Tuesday, September 12, 2006

Chapter 2 - Tom's Foolery (2)

Thus Tom and Genius wearily set off to Somewhere at Large, the biggest night club in Blinkburg, the capital city of Landscape. Imagine “dull”, then multiply it by “boring”, add "mind-numbing", throw in a dose of "monotonous" and stir listlessly and you’d have a pretty accurate picture of Blinkburg. The only highlight about knowing Blinkburg was that you could forget it without worrying that you did.

Just when the imposing, yet uninspired building of Somewhere at Large loomed in the distance their attention was drawn to movement in a dark alleyway. Moving closer they saw absolutely nothing. For a moment they thought they hadn’t seen the ghost of Glassface Gwen, She of the Broken Neck, and then realised that, indeed, they hadn’t. They did hear a voice, though.

“Psst!!” said the dark. “Psst. Over here. You must be spoken to.”

“Wait,” said Genius as Tom was about to enter the dark passage. “Don’t be foolish. What if we’re robbed? It could be a trap.”

But Tom was already heading into the alley. With a sigh Genius followed, already imagining himself vaporising into a cloud of strawberry-flavoured smoke. Genius needn’t have worried. It was only the old hag, Maggie, She of the Passive Voice, who was trying to persuade them to enter her ‘consulting room’, as she liked to call it. Resistance was futile and moments later they were sitting around Maggie’s ‘consulting table’, staring dubiously into a misty crystal ball.

“So, and what have you been brought here for?” enquired Maggie in her most mysterious voice.

“Well, you called us, didn’t you?” answered Tom. He was already regretting the impulse which brought him there.

“You were brought here by Fate and your future will now be told,” whispered Maggie and peered short-sightedly into the crystal ball.

Suddenly she jumped.

“No! No! A terrible thing is seen! It cannot be gazed upon! No!”

“What? What do you see? What’s going to happen?” enquired Genius anxiously.

“What? Oh, sorry. The wrong crystal ball channel was displayed. Grue appeared. My crystal ball channel subscription must really be renewed. Until then, a random channel is displayed every now and then.”

“You wanted to tell us about our future…” prompted Tom.

“Yes, yes, the crystal ball will be gazed upon once again. Ahh, yes, I am spoken to from the murky depths. There will be a happening of things…”

“No, really?” mumbled Tom. “Could’ve fooled me.”

“Silence! A road is revealed. One that is travelled…”

“Will the surprises never end…” murmured Tom.

“Wait!”

“Yes?” Tom had decided to play along.

“More is available. Much, much more.”

“Yes?”

“For a limited time only, if my palm is now crossed with sufficient silver, the future can be revealed to you. You will also receive your very own mini crystal ball key-ring and matching earrings…”

“Come, Tom,” said Genius and pulled Tom out into the alleyway. They had just wasted precious time.

“No! No! Really important futures must be foretold!”

“Don’t worry. We’ll soon know what we’re missing now,” said Genius. If we live that long, he thought to himself.


1 comment:

The HR Partner said...

Bly om die nuwe hoofstuk te sien!! Keep up the good work. Ek hou rerig van die storie. Moer cool!!