Theme: Earthquakes
Initial thoughts: I have never really been in an earthquake, so I don't know too much about them. But I know that animals can sense them coming, and some people can do likewise. What would it be like to be one of those people? What if this was a systemic problem? Yes, yes, that's enough to start something!!
“You should
pull your pies in from the window,” Janae said to Farina Holcox. “I feel another quake coming soon.”
“Thank
you Janae- always so considerate of you, Janae.”
“Wouldn’t
want one of your pies going to waste!” said Janae.
Janae continued on her way through the
village, secure in the knowledge she at least had saved the pies. There were some things not worth mentioning
to folks, but letting one of Farina’s pies go to waste was too much. Besides, the quakes were coming more
frequently now.
Janae
was always able to feel them, for as long as she could remember. She wasn’t sure why, but there was a distinct
change in the air and the feel of the land right before a quake. It was like the ground was taking a sharp
intake of breath before it sneezed. The
quakes weren’t too large, for the most part, but it was the frequency that concerned
her. It wasn’t normal. It wasn’t right.
She
ducked into the barn behind the house she shared with her husband, Makel, and
their two children, just as the next quake hit.
The barn rattled, causing a rake to fall off its hanging place on the
wall. Dust shook from the rafters and
fell quietly to the ground, crossing the beams of early morning sunlight
streaming through the window. The horses
whinnied in their stalls and stamped their hooves uneasily.
She
went over to calm them, petting their velvety noses and talking soothingly to
the beasts. Makel would be out any
moment, she knew. He was a good man, but
sometimes he was more in tune with the horses than he was with her and the
children. She sighed to herself,
supposing it was the condition of being married to a farmer in a small
village. It wasn’t far off from being
the daughter of a blacksmith, a man who spent more time taking care of his
tools than he did taking care of his family.
“I didn’t
expect to see you out here,” said Makel from behind her.
“I was
just on my way back from the market, and felt the quake,” she said. “I thought I would lend a hand.”
Makel
came up behind her and hugged her. “Thank
you,” he said simply. “I know that this
isn’t the life you wanted –“
She
quieted him with a finger on his lips. “This
is the life I chose, my husband. And it
is a far better life than that of the daughter of a drunken blacksmith.”
“Still,”
he said, “I know that this isn’t what you’d hoped for. I’m trying to make things better for us and
the children.”
“The
children are happy here, my love. I am
happy here,” she said, giving him a quick peck on the cheek. “With you.”
“Are you
sure, my dear?”
“Yes. I am.
No, we don’t have a lot, but we have what we need. More importantly, the children and I are
loved well. You’re a good man, Makel. Oh –“ she stopped, her arms out, balancing
herself.
“Is
there another quake coming?”
“No. This – this is something entirely
different. We need to get the children.”
“What’s
wrong?”
“Makel,
I don’t know, but something is terribly wrong.
Get the wagon hitched up. I’ll
get the children ready. We need to leave
this place immediately!”
She ran
into the house and up the stairs, her feet barely touching the steps. “Kip! Nan!
Grab your bags! We have to get
out of here!”
She
grabbed the bag she had packed for herself and Makel off the nail where it hung
outside their bedroom door on her way to the children’s room. Opening the door, she found them, quickly
dressing.
“Hurry”
she said to them. “There’s no time to
waste!”
As she
ran back down the steps, Makel came in from the barn.
“Everything
is ready,” he said. “Where are the
children?”
“Getting
dressed,” she said. “I just have to get
the food and we’ll be all ready.”
Ok, number two. I decided to take on one of the challenging themes.
Theme: All alone on an island Difficulty: must be all conversation.
Initial thoughts: This was designed to sort of be an example of what people are like when we're alone. The conversations we have with the air about the things we wanted to say but didn't, the stuff we wish we could say and do, the heroes we wish we could be to ourselves, but somehow cannot or will not be when we are among others. It felt a little like channeling Tom Hanks in Castaway here for a bit. Maybe that all comes through, maybe not, but that sort of delving into a little madness is what I was thinking about.
“Because, you know what this is, don’t
you? This is her little way of getting
rid of me without having to do much of anything. Really, how hard could it be? All you have to do is force a plane to crash
in the middle of the ocean, and let me be the lone survivor on a deserted
island, claim the life insurance, and run off with whomever she damned well
pleased! It’s not that hard to make it
happen! What, it’s easy! She goes and gets a slow-acting drug and
meets the pilots ahead of time, gets them a couple drinks, and they’re taken
care of. She could do it. She’s attractive enough to pull it off. In the right outfit, they would fall for
it. Every time.”
“Or what about this? She simply paid them off? It’s simpler, and people will expect her to
make some larger-than-life changes once I’m out of the picture. No one will care. No one will say a thing. I’ll fade away, gone from memory, never to be
heard of again. She’ll go on with her
life, and nobody will be any the wiser.
In fact, the only difference between me and her right now is that her
warm sunny island has a 5-star hotel sitting on the beach and some damned room
service! That’s where she is!”
“It sounds a little nuts, I’ll grant you,
but can you prove me wrong? No, you
can’t, and do you want to know why?
Because you’re not really here to listen to me, are you? No – you’re somewhere else, with air
conditioning, electricity, food, fresh water – FROM THE TAP – and don’t care
one damned little bit about little old me out here in the middle of nowhere,
because the last you heard, the plane went down and I have ceased to
exist!! I’m fish food! I’m CHUM.
I’m less than that – by now, I’m the excrement of the shark that ate the
fish that ate the smaller fish that ate the chum!”
“I have to hand it to her – it’s a good
plan. I never saw it coming. How could I?
I suppose I was too absorbed in what I was doing. That’s always a possibility. Maybe I just didn’t pay enough attention to her. I don’t know.
Maybe that’s it – I worked hard so she could have a good life – a life
she wanted, and naturally, she goes and sends me to a deserted island for the
rest of my natural life! HA! Well, there will be no pension – I’m too
young – so take THAT! Maybe you’ll get a
settlement from the insurance, and maybe from a lawsuit to the airline, but
after the lawyers get ahold of that, you’ll have nothing! NOTHING!”
“No, I got the better end of this
deal! Here I am, without a soul around,
all the sunshine I can desire, and look, I’ve already lost about two inches
from my waist! That’s right – I’m on the
best weight-loss program ever, and looking and feeling great! No schedules, no responsibilities, no
listening to her telling me how she wants this and that and the next thing and
me waking every day wondering what she’ll want from me next. I am FREE!”
“I am the master of all I survey! Look upon me, and quake at the sight of the
Lord of this Island! All shall love me,
and all shall fear my wrath! Yes, even
you, my doting, darling, dementing, deadly, dearest – you most of all! I don’t know how, but I’m going to get off
this island, I’ll come and find you, and then, then you’re really going to get
it, because then I will find the biggest ambulance-chaser around and sic them
on you like there’s no tomorrow! You’ll
lose everything, just like I have.”
“But how?
How am I going to find my way off this island to civilization
again? I don’t know! That’s why I’m going to succeed – because I
am a man without limits, and I will do anything I can in order to get the job
done! All I have to do is keep
trying. Never give up. I’ll get off here, I’ll make it back, I’ll
write a best-seller, and show the entire world that no matter what it tries to
do to me, I am going to win! You thought
you had to try hard to keep men down in the past, Universe?? God??
No, you haven’t seen anything yet!
You made one mistake betting against me – you gave me an island!”
Thanks for reading,
Me
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