|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Posted: Fri Mar 18, 2016 11:39 am
Three days of fog, and then the storm. Aleksy could feel the storm in the fog, or it felt like it, anyway; he didn't want to be out in it, fog permeating his clothes, touching him, but Laika needed to go on walks and Aleksy wasn't comfortable with anyone but him taking his dog anywhere. So he was at the dog park, liberally draped in scarves, one pulled over his mouth and nose to keep the fog from getting any closer to him than it had to. He stuck close to Finn as he threw a ball under-handed for his dog, trying to keep it close enough for Laika to stay within sight. "I can't wait for this to be over," said Aleksy. "Wish it would just rain." The sky might have been cloudy. Aleksy couldn't see that far to tell. At that, Laika darted off after something in the fog, and Aleksy cussed. "Kudryavka," he yelled after her. " Get back here!"
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Mar 19, 2016 12:27 am
Finn was likewise bundled up, with his park service jacket zipped all the way up to his jaw, and a flannel scarf thrown over that, and a hat pulled low over his ears. "The storm'll be worse," he said, in response to Aleksy's wish for rain. The fog was awful. The constant feeling of anticipation couldn't have been good for his heart. But the storm would be worse. It wouldn't be like anything they'd ever experienced before. It was a swirling vortex of infinite possibility. He didn't like it one bit. He stared into the fog, waiting to hear Laika's tags jingling as she trotted back to them. "I don't like not knowing what's coming," he said. "I mean. I know but I don't know. A storm. Could be anything."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Mar 19, 2016 12:29 am
"Maybe it's just that," said Aleksy. "Just a storm. A ******** ton of water. Kudryavka!" That last as a shout. Finally, he heard her answering bark, and she returned, dragging a stick. He sighed with relief and crouched down to wrestle the stick from her--of course she didn't want her ball, Aleksy had paid money for that--and continued, "More likely there's going to be a massive disappearance and we're all going to die."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Mar 19, 2016 12:14 pm
Finn got up, scanning the ground for the bright coral flash of Laika's ball. They'd never find it - not in this fog. It was lost and gone forever. "Massive disappearance, maybe," he called, drifting back towards Aleksy. "Probably," he added, after a moment. "Rosi, um - Rosi said she thinks Sunny has something to do with the missing kids." He shoved his hands into the pocket of his coat, fingers finding an old receipt to worry. "If she does... they're probably in the otherworld." It was easy to cross over on days that it rained. "Did you find any more people like us?" he asked.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Mar 19, 2016 12:20 pm
"Three of them," said Aleksy. "Leila--you know, Eve's wife?" Eve was Aleksy's pseudo-mom and mentor in... various personal issues. Of course Finn knew about Eve. "Detective Mercer, and... I think Algernon Mixlin, the idiot who owns Bibliophile." He grimaced. "I need to attend more Chamber of Commerce meetings."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Mar 19, 2016 12:49 pm
Finn nodded. He'd been around to Leila and Eve's house enough times for dinner to know very, very clearly who they were. "So, all a lot older than us," he surmised, and then considered Detective Mercer a moment longer. "He's missing," he said. "Since a few days ago. We got an alert about it at the office. If one of the missing people could visit the Otherworld... maybe the others could, too."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Mar 19, 2016 1:05 pm
"It's a reasonable assumption to make," said Aleksy, as Laika ran in circles around the pair of them. "Yes, alright, Kudryavka." He threw the stick again, and Laika bounded after it joyfully. The stick game was the best game. The stick game was God's gift to Doge. She brought it back and Aleksy sighed and crouched down to play tug-of-war again. "Or they're all dead."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Mar 19, 2016 1:11 pm
Leave it to Aleksy to always bring things back to the most morbid possibility. "Better hope we're not next," he said, "If that's the case." He turned, peering through the fog towards the dog park fence. "Visibility's getting worse," he said. "We should head home."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Mar 19, 2016 1:21 pm
"Yeah," said Aleksy. "If she needs more exercise, there's always the backyard." He whistled sharply, and Laika ran back for him to scoop into his arms. Good dog. Best friend. He kissed her affectionately between the ears and clipped her leash back on. " C'mon girl," he said in Russian, clicking his tongue to get her attention. "Are you coming with, Finn?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Mar 19, 2016 1:21 pm
Finn nodded, following Aleksy and the dog. "Yeah," he said. "Dangerous times. I don't want to be alone."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
