all sorts of techy stuff to 'watch' unclaimed boxes.
And the person in town who gathers the most gold, gets a huge reward at the end. It changes every year to keep the suspense up. Totally awesome!
I mean, this one day you can totally strike it rich!
And if you don't find anything...well nothing bad happens. It's just a missed opportunity.
Still, I don't want to miss this opportunity!
Arr Matey! I'm off to find me treasure!...and you know go to a bunch of parties tonight as well!
Happy Pirates Day!
Karen<3
*ahem*
Hey guys! I'm totally taking a break from recapping my meeting Prince Charming right now because unless you've been living under a rock you totally know that IT'S PIRATE DAY! It's like the...well third most popular holiday after Christmas and Halloween! Seriously.
So much excitement that has been rolling through the town since yesterday evening.
Seriously.
I'm sure it's soon to become a three day holiday.
Celebrations today totally take the cake compared to the other holidays.
Alright, Alright, just in case you have been living under a rock.
Pirate day is a holiday full of fun and pleasure.
For kids, it means Gold Dollars hidden around parks, in houses, all over the place.
For adults. Well, It's still Gold. Gold BRICKS!
Alright, not brick sized bricks. They're more like a twix chocolate bar size brick. But still! It's gold! Real shiny, rich gold.
The catch?
Well. It's 'buried.' Hundreds upon thousands of boxes hidden around town.
You see everyone above the age of 18, receives a number card a couple of days before Pirate's Day.
Each gold brick has a number stamped on it.
Just after the end of the Pirate's Parade at dawn, the search begins! If you find the lockbox containing your number before the sun sets, you get to keep the gold.
If you can't find it. You don't get it.
But! What makes it even more fun?
Once the sun sets, it's every pirate for themselves! Any unclaimed lockboxes will open to any number card. So it becomes an intense 'battle' to get as much gold as you can. So if you come across other lock boxes while searching for your own, you can take mental note of where it is, and hope it's still there when the sun sets. Some people get really into it. Cameras and all sorts of techy stuff to 'watch' unclaimed boxes.
And the person in town who gathers the most gold, gets a huge reward at the end. It changes every year to keep the suspense up. Totally awesome!
I mean, this one day you can totally strike it rich!
And if you don't find anything...well nothing bad happens. It's just a missed opportunity.
Still, I don't want to miss this opportunity!
Arr Matey! I'm off to find me treasure!...and you know go to a bunch of parties tonight as well!
Happy Pirates Day!
Karen<3
Wednesday, September 18, 2013
A Home Visit
"Danny?"
"Yah, Mom?" I asked, not looking at her as I dribble the basketball down our backyard concrete slab. It wasn't much of a court, but I didn't mind. I was only playing against myself after all.
"You have a visitor."
She told me that at exactly the wrong moment. I missed my basket. "A visitor?"
"A...friend from school?"
I slowly picked up the ball. A friend, from school. I knew why my mom was hesitant. I didn't usually have school friends drop by. So this was new for both of us. The question was, what was Jake doing here at my house? And as a 'friend?' I didn't know that's what we were that.
"Be right there, Mom." I called back, actually making the basket this time. I scooped up the sunglasses from where I'd dropped them with my shirt and put both back on.
"You look uncomfortable." I said a couple minutes later as I walked into my family's living room. Jake sat on the edge of one of our green couches, his burned arm held tightly against his chest.
He shrugged. "You do too."
"Yah, you're in my house, what are you doing here Jake?" I asked sitting across from him.
"Do you always wear your sunglasses in your house?" he asked in return, staring at me.
I smiled thinly. "Only when I have visitors, do you pretend your arm is useless in your own home?"
He hesitated before shaking his head. "No."
I raised an eyebrow. "After what you said about your parents I thought you would."
He grimaced. "My parents have to appear to agree with the doctors. But while we're home, they don't care what hand I use."
"Remind me never to go to the doctor then. Again, Jake, why are you here?"
"I want to see what's behind the glasses." He looked at me. His green eyes rather determined. "I figured you'd only show me in your home, away from the others."
I leaned on my knees, hands under my chin. "And what on earth makes you think you can convince me to do that?"
Slowly Jake straightened. He took a deep breath. And to my surprise. Moved his left arm. Lifting it up, to show me his hand, before straightening it all the way out. "I'll arm wrestle you. I win, you let me see your eyes, I lose." he shrugged. "I have to remain curious."
You have to understand. That was an important moment right there. He'd moved his left arm. Actually moved it. Willingly. Except that one time I saw him climbing in semi-darkness, his arm had for all intents and purposes, been a piece of flab. It would swing uselessly around if he left it unbound when he walked. He'd have to strap it to his chest in order to run. You never saw the fingers twitch, the hand move. Nothing.
And he'd just moved it in front of me. Showing me that yes, it could work perfectly. After years of keeping it secret. He was putting his trust in me.
Catchya on the Flip Side!
Danny
"Yah, Mom?" I asked, not looking at her as I dribble the basketball down our backyard concrete slab. It wasn't much of a court, but I didn't mind. I was only playing against myself after all.
"You have a visitor."
She told me that at exactly the wrong moment. I missed my basket. "A visitor?"
"A...friend from school?"
I slowly picked up the ball. A friend, from school. I knew why my mom was hesitant. I didn't usually have school friends drop by. So this was new for both of us. The question was, what was Jake doing here at my house? And as a 'friend?' I didn't know that's what we were that.
"Be right there, Mom." I called back, actually making the basket this time. I scooped up the sunglasses from where I'd dropped them with my shirt and put both back on.
"You look uncomfortable." I said a couple minutes later as I walked into my family's living room. Jake sat on the edge of one of our green couches, his burned arm held tightly against his chest.
He shrugged. "You do too."
"Yah, you're in my house, what are you doing here Jake?" I asked sitting across from him.
"Do you always wear your sunglasses in your house?" he asked in return, staring at me.
I smiled thinly. "Only when I have visitors, do you pretend your arm is useless in your own home?"
He hesitated before shaking his head. "No."
I raised an eyebrow. "After what you said about your parents I thought you would."
He grimaced. "My parents have to appear to agree with the doctors. But while we're home, they don't care what hand I use."
"Remind me never to go to the doctor then. Again, Jake, why are you here?"
"I want to see what's behind the glasses." He looked at me. His green eyes rather determined. "I figured you'd only show me in your home, away from the others."
I leaned on my knees, hands under my chin. "And what on earth makes you think you can convince me to do that?"
Slowly Jake straightened. He took a deep breath. And to my surprise. Moved his left arm. Lifting it up, to show me his hand, before straightening it all the way out. "I'll arm wrestle you. I win, you let me see your eyes, I lose." he shrugged. "I have to remain curious."
You have to understand. That was an important moment right there. He'd moved his left arm. Actually moved it. Willingly. Except that one time I saw him climbing in semi-darkness, his arm had for all intents and purposes, been a piece of flab. It would swing uselessly around if he left it unbound when he walked. He'd have to strap it to his chest in order to run. You never saw the fingers twitch, the hand move. Nothing.
And he'd just moved it in front of me. Showing me that yes, it could work perfectly. After years of keeping it secret. He was putting his trust in me.
Catchya on the Flip Side!
Danny
~Wow, I can't believe you're still here, Fishy Thief. I admit, I would be bored by now. Business must be rather slow at the moment.~
Her voice was a welcome distraction from thinking about food. I had no idea where she'd been, but without the conversations with her, I'd been having trouble thinking human.
~That's an understatement.~ I said my sail fin perking up as I focused in on her.
She grinned. ~You agree with me? Well that's a first.~
~There's only so many times I can search the gravel for food.~ I said offhandedly swimming closer to her. ~Have a good vacation?~ Now, now I could figure out her name.
She grimaced. ~It wasn't much of a vacation.~ She perked up again. ~Wait, you missed me!~
My fins clamped against my body. ~What? No. I did not!~
Her eyes lit up. ~You did, I bet nobody talked to you while I was gone did they?~
I mentally rolled my eyes. ~I'm a fish. Who would talk to me, but a crazy person?~ I glanced at her name tag, and my heart sank.
I had a problem.
I couldn't read it. The name tag. I saw it, saw the word on it. Yet, nothing. This was totally inconvenient. After so long talking to her, I couldn't just ask what her name was now.
~Yes, a person would have to be crazy to talk to you...out loud.~ She shrugged. ~You wouldn't be able to hear anything I said. But Mindspeak? Not so much. But still, you did miss me! Admit it.~
When the sun turned green. ~Why would I miss you? I finally got some peace and quiet.~
~Ah, that must have been so relaxing. Day after day. Unable to focus on much more then when you're going to eat next. Come on Fishy Thief, you hated it.~
~I can't really hate anything when I can't remember what it was I should hate.~ I said more sullen then I wanted to be. I was so sick of being a fish.
~Ah memory loss is a horrible thing.~ She leaned forward, her hands on the lid of the tank. She smiled. ~Maybe I can fix that.~
My sail fin perked up a little. ~Ha, unless you can convince your mom to put the fish section on clearance, I really doubt it.~ But if she could, I would do nearly anything.
~Well, if you ask me the right question, I might.~
~Question? What does that have to do with me being a fish?~
~Not much, but asking the right question does help.~
I spun in a little circle my tail swishing back and forth. ~You're just playing with me.~
She shook her head. ~No, playing with you was not talking to you for the past month and a half.~
I went still. That long? She'd been gone that long? It hadn't felt like a month and a half!
~Ah, you didn't realize it was that long, now did you? My mom wanted you to get a full measure of being a fish again. So I acquiesced. But, if you ask me the right question, your fishy life will be made a bit easier.~
~Uh...~ I'd been put on the spot. Ask the right question? For what? Some mysterious 'easier fish life' event? Would I be able to have a longer memory or something? ~Have my friends all made the change?~
~Wrong question.~
~You're not answering them now?~
~Call me impatient. Or call me under mom's orders not to tell you much more.~
~I don't know what to ask!~
~Well, ask until you stumble upon it then.~
What could I ask? ~Have you been sick?~
~Wrong question.~
~Have I already asked the question?~
~Wrong question and no.~
~Are my friends alright.~
~Wrong question~
~How much longer are we going to be stuck here?~
~Wrong question.~
~Can you answer anything else?~
She tightened her smile. ~Wrong question.~
~What's with the change in attitude?~
~Wrong question.~
~Would you quit telling me wrong question?~
~Wrong~
~I know I know. Wrong question! Geez, is it something complete dumb?~
~Wrong question.~
My fins twitched angrily. ~How am I supposed to know what question to ask out of billions!~
~I can't give any hints.~
~Not helpful.~
~You're being difficult.~
~You're the one being difficult and cryptic!~
~Me cryptic? No, you're the cryptic one.~ She glanced away. ~Time is running out, keep asking.~
I hated time limits. Especially when I didn't know the parameters. Or the question to ask!
~Where have you been?~
~Wrong question.~
~Is your mom alright?~
~Wrong question.~
~Can I see my friends?~
~Wrong question.~
~How much longer are we going to be stuck here?~
She chuckled. ~You already asked that one.~
~How am I supposed to remember! I'm a fish~
~Wrong question. Three more, before time's up.~
Why did this suddenly seem like a life or death situation? I hadn't known it was 20 questions we were playing. Had I already asked 17?
~Hurry.~
~Ah...~ What had I already asked? My fishy brain was coming back into play under the stress.
~Is there more magic going on here then I know of?~
~Two, Come on fishy thief. You can't be that inhuman.~
~Am I turning more fish then human now?~ I shot back.
~One.~
One last chance. I had to think of something. What had she said? Inhuman. So I had to ask a human question. What would a 'normal' human ask?
~Give up, Fishy Thief? I thought you were better then this. Ask. Come on. ASK.~
~I don't know! What is your name?! I can't think of anything else alright!~
She drew in a breath. Her eyes lighting up. ~About time Fishy Thief.~
My sail fin rose in surprise. ~Wait...What is your name? That's the question?~ I'd asked out of desperation, even though I hadn't wanted to ask her. Though I should have known that she would have known that I didn't know her name.
She grinned and nodded. ~Congrats. Though you might not feel like celebrating for the next little while.~
~The next little while? Aren't you going to tell me the answer?~
~No.~
~Why not~
She turned away. ~Because I suspect you will be caught up in other things for the next bit.~
~No it won't! Wait! Tell me--~ I cut off as a sharp jab into my side made my human mind go blank, allowing the fish brain to take over once more.
#Henry
Her voice was a welcome distraction from thinking about food. I had no idea where she'd been, but without the conversations with her, I'd been having trouble thinking human.
~That's an understatement.~ I said my sail fin perking up as I focused in on her.
She grinned. ~You agree with me? Well that's a first.~
~There's only so many times I can search the gravel for food.~ I said offhandedly swimming closer to her. ~Have a good vacation?~ Now, now I could figure out her name.
She grimaced. ~It wasn't much of a vacation.~ She perked up again. ~Wait, you missed me!~
My fins clamped against my body. ~What? No. I did not!~
Her eyes lit up. ~You did, I bet nobody talked to you while I was gone did they?~
I mentally rolled my eyes. ~I'm a fish. Who would talk to me, but a crazy person?~ I glanced at her name tag, and my heart sank.
I had a problem.
I couldn't read it. The name tag. I saw it, saw the word on it. Yet, nothing. This was totally inconvenient. After so long talking to her, I couldn't just ask what her name was now.
~Yes, a person would have to be crazy to talk to you...out loud.~ She shrugged. ~You wouldn't be able to hear anything I said. But Mindspeak? Not so much. But still, you did miss me! Admit it.~
When the sun turned green. ~Why would I miss you? I finally got some peace and quiet.~
~Ah, that must have been so relaxing. Day after day. Unable to focus on much more then when you're going to eat next. Come on Fishy Thief, you hated it.~
~I can't really hate anything when I can't remember what it was I should hate.~ I said more sullen then I wanted to be. I was so sick of being a fish.
~Ah memory loss is a horrible thing.~ She leaned forward, her hands on the lid of the tank. She smiled. ~Maybe I can fix that.~
My sail fin perked up a little. ~Ha, unless you can convince your mom to put the fish section on clearance, I really doubt it.~ But if she could, I would do nearly anything.
~Well, if you ask me the right question, I might.~
~Question? What does that have to do with me being a fish?~
~Not much, but asking the right question does help.~
I spun in a little circle my tail swishing back and forth. ~You're just playing with me.~
She shook her head. ~No, playing with you was not talking to you for the past month and a half.~
I went still. That long? She'd been gone that long? It hadn't felt like a month and a half!
~Ah, you didn't realize it was that long, now did you? My mom wanted you to get a full measure of being a fish again. So I acquiesced. But, if you ask me the right question, your fishy life will be made a bit easier.~
~Uh...~ I'd been put on the spot. Ask the right question? For what? Some mysterious 'easier fish life' event? Would I be able to have a longer memory or something? ~Have my friends all made the change?~
~Wrong question.~
~You're not answering them now?~
~Call me impatient. Or call me under mom's orders not to tell you much more.~
~I don't know what to ask!~
~Well, ask until you stumble upon it then.~
What could I ask? ~Have you been sick?~
~Wrong question.~
~Have I already asked the question?~
~Wrong question and no.~
~Are my friends alright.~
~Wrong question~
~How much longer are we going to be stuck here?~
~Wrong question.~
~Can you answer anything else?~
She tightened her smile. ~Wrong question.~
~What's with the change in attitude?~
~Wrong question.~
~Would you quit telling me wrong question?~
~Wrong~
~I know I know. Wrong question! Geez, is it something complete dumb?~
~Wrong question.~
My fins twitched angrily. ~How am I supposed to know what question to ask out of billions!~
~I can't give any hints.~
~Not helpful.~
~You're being difficult.~
~You're the one being difficult and cryptic!~
~Me cryptic? No, you're the cryptic one.~ She glanced away. ~Time is running out, keep asking.~
I hated time limits. Especially when I didn't know the parameters. Or the question to ask!
~Where have you been?~
~Wrong question.~
~Is your mom alright?~
~Wrong question.~
~Can I see my friends?~
~Wrong question.~
~How much longer are we going to be stuck here?~
She chuckled. ~You already asked that one.~
~How am I supposed to remember! I'm a fish~
~Wrong question. Three more, before time's up.~
Why did this suddenly seem like a life or death situation? I hadn't known it was 20 questions we were playing. Had I already asked 17?
~Hurry.~
~Ah...~ What had I already asked? My fishy brain was coming back into play under the stress.
~Is there more magic going on here then I know of?~
~Two, Come on fishy thief. You can't be that inhuman.~
~Am I turning more fish then human now?~ I shot back.
~One.~
One last chance. I had to think of something. What had she said? Inhuman. So I had to ask a human question. What would a 'normal' human ask?
~Give up, Fishy Thief? I thought you were better then this. Ask. Come on. ASK.~
~I don't know! What is your name?! I can't think of anything else alright!~
She drew in a breath. Her eyes lighting up. ~About time Fishy Thief.~
My sail fin rose in surprise. ~Wait...What is your name? That's the question?~ I'd asked out of desperation, even though I hadn't wanted to ask her. Though I should have known that she would have known that I didn't know her name.
She grinned and nodded. ~Congrats. Though you might not feel like celebrating for the next little while.~
~The next little while? Aren't you going to tell me the answer?~
~No.~
~Why not~
She turned away. ~Because I suspect you will be caught up in other things for the next bit.~
~No it won't! Wait! Tell me--~ I cut off as a sharp jab into my side made my human mind go blank, allowing the fish brain to take over once more.
#Henry
Tuesday, September 17, 2013
Lurking Around Much Harvey?
I managed to stay awake after that point.
That didn't mean that I was feeling better, oh, to the contrary.
It was just that my curiosity was far more stubborn now that Hatch had shape shifted in front of me.
Who could sleep after that! Come on.
Not me. Definitely. This guy was pretending to be me. And I wanted to watch.
So inch by careful inch. I pushed myself up to a sitting position where I could look through the bird's cages into the store beyond.
Of course, I wasn't always able to look through the glass. I may have been half delusional when Hatch gave his advice about the birds alerting me, but I did remember it. I mean come on. He'd somehow managed to communicate with the birds through whistling! If he said they'd alert me, oh, I was going to pay attention to them. Which meant, that whenever they started chirping and flying around the cage like a hurricane, I'd slide back down out of sight. Waiting for them to calm down again. Needless to say, I got covered by a ton of little feathers. For the hurricane around a lot. Like, whenever Harvey walked by. Which was ALOT! I never realized how much he lurked around in my department. I'd always thought that he'd spent all his time holed up in the back office, unless some sort of problem popped up. But no. I must just have the knack of going to go find him when he was in the office.
And don't get me wrong. He wasn't lurking in only the live animal section part of the store. He was all over the place. (Hey, at least he knows what's happening in his store, even if he's horrible at keeping cages clean) It just seems like he passed by the birds a lot.
Luckily, Hatch was right. Harvey hardly seemed to realize the birds were there. He barely glanced at them whenever he looked by. I had to admit, seeing this, if Harvey had gone on the search for me, I do think that he'd look everywhere else three times before thinking to check the birds.
But less about Harvey, and more about my Prince Charming.
This guy...was amazing. If I didn't know that it was him somehow, as impossible as it can be, was me. I would totally have thought that I was watching a video of myself. How did he know me so well?! How long had he just been 'around?' Around here watching me? Or was he watching others too? Had he been impersonating other people here in the store? Oh man, I was just going to get paranoid if I continued down that track. I would definitely be getting a more specific answer then 'around' next time he had a moment to spare from being me.
Karen<3
That didn't mean that I was feeling better, oh, to the contrary.
It was just that my curiosity was far more stubborn now that Hatch had shape shifted in front of me.
Who could sleep after that! Come on.
Not me. Definitely. This guy was pretending to be me. And I wanted to watch.
So inch by careful inch. I pushed myself up to a sitting position where I could look through the bird's cages into the store beyond.
Of course, I wasn't always able to look through the glass. I may have been half delusional when Hatch gave his advice about the birds alerting me, but I did remember it. I mean come on. He'd somehow managed to communicate with the birds through whistling! If he said they'd alert me, oh, I was going to pay attention to them. Which meant, that whenever they started chirping and flying around the cage like a hurricane, I'd slide back down out of sight. Waiting for them to calm down again. Needless to say, I got covered by a ton of little feathers. For the hurricane around a lot. Like, whenever Harvey walked by. Which was ALOT! I never realized how much he lurked around in my department. I'd always thought that he'd spent all his time holed up in the back office, unless some sort of problem popped up. But no. I must just have the knack of going to go find him when he was in the office.
And don't get me wrong. He wasn't lurking in only the live animal section part of the store. He was all over the place. (Hey, at least he knows what's happening in his store, even if he's horrible at keeping cages clean) It just seems like he passed by the birds a lot.
Luckily, Hatch was right. Harvey hardly seemed to realize the birds were there. He barely glanced at them whenever he looked by. I had to admit, seeing this, if Harvey had gone on the search for me, I do think that he'd look everywhere else three times before thinking to check the birds.
But less about Harvey, and more about my Prince Charming.
This guy...was amazing. If I didn't know that it was him somehow, as impossible as it can be, was me. I would totally have thought that I was watching a video of myself. How did he know me so well?! How long had he just been 'around?' Around here watching me? Or was he watching others too? Had he been impersonating other people here in the store? Oh man, I was just going to get paranoid if I continued down that track. I would definitely be getting a more specific answer then 'around' next time he had a moment to spare from being me.
Karen<3
Monday, September 16, 2013
Seeing Double
"KAREN!"
Well, that was an unpleasant way to wake me back up. My head might have been aching before, but now it had a nice accompaniment of a little thunderhead sending lightning bolts through my skull. "Great, Harvey." I muttered rubbing the back of my head. "Just what I wanted, thanks."
"KAREN!"
I opened my mouth to respond.
"Yah, Harvey?"
I froze. That was my voice. My voice. But I hadn't spoken.
"What took you so long?"
"So long? Like two minutes. I had to finish catching fish, you know how difficult the Buenos Aires are to net." My voice told him.
No, he didn't know that. Harvey stayed away from any chore related to the fish. Yet, I would have given that same reply. What was going on here?!
"I have a client, a rich client, coming in for some parakeets. She wants the mellowest ones we have. Two of each color, one male, one female. Hop to it!"
"You gotta be kidding me."
Seriously! Personally, I considered all parakeets to be vicious. I doubted there was a 'mellow one' in the bunch. Not to mention I would be ignoring all the other customers trying to get other pets that entire time!
"You have twenty minutes." he said in his 'I'm being really serious' voice. Of course, Harvey was always serious. But you know. Famous client. It had to mean more serious then normal.
"Sure, I'll see what I can do, Harvey." my voice replied. I could totally imagine my doppelganger rolling her eyes as well. I was doing it for sure. I could just picture my hands all bloodied up from trying to handle the birds to see who was 'mellowest.'
The door to the enclosure rattled, as the door unlocked. I tensed. I mean, come on, I'd heard my own voice out there! Unless my hearing had gone wonky, or I was dead, I would be meeting someone who sounded just like me!
Or...looked exactly like me.
I gasped as....well as I stepped through the door. Quickly closing it behind me, them, her?
The clone rolled her eyes as she caught sight of me. "I should have expected that you'd wake up. He does have a voice like a fog horn." She said.
"I--I--I'm dreaming." I managed.
She shook her head. "No, but that would have been a good explanation." She suddenly shimmered in front of my eyes, like a mirage in the desert, and...
Prince Charming stood before me.
"Oh...kay...Now I know I'm dreaming."
He smirked, kneeling to open the parakeet cage. "You feeling better?"
"Until I just saw you do that! How did you? That's not possible!"
He shrugged. "It's possible for me."
'But how? Why!"
"You needed help. I'm here to help." He held out his arm and whistled. And like a Disney movie, two parakeets of every color flew out of the cage to perch on his arm. Just like Harvey had asked. And I bet they would be as mellow as a marshmellow when this 'famous' lady came by to pick them up.
"Where were you when I had to clean out all the cages then?" I demanded. And yes, I was totally jealous that the birds weren't trying to peck his eyes out.
Amusement flashed through his chocolaty eyes. "Around." He said encouraging the birds to go into the carrier he'd brought in with him.
"Well great, remind me to yell for you whenever someone wants a bird...what's your name?" I couldn't really yell for Prince Charming, Harvey would think I'd gone totally mad then.
He opened his mouth,
"Karen!"
And of course Harvey had to interrupt.
Prince Charming shimmered into me. "WHAT!"
I shivered. "Oh, that's weird."
"Are you done?" Harvey called.
"Almost! Hold on!" He faded back into...well I'm guessing it was his normal self. "It's Hatch. And I got to go." In a flash he was back to looking like me and out the door.
Karen
Well, that was an unpleasant way to wake me back up. My head might have been aching before, but now it had a nice accompaniment of a little thunderhead sending lightning bolts through my skull. "Great, Harvey." I muttered rubbing the back of my head. "Just what I wanted, thanks."
"KAREN!"
I opened my mouth to respond.
"Yah, Harvey?"
I froze. That was my voice. My voice. But I hadn't spoken.
"What took you so long?"
"So long? Like two minutes. I had to finish catching fish, you know how difficult the Buenos Aires are to net." My voice told him.
No, he didn't know that. Harvey stayed away from any chore related to the fish. Yet, I would have given that same reply. What was going on here?!
"I have a client, a rich client, coming in for some parakeets. She wants the mellowest ones we have. Two of each color, one male, one female. Hop to it!"
"You gotta be kidding me."
Seriously! Personally, I considered all parakeets to be vicious. I doubted there was a 'mellow one' in the bunch. Not to mention I would be ignoring all the other customers trying to get other pets that entire time!
"You have twenty minutes." he said in his 'I'm being really serious' voice. Of course, Harvey was always serious. But you know. Famous client. It had to mean more serious then normal.
"Sure, I'll see what I can do, Harvey." my voice replied. I could totally imagine my doppelganger rolling her eyes as well. I was doing it for sure. I could just picture my hands all bloodied up from trying to handle the birds to see who was 'mellowest.'
The door to the enclosure rattled, as the door unlocked. I tensed. I mean, come on, I'd heard my own voice out there! Unless my hearing had gone wonky, or I was dead, I would be meeting someone who sounded just like me!
Or...looked exactly like me.
I gasped as....well as I stepped through the door. Quickly closing it behind me, them, her?
The clone rolled her eyes as she caught sight of me. "I should have expected that you'd wake up. He does have a voice like a fog horn." She said.
"I--I--I'm dreaming." I managed.
She shook her head. "No, but that would have been a good explanation." She suddenly shimmered in front of my eyes, like a mirage in the desert, and...
Prince Charming stood before me.
"Oh...kay...Now I know I'm dreaming."
He smirked, kneeling to open the parakeet cage. "You feeling better?"
"Until I just saw you do that! How did you? That's not possible!"
He shrugged. "It's possible for me."
'But how? Why!"
"You needed help. I'm here to help." He held out his arm and whistled. And like a Disney movie, two parakeets of every color flew out of the cage to perch on his arm. Just like Harvey had asked. And I bet they would be as mellow as a marshmellow when this 'famous' lady came by to pick them up.
"Where were you when I had to clean out all the cages then?" I demanded. And yes, I was totally jealous that the birds weren't trying to peck his eyes out.
Amusement flashed through his chocolaty eyes. "Around." He said encouraging the birds to go into the carrier he'd brought in with him.
"Well great, remind me to yell for you whenever someone wants a bird...what's your name?" I couldn't really yell for Prince Charming, Harvey would think I'd gone totally mad then.
He opened his mouth,
"Karen!"
And of course Harvey had to interrupt.
Prince Charming shimmered into me. "WHAT!"
I shivered. "Oh, that's weird."
"Are you done?" Harvey called.
"Almost! Hold on!" He faded back into...well I'm guessing it was his normal self. "It's Hatch. And I got to go." In a flash he was back to looking like me and out the door.
Karen
Sunday, September 15, 2013
If I had been in Isabelle's shoes when Maille returned to the room, I would have immediately known that she was hiding something. Maille as caring as she is, had no head for being sneaky. If you want to hide something, you have to act normal. Maille wasn't acting normal. She opened the door so slowly that an army of snails could have slimed their way through the entrance before, she stepped through. And peering her head around the corner of the door, like she was entering a strange place. Also very suspicious.
Maille breathed out a loud sigh of relief. "She's taking a shower."
I had no idea what that meant, though I could hear the sound of rushing water elsewhere.
"That gives me time to hide you." She continued to hug me close to her chest as she went about this new place full of strange smells and sounds. Had I been well, I would have been afire to explore every nook and cranny, stuffing my cheeks with any food thing I could find.
Instead, I was content to be held in her hands. If I had to feel sick, at least I would be warm.
"No, no, ugh, she'd find you there. What about, no. Huh maybe, oh no. Why did I have to move into a place with no good hiding places!"
She'd looked into nearly every nook and cranny, talking to herself the whole time.
"Wait! That might help!" I heard beeps and a whirring sound. "There. This should help you stay warm little one," Maille gleefully said as she took me away from the sound of her heart, to lay me on something soft and very warm.
"I used this to relax stress muscles, maybe it can help you relax too little one." (It was a heat pack of sorts)
In truth, it felt wonderful. Rather quickly I stopped quaking, my muscles relaxing enough to uncurl me from the ball I'd been in. "That's it! Hold, on let me get you some meds. I think I have time."
If only Isabelle would have taken her shower a little bit quicker, I would have avoided that part. Because the sound of the shower stopped just after she dosed me with the bitter stuff. Which meant I didn't get my mouth rinsed out with water.
"Oh! She's out. Please, stay still and quiet little one. You don't want her to find you." Maille hurriedly pulled out a chair and using it to reach higher, placed me on top of a wooden smelling place (the kitchen cabinets), in the back corner, where one wall was white and the other was black (the refrigerator.) "The lip of this should hide you. Just don't move."
I wasn't going to. I was in a warm place. If not by her heart, it was the next best thing, and I knew that wouldn't be possible while I had to be in the same room with 'Isabelle.' I couldn't even lift a paw at this point, I wasn't about to blow my hiding spot when I couldn't get away.
~Martin Elek
Maille breathed out a loud sigh of relief. "She's taking a shower."
I had no idea what that meant, though I could hear the sound of rushing water elsewhere.
"That gives me time to hide you." She continued to hug me close to her chest as she went about this new place full of strange smells and sounds. Had I been well, I would have been afire to explore every nook and cranny, stuffing my cheeks with any food thing I could find.
Instead, I was content to be held in her hands. If I had to feel sick, at least I would be warm.
"No, no, ugh, she'd find you there. What about, no. Huh maybe, oh no. Why did I have to move into a place with no good hiding places!"
She'd looked into nearly every nook and cranny, talking to herself the whole time.
"Wait! That might help!" I heard beeps and a whirring sound. "There. This should help you stay warm little one," Maille gleefully said as she took me away from the sound of her heart, to lay me on something soft and very warm.
"I used this to relax stress muscles, maybe it can help you relax too little one." (It was a heat pack of sorts)
In truth, it felt wonderful. Rather quickly I stopped quaking, my muscles relaxing enough to uncurl me from the ball I'd been in. "That's it! Hold, on let me get you some meds. I think I have time."
If only Isabelle would have taken her shower a little bit quicker, I would have avoided that part. Because the sound of the shower stopped just after she dosed me with the bitter stuff. Which meant I didn't get my mouth rinsed out with water.
"Oh! She's out. Please, stay still and quiet little one. You don't want her to find you." Maille hurriedly pulled out a chair and using it to reach higher, placed me on top of a wooden smelling place (the kitchen cabinets), in the back corner, where one wall was white and the other was black (the refrigerator.) "The lip of this should hide you. Just don't move."
I wasn't going to. I was in a warm place. If not by her heart, it was the next best thing, and I knew that wouldn't be possible while I had to be in the same room with 'Isabelle.' I couldn't even lift a paw at this point, I wasn't about to blow my hiding spot when I couldn't get away.
~Martin Elek
Saturday, September 14, 2013
He's Good. Real Good.
The sound of the key in the lock, stirred me back to wakefulness.
I opened my eyes just as my Prince Charming stepped in, looking totally dashing in our work uniform that I'd always thought was ugly. But then again, I'd only seen it on Tristen...
In any case.
"I'm just switching out the food and water for the birds." He said, carefully stepping around me. "Don't move."
"I'm not moving." I said, my voice sounding hoarse.
He flashed one of those heart melting smiles at me. "Good."
"How long have I been out?"
"Harvey will be arriving soon."
I did a mental calculation. That meant. I'd been out for only a couple of hours. "What still needs to be done?" I asked pushing myself up on an elbow, for like a second. My vision went blurry and I quickly laid back down. Right, don't move.
"This is the last of it." He said as he swiftly switched out the food and water, without spilling a drop.
I stared at him incredulously. "That's not possible."
"You're a good teacher."
"What about the bedding changes!"
"Done."
"The hamster?"
"Safe."
"But we don't have any extra cages!"
"The cage is fine."
It shouldn't be, I heard the glass breaking. But I couldn't go out and check. I shook my head. "I don't believe you. It's not possible. To open that quickly."
"You're a good teacher."
"I don't remember teaching you!"
He laughed under his breath. "True." He shut the last cage. "The birds will alert you if anyone besides me comes close." He whistled three notes, and the parakeets responded in kind. "And whatever you do, if you hear Harvey yelling your name. Don't respond. I'll take care of it."
Personally, I was still trying to comprehend how he'd finished everything in under two hours. Harvey showed up an hour and a half before the store opened. Even with help, we wouldn't be ready til after the store opened. He had to have forgotten something. "Are you sure you got everything--"
"Yes, Don't worry about it Karen. Everything is ready."
"If you're joshing with me." I threatened.
"I'll bring you a box of chocolates." he promised. (that was so sweet! Just a thing Prince Charming would do.) "Again, the birds will warn you if anyone is nearby. But for now, just rest."
"Birds...right." he was crazy. The birds hated me. "Harvey's going to ask where I am, birds or no birds."
"Like I said, I'll take care of it. He won't even know you're sick." He stepped out, shutting the door before I could respond.
He probably was getting tired of me not believing him. But really. How could I? Even in my sick state I did know one thing. I'd never seen this guy at work before.
Karen<3
I opened my eyes just as my Prince Charming stepped in, looking totally dashing in our work uniform that I'd always thought was ugly. But then again, I'd only seen it on Tristen...
In any case.
"I'm just switching out the food and water for the birds." He said, carefully stepping around me. "Don't move."
"I'm not moving." I said, my voice sounding hoarse.
He flashed one of those heart melting smiles at me. "Good."
"How long have I been out?"
"Harvey will be arriving soon."
I did a mental calculation. That meant. I'd been out for only a couple of hours. "What still needs to be done?" I asked pushing myself up on an elbow, for like a second. My vision went blurry and I quickly laid back down. Right, don't move.
"This is the last of it." He said as he swiftly switched out the food and water, without spilling a drop.
I stared at him incredulously. "That's not possible."
"You're a good teacher."
"What about the bedding changes!"
"Done."
"The hamster?"
"Safe."
"But we don't have any extra cages!"
"The cage is fine."
It shouldn't be, I heard the glass breaking. But I couldn't go out and check. I shook my head. "I don't believe you. It's not possible. To open that quickly."
"You're a good teacher."
"I don't remember teaching you!"
He laughed under his breath. "True." He shut the last cage. "The birds will alert you if anyone besides me comes close." He whistled three notes, and the parakeets responded in kind. "And whatever you do, if you hear Harvey yelling your name. Don't respond. I'll take care of it."
Personally, I was still trying to comprehend how he'd finished everything in under two hours. Harvey showed up an hour and a half before the store opened. Even with help, we wouldn't be ready til after the store opened. He had to have forgotten something. "Are you sure you got everything--"
"Yes, Don't worry about it Karen. Everything is ready."
"If you're joshing with me." I threatened.
"I'll bring you a box of chocolates." he promised. (that was so sweet! Just a thing Prince Charming would do.) "Again, the birds will warn you if anyone is nearby. But for now, just rest."
"Birds...right." he was crazy. The birds hated me. "Harvey's going to ask where I am, birds or no birds."
"Like I said, I'll take care of it. He won't even know you're sick." He stepped out, shutting the door before I could respond.
He probably was getting tired of me not believing him. But really. How could I? Even in my sick state I did know one thing. I'd never seen this guy at work before.
Karen<3
Friday, September 13, 2013
A.W.F.U.L.
The perfect day. Switching out the stuff in the hamster cages taking no time at all. Department open a whole hour early. Me, being left with nothing to do besides standing there and looking pretty when the doors open.
Ha.
I wish.
Can I just say that yesterday...was awful?
It was awful all the way from a to l.
Nothing went right.
It started when I woke in the early early a.m. hours, unable to sleep.
Feeling totally sick.
I mean, I woke up and literally had to run to the bathroom, sick.
The I can barely stand up straight sick.
The I should have just rolled over and gone back to bed sick.
But I didn't.
No, I somehow managed to drive myself to work.
Frankly, I don't remember anything between shutting the front door, and walking into the store.
I hope I didn't hit anyone. My car is undamaged, so I'm assuming not.
Back to the story.
I could barely stand up straight.
My vision kept fuzzing.
My stomach was rebelling.
I had chills, hot flashes.
My head was aching.
Ugh. It was just awful.
One of the worst flus I'd ever had.
And...I couldn't leave work.
Everyone was depending on me.
I was going to be the only one in charge of the animals until after lunch time!
No one could come in and cover me. And I couldn't leave the poor animals not fed, or cared for.
So I kept working.
Does it not come as a surprise that I didn't finish?
I was in the middle of pulling a Syrian hamster cage out of it's slot.
When my vision went black.
Vaguely I heard glass shattering.
I can only guess that I fainted.
Okay, I thought I'd died really.
Because in my blackened world I heard this honey like voice calling my name. "Karen!"
Surely only the angels had a voice like that. It definitely wasn't Harvey.
"Karen." It came again.
I felt pressure on my shoulders. Something warm under my head.
My eyelids fluttered, and I caught a glimpse of an angel's face. A flash of teeth from a warm smile of relief.
And then all thoughts of me being dead faded as my stomach once more rebelled against me. I mean, come on. You can't be sick when you're dead. So I was totally alive. I groaned, barely aware of fingers running through my hair. I had to get up. I had broken a cage. I needed to clean up the mess. And the hamster...I'm sure there was a hamster in the cage.
I tried to roll onto my hands and knees. But the pressure on my shoulders stopped me. "Karen, lay still. You're not well."
My eyes were refusing to open, but with weak hands I tried to push the angel's hands away. Stupid me. I should have just laid there. "No!" I complained faintly. "I have to work!"
"You don't."
I did. "I do!" -On retrospect, I totally sounded like a complaining two year old refusing to go to bed.
"At least take a break." he said trying a different tact.
"I don't have TIME!" I tried to yell. It came out hysterical. "I have to open the department. Harvey will be here any moment. I need to work!"
"You can't work when you can barely stand up."
I opened my eyes long enough to glare up at the angel face, with his dark chocolate hair, and milk chocolate eyes. (yes, he made me think of chocolate. I'm not obsessed with the stuff or anything...) "I ca--" another wave of nausea hit me, cutting my half of the argument short. I again closed my eyes to get the dancing stars out of my line of vision. I was totally screwed. Totally, totally screwed. I knew I couldn't work like this. Whatever I had was only getting worse. "I..Harvey. He's expecting me to work. I can't take a break." I whispered.
And wouldn't you know it. This guy I had never seen before, swept me off my feet...okay off the ground. As I was sprawled out on it, my head resting in his lap, or had been. The spinning world only spun worse with that movement and I buried against his chest. Yes. I was screwed. My one chance to impress Harvey. Totally gone.
I heard the door to the bird enclosure open and the angel placed me down on something soft. -A dog bed. I don't know how he got it into the enclosure or when.-
"Harvey won't think to look in here."
"He will if I'm not out there working!" I complained. -seriously I should have just shut up and let my rescue angel rescue me.
"I'll take care of it. Just rest." He flashed a smile at me.
"You don't know what to do!"
"I know what to do." he assured me. "Rest." he shut the door, and with a click, it locked.
Wow. I remember thinking before I fell unconscious. Prince Charming just came to my rescue.
Karen<3
Ha.
I wish.
Can I just say that yesterday...was awful?
It was awful all the way from a to l.
Nothing went right.
It started when I woke in the early early a.m. hours, unable to sleep.
Feeling totally sick.
I mean, I woke up and literally had to run to the bathroom, sick.
The I can barely stand up straight sick.
The I should have just rolled over and gone back to bed sick.
But I didn't.
No, I somehow managed to drive myself to work.
Frankly, I don't remember anything between shutting the front door, and walking into the store.
I hope I didn't hit anyone. My car is undamaged, so I'm assuming not.
Back to the story.
I could barely stand up straight.
My vision kept fuzzing.
My stomach was rebelling.
I had chills, hot flashes.
My head was aching.
Ugh. It was just awful.
One of the worst flus I'd ever had.
And...I couldn't leave work.
Everyone was depending on me.
I was going to be the only one in charge of the animals until after lunch time!
No one could come in and cover me. And I couldn't leave the poor animals not fed, or cared for.
So I kept working.
Does it not come as a surprise that I didn't finish?
I was in the middle of pulling a Syrian hamster cage out of it's slot.
When my vision went black.
Vaguely I heard glass shattering.
I can only guess that I fainted.
Okay, I thought I'd died really.
Because in my blackened world I heard this honey like voice calling my name. "Karen!"
Surely only the angels had a voice like that. It definitely wasn't Harvey.
"Karen." It came again.
I felt pressure on my shoulders. Something warm under my head.
My eyelids fluttered, and I caught a glimpse of an angel's face. A flash of teeth from a warm smile of relief.
And then all thoughts of me being dead faded as my stomach once more rebelled against me. I mean, come on. You can't be sick when you're dead. So I was totally alive. I groaned, barely aware of fingers running through my hair. I had to get up. I had broken a cage. I needed to clean up the mess. And the hamster...I'm sure there was a hamster in the cage.
I tried to roll onto my hands and knees. But the pressure on my shoulders stopped me. "Karen, lay still. You're not well."
My eyes were refusing to open, but with weak hands I tried to push the angel's hands away. Stupid me. I should have just laid there. "No!" I complained faintly. "I have to work!"
"You don't."
I did. "I do!" -On retrospect, I totally sounded like a complaining two year old refusing to go to bed.
"At least take a break." he said trying a different tact.
"I don't have TIME!" I tried to yell. It came out hysterical. "I have to open the department. Harvey will be here any moment. I need to work!"
"You can't work when you can barely stand up."
I opened my eyes long enough to glare up at the angel face, with his dark chocolate hair, and milk chocolate eyes. (yes, he made me think of chocolate. I'm not obsessed with the stuff or anything...) "I ca--" another wave of nausea hit me, cutting my half of the argument short. I again closed my eyes to get the dancing stars out of my line of vision. I was totally screwed. Totally, totally screwed. I knew I couldn't work like this. Whatever I had was only getting worse. "I..Harvey. He's expecting me to work. I can't take a break." I whispered.
And wouldn't you know it. This guy I had never seen before, swept me off my feet...okay off the ground. As I was sprawled out on it, my head resting in his lap, or had been. The spinning world only spun worse with that movement and I buried against his chest. Yes. I was screwed. My one chance to impress Harvey. Totally gone.
I heard the door to the bird enclosure open and the angel placed me down on something soft. -A dog bed. I don't know how he got it into the enclosure or when.-
"Harvey won't think to look in here."
"He will if I'm not out there working!" I complained. -seriously I should have just shut up and let my rescue angel rescue me.
"I'll take care of it. Just rest." He flashed a smile at me.
"You don't know what to do!"
"I know what to do." he assured me. "Rest." he shut the door, and with a click, it locked.
Wow. I remember thinking before I fell unconscious. Prince Charming just came to my rescue.
Karen<3
Thursday, September 12, 2013
Day ???
A broken ankle. Making it impossible to walk.
Three cracked ribs. Making it impossible to breathe.
Hand nearly cut off from my arm. Making it impossible to hold anything.
A bruised skull. Making it impossible to think.
No wonder I have amnesia.
The doctors are amazed I'm even alive.
I'm amazed I'm alive. In all rights, the fall off the mountain should have killed me. I did climb a pretty steep cliff after all. A fall off that should have ended in a kersplat. But I survived with minimal injuries. Alone. How am I alive?
I mean. I was a month away from anyone. No cell phone. No way of contacting anyone. Nobody else was out there. My car was the only car in the lot. Injured as I was, I couldn't have covered the same trail at the same pace. I should have been slowed. Yet, somehow, I was discovered in a river, about a week ago. Nearly 200 miles from where'd I'd fallen. Two HUNDRED MILES! In a river I'd never even heard of before. Why would I go in the completely wrong direction? Even injured I should have known to go towards the setting sun. I climbed towards the rising sun, therefore I must go towards the setting sun to find my car and get back to civilization. Why did I not go back to my car?
I don't know.
I can't remember anything.
I reached the top of the mountain.
Took out my camera. Took a picture.
Heard a sound.
Turned.
Slipped.
And I remember falling, hitting rocks.
But after that.
Nothing.
I can't get it out of my head. Those final moments before my fall off the top.
There has to be a clue. Somewhere. In those pictures that I took before my camera got smashed.
Yet I see nothing.
Nothing.
How come I can't remember anything afterwards? Why can't I remember anything? Trying to survive, that should be memorable. Falling into a river that should be memorable. Being in a coma for who knows how long, understandably not memorable, but I remember waking up from that coma in the hospital. Anything between the fall and the hospital. No.
Nothing. Nothing what so ever.
They searched the river, looking for clues. That's how they found my camera. But a storm washed away any other evidence of my passing. They don't know where I entered the river, or even when. How long did I float downstream? How did I keep afloat? How did I survive?
I don't know....
~L
Three cracked ribs. Making it impossible to breathe.
Hand nearly cut off from my arm. Making it impossible to hold anything.
A bruised skull. Making it impossible to think.
No wonder I have amnesia.
The doctors are amazed I'm even alive.
I'm amazed I'm alive. In all rights, the fall off the mountain should have killed me. I did climb a pretty steep cliff after all. A fall off that should have ended in a kersplat. But I survived with minimal injuries. Alone. How am I alive?
I mean. I was a month away from anyone. No cell phone. No way of contacting anyone. Nobody else was out there. My car was the only car in the lot. Injured as I was, I couldn't have covered the same trail at the same pace. I should have been slowed. Yet, somehow, I was discovered in a river, about a week ago. Nearly 200 miles from where'd I'd fallen. Two HUNDRED MILES! In a river I'd never even heard of before. Why would I go in the completely wrong direction? Even injured I should have known to go towards the setting sun. I climbed towards the rising sun, therefore I must go towards the setting sun to find my car and get back to civilization. Why did I not go back to my car?
I don't know.
I can't remember anything.
I reached the top of the mountain.
Took out my camera. Took a picture.
Heard a sound.
Turned.
Slipped.
And I remember falling, hitting rocks.
But after that.
Nothing.
I can't get it out of my head. Those final moments before my fall off the top.
There has to be a clue. Somewhere. In those pictures that I took before my camera got smashed.
Yet I see nothing.
Nothing.
How come I can't remember anything afterwards? Why can't I remember anything? Trying to survive, that should be memorable. Falling into a river that should be memorable. Being in a coma for who knows how long, understandably not memorable, but I remember waking up from that coma in the hospital. Anything between the fall and the hospital. No.
Nothing. Nothing what so ever.
They searched the river, looking for clues. That's how they found my camera. But a storm washed away any other evidence of my passing. They don't know where I entered the river, or even when. How long did I float downstream? How did I keep afloat? How did I survive?
I don't know....
~L
Wednesday, September 11, 2013
We Found Steel! Part 3
"Captured? Ha. Ah, No, sorry. I'm not a hero. I'm just really lost." I managed.
If I had any powers then I would totally have loved that Surge thought I was a hero. Instead. I was just a kid in the wrong place at the wrong time. Without powers. In Surge's grip. This would have been a great time to suddenly discover I had super strength like Steel.
Surge raised an eyebrow. He didn't have to say anything. He wouldn't be much of a villain if he couldn't recognize his own creation.
I swallowed hard. This guy was intimidating. "Look, I don't want trouble."
"Yet, you break into my building."
"Ah, right." I wish he would put me down. I really didn't like just hanging in his grip. Shouldn't he have been running from Steel or something? Yet, it seemed like he was ready to hold me for the rest of eternity. "But hey. This could work out for both of us."
"I doubt it." He said calmly.
Well, that created instant chills. "No! Really! I mean, you've been looking for the collar, I have it. I totally don't want it. You can have it back and we both leave here happier then when we came in."
He showed me the tips of his pointy black teeth in a small smile. "I haven't been looking for it."
"Of course you, wait you haven't?"
He shook his head the barest of millimeters possible to even make it a movement.
It dawned on me. "You knew where it was the whole time!" Then it really hit me. He knew where the collar was the whole time. All this icing time. Yet he'd done nothing with it? What was this guy planning!
Amusement flashed through his blood colored eyes. "A hero that actually thinks. Impressive for one being trained in the tower."
He knew where I'd been.
"Well, yah, whatever. Look, this collar isn't doing either one of us any good. It must have gotten broken."
"It works fine." He adjusted his grip on my collar and I convulsed as an electric shock coursed through me. He chuckled. "Oh yes, it's working just fine."
He'd just! I had no idea, but it had HURT. I struggled (finally, what took me so long?) to get out of his grip. I guess fear finally took control of my head. I mean, he'd just shocked me. By adjusting his grip on the stupid controlling collar. Wait. That meant. Control. "Are you trying to control me?" I demanded. Had he been controlling me the whole time without me realizing it?
He smirked. "You haven't felt control yet, hero."
Layters!
--> Issac
If I had any powers then I would totally have loved that Surge thought I was a hero. Instead. I was just a kid in the wrong place at the wrong time. Without powers. In Surge's grip. This would have been a great time to suddenly discover I had super strength like Steel.
Surge raised an eyebrow. He didn't have to say anything. He wouldn't be much of a villain if he couldn't recognize his own creation.
I swallowed hard. This guy was intimidating. "Look, I don't want trouble."
"Yet, you break into my building."
"Ah, right." I wish he would put me down. I really didn't like just hanging in his grip. Shouldn't he have been running from Steel or something? Yet, it seemed like he was ready to hold me for the rest of eternity. "But hey. This could work out for both of us."
"I doubt it." He said calmly.
Well, that created instant chills. "No! Really! I mean, you've been looking for the collar, I have it. I totally don't want it. You can have it back and we both leave here happier then when we came in."
He showed me the tips of his pointy black teeth in a small smile. "I haven't been looking for it."
"Of course you, wait you haven't?"
He shook his head the barest of millimeters possible to even make it a movement.
It dawned on me. "You knew where it was the whole time!" Then it really hit me. He knew where the collar was the whole time. All this icing time. Yet he'd done nothing with it? What was this guy planning!
Amusement flashed through his blood colored eyes. "A hero that actually thinks. Impressive for one being trained in the tower."
He knew where I'd been.
"Well, yah, whatever. Look, this collar isn't doing either one of us any good. It must have gotten broken."
"It works fine." He adjusted his grip on my collar and I convulsed as an electric shock coursed through me. He chuckled. "Oh yes, it's working just fine."
He'd just! I had no idea, but it had HURT. I struggled (finally, what took me so long?) to get out of his grip. I guess fear finally took control of my head. I mean, he'd just shocked me. By adjusting his grip on the stupid controlling collar. Wait. That meant. Control. "Are you trying to control me?" I demanded. Had he been controlling me the whole time without me realizing it?
He smirked. "You haven't felt control yet, hero."
Layters!
--> Issac
A Chance!
Oh wow.
Harvey seems to think that I can do something right.
Because he's going to let me open all by myself tomorrow morning!
Okay, so one of my coworkers can't make it in, and he couldn't find anyone to help me open.
But still! This is going to be a chance to 'test' myself.
And see if I've learned anything at all about time management.
I'm rather excited.
Opening my little department all by myself.
I can totally do this!
I got it mapped out and everything.
My game plan is set!
Karen<3
Harvey seems to think that I can do something right.
Because he's going to let me open all by myself tomorrow morning!
Okay, so one of my coworkers can't make it in, and he couldn't find anyone to help me open.
But still! This is going to be a chance to 'test' myself.
And see if I've learned anything at all about time management.
I'm rather excited.
Opening my little department all by myself.
I can totally do this!
I got it mapped out and everything.
My game plan is set!
Karen<3
Tuesday, September 10, 2013
She's Ba-ack
I think I created a monster.
Seriously. I do.
You see, after that huge fish tank disaster.....a girl came into the store like a couple of days later, and got a fish tank. I was the one who helped her and told her how to do everything right.
And since then....
She's come in like Every. Single. Day!
Buying decorations.
Buying rocks.
Buying fish.
Buying another tank.
Buying more fish.
Bringing friends to buy tanks.
Buying more fish.
And more fish.
And more fish for a pond she has.
Plus a variety of bowls for betas plus the betas themselves.
I don't know where she's getting the money from.
Or why she'd want soooo many fish.
But yet. She keeps coming back.
I just hope one of these days she'll stop coming in.....
As at this rate, she'll buy everything available in the store...twice.
Karen<3
Seriously. I do.
You see, after that huge fish tank disaster.....a girl came into the store like a couple of days later, and got a fish tank. I was the one who helped her and told her how to do everything right.
And since then....
She's come in like Every. Single. Day!
Buying decorations.
Buying rocks.
Buying fish.
Buying another tank.
Buying more fish.
Bringing friends to buy tanks.
Buying more fish.
And more fish.
And more fish for a pond she has.
Plus a variety of bowls for betas plus the betas themselves.
I don't know where she's getting the money from.
Or why she'd want soooo many fish.
But yet. She keeps coming back.
I just hope one of these days she'll stop coming in.....
As at this rate, she'll buy everything available in the store...twice.
Karen<3
Monday, September 9, 2013
That Was Unexpected
A dude came into the store today.
Big beefy guy. Looks like he wrestles for a living.
And you want to know what he bought?
Not a big spiky collar for a mean looking dog.
He bought six hummingbird feeders and the liquidy stuff that goes into it.
Talk about a deceiving appearance!
The guy is obsessed with hummingbirds.
Apparently he's a photographer/painter and just loves luring all the hummingbirds in the area to him.
It's amazing actually. He showed me a couple of pictures he'd done in water color that he'd taken on his phone. A-may-zing!
He told me that I should come to the park on corner of Salem and Main in a couple of weeks. That's when the hummingbirds flock to the area. He's just trying to catch the early birds now.
You know, I think I might do it. I want to see these small flying birds.
I just hope they don't get it in their little heads to put a hundred little feathers in my hair like the birds in the store like to do.
Karen<3
Big beefy guy. Looks like he wrestles for a living.
And you want to know what he bought?
Not a big spiky collar for a mean looking dog.
He bought six hummingbird feeders and the liquidy stuff that goes into it.
Talk about a deceiving appearance!
The guy is obsessed with hummingbirds.
Apparently he's a photographer/painter and just loves luring all the hummingbirds in the area to him.
It's amazing actually. He showed me a couple of pictures he'd done in water color that he'd taken on his phone. A-may-zing!
He told me that I should come to the park on corner of Salem and Main in a couple of weeks. That's when the hummingbirds flock to the area. He's just trying to catch the early birds now.
You know, I think I might do it. I want to see these small flying birds.
I just hope they don't get it in their little heads to put a hundred little feathers in my hair like the birds in the store like to do.
Karen<3
Sunday, September 8, 2013
We Found Steel! Part 2
You know the problem with being in a possible secret lair or trap of Surge's? I couldn't be one of those nincomninnys in the movies that go around yelling "Hello? Anyone there? Helloooo?" I mean, who'd want to be that sort of person? I was on my own here. Powerless. And if Surge caught me, I would basically be a mind controlled slave by the end of the hour. Not Good.
I really should have been better at staying close to Devoto. Because he had more brains then I gave him credit for. Devoto hadn't cared that he hadn't brought in a flash light. Why? Because he had powers. He could use them for a variety of reasons. Like leaving a trail. Just like Hansel and Gretel. Only, he left it as an ice slick along the walls, in the shape of continuous arrows. Kinda like the sort you see in those race car games that make your car go faster. But with that, he could tell which direction to go to get back to the window.
Me? I had nothing. No powers, no lights, nothing. If I didn't run into Devoto anytime soon, well I'd be wandering around those floors until I was 98.
But then I saw something. Something red and yellow. I couldn't tell if it was a big something far away, or a small something close by. But, like any icing dummy in a movie, I went towards it. At least I could see something right?
In reality I should have gone a totally different way. Aren't we constantly yelling at the people on the screen not to go towards the light? Well. I didn't have the benefit of an audience. I went towards that red yellow light.
And.
Ran straight into Surge.
YAH! THE SURGE.
Evil, creepy silvery grey skin, and those red eyes. So reminiscent to the ones that I have, courtesy of the stupid collar around my neck. It didn't matter that he was a head and a half shorter then me. This guy had the presence of a giant.
And I'd run straight into him! Though I didn't know it was him until he clicked on a glow light in his hands.
Super creepy. The guy glows red and yellow in the dark! How was this not mentioned in the comic books? Do all bad guys have evil glows to, so it's not worth mentioning or something?
I backed quickly away, but he caught hold of me with his jointed metal rod like fingers, by the collar.
"Well." He said, in a deep voice like rolling thunder. "What do we have here? An intruder?"
My response isn't worth repeating. "Mehahamlaaam" yah, totally a lame super hero response. But I mean. It was SURGE! Evil bad guy! Source of my collar, nemesis to Steel. I'd read so much about him and his crazy battles around the city. His plans. It was totally a combination of being starstruck, and scared out my icing wits. This was my nightmare come true!
His evil red eyes focused on my collar and he grinned. Showing blackened pointy teeth. Something else the comic books failed to show. "Ah. So you're what I captured." he said not at all surprised that the collar wasn't supposedly under a pile of concrete. He held me at arms length, my feet barely touching the ground. "A young hero" he sneered.
Layters!
-->Issac
I really should have been better at staying close to Devoto. Because he had more brains then I gave him credit for. Devoto hadn't cared that he hadn't brought in a flash light. Why? Because he had powers. He could use them for a variety of reasons. Like leaving a trail. Just like Hansel and Gretel. Only, he left it as an ice slick along the walls, in the shape of continuous arrows. Kinda like the sort you see in those race car games that make your car go faster. But with that, he could tell which direction to go to get back to the window.
Me? I had nothing. No powers, no lights, nothing. If I didn't run into Devoto anytime soon, well I'd be wandering around those floors until I was 98.
But then I saw something. Something red and yellow. I couldn't tell if it was a big something far away, or a small something close by. But, like any icing dummy in a movie, I went towards it. At least I could see something right?
In reality I should have gone a totally different way. Aren't we constantly yelling at the people on the screen not to go towards the light? Well. I didn't have the benefit of an audience. I went towards that red yellow light.
And.
Ran straight into Surge.
YAH! THE SURGE.
Evil, creepy silvery grey skin, and those red eyes. So reminiscent to the ones that I have, courtesy of the stupid collar around my neck. It didn't matter that he was a head and a half shorter then me. This guy had the presence of a giant.
And I'd run straight into him! Though I didn't know it was him until he clicked on a glow light in his hands.
Super creepy. The guy glows red and yellow in the dark! How was this not mentioned in the comic books? Do all bad guys have evil glows to, so it's not worth mentioning or something?
I backed quickly away, but he caught hold of me with his jointed metal rod like fingers, by the collar.
"Well." He said, in a deep voice like rolling thunder. "What do we have here? An intruder?"
My response isn't worth repeating. "Mehahamlaaam" yah, totally a lame super hero response. But I mean. It was SURGE! Evil bad guy! Source of my collar, nemesis to Steel. I'd read so much about him and his crazy battles around the city. His plans. It was totally a combination of being starstruck, and scared out my icing wits. This was my nightmare come true!
His evil red eyes focused on my collar and he grinned. Showing blackened pointy teeth. Something else the comic books failed to show. "Ah. So you're what I captured." he said not at all surprised that the collar wasn't supposedly under a pile of concrete. He held me at arms length, my feet barely touching the ground. "A young hero" he sneered.
Layters!
-->Issac
Saturday, September 7, 2013
Post
Annalina Aileen has reached a whole new level of low.
If she wasn't my enemy in the beginning, she's an enemy now.
(Alex)
If she wasn't my enemy in the beginning, she's an enemy now.
(Alex)
We Found Steel! Part 1
He's alive. Steel's alive.
There's so much, I don't know how to sum it all up, or explain it at all really. I still can't process it. Of course, it's only been a couple of hours.
But I think I may actually do okay at this super hero business.
Well, Devoto definitely would be the better hero. And I will probably die if I end up being his side kick.
But he was right. I do have powers.
Let me repeat that.
I HAVE POWERS.
I just needed to come face to face with pure evil to do use some of them.
Yah. I ran into Surge.
The. Surge.
I'm literally shaking just remembering meeting him. His red eyes. His grey skin. Ice to the crevice he's CREEPY.
But I'm going to rewind a bit. Start at the beginning. Otherwise this post won't make much sense.
As sad as it was for Steel to be missing. I found a bit of pleasure in his disappearance. Not that he was gone! No! But, because the heroes were desperate enough to find him that they even let me, the walking time bomb, out of the Tower.
Can you imagine the freedom? Because I felt like it was freedom. Wandering around town, like any other teenager.
I wasn't wandering to the mall though. No. I was on a mission. It was like being a spy. Trying discreetly to ask if anything odd has been happening.
Ice, I have no idea what it would be like to grow up in this city. Because 'unusual' to me, is totally 'normal' to them.
"Have you seen anything weird lately?"
"Well, yah. The pipe bomber struck the Laundromat again. Totally destroyed another set of my clothes."
Another set. Wow. And these people take it in stride. Bad Guys and Superheroes are a common occurrence here.
No wonder the few supers who went out to find Steel were having trouble.
Trouble is icing normal!
I can only imagine it would be like living in a comic book.
On one hand. Awesome! On the other, not so awesome if your have your possessions destroyed every other week.
At this point, I'd manage to avoid Devoto while I was outside of the tower. Mostly because I chose to go searching when I knew he was busy doing something else. Apparently he caught on to my ploy because he found me that day just as it was getting dark and the city began to light up.
And you know what he wanted to do?
Work together.
He had this crazy idea that my collar would somehow lead us to Steel.
I laughed in his face. Seriously. It's basically a hunk of metal around my neck. I've wandered all over this city and haven't felt any different.
It didn't lead us to Steel.
But working together. We found him.
I mean, Devoto has spent his whole life training to one day become a hero. So he has a better eye for 'out of the ordinary' then I ever will.
We were walking in the down town area to the south of the Tower, through all the sky scrapers that icing seem small now that I've actually been inside the tower.
And Devoto stopped in the middle of the street. Staring up. At one of the many office buildings. With a frown on his face that he gets when he's trying to solve a problem.
I know, because he frowns around me a lot.
"What?" I asked staring up at the sky scraper.
"The lights." he muttered.
I looked again. "They look like regular office lights."
He shook his head. "Not there." He pointed to a section of the building a third of the way up. Just below the eye level of the Tower. There were like six floors that were totally dark. "Look, all the other buildings have at least one light on each floor. Why not those ones?"
"Maybe, those floors are empty." I suggested.
"There's one way to find out." He broke into a run and right there in the open formed his floating icebergs and just like at the pool, he dashed up them. "Come on Sac!" he called down to me, impatiently.
Oh man! Cool moment right there. I ran up Devoto's floating Icebergs!
I have no idea when I decided to trust him. But trust him I did, because I didn't even hesitate to follow him up them. Wow. That kid has talent.
In a multitude of ways. We reached the first floor of darken windows and found them totally sealed. No way to open them at all. And we couldn't see inside the building either. It was like the windows were a facade.
But using the freezing technique he used to break into my room, Devoto cracked the seals on that held the windows in place and with a nicely placed icicle broke the glass so that we could get in.
That was when I realized. We were breaking into a building! "Couldn't we use the front door?"
"You think they'd let two teenagers in to this place? Especially if Surge is here? No way." he slipped inside. "Heroes have to break things sometimes too, Sac. Otherwise we'd never get past all the guards."
"But Surge doesn't hire guards."
"He doesn't hold Steel captive for over a week either." He retorted back.
True. Maybe Surge was switching things up.
So I slipped inside. I mean! come on! I could rescue Steel! It would be totally icing cool!
What it was instead was pitch black.
Okay, not 'you can't see your hand in front of your face' pitch black, We had just broken a window so that let some light in. But this place was totally creepy. Looking at the rest of the wall you couldn't tell that they were even supposed to be windows.
And what were we confronted with?
A narrow passageway.
And neither of us with a flash light.
Or cellphones. Devoto doesn't own one. I lost mine in the building collapse.
Yet, heedless of that Devoto went right ahead to explore the area.
I think he thought he'd be able to find a light switch.
I can see why he's still in training. Ice! What we did was totally stupid. Who in their right mind would go into an unknown room without something to light the way?
It's no surprise that we got separated.
The place was literally a maze.
Full of many different traps. Lean against the wrong wall and it would swing around like those haunted house movies, and place you in a different room. Floor boards would suddenly give way dropping you to floors below, or they would jerk under your feet sending you up into the next floor like an elevator with rockets on its base. Can you say total nightmare?
Seriously. It was. I quickly lost my sense of direction. And I had no idea where I was beyond the idea that I was among one of the six darkened floors. But with all the drops, spinning, and rises. I couldn't have told you what floor I was on.
This set up was totally crazy. Yet, if Steel was here, why couldn't he have just flown through the walls? I mean, he's icing Steel! He can punch through anything. He would only need to pick a direction and wham! He would eventually meet sky.
Layters!
-->Issac
There's so much, I don't know how to sum it all up, or explain it at all really. I still can't process it. Of course, it's only been a couple of hours.
But I think I may actually do okay at this super hero business.
Well, Devoto definitely would be the better hero. And I will probably die if I end up being his side kick.
But he was right. I do have powers.
Let me repeat that.
I HAVE POWERS.
I just needed to come face to face with pure evil to do use some of them.
Yah. I ran into Surge.
The. Surge.
I'm literally shaking just remembering meeting him. His red eyes. His grey skin. Ice to the crevice he's CREEPY.
But I'm going to rewind a bit. Start at the beginning. Otherwise this post won't make much sense.
As sad as it was for Steel to be missing. I found a bit of pleasure in his disappearance. Not that he was gone! No! But, because the heroes were desperate enough to find him that they even let me, the walking time bomb, out of the Tower.
Can you imagine the freedom? Because I felt like it was freedom. Wandering around town, like any other teenager.
I wasn't wandering to the mall though. No. I was on a mission. It was like being a spy. Trying discreetly to ask if anything odd has been happening.
Ice, I have no idea what it would be like to grow up in this city. Because 'unusual' to me, is totally 'normal' to them.
"Have you seen anything weird lately?"
"Well, yah. The pipe bomber struck the Laundromat again. Totally destroyed another set of my clothes."
Another set. Wow. And these people take it in stride. Bad Guys and Superheroes are a common occurrence here.
No wonder the few supers who went out to find Steel were having trouble.
Trouble is icing normal!
I can only imagine it would be like living in a comic book.
On one hand. Awesome! On the other, not so awesome if your have your possessions destroyed every other week.
At this point, I'd manage to avoid Devoto while I was outside of the tower. Mostly because I chose to go searching when I knew he was busy doing something else. Apparently he caught on to my ploy because he found me that day just as it was getting dark and the city began to light up.
And you know what he wanted to do?
Work together.
He had this crazy idea that my collar would somehow lead us to Steel.
I laughed in his face. Seriously. It's basically a hunk of metal around my neck. I've wandered all over this city and haven't felt any different.
It didn't lead us to Steel.
But working together. We found him.
I mean, Devoto has spent his whole life training to one day become a hero. So he has a better eye for 'out of the ordinary' then I ever will.
We were walking in the down town area to the south of the Tower, through all the sky scrapers that icing seem small now that I've actually been inside the tower.
And Devoto stopped in the middle of the street. Staring up. At one of the many office buildings. With a frown on his face that he gets when he's trying to solve a problem.
I know, because he frowns around me a lot.
"What?" I asked staring up at the sky scraper.
"The lights." he muttered.
I looked again. "They look like regular office lights."
He shook his head. "Not there." He pointed to a section of the building a third of the way up. Just below the eye level of the Tower. There were like six floors that were totally dark. "Look, all the other buildings have at least one light on each floor. Why not those ones?"
"Maybe, those floors are empty." I suggested.
"There's one way to find out." He broke into a run and right there in the open formed his floating icebergs and just like at the pool, he dashed up them. "Come on Sac!" he called down to me, impatiently.
Oh man! Cool moment right there. I ran up Devoto's floating Icebergs!
I have no idea when I decided to trust him. But trust him I did, because I didn't even hesitate to follow him up them. Wow. That kid has talent.
In a multitude of ways. We reached the first floor of darken windows and found them totally sealed. No way to open them at all. And we couldn't see inside the building either. It was like the windows were a facade.
But using the freezing technique he used to break into my room, Devoto cracked the seals on that held the windows in place and with a nicely placed icicle broke the glass so that we could get in.
That was when I realized. We were breaking into a building! "Couldn't we use the front door?"
"You think they'd let two teenagers in to this place? Especially if Surge is here? No way." he slipped inside. "Heroes have to break things sometimes too, Sac. Otherwise we'd never get past all the guards."
"But Surge doesn't hire guards."
"He doesn't hold Steel captive for over a week either." He retorted back.
True. Maybe Surge was switching things up.
So I slipped inside. I mean! come on! I could rescue Steel! It would be totally icing cool!
What it was instead was pitch black.
Okay, not 'you can't see your hand in front of your face' pitch black, We had just broken a window so that let some light in. But this place was totally creepy. Looking at the rest of the wall you couldn't tell that they were even supposed to be windows.
And what were we confronted with?
A narrow passageway.
And neither of us with a flash light.
Or cellphones. Devoto doesn't own one. I lost mine in the building collapse.
Yet, heedless of that Devoto went right ahead to explore the area.
I think he thought he'd be able to find a light switch.
I can see why he's still in training. Ice! What we did was totally stupid. Who in their right mind would go into an unknown room without something to light the way?
It's no surprise that we got separated.
The place was literally a maze.
Full of many different traps. Lean against the wrong wall and it would swing around like those haunted house movies, and place you in a different room. Floor boards would suddenly give way dropping you to floors below, or they would jerk under your feet sending you up into the next floor like an elevator with rockets on its base. Can you say total nightmare?
Seriously. It was. I quickly lost my sense of direction. And I had no idea where I was beyond the idea that I was among one of the six darkened floors. But with all the drops, spinning, and rises. I couldn't have told you what floor I was on.
This set up was totally crazy. Yet, if Steel was here, why couldn't he have just flown through the walls? I mean, he's icing Steel! He can punch through anything. He would only need to pick a direction and wham! He would eventually meet sky.
Layters!
-->Issac
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