I’m reading a book, slowly, called SAHARA by Michael Palin (of Monty Python fame, but whom I’ve discovered I really love for his amazing travel work). I’m reading it for research on a short story I’m about to write, set in the Sahara.
At the point I’m reading, he’s visiting a Saharawis camp, who…
Melvin gripped the steering wheel hard, he felt like a fool. Maybe it was all in his head? Maybe she didn’t like him at all?
He looked out the window, it was threatening to rain. He grabbed the gifts from the passenger seat and dashed from the car, holding them tightly to his chest. If he remembered correctly she normally stayed after school to clean up. Trembling at the door he knocked.
“Come in!”
There were a few kids at their desks. She looked up.
She sighed. “Oh Melvin! Again?”
“I brought this for you.” He placed a gift box and an envelope in front of her.
One of the kids sniggered.
“Thanks lovely, but it was 30 years ago, we were young, things have changed.”
“But we can recapture it, I know we can.”
She got up and gently placed the items into his hands. “So, how did you escape this time?”
“I locked the nurse in the bathroom,” he said scuffing his slippers on the floor.
“Class dismissed!”
“Yay!” shouted the kids, they snatched up their things and I ran out.
She took his hand, “Come, I’ll take you home.”
Calvin was one of the very few to have kept his Genopet, sure she ate a lot and didn’t clean up after herself like the Robpets did, but she made up for it in companionship and loyalty. In addition for a four foot something T-Rex she was very cute. Not puppy dog cute, but close enough.
It had been a hard day at school and Calvin was enjoying the walk through the park with Roxy until Marybell the showed up. He didn’t mind her too much, he just didn’t like how negative and confrontational she always was. She made a beeline towards them.
“It’s Cally and Roxy,” she pointed at Roxy. “You’re so last cycle, how can you even look at yourself in the digimirror?”
Roxy scraped the ground with her clawed foot and snorted.
Calvin leaned over and hugged Roxy around the neck. “Don’t listen to her Roxy, she doesn’t know what she is talking about.”
Marybell scowled, her emotive clothing flaring red. It was the latest trend, matching the wearer’s emotions Marybell’s was often red.
“I so do know what I am talking about. I learned how filthy they are during my morning download.”
“I don’t know how you can let them tamper with your brain like that. Six hours of learning crammed into half an hour is just not right. Plus they are way biased towards the Big Five. I wouldn’t be surprised if half of it is brainwashing you into buying their junk.”
“You shut up! I am way smarter than you and you know it, but anyway that is not the point. Roxy is a polluter!”
“All lies, Roxy is very environmentally friendly, we use her waste as compost.”
“Ew! That’s disgusting.”
“They also spread disease.”
“More propaganda, the Big Five just want more people to buy their inhuman Robopets.”
“Poppycock!” Marybell folded her arms. Her jumpsuit flaming an even brighter red. “It does everything for me, look!”
The bright orange humanoid robot stood beside her holding up a parasol.
Roxy nuzzled his neck and Calvin giggled. “What about friendship? It doesn’t seem to care very much at all.”
“Huh!” She turned to her robot servant. “That is where you are wrong. XP7, are you my friend?”
“Yes, it is part of my duties.”
Calvin shivered. “His voice is so real. Doesn’t it freak you out a bit?”
“Not at all, are you technophobe or something?”
“No,” said Calvin. “Without technology I wouldn’t have my Roxy.”
“You’re so annoying!”
Calvin turned to the robot. “What is Mary’s favourite colour?”
“I do not have access to such information.”
“Her favourite food?”
“Irrelevant.”
“Her favourite thing to do?”
“Irrelevant.”
“Hey! Stop it,” said Marybell. “I don’t need a friend anyway, it is just here to do what I tell it to do.”
XP7 turned to Marybell sharply. “I am not your slave,” stated the machine firmly.
“Yes you are, you piece of junk!” Marybell hit the machine with her handbag.
Calvin laughed.
“Violence towards the XP7 is prohibited.”
“Do you think that will stop me!” shouted Marybell hitting the Robopet again, this time a little harder.
Faster than any of them could follow XP7 grabbed Mary’s hand.
“Ow! You’re hurting me.”
Roxy growled and her nostrils flared.
“Let me go,” whined Marybell, her face almost as red as her jumpsuit.
“First you must promise to never hit XP7 again.” XP7 lifted its arm, Marybell had to go on tiptoes to avoid more pain.
“I will do no such thing.”
XP7 pulled Marybell off her feet. She had gone pale, but not as white as her jumpsuit.
“Roxy!”
Roxy shot forward, clamping her jaws around the android’s head as she took it down. XP7 let go of Mary and she rolled to the side.
XP7 resisted, trying to get a hold of Roxy’s muscular body, but it was of little use, the miniature dinosaur was just too strong. Roxy’s razor sharp teeth making short work of the plastisteel skull. XP7 went limp.
Roxy proceeded to play with the lifeless hunk of metal, throwing it around like a ragdoll.
Cavlin helped Marybell to her feet.
“Thank you,” she said, not looking at him in the eye. The colour of her jumpsuit turning to a calm and neutral blue.
“No problem, it will teach you to take better care of your things
Marybell pulled away. “You owe me a new one, you know.”
“You honestly want another one of those things?”
“No, no, I guess not.”
“You’re far too angry for someone your age.” Calvin sat down on a nearby bench and watched Roxy play catch with the robot’s now detached head.
Marybell looked down. “I can be, it’s just so lonely you know, my parents are always working, and I don’t have much friends.”
“You need to go to proper school like me.”
“But isn’t that boring?”
“Sometimes, but the teachers make it fun.”
Marybell sat down next to him. “I will talk to my parents. Maybe if I sell some of my stuff we can afford it.”
“That will be great.”
She smiled, it was the first time Calvin had ever seen her do so.
“And can you see if you can find me a friend like Roxy?”
“Sure can, I know someone that has a cute polar bear. Will be perfect for you.”
“Can’t wait!”
Calvin got up and joined Roxy in playing with XP7’s head. Marybell soon did the same, laughing as she did so.
Tobias panted. His clockwork opponent stood opposite him. It was strong, nimble and didn’t get tired. It stood there with its baton and its revolver waiting for him to make a move. Tobias gripped his axe a little tighter. He had to stop it. His family was behind him locked up in their house, the house the sheriff had repossessed because their crops had failed and they couldn’t pay their tithe, but there was no way Tobias was going down without a fight. The farm had been in his family for generations.
“Come on you rust bucket!”
“Tobias! We must go, it will kill us all,” said his wife from the front door, a large frying pan in her hand.
The clockwork deputy advanced. “You will surrender your property,” stated the mechanical voice.
“I will do no such thing, you demon.”
“He’s so cool,” said Timmy pulling himself up and peering over the half door.
“Get back inside Timmy!”
“Just give in Toby, we can go move in with my mother…”
“Are you insane?” Tobias lost it, he lobbed his axe at the tin man. It missed. Screaming in rage Tobias ran and tackled the clockwork man. The deputy staggered a few paces back, but he did not lose his balance.
The man of the law took Tobias by the throat and lifted him off the ground.
“Please, please don’t hurt him!” said the farmer’s wife coming out and pleading.
The deputy dropped him, Tobias clutched his throat choking.
“You have ten minutes to vacate the property, all trespassers will be eliminated.”
“No!” croaked Tobias.
There was a loud clang. Tobias fell to the floor. “He’s very stubborn,” said the farmer’s wife shaking her head. “Come on Timmy help me get your dad into the wagon, we’re going to visit grandma.”
“Yay grandma!”
There was a protest march going on outside the court house. Putting on his special goggles so he could see his interviewee properly the reporter went over to meet one of the protestors.
“Good day, Mr. Johnson.”
Mr. Johnson nodded and smiled. “Good day.”
“Can you please tell us a bit more about your cause?”
“Well, we’re sick and tired of being marginalized, we have just as much right as everyone else.”
“Many see your efforts as frivolous, that it doesn’t really matter?”
“Bah humbug to them,” said Mr. Johnson blowing a raspberry. “The way I see it they’re lucky to have us, society has taken a nose dive , and I believe that myself and the members of our party have what it takes to pull this country and maybe the world straight.”
“No one can deny that you have a lot of experience in this field, what do you hope to achieve today?”
“The right to take part in the presidential election of course. We’re have to aim high if we are going to make any changes.”
Slogan filled placards danced behind Mr. Johnson, ranging from the bitter to the jovial: “I can’t believe I’m not getting any royalties from Teddy Bears.” “Presidents need free cosmetic dentistry too.” “Give us the reins!” “You don’t get more transparent than us!” and “I can has president?”
“A lofty goal indeed,” said the reporter. “And I understand you will be voting for a party leader tomorrow?”
“Yes.”
“There are quite a few contenders for the spot?”
“Yes, Washington, Roosevelt and so on, too many horses if you ask me.”
“Who will you be backing?”
“Abe come here!”
A tall man in a black suit and top hat came over. He was carrying a placard that read: “I can has President?”
“How can you say no to this face?”
Abe Lincoln smiled. “I like the YouTube.”
“He’s very umm… excitable?”
“Don’t let his LOLcat addiction fool you, he can be a very serious man when he needs to be.”
“So there you have it folks, the Ghost Party, a gimmick or do they really have a shot at the presidency?”There was a protest march going on outside the court house. Putting on his special goggles so he could see his interviewee properly the reporter went over to meet one of the protestors.
“Good day, Mr. Johnson.”
Mr. Johnson nodded and smiled. “Good day.”
“Can you please tell us a bit more about your cause?”
“Well, we’re sick and tired of being marginalized, we have just as much right as everyone else.”
“Many see your efforts as frivolous, that it doesn’t really matter?”
“Bah humbug to them,” said Mr. Johnson blowing a raspberry. “The way I see it they’re lucky to have us, society has taken a nose dive , and I believe that myself and the members of our party have what it takes to pull this country and maybe the world straight.”
“No one can deny that you have a lot of experience in this field, what do you hope to achieve today?”
“The right to take part in the presidential election of course. We’re have to aim high if we are going to make any changes.”
Slogan filled placards danced behind Mr. Johnson, ranging from the bitter to the jovial: “I can’t believe I’m not getting any royalties from Teddy Bears.” “Presidents need free cosmetic dentistry too.” “Give us the reins!” “You don’t get more transparent than us!” and “I can has president?”
“A lofty goal indeed,” said the reporter. “And I understand you will be voting for a party leader tomorrow?”
“Yes.”
“There are quite a few contenders for the spot?”
“Yes, Washington, Roosevelt and so on, too many horses if you ask me.”
“Who will you be backing?”
“Abe come here!”
A tall man in a black suit and top hat came over. He was carrying a placard that read: “I can has President?”
“How can you say no to this face?”
Abe Lincoln smiled. “I like the YouTube.”
“He’s very umm… excitable?”
“Don’t let his LOLcat addiction fool you, he can be a very serious man when he needs to be.”
“So there you have it folks, the Ghost Party, a gimmick or do they really have a shot at the presidency?”
My entry into the #tuesdaytales challenge (100 words or less): “There was no other way of putting it, what was once possibly peternatural was now real, a Yeti stood before him eating his lunch. From the furry lumps on its chest there was no doubting it was female. She seemed to be starving and a little worse for wear, her fur was hanging loose, dirty, and matted with blood.”
You can read the rest via the link in the title (first entry)
Morsai exited her limo. Flashing lights exploded all around her. Her chauffeur and bodyguard Gerald helped her to her feet. She felt nervous and excited. All these people were there to see her on her big night, the première of her first movie “Dying on the inside”, a biopic about her rise from banishment from her people to stardom in the human world.
“What does it feel like to be the first elf to star in a major movie?” shouted one of the reporters over the din.
“Great, thank you.” But her voice was soft and she doubted if anyone heard.
The police were having a hard time keeping everyone off the red carpet. Even though it had been fifteen years since her banishment she still felt awkward around so many humans.
When they were about halfway up to the theater a lot of loud shouting broke out. Gerald took her arm and pulled her faster towards the theater, frightened, Morsai looked down and followed as quickly as she could in her tight fitting dress.
She was suddenly jerked back. Gerald was on the floor. A dagger sticking out of his chest.
“No!”
Before she could crouch next to him someone grabbed her forcefully.
“Thought you could get away with this did you? Make fools of our people?”
There was no mistaking his voice. “Husband?”
“Shut up traitor. You abandoned us. Our family. Everyone.”
The police had surrounded them, but no one made a move. The tall and black clad elf was holding a knife to Morsai’s throat.
“I had no choice. I couldn’t live by those ways anymore. It was killing me.”
“It’s too late for words.” He brought the knife in closer.
“Please don’t!”
A few shots were fired. The elf collapsed. Morsai hugged herself. People came in to comfort her. She pushed them away.
“Fools! Don’t you know this means war?”
She looked down at the elf prince. Even though the mad old king had more offspring than he could remember he would not let one of them die unavenged.
