A is for

A is for Alligator
Famed for his 'see ya later'
Though for a sweet and toothy smile
He is beaten by the crocodile

Phobias and working through them

I've actually had three phobias - relatively mild but definite phobias.

Once upon a time, I was afraid of thunderstorms. Not hide in a closet afraid but they made my heart race.  Then we moved to south Florida and there was a thunderstorm every afternoon during the summer. Within two weeks, they didn't bother me much any more.

One was a fear of talking in front of groups. I'd get nervous as all hell and talk twice as fast as I should. Then I did a group of subjects where you had to do group presentations. At some point, I stopped getting nervous as all hell.

The last is a fear of heights. This one still bothers me, I've yet the opportunity to work through that fear. I live in a town with few high buildings and the land is relatively flat. Maybe someday.

A Thing that bothers me more than it should

It's how often people and artists think winged human - feathers. If humans had wings, they would be fur/hair coated. There are no animals that I know of that have fur and feathers.

I suppose it stems from the artwork featuring angels with wings of feathers. But it still bothers me that people think this would be how it would work.

If humans could have wings, they might be similar to bat wings.

So, humans with feathers bothers me. Mammals that have 6 limbs instead of 4 doesn't worry me at all. Go figure.

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Dear idiot,

You are going to have to lift your game to succeed. No one should fall for such a lame arsed effort as that one.

a) 0.1 gb? - You expect me to care about a mailbox that only has a megabit of storage? First pdf attachment is going to kill that.

b) anyone who really hosts a mailbox should know my userid/name for that. No name == no box.

c) the from email has no relationship at all to the link in the message. That always spells trouble.

Don't pollute my email until it vaguely looks real.

Just a few Sydney pics

 From the Yoko Ono exhibit.

 A friend I visited in Sydney.

 Another part of the Yoko Ono exhibit - an interactive piece where visitors glue together ceramic and string.

 Queen Victoria building decorated for Christmas. (1)

  Queen Victoria building decorated for Christmas. (2)

  Queen Victoria building decorated for Christmas. (3)

 Queen Victoria building decorated for Christmas. (4)

National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo)

So for the third year running, I participated in NaNoWriMo. I actually enjoy novel writing. I don't know if any of them would sell worth a damn but that's not the point.

It gives me an opportunity to explore some very odd corners of my mind.

While I don't finish the novels in November, I certainly get a long way to producing a complete first draft. Which is also a good thing.

New iPad Air

So, for my birthday, I got a new iPad Air. It's an upgrade from my iPad 3, which means that at some point, my hubby gets to upgrade from the iPad 1.

And in celebration of the new itoy, I've been downloading stuff.

The most amazing discovery is that someone has extremely faithfully ported the original Bard's Tale series to the iPad. We are talking a game so old that an rpg game with colour graphics and music was rare. In fact, it might have been the first rpg that had such things - it is that old.

I think I will have to print the manuals and the maps. While the game has them embedded for reference, the spells are cast by four letter codes and you have to type them correctly. Still, it's amazing to see games like this (and at least one of the Monkey Island series) available again.

NaNo 2013 Snippet 2

Sam counted the coins as she put them back into the bag. “Right, so payment accepted,” she said. “You are lucky that I didn’t add a significant surcharge to the fee.”

“Why would you do that?”

“You didn’t tell me that your wife was a were. And worse, she was meeting another in the woods.” She pointed at the huge rip in her shirt. “Weres do not like being interrupted, Jack. They get angry and aggressive.” She grabbed the basket and put it on the desk. “I picked up the hood she used to mask herself on the way out of town.” Sam pulled the red hood from the basket. “When she was wearing it, you really couldn’t see that her face was getting fuzzier by the minute.” Sam frowned at Jack. “So why didn’t you tell me that she was a were?”

“I didn’t know. I swear I didn’t know.” Jack shifted around.

“You didn’t noticed the monthly changes? The fur, the teeth? Damn it Jack, a were’s eyes change during the moon. You didn’t notice that your wife suddenly had yellow eyes?”

“She’s never home during the full moon. She’s been going to visit her mother every month, practically since we first me,” he said.

Samantha shook her head. “Jack, I take it you never went along. Did you ever meet her mother?”

“Yes, I did once. And she was the scariest woman I’d ever meet. She kept staring at me like…” Jack stopped and blinked a few times.

“Like what, Jack?” Samantha asked.

“I was about to say like a dog looking at a new bone. Oh god, do you think her mother is?”

“Given that werewolf genetics can be passed on, I’d say yes. Her mother is a werewolf too.” While werewolves could be created if someone was injured by a were, more were born with the condition.

We unpacked the rest of the basket. Typical for were getting ready for the full moon, there was: wolfsbane, a large ham and a raw leg of lamb. If the werewolves didn’t make a kill, at least they wouldn’t starve.

“Now you have the evidence. What were you planning on doing?”

Jack stared at the wolfsbane. “I thought I was getting a divorce because my wife was cheating on me.”

“From the state of the cabin, I’d say she was.”

“But I’m definitely divorcing her if she’s a werewolf. Can you imagine what the kids would be like?”

Samantha repacked the basket and handed it to Jack. “I hear a litter of werewolf pups are simply adorable, Jack. And you had better tread carefully if you are divorcing her. If she wants you, the pack will not let you go easily.”

NaNo 2013 random snippet

“Yo, street rat! Come here.” 

The small teen looked over. While his real name was Rob, everyone who ever met him called him Ratty or Street Rat. Small dark eyes, a small frame and a tendency to dart from place to place gave the overall impression that he was a bit like a rodent. He started to back away from the much larger boy. 

“No, tttthanks anyway. The last ttttime, I nearly got cccaught in the ccccat door.”

The larger boy, Leo, caught up with Ratty and grabbed his collar. “You better come when I call. You don’t come, you’ll get hurt. Understand me?” Leo was 16 and the leader of the street kids. He claimed the best of the clothes any of them found, most of the money from anything anyone sold and most of the food at the end of the day. He was backed by Owen and Geoff, two of the biggest bullies that Ratty had ever met.

Ratty nodded. The bigger kids ruled the streets, he was too small to come out ahead in a fight. “I’m here. What did you want?”

“Geoff there, he spotted an open window that’s just your size. So you know what to do, don’t you?” smirked Leo. 

Ratty shook from head to toe. He hated being sent into strange homes to steal anything precious he found. “Are you ssure? Dddddid sssssomeone ccccheck if it’s empty?”

Leo shook Ratty. “Don’t back talk me. Do you want me to take you back to the orphanage and leave you tied up outside the door? Do you?”

“Nnno. Please, not that.” Ratty still remembered the horror of the local orphanage clearly. All the kids at the orphanage were put to work as soon as they could walk on their own. They spent their days sorting through laundry, washing clothes, making repairs. A lot of the older boys were adopted by mine bosses to work within the smaller tunnels and the girls would become cheap servants for city dwellers. Because of his small size, Ratty would be working in a mine within a few days of being left at the orphanage. 

“Geoff and Owen, help our little friend. Drop him in that window so he doesn’t have to climb through,” Leo said, chuckling unpleasantly. Leo kept holding Ratty’s collar until the other two boys had an arm each. They started to drag Ratty across the road.

exorcist part 2

“I cannot believe you. Those that are damned to roam the earth need more than an earthly power to send them back to where they belong. Are you sure you haven’t been blest by a priest?”

I shrugged. “Well, I might have been baptised. I don’t know.”

“How can you not know something as important as that?”

“My parents died when I was very young. I don’t remember anything before the orphanage.” I looked at Sister Anna. “I wish I had known my parents, but I never did.”

Sister Anna stared hard at me. “My parents died too. Someone took me to the church and I was raised by the nuns. Naturally, I became one.”

“Sister, there is nothing natural about being a nun. Not a fucking damned thing.” Very gentle dissuasion wasn’t working. Maybe cruder language would make Sister Anna leave me alone.

“Gerald Finster! What would you know about natural?” She took a step toward me, shaking one finger. “You go from place to place, claiming to exorcise demons. How can you claim my life is unnatural.”

Damn, I was hoping she’d take the hint. Apparently Sister Anna was immune to language. Unfortunately, she also had a point. I didn’t have a home, family or even friends. I didn’t stay anywhere more than a few days, ever. Maybe embarrassment would work where cussing failed me. “Have you a method for determining if it’s the same demon time after time? I have no way of knowing.”

She blinked at me a few times. “Not really, I need to talk to a priest about it.”

“Why don’t you do that? When we met again, you can tell me.” With any luck, that should keep her away from me.

exorcist part 1

This is a comedy-of-errors. The story is about a logical nun who is constantly annoying an exorcist. It starts in a house in a village. The master villain of the story actually must be defeated in several different forms. Writing prompt generated by Seventh Sanctum

—-

“I’m so grateful that you could come and see,” the woman told me.  The woman’s voice was an irritating high pitched squeaky one. She found out what I did when I drank a bit too much in the local tavern. I never did learn to watch my mouth after I’d had a few. 

“Can you save my Charlie? I know he’s possessed.” We were standing in a small house at the edge of a village. 

I leaned in for a closer look. The man on the bed was looking very limp and happened to belch as I got close. His breath told me all I needed to know. He might be possessed by spirits, but they were distilled, not demons. Still, if I pretended to exorcise his ‘demons’ maybe she’d pay up. Or at least invite me to a decent meal, it had been a long time since I’d last had one.

“Vade exiit daemonium foeda relinquunt corpus,” I proclaimed over the recumbent body. 

Charlie moaned loudly, which gave me an idea. I had my bag, I always carried the bag with me. In it, I found a bottle of the most foul smelling concoction that I carried. I pulled out the cork and waved it under his nose. One whiff had Charlie out of bed and headed outside, looking very green.

“I believe that the demons are vanquished, ma’am. I assume that you’d like to pay promptly for services rendered?”

“Pay?” she squeaked at me. “Pay? I thought it was your duty?”

“Exorcism is my profession. If I don’t get paid, I don’t eat. And I really do love to eat,” I replied.

“Out, out,” she shrieked at me. “I never thought you’d ask for money.”

I should have known, I really should have. If there is one thing that happens time and again, it’s people believing that some services don’t require money. I trudged out of the house, I could tell that this one was a hopeless case.

“Hello, Gerald. You are looking rather out of sorts tonight.”

Oh god, my night just got infinitely worse. “Sister Anna, what a surprise to see you here.”

Sister Anna may be a wonderful nun, a kindly person, someone that birds simply flock to. From my point of  view, she’s just a pest.

“Now Gerald, I had to find you. We didn’t finish our last discussion.”

I sighed. Now that Sister Anna had found me, I was doomed to listen to more of our last discussion. “I don’t need to belong to your religion to succeed in my job. Demons don’t care if I’m Christian.”

“It takes the power of God to send a soul back to heaven or hell. If you don’t have the power of God, those souls must still roam the earth. You might be exorcising the same demon over and over again.”

I wish I could exorcise Sister Anna from my life. “I send the demons back to hell where they belong. End of story. Your faith is not required.”

Oh yeah???

Recent reports of this blog gaining new followers.

If you exist - hi.

Personally, I think it's just ghosts passing by on their way to exciting Halloween destinations.

Diet update 2

So far - still not losing weight fast but

I weigh less than I have done for years and
It's definitely affecting my body shape. The waistline is getting slimmer.

If it wasn't for the fact that one of the dogs just had an op and needs a bit of extra attention - I'd start going back to gym at this point.

Because it's been a slow loss, I'd expect to keep the weight off even if I stopped the diet.  I get a bit hungry between meals on the fasting days but not that bad.

Dieting - yep

So for some time, it's been obvious that shedding some weight would be a good thing. I just have too much tummy to be really healthy for me.

Hubby was on one diet plan but it involved a lot of special diet shakes/soups and generally was a bit of a pain.

Now we are trying the 5:2 diet. Amount of special things to do, very little. Basically, two days a week, you fast. Woman are allowed a max of 500 calories on fast days and men 600.

The rest of the week? Whatever. You can eat whatever you like. So perfectly normal meals, don't stress about calories or low fat or anything else.

I haven't been losing weight fast but I have lost 4 kg (about 9 pounds) so far.

Can't say I'm fond of the fasting days but it does seem to be working. And something that is easy to keep up as long as is needed.

Writing drivel

I write like
Ursula K. Le Guin

I Write Like. Analyze your writing!

I ran across this service in a random post. Tis an interesting result. I should reread some Le Guin.

Short Silly Fantasy Story

Once upon a time, there was a dragon. The dragon’s name was George. One day, George was roaming the forest when he met a knight.

“Vile serpent, you have met your doom,” declared the knight.

“You sir, are most uncivilised,” replied George. “Is it not common courtesy to name yourself before one of these conflicts? I am George the Mighty, Destroyer of the Weak, Slayer of the Noble.”

The knight blinked twice. “I am Sir George the Noble. Knight of the Realm and Defender of the Fair Sex. Is that sufficient for courtesy?”

The dragon bowed his head and the battle began. George fought George with great strength and ferocity. Such a battle has rarely been seen.

Eventually George won the battle and left his opponent, George, where he lie.

broken

On the 13 February, I broke my ankle. Got caught in a hole in bitumen on campus, fell over and must have twisted too hard on the way down.

So I got to wear a cast for the past 6 weeks. Not a lot of fun, having only one leg and needing both arms to move yourself around isn't the best.

Yesterday, the cast came off. My leg doesn't work as well as I could hope but it's a lot better. My knee is stiff (why??? that wasn't injured) and the foot hurts a bit and swells a bit. Using either a moonboot or a cane to get around. In another week or so, I'll have a chat to my doctor about physio.

It really shouldn't happen

Weather in southern Queensland took out critical fiber optic cables to north Queensland.
We lost our Telstra services - both phone and internet for nearly a day.

Losing phone services was odd - we usually always have a phone, even when a storm has knocked out the power.

Losing the internet services was painful. It is amazing how much we depend on it for simple everyday stuff now.

Zombies, Run!

This sounds like a cute app if you are trying to exercise.
Zombies, Run!

Basically, you have to evade the zombies on your exercise routine. This sounds interesting.

Late night computer issues

Why is it this sort of thing usually happens latish in the evening?

Last night, for the first time since October, I decided to boot GuildWars 2. I rapidly noticed a serious lack of sound. Any sound.

Reboot computer. Restart game. No sound. No sound via speakers or headphones.

Boot Sims 3 - no sound.

In fact, the only sound I can get is via web browser - youtube videos and the like work.

Eventually I remember that I updated Windows a couple of weeks ago. I went checking and the laptop I'm using has its own sound system on top of Windows. And the support assistant for the system says there's an update for that software. Being midnight, I shut the computer and go to bed.

The next morning, get the update and install. Lo and behold, the computer has sound again - speakers or headphones. GuildWars and Sims both have sound too.

Random Nano 2012 snippet 2

For the record, I won NaNoWriMo again this year. 50,000 words though the novel has yet to reach the end.

Now for the new snippet.

“Well, what kind of story do you want to hear?” I asked her.

“I want to hear a story about a proper princess.” “Who has a pony.” “And a knight.” “And something really scary.” Well, I only asked one of them but ideas were bouncing everywhere.

I put one hand up. “That’s enough. So somewhere far away, there lived a lovely princess called …”

“Daisy?”

“Yes, exactly, her name was Daisy. And she was growing up in a castle because that’s where all princesses live, right?”

Every head nodded at that.

“Princess Daisy was very very bored. She had lessons; music, dance, geography, languages, history, and more. And she knew how to sew and do a variety of fancy stitches and everything else that a princess needs to know. But it wasn’t what she wanted to do.”

“What Princess Daisy wanted to do was to go explore the world beyond the castle. What good was learning geography if you never left the place you were born? Why learn a language that you never used? Why not visit some of the places mentioned in history?”

“But wouldn’t she travel with her clan?”

“No, her parents, her family always stayed in the same place. She never got to go outside at all. So one day, she decided that she was old enough and she wanted to go into the world away from her castle. So first she borrowed clothes from…”

The children looked at each other. “A maid?” “A servant?” “Someone who tended the ponies?”

“She borrowed clothes from the boy who tended the ponies. ‘You have to promise not to tell anyone.’ She said. ‘I cannot lie to the king,’ he replied. ‘If the king asks, I must tell him everything.’”

“Princess Daisy had to think about this but she realised that the boy could be in real trouble if he didn’t talk to the king. ‘Well, ok. You have my leave to tell the king if he asks.’ ‘Thank you, Princess,’ he replied. Now once Princess Daisy was wearing the clothes of the boy, the ponies seemed to like her a lot better. They all gathered around her, looking for treats. She looked at the ponies and picked a pretty white one with many deep brown spots.”

“Now the princess knew a little about riding but not a lot. Sometimes her family rode the ponies for special occasions but they never actually rode them very far. So she had to have the help of the boy who tended the ponies to put the proper riding gear on it.” While I have seen a few beast being ridden, I had no clue what the equipment meant be called.

“She watched what he did very carefully and tried to remember everything. She did know that once she left, no one would know she was a princess and they might not do things for her. When he had finished, she gave him a coin and rode the pony toward the big castle gates.”

“Now Princess Daisy was very brave or she would never have decided to see the world. But once she was on the other side of the gates, she was very frightened indeed. The road went through a forest and the princess had never seen so many big trees before. She rode cautiously along the road, wondering if she were doing the right thing. But it was a nice day and the princess liked how the light looked as it came through the trees. She slowly relaxed.”

“As evening came, she realised that she hadn’t considered what to do at night. Her bed was far away and she couldn’t see any lights or anything at all. ‘Well, Spots,’ she said to her pony. The pony snorted at her, it was trying to say it was tired and very hungry after a long day of work, but the princess didn’t speak pony. Finally, she was just too tired and she still couldn’t find any place to sleep. She slid off the pony and stumbled to a nearby bit of grass.”

“While the princess was still asleep, the pony decided it had enough nonsense already and started the journey home. So the princess woke, she hurt all over because she hadn’t slept on her beautiful bed and the pony was nowhere to be seen. ‘Oh dear,’ thought Princess Daisy. ‘This isn’t the best start to seeing the world. Still, I’m not ready to go home yet.’ So she decided to continue on down the road.”

I took a long pause and had a big drink. Not one of the children made a single sound while I had my drink. I put down the cup and just looked at them for a moment.

“Now a princess learns many things but there’s still a lot she doesn’t know. If she had known what to do with the pony at night, it wouldn’t have wandered away. And after she’d been walking down the road for a few hours, she discovered a new thing. That was that walking can make your feet hurt when you aren’t used to it. She sat down and rubbed her feet but soon after she started walking again, they started hurting again.”

“So the princess was very happy when she heard the sound of hooves on the road. Soon someone would come along and then she wouldn’t have to walk any further. When the rider was near, the princess stood in the middle of the road. ‘I demand a ride to the nearest town,’ she said. ‘Boy!’ replied the rider. ‘If I had time, I’d teach you better manners. Since I don’t have time for that, I’ll leave you to walk there.’ And he rode away.”

“Princess Daisy was very upset. No one had ever refused her anything before. She realised that she was dressed as a boy and finding a princess walking on the road might not happen too often. So she and her poor tired feet had to continue down the road. Another thing the princess was beginning to notice was that she was getting very hungry. She left before dinner the night before, no one brought her breakfast this morning and it was nearly time for a mid day meal.”

“So she was tired and hungry when she heard more hooves in the distance. This time, it didn’t sound like a rider but a wagon being pulled down the road. ‘So,’ the princess thought to herself. ‘I have to remember, they won’t know I’m a princess. They won’t do something because I tell them to.’”

“Again, she waited in the middle of the road. It was an old horse pulling a very ancient wagon. ‘Greetings,’ she said to the driver. ‘May I have a ride to the next town?’ The old woman stared at her and then nodded to the seat next to her. ‘You can have a ride if you like but Bess and I go slow these days. Might not get there any faster than you could have.’ Princess Daisy climbed up on the wagon. ‘I don’t mind, and thank you.’”

“‘Now my girl,’ said the old woman. ‘Why are you out on the road by yourself?’ ‘I’m a boy!’ protested the princess. The old woman stared at her for a moment and said flatly, ‘No, you aren’t. Clothes along won’t fool anyone for long. The road is a dangerous place for someone of your age.’ ‘Surely not. Our kingdom is known for how good the people are,’ declared the princess. ‘Believe me or not,’ said the old woman. ‘But don’t wander around too much at night by yourself. That’s just asking for trouble, that is.’”

“Well, the wagon reached town as dusk was falling. Princess Daisy remembered to thank the old woman then went off looking for food and a place to stay. It didn’t take her long to find an inn which served food and had beds for guests. ‘I’d like a room and food please,’ she told the host. He looked at the clothes and replied, ‘You’ve naught the money to pay, have you?’ Princess Daisy carefully pulled a half piece of silver from a pouch. ‘I do have money.’”

“The innkeeper took the coin and carefully looked at it. Then he hit her. ‘That’s for having stolen money, you young imp. There’s no one someone like you could have this much.’ The princess had been trying to be brave all day but this was the final straw. Tears flowed down her cheeks. ‘Tell you what lad. You can have a bowl of our stew and sleep in the hay outside the kitchen.’ While stew and hay certainly were not up to princess standards, she nodded. It would be better than no food and sleeping on the ground again.”

“The next morning, Princess Daisy quietly left. She wasn’t waiting to find out if the innkeeper was going to demand more coins or hit her again for stealing. The big world beyond her castle was so much stranger and more scary than she’d ever thought. Now when she reached the road, she had a choice. She could go back or go on. Now which do you think a princess would do?”

“Go home?”

“No, she’d go on. It has to get better.”

“Princess Daisy went on. She was determined to see something of the world and a few little things should never stop a princess. Now what the princess didn’t know was that the king and queen were frightened for their only child. They knew that the princess wasn’t ready to explore, she was much too young yet. They asked everybody in the castle if they knew anything. Eventually, they even asked the boy who tended the ponies. ‘Oh yes, she borrowed my clothes yesterday,’ he told the king. ‘She also took a pony but the pony came home yesterday.’ Now the king and queen were frantic when they found out about the pony. ‘Anyone who returns my daughter safely will be rewarded with gold,’ the king proclaimed. Well, many people thought they could find the princess and so rushed off to start looking.”

“Princess Daisy had gotten very very thirsty following the road. She thought she heard water nearby and went searching for the stream. It didn’t take long for the princess to realise that she hadn’t heard a stream and she couldn’t find the road again. She was tired, thirsty and hungry again. Being lost was the final blow. She sank down to her knees and started crying. This time, she let herself cry for a long time, she hadn’t done that when the innkeeper hit her. When her tears finally stopped, she was even more tired but she did feel a bit better. ‘I just wish I knew how to get out of this dreadful forest,’ she said. ‘But why would anyone want to leave the forest?’ a voice behind her asked. Princess Daisy gasped, she hadn’t heard anything creeping up behind her. Now when she looked around, she nearly screamed. There was a monster behind her. It was huge, over twice as tall as she was. It was dark red with big purple spots and when it smiled…well, it had the biggest sharpest teeth the princess had ever seen. She was certain the monster was the one who had spoken, there was no one else she could see. ‘No offence, kind sir,’ she started. She decided to be extra polite to someone with such large teeth. ‘It’s just the forest is dark, and there’s no food and there’s no water and I don’t like it.’ ‘There’s plenty of food and water. You just have to know where.’ Poor Princess Daisy trembled. She was terribly afraid that the food the monster could see was one princess. It started to walk away. Princess Daisy thought that maybe this would be a way to be rid of the monster but it turned around and said, ‘Well? Come on then.’ She knew the monster could easily carry her away if it tried, so she followed it.”

“Now the monster first lead her to a stream. She drank her fill of the cold water. ‘At least I won’t be thirsty if the monster eats me now,’ she thought to herself. Then the monster took her to a little meadow and showed her some berries and small plants that she could eat. ‘At least I won’t be hungry if the monster eats me now.’ ‘Are you feeling better, little princess?’ the monster asked. ‘How did you know I’m a princess? I’m not wearing my proper clothes or anything.’ ‘Don’t you think a monster can smell a princess when they meet one?’ ‘On my,’ thought the princess. ‘Would a princess smell?’ She decided to ask the monster a different question. ‘What’s your name?’ then she hoped that wasn’t a rude thing to ask. ‘My name is Balthus,’ the monster replied. ‘And you are?’ ‘Princess Daisy.’ ‘Well met, Princess Daisy. Is there anything more that your heart desires?’”

I paused for a little break and heard a few whispers among the audience. “The princess only thought for a few moments. ‘I wish to go home, Balthus. I thought the world outside was full of adventure and fun things. It isn’t what I wanted, and now I want to go home.’ ‘If I help you today, will you promise that someday, you will help me?’ Balthus asked. Princess Daisy nodded. ‘All right then,’ said Balthus. ‘Just follow me.’ He went off at a very fast walk and soon the little princess was far behind. She wasn’t sure if she should keep going or stop. Soon though, Balthus came back. ‘Why aren’t you following?’ ‘I was trying,’ replied the princess. ‘But you are so much faster than I am.’ Balthus lifted the princess into his arms.[arms?] and started off again. Because he was so much quicker than the princess, it didn’t take him long at all to go past the village where she’d spent the night. A few hours later and he was getting quite close to the castle. He approached the road and told the princess, ‘It’s best if you find your way from here. Everyone must be looking for you.’”

“‘Unhand our princess,’ said a gruff voice. Princess Daisy and Balthus turned around to find a knight ready to attack. ‘The princess is safe and well,’ replied Balthus. ‘I was just bringing her home.’ But once Balthus put the princess down, the knight attacked him. Balthus collapsed on the road, a huge gash in his chest. ‘How could you?’ the princess demanded of the knight. ‘He was going to eat you, I know his type,’ said the knight. ‘Now I can take you to the castle for the reward.’ The princess knelt by Balthus sobbing softly. ‘Is there anything I can do? You’ve been so kind to me.’ She took Balthus’s hand and squeezed it. It was then that Balthus started to change. He grew smaller in size, he went from [] to a human colour, his teeth changed and his wound healed. He sat up, ‘You have done all you need to do. I was under a spell and someone had to truly care for me to break it. You broke the spell.’ The princess and Balthus went to the castle together, since he wasn’t a monster now. Her parents were very happy to see their daughter and rewarded Balthus with gold and some titles. When the princess was old enough, she and Balthus got married and lived a long and happy life.”

Random NaNo2012 snippet time

“Please can you tell us a story?” the little girl asked me. She patted one wing gently.

“Wellllll.”

The chorus of “Please,” was almost deafening this time.

I nodded. “I’ll tell you a story, but I am going to need help. Once upon a time, there was a little boy called…” I turned to one of the little boys, “what do you think his name was?”

“Dario,” he said.

“Well done, exactly right. There was a boy called Dario who wanted to prove how big and brave he was. So he went deep into the forest all by himself. Now the forest was a big and scary place and Dario was sorry he had decided to go on his own. But he’d gone very far, and wasn’t sure how to get home. So he sat down on a rock to think. And when he sat down, the bushes nearby started to move. From behind the bushes came a huge and scary…” I looked at one of the girls, “What do you think it was?”

“A hufernut?” she replied. There were a few giggles at the answer, I wonder what this hufernut looks like.

“Huge and scary hufernut. Well, that scared Dario so much that he jumped up and ran faster than he’d ever run before. He ran as long as he could. When he finally looked back, the hufernut was no where to be seen. So he took a deep breath. When he looked around, he realised that he was twice as lost as before.”

“Wait,” said one of the older boys. “You can get lost but you can’t get twice as lost. Lost is lost.”

“True enough,” I replied. “He was lost and had no idea how he might ever get home. He tried yelling for help but no one answered. So he started walking the direction he thought might be home. Now after a bit, he knew he’d gone the wrong way when he found a very pretty house, deep in the woods. He walked up to the house and knocked on the door.” I paused. “What do you think was behind the door?”

“Another hufernut?”

“A beautiful princess?”

“An angel?”

“The door opened and he saw the most beautiful princess in the world. She smiled and led him inside. The first few rooms were the biggest and prettiest that he’d ever seen. But she didn’t stop there. The next rooms were still nice but she didn’t stop there. They went further and further, Dario was starting to wonder how big the house was. Finally she turned and smiled sweetly at him, ‘could you go in here and fetch me the brush that’s on the highest shelf?’ Dario dashed in only to find that she slammed the door behind him. ‘Foolish boy, so trusting. Soon I can eat you for my supper.’”

I paused for breath and looked around. All the children were staring intently, ready for the next part of the story. “Maybe I should stop there,” I said teasingly.

“No, we have to know,” several of them protested.

I felt the wagons draw to a stop. Since it was the middle of the day, I had to assume it wasn’t the camp for the day. “We stop in town. Marko and others trade. They trade things we make for things we can’t make. Be here a couple of hours,” Lina said.

I nodded. “So Dario heard the beautiful princess say she wanted to eat him for her supper. Then he watched in horror as the princess changed into…”

“A ranticor?”

“A huge yijer?”

“A wicked troll?”

“The princess turned into a wicked troll. Dario was very afraid, the troll was four times his size. ‘Oh no,’ thought Dario to himself. ‘If only I hadn’t gone for such a long walk. I’ll never go home again, the troll is going to eat me.’ Dario sat on the floor crying his eyes out.”

“‘Stop that,’ rumbled the troll. ‘You’ll make yourself all bitter and not good to eat if you do that.’ Dario cried all the harder. ‘If you don’t stop, I’ll come in there and shake you until you do.’”

“Now Dario didn’t like the idea of being shaken by the troll but he couldn’t just stop crying. And worse, he started hiccuping at the same time. The troll slowly opened the door, Dario backed as far into the corner as he could. The troll took one step into the room, and then another. Dario could smell the evil breath of the beast. Then they both heard a knock on the door.”

“‘You wait here, dinner,’ said the troll as he left the room and closed the door. Dario heard the troll walk away and could tell that it had changed to looking like a beautiful princess again.”

“How could he tell that?” asked one of my listeners.

“The princess had shoes that made a different noise than the troll’s bare feet did. When the troll changed, he was wearing clothes appropriate to a princess,” I explained. They all nodded.

“Dario very very carefully walked to the door. He touched it and found that it hadn’t closed completely. Dario opened it as quietly as he could. He left the room and looked around for another way out. There was absolutely no where for him to go but out the way the troll was. He crept along the hallway watching for the return of the troll.”

I paused and waited. “Please?” said Peter.

I smiled at him. “Well Dario was creeping along the hall, heart pounding as he wondered when he’d see the troll. He moved as quietly as he could and there was just no sign of the evil troll. As he got closer to the door, he heard a lot of noise. Metal banging against metal. ‘What could that be?’ he wondered.” He got to the door and saw a brave hunter fighting the troll. The troll looked pretty silly really because it was half in the beautiful princess disguise and half not. Beautiful hair and a troll face. A slender body and huge thick arms.”

“Dario wanted to help the hunter but he had nothing at all in his pockets. He was too young to carry a weapon yet. The hunter and the troll were fighting in the doorway, Dario was still trapped. Then he noticed that there were logs by the fireplace. He found one that was as big as he could pick up. He walked up behind the troll and hit it on the head as hard as he could. That distracted the troll enough that the hunter could finally plunge his spear well into the troll. The troll fell over, dead.”

“‘That troll wanted to eat me,’ said Dario. ‘Well, you should not go playing with trolls, that is what they like to do,’ the hunter replied. ‘I didn’t know it was a troll. It was a beautiful princess,’ replied Dario. ‘Use your brain, boy. Why would a real princess be way out here, by herself. Come to think of it, what were you doing out here?’”

“‘Well, everyone said I was too young to wander off by myself. Then I got lost and then I got scared and then I was here.’ ‘It seems to me, they were right. If you walked into a house in the middle of the woods knowing nothing about the owner, you are too young to wander by yourself. Where do you live?’ At those words, Dario told a lot of things about where he lived, the shops, the farms, and lots of things. But none of them helped the hunter work out where Dario actually lived. It took the hunter many patient questions before he finally could identify where Dario lived. He cut off the troll’s ears…”

“Ewww,” said several of the older girls.

“He cut off the troll’s ears to prove that he had really killed it. That troll had been eating people for a long time and there was a reward for those ears. Then he took Dario back to his home. ‘Boy, I hope that you learned a few things today.’ ‘Yes sir, I did.’ ‘Just remember, there are always things like trolls waiting to catch you if you aren’t careful.’ ‘And maybe they were right that I should be older before I wander in the forest alone.’ The hunter nodded and went on his way.”

“Now can you guess how Dario’s parents felt?”

“Scared?”

“Angry?”

“Worried?”

“All that and more. They were scared half to death when they realised that the boy was missing. They couldn’t stop worrying about what might have happened to him. And when he finally walked in the door, they were very angry that he’d gone off into the forest that way. So they scolded him, then hugged him and then scolded him again. Dario told them about the troll and the hunter and everything else that had happened. They made him promise to never do anything like that again, which Dario did. After that, he was very careful to listen to what his parents told him.”

“What happened to the hunter?”

“He was very successful because he made sure he knew what he was doing. He killed many more monsters.”

“Did everyone like the story?” Lina asked. All the children nodded. I noticed that they all were more relaxed, the story had broken the barriers between us.

“Another story?”

I shook my head. One story was plenty for one day. 

New blog to read

How to write badly well

Full of gems like

• Refuse to give names to characters
• Banish “said” from your vocabulary
  
• Allow autonomy to body parts

It's a lovely resource.

Dreams

I'm sure I dream a lot more than I remember.

So it's only the wild and weird that happen when not not in deep sleep that you do.

So the dream where I'm talking to David Attenborough while he eats and he tells me that he needs a femistist to say a certain term to annoy his director was very odd indeed.

Though not quite so much as a vaguely remembered dream about pashing a girl.

No idea where either of those came from.

Trip Itinerary

So we'll be off and about for quite some time. There's a nice guy who will be house/dog sitting for us while we are gone.

07 Aug 12 Tue Arrive Vancouver Ca

There's a conference there and a few spare days touring around (I have no details about this at this time.) We'll obviously get to Portland at some point.

23 Aug 12 Thu Depart Portland (Oregon)

23 Aug 12 Thu Arrive Miami (Florida) - my sister and sister-in-law live in south Fl.

29 Aug 12 Wed Arrive Chicago O'Hare Intl Arpt - Chicago to see nieces and go to Chicon

04 Sep 12 Tue Arrive Traverse City - visiting a place partly owned by Ross on an island near here

11 Sep 12 Tue Arrive Baltimore MD - potentially visit my aunt but there are many things in general to do here - and from here will go to the celebration of Ross's PhD supervisor's career

17 Sep 12 Mon Depart Washington  Dulles Intl - Start of the long long long way home.

Working on a skill

For the last 30 days, I had decided to try a sketch a day. Nothing too complex, just something every day.

Now I happened to have come across this LifeHacker article on how to get past the "I suck" barrier.

Several pieces of advice there make sense

• take breaks - well, that was one advantage of sketching - I didn't work long enough on any one to need that but I can see it would be useful.
• know when to quit and learn from your mistakes. Now I did this one several times. Sometimes I'd just rapidly realise that the thing I wanted to draw was way too complex for me or that if I kept trying to correct the problems, I'd make things worse.
• try a smaller project - like above, find a simpler subject for sketching but one that still forced me to work at the skill
• and KEEP practicing. 

So, while still needing a lot more practice to actually be good, 30 days of sketching certainly did prove to me that I could learn and get better at the skill.

The Fallen (Part 3)

(disclaimer - reposting this - originally on tumblr.)

“Dark red. The whole underwing should be dark red.” I smiled at Raph. “I know, it’s usually done for contrast but I’m going for subtle dramatic.”

“Right, well, full body is going to cost you.” He pointed at the price list. I didn’t even glance in that direction, I’d been here enough times with Maria to memorise the entire list.

“Here’s the cash,” I handed him a small pile of gold and silver coins. Raph took the money and motioned me to the back of the shop.

“Right, full body. So, take off anything you don’t want dyed black. You can tie any of these,” he motioned to a large range of pieces of cloth, “around any bits of you that shouldn’t be dyed. When you’ve done that, I’ll put some protection over your eyes and we can start.” The pieces of cloth had obviously been used to keep dye off his customers in the past. Some were too stiff to be useful any more.

I removed my garments and tied one cloth around my hips. “Done.”

“You weren’t kidding about full body, were you? Now close your eyes.” I closed my eyes and he placed a couple of small sticky things on my eyelids.

He led me over the a small platform and then moved my arms and wings for best exposure. “Now just stay like that.” I could hear a small click then the platform started to slowly turn. I could feel the mist of the dye hitting me. Raph was spraying up and down very steadily as the platform moved.

It was only a few minutes later when he stopped spraying. “That’s a nice even coat, from top to toe. It’s pretty fast drying, so we should be ready to do the second colour soon.” I just stood still, waiting for instructions.

“Seems like forever since you or Maria came in. What’s been happening in your lives?” Raph asked.

“Well, Maria kind of pulled out of the party and dance circuit because she had a baby. A lovely little clouding.” I was trying to keep all of my feelings under control. “And she is more the party goer than I am. So we both stopped.”

“Well, maybe Maria should come by with the little one.” I could hear some rustling noises. “Should be ready for the secondary colour. Keep your wings well up and out. Let your arms drop to the sides.”

I did as instructed and felt the spray of dye against the undersides of my wings. This coat was finished even more quickly.

“Well, there you go, Luc.” Raph pointed at the mirror in the corner. “What do you think?”

I looked at myself in the mirror. The black coated all of me except for my eyelids and what the cloth protected. I spread my wings to see the red, such a deep colour it was barely distinguishable from the black. It should be impossible to see me flying after dark, even if the moon were full. “That’s perfect, Raph. Exactly what I was hoping for.”

“I don’t get much call for black, you’re lucky I had enough dye. And you probably remember, it will last 4 or 5 days or you can wash it off with the special formula. I’m sure Maria has some from all the dye jobs she’s had done."

“Thanks Raph, see you later.” I flew out the door.

There was still a couple of hours until dusk, and I was pretty sure that things wouldn’t happen until well past dusk. So I grabbed a bite to eat. Then I went back to my place, sat next to Celia’s crib and cried all the tears that I’d been holding back. Our Celia, our darling, was by now a groundling. What I was hoping to do tonight wouldn’t and couldn’t save her from that fate.

Finally, it was nearing dusk. I flew to my chosen spot and settled in for the night. From my vantage point, I could see both the exits quite clearly. I had no idea if my suspicions would prove to be right. Or if I’d have to come back a few times. Or if it was too late already, but I was pretty sure that wasn’t true.

Finally, sometime well after midnight, I saw a couple of staff members leave the building by the roof exit. One carried a small bundle, one that could easily be Celia. I waited until they were truly airborne before I launched myself into the sky. I wanted to stay within sight but far enough back that they wouldn’t hear my wing beats.

The flight lasted for about half an hour. Soon the pair were circling a small groundling village. I felt sure they were checking the village to ensure no one was about. So I looked for a place I could stay that wouldn’t be noticed by the groundlings or the pair I was following.

Soon they landed and placed their tiny bundle down on the ground near the centre of the village. I watched as they looked at the baby and then flew away.

I waited a few minutes, until I was sure they had gone. I kept an eye on that tiny bundle while I waited.

Once I was sure that the village was quiet and the others had gone, I flew down and picked up the baby. It was our little Celia. She was fast asleep, I suspect that they had given her something to keep her from waking during the flight. I gently felt her back. All traces of her wing nubs were gone.

“Celia, my sweet. I wish so much that your wings had grown in. But you can’t live in the city with us now. You will be a groundling for the rest of your life.” A few tears dripped from my face and splashed her. She stirred slightly from the tear drops. “I will watch to see who takes you in. And I’ll help them in any way I can.”

I had to fight every instinct, I wanted to carry her home and hide her away. But truly, the city is no place for the wingless, there are simple too many places where flying is the only way in or out. And I’d never seen anyone in the city who couldn’t fly. Of course, I held part of the answer to how that happens in my arms.


I had to put Celia back down. It was getting too close to dawn, surely someone in the village would be moving soon. I gave her the last hug I’d ever be able to and place her in the exact same spot. It nearly broke my heart to put her down.

I flew to a spot where I could watch over Celia without being seen. As the sun began its long slow climb into the sky, the village stirred into life.

At first, people only left their homes to care for their livestock. No one went near the tiny bundle that I cared so much about. By the time the sun was completely over the horizon, people were starting to walk around the village a bit more. Still, no one so much as glanced at Celia.

Then the baby finally woke and started screaming her lungs out. A few people went over to look at the baby but no one picked her up. It took all my will not to fly back and snatch Celia up again.

Finally, one female stepped forward and picked up the baby. She chatted briefly with a male and then they both returned to one of the small homes carrying Celia inside. I memorised the house so I could return later. For now, I had to fly home and talk to Maria.

The flight back to the city took very little time. I flew into our place and looked for Maria. It didn’t take long for me to reach the conclusion she wasn’t home yet.
So first I removed the dye using some of Maria’s left over removal goop. It took a little while to thoroughly remove the black. I listened but Maria still hadn’t returned.

Next I flew back to the healers. It scared the hell out of me when the healer at the greeting desk took one look at me, turned pale and scurried to the back. A few minutes later, the elder healer appeared.

“Lucifer?” she started.

“I’m just here to find out if Maria is awake yet. She’s not home.” I explained. I didn’t want them to think I was here to ask about Celia.

“She’s gone,” the healer said. I tried to work out in my head where else she must have gone if not our place. “She died last night,” the healer finally said when she noticed my confusion. “We think she woke up at some point, opened one of our potion cabinets, drank some random potions and then returned to bed. By the time we noticed that someone had been drinking some very dangerous potions, it was too late. She had died.”

“Dead? How can she be dead?” I could barely whisper the words, it was so hard to say. “You were supposed to be watching her.”

“We didn’t know she had woken. The night attendant wasn’t responsible. It was no one’s fault.” The healer sounded defensive about the affair.

I let loose an almighty scream and then just collapsed into a sobbing heap on the floor. Celia was gone. Maria was dead. It was too much. Far too much.

“Do you want me to,” the healer started to say.

“Just get out! Leave me be,” I shouted blindly lashing out with my wings to push away anything within range. I heard footsteps retreating and a door quietly closing. I just let myself get lost in my grief, keeping my wings moving back and forth so nothing would get close.

My brain wasn’t coping with this. How could my life get shattered so thoroughly, so quickly? What was I going to do?

Finally, my mind snapped into focus. There was the life celebration ceremony to arrange. I’d have to start contacting Maria’s family and friends.

The next few days were just a blur. I remember flying to visit Maria’s mother Helen. I remember collapsing on the floor again as I told her first about Celia and then about Maria. She didn’t let me fly home that night. I think Helen said something about not thinking I should go there for a day or two.

She was the one that made the arrangements for Maria’s life celebration. Sometime during the morning after, she realised that I was still in a state of shock, probably because I didn’t answer any question with more than a one word reply. Yes, no, maybe was about all I could cope with.

It was a mere two days later that we had the celebration. Maria’s family and friends gathered to remember all the good that she had done in life. School, work and her love of dance. Part of the celebration was a dance, everyone joined in. I was by far the most reluctant in the room. Dancing was so much what I associated with Maria that it was just painful to even try.

After approximately forever, the celebration was finally over. After I was allowed to fly home since Helen was positive that I was able to care for myself again. That bare, empty place that I was sharing with my family such a short time ago.

It was nearing the new moon, the nights were barely lit. I decided to take the opportunity to visit Celia’s new home.

First I went around my place; putting a few of her toys, a few clothes, a little food and some coins into a small bag. I didn’t want to take a lot on the first time. Just a few things that should help Celia and her new family.

I flew out of the city before the sun was too low on the horizon. I wanted to arrive before the sunlight had faded completely. I would have to be more careful that I wasn’t spotted by a groundling. But the hope that I might see Celia, even from a distance, was too strong to ignore.

For the last bit of the journey, I was soaring barely above the canopy. I stopped when I had a reasonably clear view of the little building that Celia had been taken into. My journey was rewarded, the woman I had seen before was sitting outside with a baby on her lap. Little Celia looked to be doing well, though at this distance, it was hard to be sure.

As the sunlight faded, the villagers all went into various buildings. When all was quiet outside, I flew down and left my little bag by the door to Celia’s new home.

Users - gahhhhhh

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Tex Murphy - may return

Once upon a time, there was a quirky set of games about Tex Murphy

• Under a Killing Moon
• The Pandora Directive
• Overseer

Tex was a detective in the film noir ages - but the games were based in the future. Lots of humor, action, etc.

Chris Brown wants to bring Tex back - and he's trying to raise the funds via kickstarter.

I'm hoping he gets the money to produce the game. I'll back it.

The Fallen Part 2

(disclaimer - reposting this - originally on tumblr.)

Things actually went well that night and for some time thereafter. We did end up being partners for dance competitions. As you’d expect, the first few times we were eliminated pretty quickly, but within a couple of months, we were regularly making it to the final cut and sometimes won second or third place. Never quite first though, it takes quite a lot of effort to get the first prize.

At some point, Maria moved in with me. We agreed that her having a separate place made no sense after we starting spending more nights together then apart.

“Lucifer? I have something to tell you.”

“Yes, Maria?”

“I’m pregnant. I’m going to have your baby.” She watched me closely for reactions.

“But, but, you’re a cloudling, I’m a sunling. You know we aren’t supposed to breed.” The people of the city come in three types; the skylings - a light blue hue, the cloudlings - a silvery grey and the most common type in the city, and finally the sunlings - golden in tone like the sun. While all can live and work together, breeding is restricted by old laws to within your own type.

Maria was determined to have that baby, even if the law was against it. She refused to say who the father was to anyone who asked.

Our friends and family did speculate about it, since we’d been living together for months. But since Maria wasn’t talking, they didn’t push. The only one who knew the entire truth was Maria’s dame. The two of them secluded themselves in a small apartment at the edge of the city during the final two months, our story was that Maria wasn’t well and had to stay in bed for most of the time.

While I waited, I threw myself into the club scene with Mic at my side. I waged my body in The Cage. I’d dance with anyone willing to fly with me. I tried desperately not to think about Maria and the baby to be. I was lucky that none of the idiot things I did during these months caused me any permanent damage.

Finally one day, a brief note arrived. “Maria named her daughter Celia. They are both well and should be with you soon.” The note contained a picture of a tiny baby cloudling - a miniature of her lovely mother.

It was just as well that Celia was a cloudling. If a baby is born that isn’t of the same type as their mother, that baby is taken away to be left somewhere outside the city. There are no punishments for the parents, removal of the child is considered to be quite enough.

Celia, our own little piece of heaven, was such a delight. She was as lovely a baby as anyone could wish for.

Not a change of life I ever expected but she won my heart over very quickly.

We fussed over her, played with her, kept her as happy as anyone could wish. And she’d reward us with the biggest sweetest smile. She was perfect in every way; fingers, toes, her little wing nubs.

---

By the time Celia turned one, we were starting to be concerned. At 18 months, we had a very serious concern. Finally when Celia turned two, it was time to take her to the healers. Maria tried every delaying tactic in the books but not one of them helped.

“Sweetheart, we must. You know that we have to take her.” I told Maria.

“Luc, we both know that her wings aren’t developing. They haven’t grown at all since her birth.” Maria’s voice was intense with her worry.

It was true. Our lovely daughter was growing well in every way except one. Her wings weren’t growing with the rest of her. “I know, Maria. She doesn’t even try to use her wings. I’ve never seen her move them when she needs extra balance.”

“I’ve asked my parents, my friends and Celia should definitely be trying to fly by now. She never does, she’s perfectly happy walking. Our baby is deformed.”

It was true. If Celia basically had no wings, then by all rights, she was deformed. It was a serious and life threatening deformity. “Maybe it’s something that the healers can fix. Or maybe she’s just a bit slow with the wing development but it will happen a little later.” I sighed. “But the healers will have to see her sometime. We can’t put it off forever.”

Maria ignored my warning. All too soon, we were summoned to appear before the healers with an armed escort to ensure we attended. At the age of two, all babies had to be assessed by the healers.

Two staff members took one look at Celia and gently took her from Maria. “What? Where are you taking my baby!”

“Don’t worry, it’s part of the routine. She needs to be weighed, measured. All normal,” a male healer tried to reassure Maria.

“I want to watch. Let me go back there.” Maria tried to push her way past the healer, he gently deflected her back.

I happened to catch one of the staff coming out and shaking their head. My heart fell in my chest. The healer we were talking to said, “There are some questions first. This is your first baby, right?”

“Yes.”

“And how is she progressing? How often does she crawl, try to walk, try to fly?” the healer asked quietly.

Maria sobbed and I closed my eyes. “She’s always moving. She crawls from one end of a room to the other in no time flat. She can walk too, but it’s not as often.”

“And flying? Is she trying yet?”

Maria and I looked at each other. This was the critical question. Maria started off by nodding her head. “Well…”

The healer interrupted her. “The truth is that she’s never so much as twitched them, isn’t it?” Maria buried her face in her hands.

“We haven’t seen her try her wings yet,” I replied.

“I thought as much. It’s a rare deformity that your daughter has. It’s a bit more common when different types have a child together. That’s why we discourage pairings like yours.” He stared at me. “You are the father, yes?”

I nodded reluctantly. At this point, there really didn’t seem to be much point in trying to hide it. “Yes, I am.”

He closed the folder containing the papers he had been consulting. “Well, that’s it. You may go home now.”

“MY BABY!” shrieked Maria. “I won’t go without Celia. Where’s my baby?”

“We’re taking care of her. She won’t ever fly so we are going to prepare her for a new life.”

“New life?” I growled.

“She’ll never be suited to life in the city. We’ll be removing the wing stubs than placing her with the groundlings. It’s where she belongs.”

“No! She belongs with me. She belongs with us. Let us take her home. We can care for her.”

“Now, now, calm down. Have some water,” the healer handed Maria a small glass. She drank it in a single gulp.

I didn’t actually quite see what happened next. One moment, Maria was ranting at the healer at very close range and the next, she was falling to the floor, already asleep.

“Will you go quietly or do I dose you up as well?” he said.

“What happened to Maria? What’s happening to Celia?”

“I’ve given Maria a sleeping potion, mixed with the water. She’ll sleep tonight, tomorrow you can come back and take her home.” He shook his head. “As for Celia, you’ll never see her again. By now, she should be as wingless as any of the groundlings. She’s young. She’ll forget this city soon enough and be just like them.” He looked me in the eyes, “So, are you going to leave quietly? Or join Maria in an overnight stay.”

I laid a hand on Maria’s right wing. It was probably the first time she would have serious rest in the last month, she’d been so worried about Celia. Maria’s wings were so perfect, why couldn’t Celia have been like her mother in that respect?

I had a plan and the plan required that I be awake tonight. Possibly more nights as well. “I’ll go. You take care of my girls.”

The first part of the plan required some scouting around. I flew around the building, noting the two exits. One at ground level, one on the rooftop. I looked carefully around for somewhere I could stay that wouldn’t be too obvious and yet within sight of both exits if possible. I found a spot on a nearby temple that was ideal. It even roof decorations which would meant one object more or less after dark was likely to be unnoticed.

That took some time. The second part of the plan was much more straight forward. I flew to a small shop that I’d visited a few times with Maria.

“Hey, long time,” the chief stylist greeted me. He looked behind me. “Where’s Maria? Don’t tell me you’re getting a job?”

“Yeah, she finally talked me into it. Look, can I get black? A full body job?”

“Full body job? We don’t have much call for those. But sure. What secondary colour were you after?”

I knew he was going to ask and so I’d been thinking about it. My golden feathers would be too easy to spot at night and I was hoping to be doing some stealth flying. Previous visits meant I knew the style was to use two colours. I wanted the second that wouldn’t ruin the effect.