Saw Skyfall last night. It was pretty standard James Bond fare. The new Q reminded me of Dr. Crane from the recent Batman movies. A bit creepy.
Dana and Richard were away from the capital for almost 6 months. It was a good time, but Dana missed Marchan through it all. She often wondered where he had gone, whether he and his companion were still alive.
*************************
Inside the cave everything was dark, damp, and dank. Nothing spoke of habitation in recent days. Nothing moved. They continued walking, Marchan in the lead, pointing out the rubble in their road. Canod and Trevor were unable to see anything, but they continued walking, trusting Marchan's eyes. The road was mostly even, but for the rubble in the roadway.
Marchan walked confidently forward. He could not see well, but could see enough to avoid problems. He had no idea where their road led. He assumed they would have to leave it eventually, but nothing on either side caught his interest. Most of what he say looked like guard chambers or blocked stairways to places unknown. Many of these had names above eye level. Marchan mentioned it to his companions, but they did not know what it meant.
Canod suggested they might be the names of the side passages, or the names of people who lived there, but if so, they were long gone.
After an hour, Marchan noticed that the air was changing. He looked farther ahead, but saw only darkness, but the changing air told him that they were approaching a larger chamber. He slowed their movement and they quietly stole to the larger chamber. Marchan could not see the other side in the faint glow from their bodies. He could hear sounds like a brook passing through the room and could feel the openness around him. They continued moving forward and found that the road abruptly ended at the edge of a cliff, the sounds of the brook emanating from below. Marchan thought he could faintly see that there was another cliff a few meters ahead. The road might continue there. He quietly told his companions what he could see.
Trevor and Canod considered what they heard. It did not sound like they would be able to cross without a bridge. The space was too vast to think of jumping.
Marchan looked around the chamber, but was unable to find anything that looked like it might be usable for a bridge. They had reached the end of the road.
Trevor suggested that they criss-cross the room until they were sure they could not find anything, so they did, but nothing suggested itself to them. The space was large and other than bits of rubble, nothing was was in it.
They decided to set up camp in one corner. They did not know whether anyone was around, but they left themselves to sleep without posting a guard.
Some hours later, Marchan woke to Canod and Trevor talking in semi-light. He looked around and asked, 'What's going on?'
'I woke to this semi-light,' said Canod. 'We were just discussing if we should find out where the light is coming from.'
The semi-light revealed that the chamber they were in was indeed large with a purpleish hue. The other side of the brook was much larger than their side. The sounds of the brook suddenly made Marchan realize that he was extremely thirsty. He looked at the others and noticed they had the same realization. They went over to the cliff side and looked below to the water passing from pool to pool below them. Marchan looked around and could not see any way for them to bring water up to themselves. He pulled off his jacket and fashioned it into a rude bag, then motioned to the other two to use their jackets as a rope.
The two jackets were not long enough. They tied all their shirts together and tried, and Marchan's jacket was just skimming the surface of the highest pool of water. They let it soak up some water and pulled it back up. They twisted it so they could get the dampness into their mouths.
This was a slow way to drink, but they repeated it a several more times until they had had sufficient to take the edge off their thirst. In the dim light, they found a long pole that Marchan had missed the night before. They carried it to the cliff side and putting one end down near them, tipped it over to let the other end land on the far side. By careful work, they walked slowly over the makeshift bridge. Canod and Marchan were able to cross without issue, but Trevor almost slipped a few times and at one point was too scared to move for a while.
They continued to follow the road that they had been following, the light seemed to be coming from something ahead.
We will eventually get to the end of this story. Maybe, with great luck, and patience.
An oldie
by alan on Sun 11th Nov 2012 10:18PM
Saw Skyfall last night. It was pretty standard James Bond fare. The new Q reminded me of Dr. Crane from the recent Batman movies. A bit creepy.
Dana and Richard were away from the capital for almost 6 months. It was a good time, but Dana missed Marchan through it all. She often wondered where he had gone, whether he and his companion were still alive.
*************************
Inside the cave everything was dark, damp, and dank. Nothing spoke of habitation in recent days. Nothing moved. They continued walking, Marchan in the lead, pointing out the rubble in their road. Canod and Trevor were unable to see anything, but they continued walking, trusting Marchan's eyes. The road was mostly even, but for the rubble in the roadway.
Marchan walked confidently forward. He could not see well, but could see enough to avoid problems. He had no idea where their road led. He assumed they would have to leave it eventually, but nothing on either side caught his interest. Most of what he say looked like guard chambers or blocked stairways to places unknown. Many of these had names above eye level. Marchan mentioned it to his companions, but they did not know what it meant.
Canod suggested they might be the names of the side passages, or the names of people who lived there, but if so, they were long gone.
After an hour, Marchan noticed that the air was changing. He looked farther ahead, but saw only darkness, but the changing air told him that they were approaching a larger chamber. He slowed their movement and they quietly stole to the larger chamber. Marchan could not see the other side in the faint glow from their bodies. He could hear sounds like a brook passing through the room and could feel the openness around him. They continued moving forward and found that the road abruptly ended at the edge of a cliff, the sounds of the brook emanating from below. Marchan thought he could faintly see that there was another cliff a few meters ahead. The road might continue there. He quietly told his companions what he could see.
Trevor and Canod considered what they heard. It did not sound like they would be able to cross without a bridge. The space was too vast to think of jumping.
Marchan looked around the chamber, but was unable to find anything that looked like it might be usable for a bridge. They had reached the end of the road.
Trevor suggested that they criss-cross the room until they were sure they could not find anything, so they did, but nothing suggested itself to them. The space was large and other than bits of rubble, nothing was was in it.
They decided to set up camp in one corner. They did not know whether anyone was around, but they left themselves to sleep without posting a guard.
Some hours later, Marchan woke to Canod and Trevor talking in semi-light. He looked around and asked, 'What's going on?'
'I woke to this semi-light,' said Canod. 'We were just discussing if we should find out where the light is coming from.'
The semi-light revealed that the chamber they were in was indeed large with a purpleish hue. The other side of the brook was much larger than their side. The sounds of the brook suddenly made Marchan realize that he was extremely thirsty. He looked at the others and noticed they had the same realization. They went over to the cliff side and looked below to the water passing from pool to pool below them. Marchan looked around and could not see any way for them to bring water up to themselves. He pulled off his jacket and fashioned it into a rude bag, then motioned to the other two to use their jackets as a rope.
The two jackets were not long enough. They tied all their shirts together and tried, and Marchan's jacket was just skimming the surface of the highest pool of water. They let it soak up some water and pulled it back up. They twisted it so they could get the dampness into their mouths.
This was a slow way to drink, but they repeated it a several more times until they had had sufficient to take the edge off their thirst. In the dim light, they found a long pole that Marchan had missed the night before. They carried it to the cliff side and putting one end down near them, tipped it over to let the other end land on the far side. By careful work, they walked slowly over the makeshift bridge. Canod and Marchan were able to cross without issue, but Trevor almost slipped a few times and at one point was too scared to move for a while.
They continued to follow the road that they had been following, the light seemed to be coming from something ahead.
We will eventually get to the end of this story. Maybe, with great luck, and patience.