I posted this to r.a.a.c. a month ago or so, but never to the ffml... I'm only posting it now because I want to test my ability to post a story from my web-based e-mail address. I'll be at my parents all weekend, not in direct contact with my sprynet account, but I should be able to read and reply to e-mail anyway, using the web. Therefore, I may be able to post part 5 of "Monkey Head Butting" Sunday night or Monday, assuming I manage to get it ready... in the meantime, here's a really stupid bit of fluff.
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A Different Kind Of Curse
m.a. davis/miko belldandy@angelic.com
co-plotted with Sky Rigdon and Jeffrey Cornish
with apologies to Takahashi Rumiko, and to anyone who reads this
It was early morning in the Nerima district of Tokyo, Japan, and people
were just begining to stir. Thin tendrils of fog drifted off of the
streets and rose to greet the morning sun. As the district came to
life, a lone figure stalked the streets. He was tall and muscular and
dressed only in a white gi, and as he walked along he flexed his
muscles, clenched his fists, and muttered about curses and revenge.
If the people of Nerima noticed him at all, it was only to shake their
heads and sigh. Clearly, the Tendo dojo would soon have another
visitor, and then the morning's peace and quiet would be shattered by
the sounds of fighting, yelling, cursing, and mass destruction. It was
always this way. The only good things about living in this neighborhood
were the entertainment value and the low property values.
"Curse you, Happosai!" the figure growled. "My day of revenge is at
hand! Finally, after all these years, to walk on two legs again, to
flex my hands, to be able to strike a blow with my fists! It's been so
long... so very long. All that time, unable to escape my cold water
curse, unable to find any way to effect a change... curse those stupid
american liberals! If not for them, this day would have come much
sooner! But now, Happosai, you will pay for giving me this curse!
First you, and then all of those Greenpeace freaks!"
The figure stopped, fists raised to the sky. Loud, maniacle laughter
echoed down the streets, but this, too, was a common occurance in
Nerima.
Several stories up, a middle-aged woman carried a tub of water to the
open window and tossed it's contents out into the street. "Hey!" her
husband chided. "You should be careful! What if someone's out there?"
"Oops," the woman said, looking out. "Don't worry there's only... oh my
goodness! Would you look at that thing? How in the heavens did THAT
get here?"
***
The story, of course, was all over the evening news. Film crews from
all over Tokyo came to Nerima to record the event, and the streets were
crowded with people trying to get a peek at the center of attention. It
had been an all-day circus, and by the time Greenpeace had arrived with
the helicopter, it was all anybody in Tokyo was talking about.
According to Greenpeace, this was their fourth rescue operation on the
same poor creature, and by far the most complicated, costly, and
mysterious. Luckily, the airlift was successful, and the poor creature
was once again back in the cold waters of it's natural habitat... but
why did it continue to beach itself; and how had a whale that large ever
managed to get so far inland?
FINI
"When I use a word," Humpty Dumpty said, in a rather a scornful tone, "it means just what I choose it to mean -- neither more nor less."
"The question is," said Alice, "whether you can make words mean so many different things."
"The question is," said Humpty Dumpty, "which is to be master -- that's all."
(Lewis Carroll, Through The Looking-Glass)
Nausicaa@sprynet.com Belldandy@angelic.com
Anime rpg at http://come.to/akane/
Fan Fiction at http://www.fortunecity.com/tatooine/pratchett/199/
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