From Sunday until mid-Wednesday I'm going to be offline entirely as I can't get internet hooked up until then.
So, what's the line for today?
I knew it would be an ugly morning when the smell of scotch was stronger than the smell of coffee.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Heh. Oooh! I can definitely use this in the magician series of stories. But it does mean I have to finsh one story and type up/finish another ... well, that is what days off from work are for :)
ReplyDelete...and I'm excited to read it :D
DeleteHahaha, writing on your day off... why doesn't that surprise me?
Posting here since it would put the stories on my blog out of order; this one takes place 3+ stories later as the magician has acquired a Servant from outside the universe [mostly against his will] that takes the form of a boy named Jay. As this fragment tells no story on its own, I doubt it will be part of the overall series unless expanded
ReplyDeleteI knew it would be an ugly morning when the smell of scotch was stronger than the smell of coffee. I stagger out into the kitchen, last night a jumble of drinks and pain. My nose is broken, my head hurts and the coffee is Starbucks, appearing on the table between moments. It's never good to find I paid for a free coffee somehow and don't know why.
Jay is sitting at the table. He's small and pale and is eyes filled with waiting. There is no sign of Charlie, but the motel room door rings like a broken bell when I pause to listen with more than ears.
"What happened?"
"Charlie thlammed the door and left," he says, fighting the lisp in his voice and failing. It's hard for things from Outside to enter the universe, harder to remain and form bodies for themselves. He was too newly formed to do it, the damage to his Self reflected in his voice. Anyone who knows what he is would just have to hear him speak and know how weak he is.
He is quiet, thinking words over. "The old woman came and talked to Charlie, who growled, and I arrived and the magic-lady went away."
"Went away?"
"Vanithed," he mumbles.
"I knew Mary-Lee was following me. She is old, and I thought to fake her out in a bar. She did something to my drink and you and Charlie were left to face the oldest magician in the world."
"Tho?" he shrugs
I reach, and there is a plate of scrambled eggs and a fork in front of him a moment later. He stares at it, then me, pale eyes wide and questioning.
"She could have destroyed you, Jay. That's payment for the food." He begins eating without further prompting and a huge grin. He bound himself into my service, and I left him and Charlie to face Mary-Lee on their own.
"Is Mary Lee human?" He shakes his head; his sense of Other is stronger than mine could ever be. I don't point out she was human, or that magic seems to have altered her more than even I expected. I just summon more food until he's full and wait to see if Charlie returns.
I leave my nose broken. It won't last and Jay doesn't understand guilt at all. I head to the bathroom to use the shower and force the rest of the scotch from my system and wonder again if I am different than any other magician. Today says no.
Hahahaha, is this revenge for me *borrowing* the name Zeth/Seth from one of your stories? Now you've got a Jay? :D
Delete...just tell me he's not going to end up like Jesse...
Maybe it's just my own weird sense of...humour? But I've always found eggs to be a really super creepy thing to eat... so it makes absolute sense that your demon Jay is enjoying a large plate of eggs :)
...I am absolutely aching to ask what sound a broken bell makes...
I love those lines you write, Alcar, "...eyes filled with waiting", "He is quiet, thinking words over."
A broken bell is .... like one-hand clapping? :)
DeleteAnd x-posted to here with: And nah, Jay wasn't a conscious poaching at all. I went with "Jasel + other syllables" for a name the creature couldn't say, and the magician switching it to Jay because it's common and quick and Jay as a bird makes a metaphorical sense later on in the story.
(Plus, at some point Charlie will tell people it's short for Jason just to tick Jay off a little :))
Haha that sounds like Charlie ;)
Delete...and you know I was just bugging you about the name thing :p
I knew it would be an ugly morning when the smell of scotch was stronger than the smell of coffee. My boss and his girlfriend were fighting again. His sober stretches were getting increasingly shorter as he managed to suck the soul of his latest victim. I really wish I wasn’t speaking literally.
ReplyDelete“It’s as if she doesn’t love me anymore,” my boss said into his bottle. “I always save that emotion till last, but what’s the point now?” He threw a hand down on his adding machine.
“Morning, sir,” I said, then scurried to my desk at the front of the office. I wish I could just clock in like a normal employee. My boss prefers a warm welcome over a time card. I’ve gotten good at faking a smile when I come in each morning.
The monthly phone call came a few hours later, days earlier than usual. “That’s horrible,” I said to the policeman, my standard, rehearsed reaction. I pushed a button and set down the phone. “Sir, you have a call on line one.” As an afterthought, I added, “I’m so sorry.”
That's a really interesting idea, him saving that emotion until last... but I'm not exactly sure how that works. Love isn't logical, so how can you meter it out/save it for last?
DeleteI have no idea what your main character does! The soul-sucking line made me think this was a devil/demon story, but then the policeman calling kinda threw me for a loop :) And I wasn't sure about the monthly phone call thing...
Who is he saying "I'm sorry" to if he's already put the policeman on hold?
The soul isn't exactly logical either. Love, at least in this story, is an aspect of the soul.
DeleteThe monthly phone call is referring to the fact that the boss "sucks a girlfriend dry" about once a month.
He's saying "I'm sorry" to his boss, hence "I added", as in it's a continuation of the previous piece of dialogue.
The learning curve here is really steep, I know. A reader will either pick up on everything and it'll have a decent impact or they won't and everything fails. Many of my stories are like that. Some people get them completely and other people get lost.