Excerpt of the day
Dec. 12th, 2009 09:25 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
nonionayThis one's from the Mistworld continuity, and was prompted by this picture
Their names were Tina and Regina, and Oscar tried very hard not to be afraid of them as they stood parallel to him in the next lunch line over. They were pretty, so it was hard not to stare. Their hair was sleek and pulled up into a single, high braid. Tina's was on the right, tied with an elastic tipped with a blue glass ball. Regina's was on the left, with a pink cloth flower. Where their torsos joined, they wore a patent leather belt over their tweed skirt.
There was more to them, than that, of course, but Oscar tried not to think of it. He focused on the smells coming from the kitchen, and tried to discern what was destined for his lunch tray. What would the war rationing leave the kids today? Mashed potatoes, of course--always mashed potatoes.
"Do you smell chocolate?" Tina asked in her not-quite-British accent. "I hope they have chocolate today."
Oscar had to look at her and the glow of the purple birthmark on her cheek. The marks glowed beneath their white blouses. Oscar had a birthmark on his ankle, but his didn't glow. He wasn't in his mama's womb when the Nazis dropped an ahklusium bomb on London. Well, he was, but he wasn't there in London when it happened.
"We had chocolate yesterday," said Regina. "There won't be any today. Not for another week."
"I can hope!" Tina said.
"I don't smell chocolate," Oscar said. "Sorry."
Tina disappeared, leaving Regina looking like a mostly normal girl possibly bent to the side with scoliosis. She kept her right arm out, as if she still had it wrapped around her sister's waist.
"She's very spoiled," Regina said. "Sometimes the cook saves something for us, because she feels sorry for us. But what good will that do--getting us accustomed to being special?"
"But you are special," said Oscar. "I--I mean. I've only been here a week. Sorry."
"It's all right. Now step left," Regina said. She stepped forward with the line. Oscar started to step, but his line wasn't moving, and she was surely talking to her sister, who shared control of their legs. So did they have a spare pair of legs on the other side? The other kids ignored Regina. She might as well have been as invisible as her sister. "Where was your family stationed before?"
"Fort Lewis," Oscar said. "I miss the rain. It's really hot here."
"Our mother agrees. She says she misses the fog, and wishes they'd let her take us home with her for a visit. She won't go without us."
"She's...she's from London, right?"
Tina suddenly popped back into existence. Water streamed off her braid and into her eyes. Her sodden blouse clung to her thin arms. Regina dried Tina's face with her sleeve.
"There's a huge, writhing mob of rain ferrets right where you're standing," Tina said to him. "In the Mistworld." She turned to her sister. "We should probably keep to the boulder room today. We might get caught in a flash flood."
"If we ask," said Tina. "You can keep us company there. They'll let you come out of class."
"Why do you have to go there?"
"There's a big rock," said Regina, "in the Mistworld we can climb on to get away from the flash floods and other trouble. But we have to be in the same spot on this side. So we go to the boulder room. Would you keep us company?"
And then both the girls disappeared, leaving behind only their legs, which stepped just out of the lunch line. Again, all the other children pretended nothing was odd. The girls were in the Mistworld, weren't they? Staring at rain ferrets in a downpour while he stood in the hot lunchroom at Muroc Air Base.
Their names were Tina and Regina, and Oscar tried very hard not to be afraid of them as they stood parallel to him in the next lunch line over. They were pretty, so it was hard not to stare. Their hair was sleek and pulled up into a single, high braid. Tina's was on the right, tied with an elastic tipped with a blue glass ball. Regina's was on the left, with a pink cloth flower. Where their torsos joined, they wore a patent leather belt over their tweed skirt.
There was more to them, than that, of course, but Oscar tried not to think of it. He focused on the smells coming from the kitchen, and tried to discern what was destined for his lunch tray. What would the war rationing leave the kids today? Mashed potatoes, of course--always mashed potatoes.
"Do you smell chocolate?" Tina asked in her not-quite-British accent. "I hope they have chocolate today."
Oscar had to look at her and the glow of the purple birthmark on her cheek. The marks glowed beneath their white blouses. Oscar had a birthmark on his ankle, but his didn't glow. He wasn't in his mama's womb when the Nazis dropped an ahklusium bomb on London. Well, he was, but he wasn't there in London when it happened.
"We had chocolate yesterday," said Regina. "There won't be any today. Not for another week."
"I can hope!" Tina said.
"I don't smell chocolate," Oscar said. "Sorry."
Tina disappeared, leaving Regina looking like a mostly normal girl possibly bent to the side with scoliosis. She kept her right arm out, as if she still had it wrapped around her sister's waist.
"She's very spoiled," Regina said. "Sometimes the cook saves something for us, because she feels sorry for us. But what good will that do--getting us accustomed to being special?"
"But you are special," said Oscar. "I--I mean. I've only been here a week. Sorry."
"It's all right. Now step left," Regina said. She stepped forward with the line. Oscar started to step, but his line wasn't moving, and she was surely talking to her sister, who shared control of their legs. So did they have a spare pair of legs on the other side? The other kids ignored Regina. She might as well have been as invisible as her sister. "Where was your family stationed before?"
"Fort Lewis," Oscar said. "I miss the rain. It's really hot here."
"Our mother agrees. She says she misses the fog, and wishes they'd let her take us home with her for a visit. She won't go without us."
"She's...she's from London, right?"
Tina suddenly popped back into existence. Water streamed off her braid and into her eyes. Her sodden blouse clung to her thin arms. Regina dried Tina's face with her sleeve.
"There's a huge, writhing mob of rain ferrets right where you're standing," Tina said to him. "In the Mistworld." She turned to her sister. "We should probably keep to the boulder room today. We might get caught in a flash flood."
"If we ask," said Tina. "You can keep us company there. They'll let you come out of class."
"Why do you have to go there?"
"There's a big rock," said Regina, "in the Mistworld we can climb on to get away from the flash floods and other trouble. But we have to be in the same spot on this side. So we go to the boulder room. Would you keep us company?"
And then both the girls disappeared, leaving behind only their legs, which stepped just out of the lunch line. Again, all the other children pretended nothing was odd. The girls were in the Mistworld, weren't they? Staring at rain ferrets in a downpour while he stood in the hot lunchroom at Muroc Air Base.
