Kevin Harding sat, nursing his drink. The bar was empty, save for himself and the barkeep, always willing to make a few extra bucks off the private eye. Most people had better things to do this evening, as the anime crabs from Otaku 5 were tearing across the city. Harding did not-ever since the Lemon Incident, he hadn't been the same. No one really knew what the Lemon Incident was, exactly-Harding would never speak of what happened, but fear always flashed across his face for a split second. Whatever it was, it was bad. It was the catalyst that made him start drinking.
He didn't feel very good. Him and his assistant, Chad, walked out on the acolytes during what could only be called their most pressing hour. Harding had been through alot lately, from the uncivil war to the rise of the Boogieman, and this was the last straw. Still, he couldn't help of think that this was a really bad time to chicken out. He stared blankly at the TV, lost in thought.
A few minutes later, he dropped his glass.
The crabs had just slain the former president, Lincoln. A twisted, psychotic man, Lincoln had decided joined the acolytes and Winston Churchill in their resistance fight against the crabs. The way he saw it, this was his land, and the crabs were trespassing. However, Lincoln, for all his strength and skill in hand to hand combat, had been killed by a fateful claw to the heart.
That was it, Harding thought. If Lincoln can't even fight the crabs, then the acolytes were right. They needed him.
Seconds later, Harding was down the street, clenching a lemon in his hand.
Long ago, before white men or even the aboriginies who now live there had ever set foot on Australia, it was inhabited by a different people, long since forgotten. Once there lived among these people a girl, the daughter of a chief, named Melanie. When she was about our age, the elders summoned her. They said to her, "The men have just returned from the hunt, but your father was not with them. Melanie, your father was the greatest hunter of our tribe, and for this he became the chief. But his heart has become perverted, like the heart of a beast. He now lives as one of the animals. He will stalk and kill every one of us if he is not stopped, and none of us are skilled enough to take him down. But even with the heart of an animal, he will not kill his own daughter. You must go into the wilderness, seek your father, and avert this calamity."
So Melanie went off into the wilderness. It was many days before she found signs of her father, and she spent many more days tracking him. Over the days, she found his spear, his clothes, and all of his things along the way, which she took and bundled into a pack. Finally, at the end of a month, she saw him in a glade by a spring, crawling on all fours. His eyes were dim and feral, and his hair was matted and filthy. He crawled on his knuckles and his toes like a dog*, he snorted and sniffed, and he lapped up water from a pool like a beast.
Melanie was afraid, but she walked down to her father and greeted him. He did not speak, but snarled back at her defensively. She said, "Dad, the elders said you started living like an animal. I didn't believe it until I saw you'd abandoned all your spear and all your things. I have them here for you.", and she presented him with his bundle. Melanie's father replied, "The elders and the people of the village say what I've done is evil. But they don't know what it's like after you drink the dragon's blood. They've never seen the awesome majesty of the great dragon who dwells beneath this pool."
Then there was a deafening noise, like the noise of ice cracking on a lake, and it was followed by disturbances on the surface of the pool. A giant dragon rose from under the water near Melanie and her father, and it was very angry. It had six legs, and a black tongue, it's scales were black and it's belly was bright red and orange. It turned to Melanie's father and it's knees towered above him, and it said, "What are you doing talking to this girl!? You have broken your covenant with me and instead of killing this girl for food you are speaking to her in the human tongue!" The dragon reeled back on it's hindmost legs, and came down horribly on Melanie's father, swallowing him whole save for his head, which rolled, severed, into the pool.
*Actually, dogs are not native to Australia, but the word is used for narrative continuity. What Melanie was reminded of was a thylosine (Tasmanian Tiger), a marsupial quite like a wolf in posture, size and diet. However, like possums, thylosines have sinister beaty little eyes, and can open thier mouths almost 180º.
Then the dragon looked at Melanie, fuming hateful face with blood dripping out of it's mouth, and it said to her, "If you can draw my blood, I will offer it to you to drink." Melanie had the spear in her hands, and the dragon came at her to eat her just like it did her dad. When it came down, Melanie was ready, and she pierced it under the chin, and drove the spear through the roof of it's mouth, drove her arms up through the dragon's head and lost the spear in it's brain. The dragon reeled back and gagged on it's own blood, and it spat up her father's body, and they both tumbled into the pool.
The blood and the pulp from the dragon that were covering Melanie's arms she wiped off on the bundle of her father's stuff. She then dove into the pool and swam down. She swam down and down, and at last she came to a ledge underwater where her father's head was lying. She took it and swam deeper, and after a great depth she came to a second ledge where she saw her father's body lying. She could see from the second ledge that the pool went much much deeper, and the dragon had sunk further down than she could see. She put her father back together, and took him by the foot back up to the surface.
When they got back up, Melanie looked at her father and saw that he was no longer like an animal, his eyes were bright and he was sitting up. Then she looked around and discovered that so much time had been spent in the pool that not only was it almost dawn, but the stars had changed almost as much as a season. Melanie and her dad hugged each other. Then they found thier way back to the village, and ate fish sandwiches.
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Inflection
Date: 2004-03-18 07:24 pm (UTC)come.
~Juanjo Ibáñez
no subject
Date: 2004-03-18 07:55 pm (UTC)He didn't feel very good. Him and his assistant, Chad, walked out on the acolytes during what could only be called their most pressing hour. Harding had been through alot lately, from the uncivil war to the rise of the Boogieman, and this was the last straw. Still, he couldn't help of think that this was a really bad time to chicken out. He stared blankly at the TV, lost in thought.
A few minutes later, he dropped his glass.
The crabs had just slain the former president, Lincoln. A twisted, psychotic man, Lincoln had decided joined the acolytes and Winston Churchill in their resistance fight against the crabs. The way he saw it, this was his land, and the crabs were trespassing. However, Lincoln, for all his strength and skill in hand to hand combat, had been killed by a fateful claw to the heart.
That was it, Harding thought. If Lincoln can't even fight the crabs, then the acolytes were right. They needed him.
Seconds later, Harding was down the street, clenching a lemon in his hand.
The Lemon Kid was back.
no subject
Date: 2004-03-19 12:38 pm (UTC)Once there lived among these people a girl, the daughter of a chief, named Melanie. When she was about our age, the elders summoned her. They said to her, "The men have just returned from the hunt, but your father was not with them. Melanie, your father was the greatest hunter of our tribe, and for this he became the chief. But his heart has become perverted, like the heart of a beast. He now lives as one of the animals. He will stalk and kill every one of us if he is not stopped, and none of us are skilled enough to take him down. But even with the heart of an animal, he will not kill his own daughter. You must go into the wilderness, seek your father, and avert this calamity."
So Melanie went off into the wilderness. It was many days before she found signs of her father, and she spent many more days tracking him. Over the days, she found his spear, his clothes, and all of his things along the way, which she took and bundled into a pack. Finally, at the end of a month, she saw him in a glade by a spring, crawling on all fours.
His eyes were dim and feral, and his hair was matted and filthy. He crawled on his knuckles and his toes like a dog*, he snorted and sniffed, and he lapped up water from a pool like a beast.
Melanie was afraid, but she walked down to her father and greeted him. He did not speak, but snarled back at her defensively. She said, "Dad, the elders said you started living like an animal. I didn't believe it until I saw you'd abandoned all your spear and all your things. I have them here for you.", and she presented him with his bundle.
Melanie's father replied, "The elders and the people of the village say what I've done is evil. But they don't know what it's like after you drink the dragon's blood. They've never seen the awesome majesty of the great dragon who dwells beneath this pool."
Then there was a deafening noise, like the noise of ice cracking on a lake, and it was followed by disturbances on the surface of the pool. A giant dragon rose from under the water near Melanie and her father, and it was very angry. It had six legs, and a black tongue, it's scales were black and it's belly was bright red and orange. It turned to Melanie's father and it's knees towered above him, and it said, "What are you doing talking to this girl!? You have broken your covenant with me and instead of killing this girl for food you are speaking to her in the human tongue!" The dragon reeled back on it's hindmost legs, and came down horribly on Melanie's father, swallowing him whole save for his head, which rolled, severed, into the pool.
*Actually, dogs are not native to Australia, but the word is used for narrative continuity. What Melanie was reminded of was a thylosine (Tasmanian Tiger), a marsupial quite like a wolf in posture, size and diet. However, like possums, thylosines have sinister beaty little eyes, and can open thier mouths almost 180º.
no subject
Date: 2004-03-19 12:39 pm (UTC)Melanie had the spear in her hands, and the dragon came at her to eat her just like it did her dad. When it came down, Melanie was ready, and she pierced it under the chin, and drove the spear through the roof of it's mouth, drove her arms up through the dragon's head and lost the spear in it's brain. The dragon reeled back and gagged on it's own blood, and it spat up her father's body, and they both tumbled into the pool.
The blood and the pulp from the dragon that were covering Melanie's arms she wiped off on the bundle of her father's stuff. She then dove into the pool and swam down. She swam down and down, and at last she came to a ledge underwater where her father's head was lying. She took it and swam deeper, and after a great depth she came to a second ledge where she saw her father's body lying. She could see from the second ledge that the pool went much much deeper, and the dragon had sunk further down than she could see. She put her father back together, and took him by the foot back up to the surface.
When they got back up, Melanie looked at her father and saw that he was no longer like an animal, his eyes were bright and he was sitting up. Then she looked around and discovered that so much time had been spent in the pool that not only was it almost dawn, but the stars had changed almost as much as a season.
Melanie and her dad hugged each other. Then they found thier way back to the village, and ate fish sandwiches.