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 Posted: Tue Nov 15, 2011 5:31 pm
Tangled in the Web
A bird twittered at him curiously from a branch above his head; hopping along its length, head cocking from side to side. The bird seemed intrigued by the way Alexander was digging at the soil and probably quite interested in trying to get at worms once he had finished. Alexander gave a hint of a smile and he used a spade to make the hole deeper and when satisfied, gently placed in the waiting plant. He had already tickled the roots and now he covered the base with soil before giving it a good water.
The bird suddenly took wing, flapping up and away into the sky. The reason why was soon obvious as a high-pitched voice called out across the yard. “Mr. Merry?”
Alexander stood, brushing his hands together to rid them of some of the dirt. “Coming.” He replied before slowing heading back towards the large house belonging to his employer. “Can I help you Mrs. Dayle?”
“Oh, I just realised how much I love saying your name. Mr. Merry. It just sounds so joyous!”
Alexander gave a strained smile.
“Ever since I employed you, my roses have flourished. I’ve never seen them look so beautiful. I don’t know what I’d do without you. Which reminds me, could you do me a favour? Do you mind going under the house and taking a look? I’ve been hearing some odd noises and I’m worried we might have... rodents.”
“If you like Mrs. Day-“
“Call me Gloria.”
---
Something scurried in the darkness. Alexander held back a sneeze as years of dust and dirt tried to run up his nose whenever he breathed in. The space was terribly small and claustrophobic. The only light was what streamed in from the entrance. Alexander took a quick peek around to keep Gloria happy and then began shuffling backwards. There was certainly something in here, he was certain of it, however he wasn’t about go any further into the darkness.
As he retreated, the sun shone over his head and hit something beneath the house, causing a sparkling of light. Alexander paused and stared; squinting his eyes to try make out what it was. Against his better judgement he began to crawl further into the darkness, searching out that little twinkling of light. With him blocking the exit now, the shine had disappeared and he was forced to feel around in the shadows until his hand hit something smooth.
He inched forward a bit more and his face was suddenly wrapped in spider webs. The sticky strands stuck to his face and hair, clinging. Alexander felt something with very small legs run across his cheek and then the back of his neck and he gave a yelp, jerking backwards and smacking his head on the ceiling. Alexander went still, closing his eyes and focusing. With the smooth object grasped carefully in his hands he began to inch backwards until he had found the light. A bit more than the he returned completely to the sunlight. Gloria was waiting for him.
“Oh dear! You’re a mess! Poor thing. Are there any rats down there?” She peered into the darkness as if just getting close would suck you into the terrible world of Jared the Rat King.
“I think you’d better call a rat catcher Mrs. Dayle.” Alexander replied as he wiped spider webs from his hair. He was sure he’d heard some squeaking in the darkness, especially after his rather loud yelp of pain. He gingerly touched the back of his head where a lump was growing.
“Oh my!”
Alexander wasn’t listening as Gloria had a little panic attack; instead he was focusing on the odd bottle he had found. Using the cleanest part of his top, he wiped off dirt and dust. The insides of the bottles seemed to be filled with spider webs that shimmered when hit with the right lighting and Alexander smiled. It was... pretty and a little eerie, but he liked it. “I found this under the house.”
“You can just throw it away dearie.” Gloria was hardly cared about whatever junk he had found; she was already making plans to buy twenty cats to get rid off the terrible rats.
Throw it away? No. He couldn’t do that. One mans trash is another’s treasure. Alexander tucked the bottle away with his belongings and finished off the gardening. When he was done, he collected his payment and walked the long way home, the bottle in his bag.
To him it was lovely and something worth keeping. Something to brighten his day.
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Posted: Tue Nov 15, 2011 7:00 pm
PRP Log
Hard Work
Players: Alexander and Cadaver
COMPLETE.
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Posted: Tue Nov 15, 2011 7:03 pm
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Posted: Tue Nov 15, 2011 7:08 pm
An Itsy Bitsy Spider
Something tickled his cheek. Alexander drifted slowly awake, lazily lifting a hand from the pillow to scratch at the spot. As he finger reached his cheek, the tickling moved. It scampered up his face and across one eye. This tickle, Alexander realised as his brain awoke, seemed to be a many legged thing. Much like... a spider. The man suddenly turned in the bed, hand brushing across his face to get rid of the intruder. Something small bounced off his hand and Alex sat up, opening his eyes.
A face full of spider webs.
Alexander knew that feeling well. He shuffled backwards until his head hit the backboard of the bed; hand back at his face tearing off the sticky strands. The startled man’s eyes widened once he got a better look around. The ceiling... it was as if the enter town’s spider colony had decided to live in his bedroom. Alex had never been afraid of spiders. There were always many in the garden and he often just nudged them aside gently as he did his job.
But this... this was crazy and he couldn’t help but feeling a soft quiver in his chest. Why on earth had this happened?
Very carefully Alexander eased himself out of the bed. He slipped his feet into his slippers and instantly jerked them out again as multiple crawlies ran across his feet in indignation. Every nook and cranny had been taken over. How was he supposed to get rid of this? Would he have to call an exterminator?
Alex sat at the edge of his bed and simply stared at the spider webs as if hoping the spiders would pack up their houses and leave. It didn’t happen and the man was left at a loss.
As his gaze moved around the room he noticed that the bookshelf seemed to have a very concentrated area of web. Maybe there was a queen spider in there and if he pushed her out then the others would leave? Alexander actually chuckled as he tentatively made his way over to check out the dense webs that covered his books.
One spot in particular was completely enclosed. With a start Alexander recalled what had been placed there. The web filled bottle.
Alexander began to tear at the web with his bare hands; little black spiders scuttling away into the darkness. The shine of his bottle was revealed. Fine, perfect... with spiders and webs clinging to it lovingly. This was the culprit. Oh dear.
.... what now?
Alexander left the bottle there and watched as the little spiders he had frightened came out from the shadows and began spinning webs again, cocooning their beloved bottle. With a grunt of annoyance Alexander left his bedroom, closing the door firmly behind him. The rest of the house was untouched and at least that made him sigh in relief.
A wash was in order to get rid of the feeling of hundreds of little legs crawling all over him. And while he was doing that, he was going to have to come up with some solution to this problem. Or else he’d be sleeping in a blanket of web every night.
Such a charming thought.
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Posted: Tue Nov 15, 2011 7:11 pm
... flush the spider out
In the end Alexander didn’t have to call an exterminator; he simply used a broom. Twirling his weapon of choice, Alexander began brushing up all the spider webs, occasionally saying sorry to the spiders he saw running away across the walls in fright. Spiders could live outside wherever they wanted without any trouble, but when they invaded his slippers, he wasn’t going to put up with it. He spent a good hour brushing his ceiling, under his bed, the chair, his desk, the window and his slippers.
He took a break to grab a glass of water and then returned to tackle the biggest problem. Apparently when he had taken home that lovely bottle; he had also taken home a bunch of spider eggs. It was the only thing that made sense. The bottle was one again encased in a dense layer of spider webs, the type you would think to find in an old, abandoned attic.
Using a smaller brush this time Alex got to work twirling it all up into a big grey, sticky mass. When he was done the bottle seemed almost forlorn. He could see little spider legs sticking out of the top, hiding from his attack. He sighed and replaced the bottle on the windowsill. The spiders didn’t deserve to be kicked out of their home. As long as they didn’t cover his entire room in one night again, they might be able to get along.
Alex peered into the bottle. Maybe these were super spiders? A new breed of supreme spiders capable of spinning webs ridiculously fast. Little black forms scuttled around inside the bottle.
“Look guys, can we.... tone down the webs a bit? And stay out of my slippers. Feel free to make a little web in there and on the window sill, but don’t go overboard or I’ll have to remove you completely.” How foolish to try talking to the little spiders. Alex tapped the bottle with a finger. “I’ll give you one more night and if you behave, you can stay.”
There was no answer.
Not that he had expected one.
“Alright, I have to go out and pick up a few things. Please.... behave.” He shook his head at his own silliness and then headed for a few hours.
When he came back the bottle has a few small webs on the outside but that was all. All Alexander could think to say was heartfelt ‘thankyou’. Super intelligent super web spinning spiders?
.... this was going to be trouble.
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Posted: Tue Nov 15, 2011 7:20 pm
Spiders on the Mind
“Raymond, get out of the cupboard. I’m warning you, if you keep going near my oatmeal I will have to squash you.”
You know living alone was finally getting to you when you started giving names to spiders. So far they were behaving themselves; having made a home on the windowsill in the mysterious bottle and not covering his entire room in webs (like that had that first morning) but they still liked to get around and he would find them in the oddest of places.
“Janice... why are you on my toothbrush?”
At least it was better than being infested by cockroaches, Alexander argued (to himself). Plus the spiders kept any other bugs well away; any fly that made its way inside his house was usually short-lived, which was certainly a bonus during the hotter months of the year.
“Back in your bottle Mark. I won’t have you scuttling all over my floor.”
They were almost like pets and it was getting to the point that he could recognise each one by how big they were and how many legs they had left (poor Janice had lost two of her eight and Mark was clearly the smallest and presumably youngest).
Alexander Merry sat back on his lounge room chair, dirt still smudged across his cheek from when he had been out in the yard. He was lonely and he was tired. But he would endure. He would keep working his hardest, be as kind as he could and remain in this house with only spiders for company until the gods decided to take him.
A big black spider scuttled across the nearby wall; the huge, mean queen of the spiders.
“Ah, Anise. I don’t often see you out and about. I hope you’re having a good day.”
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Posted: Tue Nov 15, 2011 7:21 pm
Life Dust
Walkin' with webs.
(Dust Spin --> Child Quest*)
There are spiders. Lots and lots of spiders, and it seems like with each passing day more and more are coming into the house. Alexander may not have been able to spot or kill one of his new flatmates, but they're being more than kind in letting him know they're comfortable living with him by leaving behind cobwebs in once clean and spotless corners. Not that big of a problem really, cobwebs can be cleaned, but what happens when they start to develop on the bottle and the bottle then goes missing? Where is it hiding, and why are there so many spiders?!
*Please note, there's a minimum word requirement of 500 words for this quest.
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Posted: Tue Nov 15, 2011 7:26 pm
Walkin' with webs
Quest to Child
(Note: If some of it doesn’t seem to make sense it’s because I’m referring to past entires xD)
Alexander had made a mistake. In that last couple of weeks he had come to an agreement of sorts with the spiders who had taken residence in home. As long as they kept to certain parts of the house and the odd bottle they seemed so attracted to, they could all live happily and he’d ignore their presence (mostly). It wasn’t as if he was unused to spiders; he saw them all the time in the garden. They could all get along and co-exist quite well. He’d even gone so far as to give them names.
That was until Alexander had a bad night. It wasn’t often when he had one of his ‘moments’; his frustration over his life reaching boiling point and erupting. He was lonely and each day was a struggle to keep up with a laborious job his body was simply not capable of. Usually he took things in stride. Life had to be dealt with and no amount of whining would fix it. But now and then he let loose... and unfortunately this time target had been the small spider web on his windowsill. He was also pretty sure Janice had lost half of her eight legs in the process too.
Down one spider web... and then double it. In one night the spiders had been doing some serious web spinning. They had also seemed to have recruited outside help. Ten times more. Spider webs were everywhere. Ridiculous amounts of them. And they kept appearing no matter how many times he got out the broom. Since he couldn’t seem to bring himself to squash the actual spiders that he found everything began to escalate and before long Alexander could barely see out of his bedroom window. They’d chosen to focus on the bottle, which was located on the now untouchable windowsill and thus the entire window had disappeared in a curtain of gossamer grey.
They were doing it all purpose. He was sure of it. This was their revenge for him breaking the rules. He should have known spiders were vengeful. He just hoped they’d stay out of his slippers this time.
No such luck, he found the next day. His house had gone to the... spiders.
It was the next day, after returning home at dusk, that he decided enough was enough. Using the handle of the broom he began to twirl up all the webs that was currently on his window, intent on getting to the bottle (whom he was certain was all apart of this terrible plot against him) and tossing it outside. But his plan was dashed apart when he managed to break through all the spider webs only to find that the bottle was gone.
Gone? Alexander let out a strangled little chuckle.
“Come on guys; this isn’t funny anymore... I’m sorry, okay? You’ve made your point. Can I have my house back now?”
No answer. Well, what had he expected? A mass exodus from his house? That would have been nice.
Time to move to plan B: Find the bottle.
Easier said then done of course. It took Alexander three days of searching before he officially gave up, granted he spent a lot of that time at work, but still, there were only so many places a bottle could hide. It was as if the spiders had captured his pretty bottle and carted it away on their many, many legs to the mythical spider dimension.
... sanity officially lost.
It was on the sixth day, as he watched five spiders scuttle across the ceiling that he was struck by a rather ingenious (note: foolish) idea. And so Alexander began catching flies and sticking them in the various webs around his house; as if providing them with something nice to eat would make them more inclined to leave.
It worked as well as any clear thinking person would imagine... which was not at all.
By the next week poor Alexander was considering simply camping outside for the rest of his life and letting the spiders do whatever the hell they wanted for as long as they wanted. It was only when he had really given up and he went to bed utterly defeated, that he found the bottle. It was sitting under his pillow without a spider web in sight, except for the ones that were always located inside it. Impossible and yet here it was: mocking him.
He sat with it cradled in his hands for a long time, just staring at it in the flicking candlelight. Life felt much too complicated at the moment.
“... can we please lose some of the spiders now?”
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Posted: Tue Nov 15, 2011 7:30 pm
Along Came a Spider
First Reaction to Child
The day was a perfect one. Fluffy white clouds drifted across a bright blue sky as the sun shone down upon the world in all its glory. Alexander couldn’t help but feel his mood lift in such a wonderful setting and had decided to take advantage of the day by plopping himself outside beneath his bedroom window to do some gardening. He had been wanting to put in a nice patch of flowers to brighten the view for a while but had never seemed to have the time. But today was his day off and he intended off making the most of it.
Alex, dressed in overalls and a once white shirt, pottered around happily. There was a great joy to be had from gardening. It could be hard work but when you saw something flourish and grow under your care, there was no better feeling. Of course doing it for a living sometimes left him simply tired and wishing for nothing more to be indoors curled up with a good book, but today, he could enjoy it. The sun refused to allow him indoors for a moment.
The young man nudged frantic bugs out of his way as he dug a small hole in the ground for his pansies, enjoying the feel of the sun against his back.
It was as he was busy with little job that he heard a soft thump from inside his room. Alexander rocked back on his heels and stared up at the window in confusion. He scanned the sill, noticing quickly that the spiderweb covered bottle that usually sat there was gone. His eyes widened a fraction and he stood up, peering inside with a frown. Had it fallen? His cursory glance spotted nothing.
He stood up, brushed dirt off his knees then made his way around to the front door and slipped inside the cool building to find out what had happened. He presumed that the last time he had taken a look at it, he hadn’t put the bottle back into place properly and the tilt had eventually led to a fall.
Alex hoped it hadn’t broken. After all this spider nonsense it would be such a shame. The bottle almost felt like a friend now. Though to be honest, that must say a lot about his mental stability right now. Ah well, it wasn’t like he had anyone to bother with his madness. As long as he kept it mostly to himself while on the job.
When he reached his room and opened the door, the bottle was nowhere to be seen. It didn’t take too much problem solving skills to imagine it had rolled its way under the bed. Alexander got down under his knees, bent over and lifted up the edge of the doona.
Two big ruby red eyes stared back at him unblinkingly. Alexander froze; mouth slightly ajar. He couldn’t help but be mesmerized by them, completely stuck in place. They held a certain dangerous yet curious gleam as they assessed him. They might s well have been looking into his soul, Alex thought as knelt there caught in the red gaze.
Eventually they blinked and he was released from the hold. He dropped the doona back into place and slipped back along the floorboards. After a moment a slim hand reached out, covered in what looked like fishnet, lifting up the material. The red eyes were there again watching him.
He eventually began to make out more features; the pale, soft looking skin of a child’s face. A thin eyebrow lifted at the inspection she was being given.
“Who are you-u?” Alexander’s voice might have cracked a bit.
“You don’t know?” The child suddenly seemed annoyed by this; as if he should recognise her. “I remember a name...” Her voice was surprisingly strong, demanding to be heard, and distinctly feminine. “Anise.”
Anise? .... the spider?
Alex ran a finger through his hair, tugging at the brown locks with his dirty hands. Oh boy; he really was going nuts. Well, you had to make the best out of a weird situation right?
“Okay... did you want to... come out?”
Anise frowned and her gaze flickered around what she could see of the room. “Is it safe?”
“Of course it is.”
This seemed to reassure her as a moment later she began to pull herself out from under the bed. Alexander didn’t move from where he was sitting and she watched her as she stood tall and smoothed down the front of her black and red dress. His gaze moved to the spindly, spider like legs that peeked around her back and shoulders.
“I will need to get used to my new home. What is your name?”
“Alexander.”
“You will be my new daddy. You can bring me tasty flies to eat.” Her eyes crinkled at the corner as she smiled at him, spider legs twitching happily. “It will be nice.”
And just like that Alexander was hers. He’d be the best father he could be, he would devote his entire life to taking care of this odd little girl who had been born from a bottle. That she had once been the bottle was obvious to him and he would accept that as true without even batting an eyelash. Of course, now what did he do? How did one be a father?
Alexander smiled back at Anise. “I’ll do my best.” He would need back up. A face came to mind; a teen who Alexander had a feeling would know what to do. Yes, everything would be fine now. Everything was going to be fine.
“You can go back outside now. I’ll explore on my own.”
“Oh, alright.” And so Alex did as he was told and would continue to do so for as long as Anise needed him. 
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Posted: Wed Nov 16, 2011 4:13 pm
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Posted: Wed Nov 16, 2011 4:17 pm
Out of the Web
Phobia Entry
The world loomed ahead of her. But as she lifted her gaze she realised that to her eyes the sky was too high. When she dropped her gaze the world spread out never-ending. Too much space. Far too much. People were walking or riding down the street, lost in their own worlds but it felt as if each one was looking at her, peering at her. Judging. It frightened her, and in turn that made her angry. The tumult of emotions caught in her chest and made her breath stop.
“Anise?”
The soft enquiry shifted the spider child’s gaze to her father and guardian. She met his puzzled gaze without flinching, as if she had fully intended to stand there like a stunned deer. So far Anise had avoided coming outside; always ready with an excuse. She had never thought much of it. If she didn’t feel like going out, then she wouldn’t.
But then Alexander had requested she please come out into the garden with him. It had been such a sweet please and he deserved something nice. Since she had been born he had done everything she had asked without complaint. Such a good father. It seemed a small enough thing to join him outside in the front yard and yet…
She fought down the panic that rose in her chest and finally stepped away from the door, away from the comforting home behind her. Anise made it three steps before stopping, her fingers tangling in her dress and gripping it for some form of comfort.
The touch of a hand on her shoulder once again jolted her attention back to Alexander. He was giving her a puzzled, comforting smile that was as always tinged with a hint of sadness.
“Are you okay Anise?”
Anise focused on his face and nodded. He led her to a small section of the garden where the roses were just coming into bloom. Alex’s lips tilted up slightly in a look of pride. “Do you like them? You can’t see them from the window and they reminded me of you…”
“… they’re very beautiful.”
A spider had spun its web between the roses and when Anise reached for it, she realised her hand was shaking. She tucked her hand back within the folds of her dress and peeked towards the road. It was a main thoroughfare; with its fair share of foot traffic. Anise liked to watch people go by from the window, but not from here.
She was out of her web. The spider girl did not feel secure in the slightest. This was not a safe place for her. Even with Alexander there.
“I can’t be here.” The world was going to devour her. “Alexander...” It was a pitiful plea. Later she would consider it pathetic, now she would do anything to get back inside.
She couldn’t breathe. The space was pressing in. Constricting her.
Second felt like hours, but it was in fact only a moment between her plea and Alexander scooping her up into his arms. He swept her away inside, alarmed by the panicked breathing of his daughter.
“Anise sweetheart, it’s okay. I’m sorry, we won’t go back out there. I didn’t know, I didn’t realize…” He muttered meaningless things to her in the darkness of their home, rocking her backwards and forward as spiders skittered in anxious circles across the floor.
When her breath returned and her heart stopped racing Anise pulled away silently from her father’s comforting grasp. Angry shame filled her heart as she closed herself away from everyone to brood. In the centre of her web, the spider raged at her own inabilities and slowly came to terms with her self.
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Posted: Wed Nov 16, 2011 4:20 pm
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Posted: Wed Nov 16, 2011 4:22 pm
New Web
Moving House Solo
It wasn’t good enough anymore. It had suited Alexander just fine. It was his childhood home, full of memories and sadness, but it suited him. This was where he had been born and this was where he imagined he would one day die. But his world had been turned upside down by the arrival of his new ‘daughter’. Despite her need for comforting, confined spaces, there was no space for the girl in the tiny house. She would wander from room to room, inspecting every inch, talking to her spiders. An entire day spent in one tiny house. It seemed cruel.
So when Anise had peeked out of her cart after the Aimes festival, pointing at an old, mansion just out of town. Against his better judgement he had taken time out of his day in order to inspect it and had found that, by some weird stroke of fate, the building was currently up for sale. The former owner had died. The mansion was in need of serious repair. There was no running water, the attic had a mould problem, much of the wood in the kitchen was rotting away, many of the windows were broken, the stairs were a death trap… and the list went on.
But because of all that the mansion only just managed to come within Alexander’s price range. He could afford it, if he sold his other house, took out a loan and used all his savings. The hardest part would be giving up his old home. All those memories keeping his caught, like a fly is a web. Alexander had laughed at that thought.
He had thought about it for a long time, but all he could ever see was Anise’s face as it lit up. ‘It’s perfect’. She had said.
And so Alexander bought it.
It was both the most freeing and the most painful thing he had ever done. He hoped that, wherever they were, his family would understand why he had sold their home. Surely they would understand. This time, he had to look to the future instead of the past.
Then he had told Anise. For a moment her usual imperious air had dropped and she looked like a gleeful child that had just been given a surprise party. She had clasped her hands together in delight, bounced on the balls of her feet and made a noise he was pretty sure had been a squeal.
Then suddenly she was in control again, turning and slipping away with an ‘I will go pack’.
As was her wish they had prepared to move in almost immediately. His advice of ‘we really should fix it up a bit first’ was completely ignored. They should have been living there yesterday.
After moving there things to the new mansion Alexander had stared up at the broken monstrosity and had been completely overwhelmed by the task ahead. The poor, bemused man decided it was time to get some hired help. After all, he was a gardener, not a builder.
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Posted: Wed Nov 16, 2011 4:24 pm
PRP Log
Can we fix it?
Players: Alexander, Anise, Ciellas and Anouk
ONGOING
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Posted: Wed Nov 23, 2011 7:24 pm
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