Some Time Later
Timothy Franklin was an accountant. He lived in Gore. Timothy lived alone, in a modest flat just off the main street of Gore. He was a thin, ash blond, pale, tall man who enjoyed wearing long sleeved shirts, even in summer- though he never seemed to sweat. Rather, he just eked out his existence in which the only exciting thing that happened was bingo night at work every Thursday.
You might say that Timothy was a boring man.
But, in making that statement, you would be entirely wrong, for you see, several years ago, Timothy had been involved in a small yet exciting adventure in Gore involving a pet rock and a curiously badly-spelt villain. This adventure had even ended up netting him a wife. And a slightly nicer flat. However he did still frequent the bingo hall most Thursdays. Old habits, like Bruce Willis, die hard.
One summer's afternoon, Timothy was making a few balance-day adjustments when
POP!
a man wearing deep blue robes appeared before him in his office. Timothy registered this sudden appearance with a relatively relaxed demeanour. After all, he had been involved in a small yet exciting adventure in Gore involving a pet rock and a curiously badly-spelt villain. It took more than the simple transmission of matter across time and space without the apparent assistance of a time-travel device to intimidate Timothy Franklin.
"Hello, Mr Overseer." Timothy said. (All Timothies know immediately when their Overseer appears, and are duty-bound by the secret oath of Timothy to obey their every instruction. Not many other names have such an oath, although it is said that those that take the secret oath of Karl are duty-bound to wear rainbow-coloured socks at least once a year and always brush their teeth before bedtime.)
"Timothy Franklin." Skylar replied in a booming voice. "Your services as an adventurer and problem-solver of complicated and seemingly unsolveable mathematical problems are required. You must come with me immediately."
"Cool." Timothy took a moment to replace the lid on his pen before
POP!
and the men were gone.
***
Acolyte Steven had spent what felt like several hours climbing, tapping, talking, and singing, all in an attempt to reach "the soul of The Tree" as he called it. Jennie had sat through all of this with thinly concealed frustration.
"Steven!" She shouted, her patience finally at its end. "Can you just get us out of here please?"
"Not likely." Steven muttered as he continued to examine The Tree. "The Time Twister is broken. See for yourself."
Steven threw a mangled piece of metal and plastic over to where Jennie was sitting. The Twister did appear to be rather broken. Buttons were bashed in or missing, and it more resembled a Rubik's cube that had been run over by a dumptruck before being passed through a blender than anything remotely useful to furthering the purposes of this blognovel. Jennie tossed it aside in disgust, and walked over to join Steven beside The Tree.
"Do trees even have souls?" Jennie asked.
"Well, not all trees do." Steven replied. "Many have gone to sleep or never properly awoken. But some of the old trees; and, of course, this Tree - they have souls. Sometimes they even provide transportation for small Shire dwelling-folk in need of assistance, but that's another story for another day."
Jennie examined the purple monstrosity before her with renewed interest. "And this Tree is the only thing capable of saving us from an eternity of purple-treed monotony." She murmured.
"Well there's no need to be so negative about it!" Steven replied. "The Thin Place is also infinitely big. Apparently there are many adventures that can be had here. One can go visit the famous Revolving Door, or walk the 100,000 steps to the place where you Ask For A King... or even meet the Love Like No Other!"
As curious as she was about these legendary names (all of them sounded dead boring, actually), Jennie chose not to reply to Steven. For, she had found something on the face of the tree that Steven in his enthusiasm had failed to notice.
X
Why would The Tree have that mark on it? Jennie wondered. She walked across to another, smaller tree, and noticed it had the same faint scratch on one side.
X
Confused, Jennie continued to examine trees. All of them had the small, subtle marking on one side, all at roughly the same height. Intruigued, she continued examining trees and finding marks, until she was so far from Steven and The Tree that he was just a mere speck on the horizon. She continued examining trees, and
wait!
this one had no mark. Jennie looked up, and realised that this tree was far taller than any she had examined so far. Could this be The Tree itself? She wondered. Keeping quiet in order to not alert Steven, she walked around the base of the tree. There was a split in one side of its trunk, just tall enough and wide enough that if she squeezed through it sideways...
Jennie found herself inside the hollow trunk of the tree. However, instead of finding bugs and spiderwebs and that sort of thing, Jennie saw before her a neatly polished wood floor. In the middle of the floor sat a desk. And behind the desk (on a chair, to be precise) sat an old man - so old, in fact, that Jennie would have sworn he was dead if he wasn't looking at her with bright eyes that shone out from behind the wispy strands of white hair that hung down across his face.
"Ah, hello there." The old man said. "I guess you're after the time travel and pavlova deal."
"Ah, yes. Yes please." This was it! Jennie felt a thrill rising in her chest. This was The Tree! She had discovered it! Her, not Steven! (And it was doubtful he ever would!)
"Are you at least 1.2m tall?" The man asked kindly.
"Um, yes?" Jennie replied tentatively.
"Hand out, please." Jennie extended her arm. The old man reached out and pressed a stamp down firmly onto her skin. "There, that's all done."
"What do you mean?" Jennie responded incredulously. "I was expecting, well, you know - magic and stuff!"
The old man smiled. "Oh, this is magic alright. Think of somewhere you would like to go."
Jennie laughed. "Really! What is this - the wizard of
POP!
and Jennie was gone.
Prior Happenings :: Future Occasions
You might say that Timothy was a boring man.
But, in making that statement, you would be entirely wrong, for you see, several years ago, Timothy had been involved in a small yet exciting adventure in Gore involving a pet rock and a curiously badly-spelt villain. This adventure had even ended up netting him a wife. And a slightly nicer flat. However he did still frequent the bingo hall most Thursdays. Old habits, like Bruce Willis, die hard.
One summer's afternoon, Timothy was making a few balance-day adjustments when
POP!
a man wearing deep blue robes appeared before him in his office. Timothy registered this sudden appearance with a relatively relaxed demeanour. After all, he had been involved in a small yet exciting adventure in Gore involving a pet rock and a curiously badly-spelt villain. It took more than the simple transmission of matter across time and space without the apparent assistance of a time-travel device to intimidate Timothy Franklin.
"Hello, Mr Overseer." Timothy said. (All Timothies know immediately when their Overseer appears, and are duty-bound by the secret oath of Timothy to obey their every instruction. Not many other names have such an oath, although it is said that those that take the secret oath of Karl are duty-bound to wear rainbow-coloured socks at least once a year and always brush their teeth before bedtime.)
"Timothy Franklin." Skylar replied in a booming voice. "Your services as an adventurer and problem-solver of complicated and seemingly unsolveable mathematical problems are required. You must come with me immediately."
"Cool." Timothy took a moment to replace the lid on his pen before
POP!
and the men were gone.
***
Acolyte Steven had spent what felt like several hours climbing, tapping, talking, and singing, all in an attempt to reach "the soul of The Tree" as he called it. Jennie had sat through all of this with thinly concealed frustration.
"Steven!" She shouted, her patience finally at its end. "Can you just get us out of here please?"
"Not likely." Steven muttered as he continued to examine The Tree. "The Time Twister is broken. See for yourself."
Steven threw a mangled piece of metal and plastic over to where Jennie was sitting. The Twister did appear to be rather broken. Buttons were bashed in or missing, and it more resembled a Rubik's cube that had been run over by a dumptruck before being passed through a blender than anything remotely useful to furthering the purposes of this blognovel. Jennie tossed it aside in disgust, and walked over to join Steven beside The Tree.
"Do trees even have souls?" Jennie asked.
"Well, not all trees do." Steven replied. "Many have gone to sleep or never properly awoken. But some of the old trees; and, of course, this Tree - they have souls. Sometimes they even provide transportation for small Shire dwelling-folk in need of assistance, but that's another story for another day."
Jennie examined the purple monstrosity before her with renewed interest. "And this Tree is the only thing capable of saving us from an eternity of purple-treed monotony." She murmured.
"Well there's no need to be so negative about it!" Steven replied. "The Thin Place is also infinitely big. Apparently there are many adventures that can be had here. One can go visit the famous Revolving Door, or walk the 100,000 steps to the place where you Ask For A King... or even meet the Love Like No Other!"
As curious as she was about these legendary names (all of them sounded dead boring, actually), Jennie chose not to reply to Steven. For, she had found something on the face of the tree that Steven in his enthusiasm had failed to notice.
X
Why would The Tree have that mark on it? Jennie wondered. She walked across to another, smaller tree, and noticed it had the same faint scratch on one side.
X
Confused, Jennie continued to examine trees. All of them had the small, subtle marking on one side, all at roughly the same height. Intruigued, she continued examining trees and finding marks, until she was so far from Steven and The Tree that he was just a mere speck on the horizon. She continued examining trees, and
wait!
this one had no mark. Jennie looked up, and realised that this tree was far taller than any she had examined so far. Could this be The Tree itself? She wondered. Keeping quiet in order to not alert Steven, she walked around the base of the tree. There was a split in one side of its trunk, just tall enough and wide enough that if she squeezed through it sideways...
Jennie found herself inside the hollow trunk of the tree. However, instead of finding bugs and spiderwebs and that sort of thing, Jennie saw before her a neatly polished wood floor. In the middle of the floor sat a desk. And behind the desk (on a chair, to be precise) sat an old man - so old, in fact, that Jennie would have sworn he was dead if he wasn't looking at her with bright eyes that shone out from behind the wispy strands of white hair that hung down across his face.
"Ah, hello there." The old man said. "I guess you're after the time travel and pavlova deal."
"Ah, yes. Yes please." This was it! Jennie felt a thrill rising in her chest. This was The Tree! She had discovered it! Her, not Steven! (And it was doubtful he ever would!)
"Are you at least 1.2m tall?" The man asked kindly.
"Um, yes?" Jennie replied tentatively.
"Hand out, please." Jennie extended her arm. The old man reached out and pressed a stamp down firmly onto her skin. "There, that's all done."
"What do you mean?" Jennie responded incredulously. "I was expecting, well, you know - magic and stuff!"
The old man smiled. "Oh, this is magic alright. Think of somewhere you would like to go."
Jennie laughed. "Really! What is this - the wizard of
POP!
and Jennie was gone.
Prior Happenings :: Future Occasions
posted by Musings | 4:56 PM
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