Teaser 3 For Chapter 2
03-28-2005, 10:21 PM (This post was last modified: 10-24-2017, 01:20 PM by Bob Schroeck.)
03-28-2005, 10:21 PM (This post was last modified: 10-24-2017, 01:20 PM by Bob Schroeck.)
The first thing she saw was Belldandy, singing along sweetly with
the rock-and-roll song as she led a line of dancing auto parts
across the yard and into one of the outlying sheds. She spied
Megumi, waved, and returned her attention to herding her metallic
flock. Megumi weakly returned the wave.
Beyond Belldandy, Urd was making cursory shooing motions with her
hands that seemed to be sweeping a small pile of metallic scrap
along behind the middle sister. In between, Keiichi and Chris
resorted to simple muscle power as they manhandled some of the
mid-sized pieces across the flagstones.
Skuld was on the other side of the yard, a gleaming white device
about the size and shape of a shirtbox in her hands; a beam of
glowing red light shot from it to a pile of engine blocks that
floated, quite unlike engine blocks ought to, a meter or so off
the ground. With tiny movements of the box she seemed to be
nudging the heavy masses of metal along; Megumi noticed that
everyone else was careful to keep from wandering too close to the
levitating cargo.
After watching that with wide eyes, it took Megumi a moment more
to notice that the rock-and-roll music emanated not from the
house's radio but from a motorcycle helmet sitting unattended on
the engawa; with a flash of recognition, she realized that it was
the one that had been worn by the mysterious stranger of the
previous day. Its owner, dressed simply in jeans and a T-shirt,
carried a greasy cardboard box into the shed as a calf-deep river
of parts flowed past him with a bubbling, chuckling sound. Then
Megumi took a second look, blinked and swore softly. The parts
weren't just floating past him, they were being carried -- by
tiny men with pointed red hats and long beards, who laughed and
chortled as they bore their burdens.
"<...Ha ha ha, hee hee hee
I'm a laughing gnome
And you can't catch me...>"
Megumi's English was pretty good in her opinion, and she had
almost no problem understanding the song. She wondered what the
connection between the song and the tiny men was; she was sure
that it couldn't be mere coincidence.
"Well!" Belldandy's announcement from the shed door captured
Megumi's attention before she could boggle any further. "Now
that Megumi's here I do believe it's time for lunch." As the
others ceased their efforts, the goddess turned and bowed to the
army of tiny men streaming back out of the shed. "Thank you ever
so much for your help," she said to them.
Somehow it did not surprise Megumi when the little men -- now no
longer bearing their loads or suffused with laughter -- as one
silently doffed their red hats and returned the bow with a deep
obeisance of their own. Standing straight again, they replaced
their hats on their heads and vanished with a soft "pop!" at the
moment the music stopped.
-- Bob
---------
Chaos isn't really chaos if it isn't Lawful part of the time.
the rock-and-roll song as she led a line of dancing auto parts
across the yard and into one of the outlying sheds. She spied
Megumi, waved, and returned her attention to herding her metallic
flock. Megumi weakly returned the wave.
Beyond Belldandy, Urd was making cursory shooing motions with her
hands that seemed to be sweeping a small pile of metallic scrap
along behind the middle sister. In between, Keiichi and Chris
resorted to simple muscle power as they manhandled some of the
mid-sized pieces across the flagstones.
Skuld was on the other side of the yard, a gleaming white device
about the size and shape of a shirtbox in her hands; a beam of
glowing red light shot from it to a pile of engine blocks that
floated, quite unlike engine blocks ought to, a meter or so off
the ground. With tiny movements of the box she seemed to be
nudging the heavy masses of metal along; Megumi noticed that
everyone else was careful to keep from wandering too close to the
levitating cargo.
After watching that with wide eyes, it took Megumi a moment more
to notice that the rock-and-roll music emanated not from the
house's radio but from a motorcycle helmet sitting unattended on
the engawa; with a flash of recognition, she realized that it was
the one that had been worn by the mysterious stranger of the
previous day. Its owner, dressed simply in jeans and a T-shirt,
carried a greasy cardboard box into the shed as a calf-deep river
of parts flowed past him with a bubbling, chuckling sound. Then
Megumi took a second look, blinked and swore softly. The parts
weren't just floating past him, they were being carried -- by
tiny men with pointed red hats and long beards, who laughed and
chortled as they bore their burdens.
"<...Ha ha ha, hee hee hee
I'm a laughing gnome
And you can't catch me...>"
Megumi's English was pretty good in her opinion, and she had
almost no problem understanding the song. She wondered what the
connection between the song and the tiny men was; she was sure
that it couldn't be mere coincidence.
"Well!" Belldandy's announcement from the shed door captured
Megumi's attention before she could boggle any further. "Now
that Megumi's here I do believe it's time for lunch." As the
others ceased their efforts, the goddess turned and bowed to the
army of tiny men streaming back out of the shed. "Thank you ever
so much for your help," she said to them.
Somehow it did not surprise Megumi when the little men -- now no
longer bearing their loads or suffused with laughter -- as one
silently doffed their red hats and returned the bow with a deep
obeisance of their own. Standing straight again, they replaced
their hats on their heads and vanished with a soft "pop!" at the
moment the music stopped.
-- Bob
---------
Chaos isn't really chaos if it isn't Lawful part of the time.