Mysteriouser and mysteriouser!

I was at camp this week and I went down a zip line twice. It was terrifying and fun at the same time. 

Day 6, Part 2

Fireburst was bored.

“How long did you say it would be until I could walk again?” She asked Ms. Tobin, who had come in to check on her.

“About two weeks. You need one more day of bed rest though, and after that you can move around in a wheelchair.” Ms. Tobin informed her.

“Oh.” Fireburst said quietly. “Okay.” She picked up the remote that Ms. Tobin had placed on her tray, along with breakfast, and flicked on the TV that had been wheeled in. She selected The Nightmare Before Christmas, which had just started, leaned back against the down pillows, and sighed.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The rest of the visitors were in the library, searching for books and looking around. Epic Fangirl had found a tome of old fairy tales and legends, while General Waffleson was busy reading A Tale Dark and Grimm by Adam Gimwitz.

“Hey- do you think the SI is still happening?” Leafpool asked Balletandbow.

“I don’t know. I mean, breakfast should be ready in about 30 minutes. But that sort of large scale preparation thing must take hours- and we haven’t got any costumes, plus, they still have to double check to make sure the kitchen is functioning.” Balletandbow replied.

“I hope it’s still going to happen. Rosalyn was looking forward to it.” Leafpool told her.

Just then, the Hotel Manager burst in. “Breakfast is ready! The kitchen took a lot less time to fix then I thought it would, and the Librarians apparently can do just fine with cooking! I helped a bit too.” She smiled, then added somewhat sheepishly, “You won’t have to help out with anything, either. I’m sorry- repairing all of this at once was beginning to get to me, and especially because this is a family estate, well, it was quite overwhelming. Oh, and, please stop by the theatre to get a costume for the Ballroom SI later.”

“YES!” Cheered Leafpool. “The SI is still happening!”

“Erm, what was the reason she came in here in the first place?” Storra whispered to PSXtreme.

“Breakfast is ready. Or something like that.” PSXtreme replied. “We should probably go to the Mess Hall.”

“I wonder what it will be...” Stan said, as all the visitors filed out of the library, some still holding books.

“Eye of newt and toe of frog, Wool of bat and tongue of dog, Adder’s fork and blind worm’s sting, Lizard’s leg and-” Arwen said before she was interrupted.

“I should hope breakfast isn’t that. I mean, don’t you think all of that would be rather hard to digest?” BABTMP asked.

“True. But it is aw’fly poetic and Shakespeare-ish.” Lock answered.

“What in the name of Sam Hill is going on here? Is everyone making subtle or not so subtle references to books?” Anna shouted.

“Hm, why not? Cornbread!” Sketch shouted.

“CHICKEN!” All the other AES shouted back.

“Rice!”

“PEAS!”

“WE GOT HIGHER SATs!” All the AEs shouted together.

“Hip Hip Hooray!” Epic Fangirl shouted back.

“YOU’LL BE WORKING FOR US SOMEDAY!” The other CBers shouted, and then all parties involved burst out laughing, all mysterious goings-on gone from their minds for just a few minutes, peace restored to their hearts.

“Oh, that was fun.” General Waffleson chortled as they arrived at the Mess Hall, where a piping-hot breakfast awaited them. There were new plates, and Icy was able to correctly identify them as Nordic dinnerware. The food on the plates was a happy sight; sunny-side up eggs with steaming sausages and tater tots, and a small bowl of cheddar grits next to each plate, plus a glass of what appeared to be fresh squeezed orange juice to boot.

Kitten sat down and immediately began snarfing her food, which smelled amazing. Around the table, several of the visitors were doing the same, pausing occasionally to remark on the high quality of the food. The Hotel Manager grinned from ear to ear at the sight of happiness on her guests faces, and also because she, too, was busy eating, swallowing, sighing, and repeating that process over and over again.

“Oh my gosh, I love this food.” Rae sighed, and around her, other people- especially Icy- nodded their vigorous agreement.

When the last crumb of food had disappeared from the last Captcha’s plate, and the last drop of orange juice had been drained from the glass,  napkins were removed from laps, and slowly the visitors got up, having thoroughly enjoyed their delicious breakfast.

“And that is what I call amazingness.” Serene proclaimed happily.

“Maybe we should visit Fireburst- I bet she’s bored up there in the Hospital Wing. We could play a board game or something.” Kitten suggested.

“More like a bored game.” Rosalyn said, and was quickly elbowed into submission by Leafpool. “But maybe, I don’t know, we could bring her a book of brainteasers, or- wait! I've got it! Maybe we could design a holographic house! I’m sure the Hotel Manager has the technology to do that.”

“Or we could just bring her a movie.” Torstyn said.

“How about we get a bunch of card decks and play card games, like poker, and bet with chocolate coins? And we could watch a movie, and even have a holographic house designing contest for all that are interested!” Lisbeth proposed.

“Okay!” Was echoed by every single guest. And they set off to do so.

***

So the book references go as follows; Macbeth and The Saturdays (In The Saturdays, one of the characters asks another what she used to make sandwiches, and her response is like the one that Arwen said.), Anne of Avonlea (Davy just says aw'fly a lot), To Kill A Mockingbird, and Looking For Alaska. (A good book, but definetely PG-13.)

Top!!!!

Ooh, yum! I'm sorry for Fireburst, though, having to sit in bed while she waits for her leg to heal. I'm kind of suspicious, tough, that nothing happened.

Are you the same person that did Alaska Young in the Book Character SI? 

Day 6, Part 3

The Hotel Manager was standing on the balcony outside her room. Her hair, which was a color somewhere between ginger and blond, fanned out in the wind. She paid no attention to it, however. She was examining her hand, which was frail and delicate, like the hand of an old lady.

It couldn’t be… could it? She frowned. She was as old as the stars in the sky, but never before had it actually shown. She brushed a wisp of hair from her face, and paused when she saw the gray that streaked through it. But she was immortal, unchanging.

That’s what Katharine thought, she told herself. But there was no need to assume; repairing the mansion had taken incredible amounts of energy. That could be why. There was nothing to worry about, not yet.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The CBers knocked on her door, bursting with ideas.

“That all sounds good! Except for the holographic house contest! I’m sorry, but we just don’t have the technology to do make a bunch of holographic design kits. We do have movies, candy, popcorn and plenty of card decks, though!” The Hotel Manager piped excitedly. She was optimistic, and her nature was to be happy.

“Great!” PSXtreme cheered, then she immediately turned to everyone else. “How about we split up into groups to get what we need?”

Stan, PSXtreme and Bryann went to go get chocolate coins, and Lock, Arwen and Storra went to go find cards, while everybody else picked a movie.

“Ooh, look at these!” Storra exclaimed as she picked up a vintage card deck. “These have to be super old- I’ve never seen anything like it!”

“Classy.” Arwen remarked. She held up a pack of beautifully designed cards. “I really like these. How many decks do we need?”

“Maybe three or four? Wow, the Hotel Manager still has a lot of card decks. I wonder why she collects them- what’s the point?” Lock said.

“Well, maybe people who come here like playing cards? Some of these really are pretty, and she’s got all sizes. I bet this took years to accumulate. Although personally, I’d rather have an awesome collection of steampunk items.” Storra mused. “Although I don’t know how I’d display it, exactly. But it would be cool.”

They settled on the last two packs and headed back to the group.

PSXtreme, Stan, and Bryann were eagerly deciding on candy types. The Hotel Manager had pretty much every type of candy. “Stick candy, peppermint flavored candy, gummies, like a billion types of chocolate, hard candy, candy bars, candy clusters, licorice, lollipops, pop rocks, pastilles, wafers, gum, jelly beans, and more chocolate.” Bryann announced. “So what do we want?”

“Well, I think that gummy candy and chocolate are typical movie going candies.” Stan said. “But all of these look appealing, so I don’t know. Maybe Twizzlers, Three Musketeers, Swedish Fish, Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups, Sno Caps, Crunch Bars, and Haribo Gold Bears?”

“Sounds good to me! But I think Pop Rocks would be nice, so how about some of those too?” Lock asked.

“Sure! Oh, and Sour Patch Kids- Fireburst loves those.” Bryann said. “How are we going to transport all of this?”  

“Hmm. There are boxes, but there's candy in them. Perhaps that convenient basket over there?” PSXtreme suggested, pointing to a woven basket clearly intended for flower picking, but perfect for transporting various types of candy.

It was agreed that the basket was the best solution so far.

When they all had found the rest of the visitors, they found it had been decided that the movie would be Beetlejuice, an appropriately Halloween-ish choice. Serene and Lisbeth had consulted all their prior knowledge combined with new knowledge from various books that the leaves indicated that the time of year was mysteriously around Halloween.

“Candy and card decks and movies oh my! Candy and card decks and movies oh my! CANDIES AND CARD DECKS AND MOVIES OH MY!” Yelled the AEs, as the visitors climbed the stairs to go see Fireburst.

“I think we heard you the first time.” Elementgirl said drily. She had a headache, and the noise was certainly not helping matters any.

“Pie- oh my!” Anna whispered quietly, gripping Connie’s little hand with her fist. Connie giggled. “Fnny!”

The visitors climbed the rest of the way in near silence, excepting a couple of giggles. When they got to the Hospital Wing, they found Fireburst looking quite bored and somewhat drowsy. She was reading the fourth Harry Potter book. “SURPRISE!!!!” Everyone shouted. Elementgirl was pleased to see her friend looking so happy, and mostly forgot about her headache.

Fireburst was delighted to see all of her friends. “How are things going?” She asked excitedly, barraging them with questions. “What are you guys hiding behind your backs? Why are you all grinning?”

“We brought you a movie theatre and a bunch of card decks, plus candy!” Epic Fangirl said in a very excited tone of voice.

“Ooh! What movie?” Fireburst inquired, her eyes lighting up. “Is it Halloween themed? I LOVE scary movies. And what sorts of candy? You guys are the best friends I could ever have!”

Her friends began laughing and talking until the movie was properly set up, and when it started they grew quiet except for the sound of munching. Then came several card games, some poker, others go fish, and a couple rounds of B.S. yielded quite a bit of candy to everyone. As it turned out, Darkfeather was the best at B.S. Then, while the AEs and Captchas engaged in a card house contest, the CBers quietly informed Fireburst of the new mysteries that were unfolding, their expressions varying from grim to scared to serious.

@General Waffleson, thanks! If you want to improve your writing (which is already really good), it helps to try different styles, and look at other people's writing to get tips.  

Day 6, Part 4

Soon after the last pop rock had been eaten, the Hotel Manager came in to tell them that Fireburst needed her rest, and visiting hours were over. As soon as her friends left, Fireburst promptly fell asleep, dreaming of ghosts and poker and other random yet relevant things. After the Hotel Manager had them leave, the visitors split up to do various things; play video games, go for a walk outside, swim in the  pool, go to the library to read, or just sit in one of the rooms.

Kitten, however, went to the kitchen. She liked to cook. And as ar as she could tell, the Holographic Librarians knew a thing or two about cooking. “Hi. Can I help make lunch?” She asked when she arrived at the kitchen, inhaling the scent of soup.

“Of course you can!” Ms. Tobin said, smiling. “The aprons are over in the closet, and please wash your hands with the soap- no, not that one… over to the left… back to the right again… yes, that’s it!”

Kitten washed her hands with one of many different types of soaps as instructed, then put on an apron, which was plain white, embroidered with colorful mandalas. It was almost too beautiful to cook in, considering that it could get dirty. “So what can I do to help?” Kitten asked.

“Ah, let me see. Well, you could add all the vegetables and spices in, then stir them frequently. We’re making butternut squash soup!”

“Oh, okay.” Kitten set to work, adding tons of chopped vegetables to the simmering broth, along with measuring out amounts of salt, red pepper and other various spices. Then she helped stir and finally puree the soup- a task that took about twenty minutes due to the large amount of soup.

“Hey, Ms. Tobin? Could I help set the table for lunch? I have an idea for some herbs to arrange on top of the soup.” She asked.

“Sure, Kitten. Extra help is always welcome.” Ms. Tobin said, grinning.

She helped ladle soup into everybody’s bowl, then added the herbs she’d been looking for. Her stomach growled. She glanced at her watch, and was surprised to find how quickly the morning had flown by- it was already 12:30.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

While Kitten was helping out in the kitchen, General Waffleson, Rae and Balletandbow were having a great time trying out all sorts of old video games. “HA HA HA!” General Waffleson shouted. “Die, outer space bugs! Die!”

“Always a good philosophy when dealing with outer space bugs.” Balletandbow remarked, as she barely made it to a power pellet in time, while playing Pac Man.

“Noooo… go away… stop it… bad red car… aha! There it is! LAST FLAG! Woo-hoo!” Rae yelled.

“What are you playing?” Balletandbow asked, her eyes glued to the screen as she worked to avoid Inky and Blinky. “Oh, shoot.” Pac Man shriveled up before her eyes, and the words game over flashed on the screen.

“Rally X.” Rae replied, her last car having crashed into a boulder. “Oops. Want to play something else now?” She asked, and they moved over to play pinball and other sorts of random but fun games. General Waffleson stayed on his own for just a little bit longer, long enough to win three more levels on Galaga, before finally losing his last spaceship.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Epic Fangirl was being persuaded to go on a walk with with Leafpool and Arwen. The second they stepped outside, however, there was a crack of thunder. Then it began sprinkling, although the rain pelted down harder with every drop. “Aaand… back inside.” Arwen said. She, after discussing a bit with Leafpool, decided that it would be best if they went for a walk inside. Epic Fangirl politely said that she would rather stay here, if it was okay with them. And so off went Leafpool and Arwen.

Epic Fangirl pressed her face up against the window. The rain seemed to be doing its best to attack the ground, which was already soggy. Then something caught her attention. A small, curled up lump of fuzz was on the ground, shivering.

Epic Fangirl dashed outside and scooped it up. It didn’t even protest when when she ran for inside.

She ran up several flights of stairs, until she made it to the Hospital Wing. As she ran down the hallway, exhausted from her climb, she saw an elevator ding open.

“Aw, dang it! Why didn’t I see that before I ran up all those stairs?” She cursed.

As she skidded to a stop in the Hospital Wing, she saw the Hotel Manager. “I found this- uh, I think it’s a dog- outside in the rain! I think it needs help.”

The Hotel Manager took the sopping, smelly furball in her arms. “It does appear to be a dog of uncertain descent. And it needs a bath, and possibly a vet’s appointment.” Without hesitation, the Hotel Manager took the dog over to the bathroom, placing it in a bathtub. She began to lather it with soap, gently while the small creature trembled. Epic Fangirl came over to help, and together they cleaned the small shivering creature, then rinsed it with warm water. The Hotel Manager wrapped it in a fluffy towel and handed it to Epic Fangirl.

“I’ll check it over in a couple of hours. Until then, it would be best for you to hold on to it.” Then she left.

Epic Fangirl took the elevator back downstairs. She peered at the dog. “I think you’re a Scottish Terrier.” She remarked, talking in a soft voice. “What should I call you? Biscuit?”

The little dog yawned then tucked its head.

“Yes, I think that suits you. Biscuit.”