Monthly Archives: July 2018

July 15, 2018 · 7:43 am

giraffe

She was leaning so far over that I’m surprised her head wasn’t hitting the window pane in the back. But Nataly was doing a good job explaining the story so far. Let’s take a listen…

“Pen is the evolution of The Pencil, Dear Reader. And so our saga continues, just 4 long, long years later. New Island has become post-apocalyptic. What is the disaster that caused this? you should ask. Increase of sand, increase of terrain and elevation; increase of *The Wastelands*. The Tilers moved in first, took over the Fries with Cheese property downtown and destroyed the church. Hopefully we’ll get to the continuing challenges of basement dwellers Mrs. Fogg and Ms. Frame soon, thrown together for protection, food, and liberty. Young Shirley Boot ceases to be 12, but has progressed no further than the first day of her 13th year, frozen in time because of the… catastrophe — we’ll certainly get to that shortly. Not-so-young Ruby also remains middle-of-15, unable to transverse the ages 16 17 18 to reach the 19 she should be by this point. And Mabel: Mabel remains old but child-like. She’s taken to wearing her Hannah Montana outfit 24/7, and this is most likely the effects of the radiation as well — affecting her brains and not what. She’s remodeled Robot Derak Jones to become Robert Drake Johns, probably another symptom since he’s as lime green as her now. Ahh, now we get to Sally. For Sally is perhaps an even stranger one. Founder of New Yd, evolution of the Tilers, she now keeps watch on the Deep Dunes for sign of The Monster, who continues to roam New Island and where aging *is* effected. The Man in the High Castle makes sure of that. Perhaps we should join him and his current crew next for more answers. Thank you for listening, and have a super night!”

Nataly removed the mike from her long, long neck and stood up. “How was that David?”

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Tagged as Chuck Cheese/Biker Chick/Penn Mann^^=====^*, Eraserhead Man^*++++#$, Nataly^^, Sally Spark O Naut^^+#

July 14, 2018 · 12:23 pm

absorption

“I should be finished with journal 9 in 2 weeks or less, Robert Drake Johns. Then we will reassess the situation.”

“That’s great, Older Mabel,” spoke the tall, lime green robot seated beside her. His voice was nasal compared to most mechanoids of his type — Mabel designed him this way to appear slightly comical to her and help lighten the mood sometimes. Because the mood was dire in many instances. The Wastelands held nothing back.

“I’m wondering when The Monster will return,” started RDJ again. “Sally lives on the edge of the Deep Dunes but hasn’t seen or smelled anything in 2 weeks or more. The Axis powers may have won the war, but they haven’t been especially active conquerors… let us do what we please, when we please.”

“Oh they’re around.” She scribbles quickly once more. “Right now I’m seeing a narrow boat, mired deep in the high sands. Two children — no, a child and a man, actually an older man. Then another, observing man. No, sorry again, a woman but with many eyes, some which could be masculine. Actors and Observers again, Robert Drake Johns.”

“I miss my cousin,” said RDJ out of the blue. “I miss Cardboard. The character and not the substance, although that has disappeared too. All metal and rust now; little plastic as well.”

“And parchment,” added Mabel brightly. “Thank Gods for parchment.”

“And Ink!”

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Tagged as Chuck^*, Eraserhead Man^*++++#$, Mabel^^+++, Robert Drake Johns^*~~~#, Robot Derak Jones^*#, Roger Pine Ridge/Biker Mann^*+++++@, Sally Spark O Naut^^+#

July 14, 2018 · 11:36 am

chance upon

He approached the other bush cautiously. “Are you my son?” He waited. “I’m looking for my son.”

The wind continued to blow.

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Tagged as Bushes^*++++

July 13, 2018 · 8:20 am

N. Yd

“Tilers, Tessa. It marks this place as safe after all, despite the surface malignancy.

“But we can’t take a chance anyway this time — fog rolling in; darkness too. We better ascent that tall ladder over there to higher ground for the night.”

“I’m *more* than ready to get out of these lowlands,” Tessa offered, staring back at the pirate ship from whence they came. Shark references everywhere. And not in a good and beneficial way. *Those* signs are there too, and in much more profusion. Tessa thinks that her Grandpa Gold puts way too much stock in these Tilers he goes on about at times. Left their signets here, dropped their talismans there. Sanctified grounds, he states and walks forward. Nothing malicious has happened… *yet*. And this is just the kind of place to break the lucky streak.

“We’ll come back in the morning if possible,” he says. “If Tilers were here then there is surely more to look at and study.”

“Whatever.”

—–

The next morning, on the same spot:

“Oh the weather is *much* better now,” Tessa voiced sarcastically. “I can barely see 20 feet in front of me.”

“The tile here indicates safety, however,” her grandpa reinforced. “Safe to split up, then. You examine the buildings that way,” — Grandpa Gold points behind Tessa — “and I’ll work my way around from this end — counterclockwise — until we meet up somewhere in the middle. Is that okay?”

“If you say it’s safe, then I suppose it’s safe,” says Tessa, doubting the words coming out of her mouth but also putting her trust in who she assumes is a wiser and older being.

“Saves time that way,” he adds without verification from the child. “See you in the middle.” He turns away from her and walks toward the first structure in his direction. Tessa begins on her side.

—–

“Freak show eh?” Tessa speaks aloud at one of the westernmost structures of the compound, thinking back to something called the Elephant Man, she believes. Nothing to make fun of! But is this an octopus who has the features of a man or visa versa? Anyway — not alive. Taking a picture and moving on…

—–

“Nothing in there either.”

“Oh, there you are already, Grandpa. We meet in the middle, I suppose. Anything on your side?”

“A church,” he states.

“Tilers?”

“I think so. The right colors. They were indeed here. But first: let’s look in the last house of all. Together.”

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Tagged as Herbert (Mssr.) Gold^*+++, Tessa^^+++++, Zoidboro^*+$

July 12, 2018 · 9:03 am

futures

He looks down at the Orion’s Vale sinkhole and dreams of a Corsica continent that could have been.

But perhaps the dream contains pathways of possibilities yet.

Back to future Yd Bay:

Yes it got worse for Grandpa Gold and Tessa Fish. Especially Tessa. North Yd: a post-apocalyptic town not to be played around with.

“No. Uh-uh.”

Grandpa Gold knew that if they didn’t get out of there by sunset there may be no escape from the darkness.

“Grandpa. Get *down* from there. No playing around!”

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Tagged as Herbert (Mssr.) Gold^*+++, Tessa^^+++++, Tronesisia^^+++++#

July 11, 2018 · 10:09 am

“Let’s go visit that small town over there.”

“What do you think Baker Bloch?”

“It’s really interesting. Really is. Soooo… Bart Smipson is invisible now? Is, er, that the alchemical experiment gone wrong?”

Baker Blinker put her hands behind her head. “I suppose. We don’t really have to explain it. Things are implied.”

“I suppose,” echoed the male Baker, irking the female Baker with the implied language. “We can write it over,” he then suggests. She was thinking: I’m *definitely* not writing that over. Took me 4 hours as is! “Nah, it’s fine Baker Blinker. It really is,” he says to reassure, looking at her pained reaction to this. “I get it. Bart Smipson is invisible on New Island and that’s why his sister Lisa couldn’t find him. He’s probably a fugitive of the law, and that’s why these Silver and Gold people decided they had the leeway to experiment on him — not registered, perhaps.”

“Baker Bloch, I’m not sure if you get the basic gist. Bart was suppose to be a companion for Tessa, to get her mind off the killer sharks, ahem, whales and such. Like earlier in these Collagesity novels, Toyna Two Egg created robot Arale from a kid her parents gave her when she was just a kit.”

“Kit… kid. I recall. But why invisible?”

“That’s the ‘wrong’ part about it.”

Baker Bloch rolled up the paper in the typewriter a little more. “And this part below the line…” He turned to Baker Blinker in her hanging chair. “Ready to read yet?” he queried.

She blew out air. “Go ahead,” she relented, steeling herself for more veiled criticism.

—–

Future times. July 11, 2022. Yd Bay again. Much much more has washed ashore.

Through the peculiar odor from what was cooking (stench, to her), East Bennington refuge Tessa Fish issued a declaration. “I don’t like this place, Grandpa Gold. I don’t like this place *one bite*.”

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Tagged as Baker Blinker^^++++@, Baker Bloch^*+++++@, Bartholomew Smipson^*+++++$, Herbert (Mssr.) Gold^*+++, Tessa^^+++++

July 10, 2018 · 7:44 am

alchemy

“We should tell Tessa the truth, Monsieur Gold,” she spoke after finishing her meal.

“You mean that we are actually brother and sister as well as husband and wife, Madame Silver?”

“No — although that may be handy later on.”

“That the killer sharks she is so fond of are actually whales?” he guessed again.

“No, not quite yet on that one either. She’s having so much fun with them, and she detests whales as you know. Considers them noisy.”

“They should have never bought her that Engelbert Humpbackdinck record at such a tender age.”

“Right.” She picked up her sterling silver fork nervously and then set it down again. “No, I think it’s time to talk to her about the experiment, Monsieur.”

“The one that went right, or the one that went wrong, Madame?” he asked.

“The latter.”

“Ahhh,” he uttered, thinking back…

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Tagged as Bartholomew Smipson^*+++++$, Herbert (Mssr.) Gold^*+++, Madame Silver^^, Tessa^^+++++

July 9, 2018 · 9:12 am

big over trashy

Blue Jay Wade was still kinda noticing (and imagining/remembering) the thing before the thing while Big Red washed his hands prior to serving their evening meal. Carrot and cucumber enchiladas it was tonight, yum. Big Red could cook with the best of ’em. Something to reassure himself after this afternoon’s humiliation, Wade speculated. But I guess he got his revenge at least on Trashy. Certainly did. Thinking it best not to re-imagine *that* right now, the blue bird-man turned his attention instead to the left.

“We gotta pay to get these windows unfrosted sometime, Big Red… Mr. Butler.”

“*Why*?” Big Red was still in quite the pissy mood.

“Because, you know… of The Monster. Sneaking up on us all the time. We don’t even have time to react most times.”

“I *like* The Monster visiting us,” Big Red measured out acidly while putting their enchiladas on plates and lumbered toward the table. “I *like* being abducted. It’s like a mini-holiday. Away from *you*.”

“I’m just saying…” Blue Jay Wade tried to defend himself.

Big Red hovered to the side. “If you’d spend more time at your *boathouse* then you wouldn’t notice these windows so much.”

Blue Jay Wade tested the frosted panel with his finger to see if dirt or grime could be adding to its translucent quality, so little could be actually seen.

“Stand up,” Big Red barked while roughly plopping down their plates on the wooden table and sliding one over to Blue Jay Wade. “You know I don’t like eating with my back to the wall. Get up; you can have this plate.” That image of the thing after the thing flashing in his head, Blue Jay Wade quickly complied and slunk over to the center seat while Big Red glowered above and behind him a minute — breathing rather heavily and menacingly, a suddenly sweating Wade felt — before moving to the vacated chair.

—–

Ruby found Trashy’s red, white and blue severed head the next day bobbing around Yd Bay on the other side of the island. “What have I done??” she cried, worrying more about what suddenly pill denied Aunt Annie was going to do to *her* than anything.

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Tagged as Big Red^*+, Blue Jay Wade^*, Ruby Original^^++, Ruby^^++++, Trashy the Clown^*!

July 9, 2018 · 8:26 am