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 Posted: Sun Jul 23, 2006 4:27 pm
Come with me...
Come...Where are we going? Laughter.
Echoing...surreal.
Does it matter?
Come...look into my eyes...
Come...play with me... Hesitation.
I don't think this is a good idea.
They'll get mad at me.
You're a stranger. No...lies.
All lies.
I'm not a stranger.
I'm your friend... Well...Let's stay here.
We can play here. I wan't to show you something.
Come with me.
Come...
I want to show you something.
Something amazing.
I'm magic, you know. Defiance. Pride.
So am I.
I'm real good. A mysterious smile.
Too evil for such a young face.
Are you?
Show me. Sparks. Warmth. Spellfire.
Cool, right? A soft chuckle.
Very nice.
Do it again. I'll try.
Smoldering. Smoke.
I can't.
I'm too tired.
I need more practice. Yes. You do. Indignance.
But I'm pretty good, right? You're very good.
But I'm better.
Come with me.
I'll show you... No.
Just do it here.
What can you do? It's a secret.
Come...Alright. Two hands join. Where are we going? Somewhere secret.
Come...Will this take long?
It's getting dark. Good...
it works better
in the dark... But I have to go home.
Mama's going to be looking for me. Silence....I'm scared...
Where are we going...? Pitch blackness.
Fear.
Two hands part. Where are you going? Silence.I'm scared!
Come back!
Please...
I'm scared...
it's so dark...
Come back!
Where are you!? Whispers. Come back, I'm scared to be alone! Murmurings.
Rising to a crescendo.
A glare of light. A child's scream.
A cry of pain and fear.
It echoes.
But no one hears. Somewhere,
a voice whispers.
Come
with
me...
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Posted: Thu Jul 27, 2006 5:05 pm
_____________________The Phone Call
Beebeebeebeebeebeebeep!
The peaceful silence of Mr. Progolo D'gagn's house was suddenly interrupted by an obnoxious trill from an electronic device on the counter. There was a harsh squawk, followed by the sound of four feet swiftly retreating, pattering down the hallway, pushing open the bedroom door, and diving onto a rather creaky mattress.
The occupant of the bed, characterized by a vaguely human-shaped mound of blankets, awoke with a colorful word.
"Ah! Taal, get down!"
The mound shifted and the creature known as Taal, a startled looking half-grown griffin, was displaced, rolling into a heap of dark red feathers at the foot of the bed.
Beebeebeebeebeebeebeep!
With a noisy creak, the blankets were whipped back and the mound's true form revealed; that of a rather disheveled human man. He was frozen in a surprised stance, dull gray eyes rapidly scanning the bedroom to locate the sound.
Smoke Detector? No. Microwave Timer? How could it be? Doorbell! No...
Gaia and its stupid high-tech gadgets. How in the world was Progolo ever going to remember what every single one did?
Taal had darted to his side when the second trill had sounded, quivering. The bed began to feel notably warmer as the cowardly pyrokinetic griffin's body temperature spiked uncomfortably.
Beebeebeebeebeebeebeep!
Progolo leapt from the bed--partially because he'd just realized the sound was coming from the telephone and partially because Taal had almost burned him in terror--moving speedily despite his size. As he reached the kitchen, he tried to stop but ended up skidding in his socks. He clutched the counter frantically, taken off-guard.
Beebeebee-click!
After picking up the receiver, the man paused almost apprehensively. He didn't use these things often, preferring letters and face-to-face conversation to talking into gadgets. Eventually, however, he summed up the courage to speak.
"Hello?" his deep voice asked, trying to remember what he'd learned in his studies of Gaian etiquette. "This is Progolo D'gagn speaking."
He flinched as a voice actually responded to him. "Hello there, this is Mindy! Listen, I hope I didn't wake you up, but I've got some important news for you..."
Progolo's eyebrow quirked as he looked out the dark window. It was nearly two in the morning. He brushed the ebony crop of bangs out of his face wearily. "I'm sorry, I'm not interested in whatever you're selling."
"Mr. Dgagn, you are SO funny!" came the reply, amidst a gale of girlish giggles. Progolo held the receiver a little further from his ear, grimacing. "I'm surprised I've never noticed that at work!"
A long pause. "Do...I know you?"
Another long pause, but from the opposite end. "...Sweetie, I'm your boss."
Progolo balked. Mindy.
Right.
He knew that.
"Um, sorry...can I help you...boss?" he asked bashfully. This is what he got for not socializing at work.
"Well, actually, I just wanted to tell you that you've got a new assignment. Congratulations!"
Progolo stared blankly at the wall. He was NOT a night person. Maybe it was just his sluggishness that made this call seem odd. But...a new assigment hardly warranted a call in he middle of the night. Especially one of congratulations. But perhaps that was an etiquette lesson he'd skipped.
Trying to be polite, he said "great, thank you. I'll pick it up tomorrow."
"No need. I'm having the jars shipped to your door in the morning," chirped the woman's voice cheerfully.
"Thewhatnow?" he spluttered. "What jars?"
"The Aerandir! Get this; you've got a flamingo and giraffe. How cute! I expect lots of pictures from you, got it? You leave tomorrow afternoon, 3 o'clock. It says you'll need to take your own furniture, so I'll send someone over to help, 'Kay?"
"..."
"Mr. D'gagn?"
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Posted: Sat Jul 29, 2006 6:02 am
________________________Continued
Progolo had found that words refused to come. He held the receiver to his ear, speechlessly listening to Mindy's girlish voice trying to provoke an answer from him. He could feel his mind closing, darkening over. Was he going to faint? Or was he just tired?
"Can...you repeat that?" he gurgled, at last.
"Oh! I almost thought you hung up on me. Hee hee. You got accepted to take on one of those Aerandir kids."
"Kids?" he echoed with a slight note of alarm.
"Yes. Um...Don't you remember? That...festival thing you went to this summer? Out on those islands?"
Suddenly, a dazzling light clicked on somewhere in the confines of Progolo's sleep-dulled brain. Memories of a sun-drenched beach, alien creatures, and a sickening journey by boat flooded back to him. Aerandir...yes...those odd little beings that took the forms of gryphons from scraps of animals. Progolo had looked into the project on behalf of the Society of Summoners, but after filing his report someone of more business authority (probably Mindy, come to think of it) had more or less bullied him into applying for it.
He was perfect for the job, the liason had insisted on the (anonymous) authority's order. He was a level-headed, assertive, but gentle bachelor, with nothing better to do, after all.
Progolo had disagreed...with quiet indignation. Bachelor, yes, but that didn't mean he didn't have better things to do than move to a wierd island. He was a work-a-holic who lived and breathed the meticulous reports he filed. He was even rearing three gryphons in his home where he could study them. Not to mention the kun-kun, the two strange hybrid critters...
But he'd applied. He really hadn't thought it would amount to anything; he just wanted to appease the nagging higher power. After a short trip to the atoll, he'd crawled back to the comfort of his own home and had--clearly--forgotten all about it.
"Allow me to make sure I'm understanding this..." Progolo groaned, rubbing his temples.
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Posted: Sat Jul 29, 2006 6:33 am
Journal__________________________ It is 3:12 AM according to the digital clock, and I have just received a call from my boss. She wished to congratulate me for my new job as an Aerandir Keeper. Apparently, that trip out to the Ar'Idil island was more than an annoyance, it was fate.
I will receive the jars containing the animal parts tomorrow, along with directions and tickets for a ferry ride which I am not eagar to take. According to my boss (who's named Mindy, by the way) I should be on my way in only twelve hours are so.
That gives me...about six hours to sleep, four hours to pack, one hour to bid farewell to various contacts, and one hour to sulk.
But time is precious. I'll get started on that sulking now.
-Progolo D'gagn
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Posted: Sun Aug 27, 2006 5:06 pm
________________________The Box
Progolo awoke, as he usually did, at the soft sound of a voice humming happily. For once, he didn't find this a splendid way to greet the day. But then again, there was very little good about this day.
"Stop it, Yaraif..." he grumbled, with absolutely no hint of his usual morning vigor. The humming stopped, followed by an unhappy muttering and the buzz of delicate wings.
At once, Progolo felt sorry. It wasn't her fault he was so grumpy. He slithered out from under the covers and stretched widely before blearily peering around the room for the affronted Kun-kun. But she was gone.
He sighed and pulled himself out of bed, feeling the weight of his guilt piling on top of the knot in his stomache. He was barely awake, and this day was already awful. Of course, it didn't help that he was being so close-minded about it. He could have considered this a wonderful oppurtunity to get out and experience something new and exciting, a chance to break free from the monotonous day-to-day life!
Pft. Yeah right.
With this mindset, he dressed and lethargically made his way to the front door, where he found The Box sitting on his stoop. It was the most innocent looking box he'd ever seen; standard-sized, marked with warnings like This End Up and Fragile.
He wanted to gag.
For the moment, he felt more like an angsty teenager than a sophisticated adult man, and it was in this moody manner that he set about prying The Box open on his desk, brutally ripping the tape back whilst murmuring dark words.
The Box had ben divided into two sections; the smaller of the two held primarily important-looking documents, pamphlets, a map, the ticket, and a blank hard-bound book, while the larger part was thickly padded with styrofoam.
Despite himself, Progolo felt his breath catch. Brushing his long bangs out of his eyes, he reached in tentatively and pulled out one of the jars, marked Carribean Flamingo--Feather.
His inner biologist was at once mad with curiosity. As a recent immigrant to Gaia, Progolo had only limited knowledge of this world's diverse animals, and could only fathom what a 'flamingo' might be. He hazarded that this was some type of bird, but there was really no telling. Lots of animals had feathers. Winged creatures made particularily popular pets around here. He shook the jar lightly, watching the crimson feather quiver.
After critically examining it for a moment, he set it aside and reached for the other jar. His brow shot up at the sight of its contents. Though the jar read Reticulated Giraffe--Fluff it was not any sort of fur or hair at all...
It was a bone.
Or what looked to be a bone. It was about eight inches long, dull white, and had what appeared to be dried brown flesh clinging to one end of it.
Progolo's face, which was not renowned for its dynamic expressions, was set with a wide frown that looked as though he'd just swallowed something unpleasant.
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