But wait! There's more!
Jan. 6th, 2008 11:33 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
darklunaOK, so. Dulce et Decorum Est, after all. Chapter 2.
Characters: A and L
Rating: Totally G!
Word count: 1050 for this part
Summary: Alter is a verb as well.
Chapter 1 here
Chapter 2: L
I was going to have lessons, but Mr. Wammy told me they were waiting for some other children to arrive, so that we could all start together. He said the director, Mr. Roger, had gone to get them.
I ate dinner with Mr. Wammy. He asked me some more questions about what sorts of subjects I was interested in, and after dinner he showed me the library and gave me a book to read about Chinese calligraphy.
I went to bed early and woke up early too. I didn't want to bother anyone, so I walked around the House. The top two floors were all bedrooms. One of the doors had a sign with a fancy L on it, but it was closed, so I kept walking. I thought I would make a sign for my door if I could find some paints. A big A would have room for lots of colours.
I found the library again, and some classrooms, and finally a studio. I hadn't seen anyone else at all. I was used to being left alone. I just hoped no one would mind my using the paints.
I took a lot of them and started on my sign. I made the A fancy like an illuminated letter, like L's sign was.
A tall lady with black and grey hair came into the art room as I was finishing.
"Hello. You must be Alter," she said.
"Yes, ma'am."
"I'm Miss Parker. I'll be your teacher once classes start. They're serving lunch now, so I came to see if you wanted to come along and eat something."
"I do, thank you," I said. I had missed breakfast, and then I had been so occupied with my painting that I hadn't realized I was growing hungry.
I put my sign up to dry and followed Miss Parker to the dining room. L was already there, and he was eating another piece of cake. He waved at me when I came in, and I waved back.
There were serving areas with a lot of different foods. I took two cheese sandwiches and went over to where L was sitting. A man who was wearing green overalls nodded as I went past his table, and I said hello to him. I wondered how many people worked here. I imagined that they had just been waiting around before L came to live here, like fairy-tale people under an enchantment. I knew that wasn't true, but it was a funny thought.
I sat down across from L. There were strawberries on his plate too. "Do you only like sweet things?" I asked. It was an obvious deduction, but I thought I should practise.
"Sugar's the best fuel when you use your brain all the time," L said. "Coffee is good too, but they only let me have one cup a day. I tried to explain that it's a myth that it stunts growth, but Mr. Roger said it was still bad for me."
I had never been allowed to have caffeine at all. My mum had said I was too high-strung already. "You don't sleep very much, do you?"
"No. I can only sleep for about an hour at a time. I don't need much, though."
I wondered if they were going to expect me to stay awake all the time.
I finished the first sandwich and picked up the second. Maybe later I would see if L was right about the sugar.
L skewered a strawberry with his fork and popped the whole thing in his mouth.
"Do you have a case to work on?" I asked.
"Not at the moment. People have been trying to hire me, but none of those jobs are interesting. I only want to take cases no one else can solve."
"Because that's how you'll do the most good?"
"Exactly." He ate the last strawberry. "Al, would you like to come outside and see the grounds?"
"They named me Alter."
"I know," L said. "I don't think much of that."
I didn't care, but I felt happy that he did.
We went outside and walked along a path that led towards the trees. L's untied shoelaces dragged along the ground, and he slouched when he walked, just like he did when he was sitting down.
The leaves were starting to turn colours. I picked up a red one, an orange one, and a yellow one. There were brown ones, too, but they were dead.
"Do you know Conkers?" I asked.
"I know about it," L said. "But I've never played."
"Maybe we'll find some good chestnuts." Now I was sure L wasn't English. It didn't matter where he was from, but I wanted to practise finding clues too.
The path wound out of the forest, and we were at athletic fields.
"There's a swimming pool over there," L said, pointing towards a red brick building on the other side of the grass. "And tennis courts."
"More kids used to live here," I said.
"Yes. After World War II, there were a lot of children here. Once they were grown, I think Mr. Wammy wanted to do other things. He's an inventor too."
"That's cool," I said. "There's a lot we don't know about him."
"Definitely," L said. "We all have secrets here." He tilted his head back and looked at the clouds, wearing that same sad-but-not-sad expression as before. After a moment he turned to me. "Hey, do you want to play tennis? I'm getting out of practise."
"I don't know how." I thought about velocity and angles and trajectories. "It's physics."
"Everyone has an instinctive understanding of motion," L said. "I'll show you."
We hit balls back and forth for a while. L was right. It wasn't that hard. My brain took care of the calculations for me, somewhere down low where it understood them.
When we went back to the House, there was a long black car in the driveway.
"Mr. Roger's back," L said. "He'll want to introduce you to the others. Go on; I'll catch up later."
The new kids were a boy and a girl. Mr. Roger told me they were called Backup and Cat. Cat smiled and said hi, but Backup only looked at me. I couldn't tell what he was feeling at all.
Characters: A and L
Rating: Totally G!
Word count: 1050 for this part
Summary: Alter is a verb as well.
Chapter 1 here
Chapter 2: L
I was going to have lessons, but Mr. Wammy told me they were waiting for some other children to arrive, so that we could all start together. He said the director, Mr. Roger, had gone to get them.
I ate dinner with Mr. Wammy. He asked me some more questions about what sorts of subjects I was interested in, and after dinner he showed me the library and gave me a book to read about Chinese calligraphy.
I went to bed early and woke up early too. I didn't want to bother anyone, so I walked around the House. The top two floors were all bedrooms. One of the doors had a sign with a fancy L on it, but it was closed, so I kept walking. I thought I would make a sign for my door if I could find some paints. A big A would have room for lots of colours.
I found the library again, and some classrooms, and finally a studio. I hadn't seen anyone else at all. I was used to being left alone. I just hoped no one would mind my using the paints.
I took a lot of them and started on my sign. I made the A fancy like an illuminated letter, like L's sign was.
A tall lady with black and grey hair came into the art room as I was finishing.
"Hello. You must be Alter," she said.
"Yes, ma'am."
"I'm Miss Parker. I'll be your teacher once classes start. They're serving lunch now, so I came to see if you wanted to come along and eat something."
"I do, thank you," I said. I had missed breakfast, and then I had been so occupied with my painting that I hadn't realized I was growing hungry.
I put my sign up to dry and followed Miss Parker to the dining room. L was already there, and he was eating another piece of cake. He waved at me when I came in, and I waved back.
There were serving areas with a lot of different foods. I took two cheese sandwiches and went over to where L was sitting. A man who was wearing green overalls nodded as I went past his table, and I said hello to him. I wondered how many people worked here. I imagined that they had just been waiting around before L came to live here, like fairy-tale people under an enchantment. I knew that wasn't true, but it was a funny thought.
I sat down across from L. There were strawberries on his plate too. "Do you only like sweet things?" I asked. It was an obvious deduction, but I thought I should practise.
"Sugar's the best fuel when you use your brain all the time," L said. "Coffee is good too, but they only let me have one cup a day. I tried to explain that it's a myth that it stunts growth, but Mr. Roger said it was still bad for me."
I had never been allowed to have caffeine at all. My mum had said I was too high-strung already. "You don't sleep very much, do you?"
"No. I can only sleep for about an hour at a time. I don't need much, though."
I wondered if they were going to expect me to stay awake all the time.
I finished the first sandwich and picked up the second. Maybe later I would see if L was right about the sugar.
L skewered a strawberry with his fork and popped the whole thing in his mouth.
"Do you have a case to work on?" I asked.
"Not at the moment. People have been trying to hire me, but none of those jobs are interesting. I only want to take cases no one else can solve."
"Because that's how you'll do the most good?"
"Exactly." He ate the last strawberry. "Al, would you like to come outside and see the grounds?"
"They named me Alter."
"I know," L said. "I don't think much of that."
I didn't care, but I felt happy that he did.
We went outside and walked along a path that led towards the trees. L's untied shoelaces dragged along the ground, and he slouched when he walked, just like he did when he was sitting down.
The leaves were starting to turn colours. I picked up a red one, an orange one, and a yellow one. There were brown ones, too, but they were dead.
"Do you know Conkers?" I asked.
"I know about it," L said. "But I've never played."
"Maybe we'll find some good chestnuts." Now I was sure L wasn't English. It didn't matter where he was from, but I wanted to practise finding clues too.
The path wound out of the forest, and we were at athletic fields.
"There's a swimming pool over there," L said, pointing towards a red brick building on the other side of the grass. "And tennis courts."
"More kids used to live here," I said.
"Yes. After World War II, there were a lot of children here. Once they were grown, I think Mr. Wammy wanted to do other things. He's an inventor too."
"That's cool," I said. "There's a lot we don't know about him."
"Definitely," L said. "We all have secrets here." He tilted his head back and looked at the clouds, wearing that same sad-but-not-sad expression as before. After a moment he turned to me. "Hey, do you want to play tennis? I'm getting out of practise."
"I don't know how." I thought about velocity and angles and trajectories. "It's physics."
"Everyone has an instinctive understanding of motion," L said. "I'll show you."
We hit balls back and forth for a while. L was right. It wasn't that hard. My brain took care of the calculations for me, somewhere down low where it understood them.
When we went back to the House, there was a long black car in the driveway.
"Mr. Roger's back," L said. "He'll want to introduce you to the others. Go on; I'll catch up later."
The new kids were a boy and a girl. Mr. Roger told me they were called Backup and Cat. Cat smiled and said hi, but Backup only looked at me. I couldn't tell what he was feeling at all.
