Friday, November 26, 2010

25. Baldy Nov 25 Thu

(3:33 pm Thu Nov 25, 2010)

[ Fri Nov 19, 2010 - morning ]

*** Talent ***

Talent. Pool.

Talent. Gold.

Talent. Silver.

Talent. Agency.

Talent. Bank.

Talent. Scout.

Talent. Training.

Talent. Coach.

Talent. Parable.

Talent. Ed.

Here we are again. One day fades into another and one set of problems replaces another. Today I feel pretty good gentle reader. But then today is Thanksgiving in the U.S. and even though I am not there and even though I am not American either, that does present a problem. You see, there are football games on. And my team is playing in one. And even though my team is not doing very well this year and are certainly not living up to the pre-season expectations, I will be tempted to blow off writing to watch the game or at least be tempted to try and write while keeping one eye on the game. Something likely to get in the way of a decent and efficient effort.

Can determination and drive substitute for talent? Can talent be increased? What is talent? How much do you need?

***

"I am sorry kind Sir but I will not suffer my face to be touched without my permission," said the Starry Knight.

The officer looked like he was about to go off but Constable Gareth told him to cool it. He also apologized to the Starry Knight. He was beginning to wonder if the knights might be on the level. Could they really be grown men? Was there a circus in town that he hadn't heard about?

"OK, so let's say you're on the level for now, that you really aren't boys but are grown men. Are you sure you are not pulling my leg about being knights of some red queen though. Are you really from the circus or from a movie shoot perhaps?" asked Constable Gareth.

"We do not know what this movie you speak of is but we are indeed knights of the red queen sent to deal with the problem of the daze that has been causing trouble in her realms lo these three years," said Sir Higgi.

"And how did you come to be in our city then?" asked Constable Gareth.

"That truly is a mystery," answered Sir Higgi, "you see, we had found the source of the daze in a clearing in a forest by the ocean in a distant part of the red queens lands. We built a device to clear the daze from the clearing and found that the source of the daze was a hole in the ground. Basically, we went down in that hole in the clearing and came a hole in the street in your city. Then you found us," said Sir Higgi.

(4:10 pm Thu Nov 25, 2010)

Well gentle reader, the game I want to see is almost on, pre-game show now. Will I be able to resist watching and concentrate on writing like a half of me wants to do? (Well, it might be a little less than a half but it could possibly be a little more than a half too.)

*** Robber ***

(4:37 pm Thu Nov 25, 2010)

And now the game has started.

Robber. Thief. Violent thief to be specific.

Robber. Crook.

Robber. Baron.

Robber. Train.

Robbery. Great train.

Robber. Extra cathode.

You think maybe some robber is stealing my time? Can't be, I would know that right. Could be a thief though. Or a cat burglar. Sending in some sleeping mist and then slipping in while I am dozing (while I am in a daze?) and slipping back out with my precious time.

(6:43 pm Thu Nov 25, 2010)

I'll say.

(7:19 pm Thu Nov 25, 2010)

----------
Nov 25/10

Man cry an woman laugh
She say I is the better half
He get mad an walk away

----------
Nov 25/10

Well now
Love is all that you really need
When you
Know that satisfaction's guaranteed
And you
Take a ride on the Orient Express
And your
Lover calls for you to bring her dress
Well now
One thing's for sure that woman's super hot
And she'll
Give you every last thing she's got

----------

It is just not working. Once again I cannot get untracked. Too many distractions of the flat screen. So should I pack it in for the night and miss my goal for the first time this month or should I plod and fake and ramble and do whatever it takes to put some words down. I would say put some words down on paper but there is no paper in this process on my part so far.

Ah well, I don't even have an idea for foolish words.

The clouds in the sky laugh at your folly, laugh so hard that they begin to cry. Tears without salt. Tears who do their jobs without pay. No chance of a salary for these tears. The breeze cools your skin as the tears evaporate. You wait for relief but it is slow in coming. You wait, sitting on a dead stump of a once proud tree. A tree that stood tall for many years. Stood tall providing shade without favour to all who would stop and enjoy a respite. But now you sit in the remorseless sun, the only shade from the sparse clouds as they pass. And so, even though the tears fall on you you are at least thankful for the coolness that they bring.

Each word now is a hard won victory. And yet each time I check for progress it feels like defeat. How can this be?

My name is Bondo, Billy Jack Bondo. I have a license to fill. So bring me your busted, your crumpled, your befuddled bodies.

The Spider came into my shop yesterday at high noon. I knew it was high noon because I could smell the locks outside on the blocks. I could tell that the Spider had once had a flair, her flaming red paint job must have been something in her prime. But when she came through my double doors yesterday for an estimate she was looking sad indeed. Faded, glory days long gone. I could tell by the look of her headlights that her body wasn't the only thing that had been dented through the years.

(8:15 pm Thu Nov 25, 2010)

*** Squeeze ***

Main Squeeze. You know that has to come first.

Squeeze. Boa. Not the feather kind.

Squeeze. Squash. Two S Q words.

Squeeze. Grip tight.

Squeeze. Wedge in.

Squeeze. Put pressure on.

Squeeze. Hug.

Tight Squeeze. In a bind. Way behind. That's today. What's the play? Send it in coach. I'm not ready to play. Not today. No way.

The Spider looked like come here let me squeeze you despite being faded. I looked at her and knew I had a Bondo job to do. Billy Bondo was on the job. License to fill. I had dreams of making her look like new. All feminine curves restored to her original splendor. Top down, hilly country curves, dappled sun on beautiful black asphalt. White lines that seem to never end.

I had a large backlog of work but it was mundane work. I needed a little spice in my life so I decided to squeeze her in to my tight schedule. I probably should have never said yes but some opportunities only come along once or twice in life and I had a feeling about my sad little Spider.

If about now you are asking yourself why one Billy Jack Bondo with a license to fill would spend his days on mundane work I can only say this. every spy filler needs a good cover story. My little garage operation was mine. No one ever suspected what went on behind my closed double doors.

(8:55 pm Thu Nov 25, 2010)

A word here and a word there and before you know it you have a few more words released out into the wild. Set free. To be read. Perhaps to be reread. To be reused even. Molded into a different form. Made to say something different perhaps. Something completely different perhaps. Cue the giant foot. Cue the silly walk. Cue the silly walk chase. Cue the house on wheels. Cue the beach tunnel. Cue the beach towel. Cue the body surfing. Cue the go go dancing. Cue the openings and closings. Cue the curl. Cue the tree splat. Cue the multiple door slamming. Cue the crude. Cue the famous elbow. Cue the ciphering. Cue the capsule and the bottle. Cue the minnow. Cue the hips. Cue the num num. Cue the monkey. Not mine. Cue the man in the back. Cue the tiny dancer. Cue the bird up high. Cue the regimented. Cue the walrus. Cue the fool. Cue the money. Cue the wall. Cue the real fire. Cue the burning. Cue the harpoon. Cue the chest beating. Cue the tail walk. Cue the sleuths. Cue the life of a clown. Cue the submarine. Cue the free bird. Cue the pie.

*** Fling ***

Fling, bling, swing, sling, bing, sting, cling, sing, ting, zing, wing, ying, ping, ning, ming, ding, king, ring, xing.

Fling. Throw hard.

Fling. Take a brief shot at it.

Fling. Going steady for a very short time? Going unsteady for a very short time?

(9:13 pm Thu Nov 25, 2010)

Reached the last quarter once again at least.

You may be asking yourself gentle reader just why I might go on writing these seemingly totally unconnected words. It is a valid question. I mean, isn't it a total waste of time to be doing this. Not only are these words today totally unconnected from the main story, they are pretty much unconnected from the two knights one day bit as well. So why write them.

Because. Something needs to be written and these words happened to come up next in line. What should I do? Send them to the back of the line? How do you think that would make them feel? All dejected and everything probably. Who knows, they might go into hiding. What would we do then? Would we find ourselves needing one of these common words only to find that they were off some where sulking? Or worse yet, on strike?

Well, the real reason is that I never know when some seemingly unconnected bit will suddenly get connected or suddenly lead to something that can be connected up. That's what I tell myself at least. Otherwise I fear my sanity, such as it is, might go off and hide where neglected, dejected words might go and hide.

Seventeen Seventy Six.

Right on, right on, right on.

Cue the man about town.

Cue the loose goat. Lose the cued goat.

Each word a hard won victory.

Sorry, I just have to keep telling myself that to cheer myself up and to keep the flow.

Who am I kidding, you can't really call this a flow. More like a trickle.

Cue the whistle. Cue the spaghetti. Cue the noose. Cue the moose. Cue the Russian. Cue the Mountie. Cue the mouse. Cue the cat. Cue the zoom. Cue the watchtower. Cue the love. Cue Spain.

Cue the picture. Cue the story. Cue the pinball. Cue the diamonds. Cue Ruby. Cue Delta. Cue Chuck. Cue Leroy.

One hundred and eleven. Seven.

That's how you do it gentle reader. One little bit at a time, never quitting, nose to the grindstone, ouch, and you get closer and closer. Not long now. It might actually work. Well, not sure you can call these results working but the words mount up none the less. The closer I get to home. I get so excited. I smile. My spirit soars. Over such a simple pleasure. Just to be done. Just to shut down.

Will the volcano blow? Will the wind blow? Thankfully no big winds here yet this year and the big wind season is almost over. In fact it ends when NaNoWriMo ends. Somehow I don't think that is a coincidence. Do you think it might be the result of some sinister plot gentle reader?

(9:50 pm Thu Nov 25, 2010)

Enough. Goodnight gentle reader. Pasta banana.

Thursday, November 25, 2010

24. Baldy Nov 24 Wed

(3:43 pm Wed Nov 24, 2010)

[ Fri Nov 19, 2010 - morning ]

To start the day with tired eyes is not a good thing gentle reader. It does not bode well for this day's effort much less this day's output.

I had thought that perhaps I would give myself the day off from working on this novel as a little treat. A little self indulgence.

But then I reconsidered and thought to at least give it a go. To take a stab at it. To plod along for a bit and seek for some inspiration. Some spark that will make the words flow with ease and more importantly for me today, flow with speed.

*** Tuple ***

Tuple. An ordered list of elements. And we find a spelling mistake from a bygone year and correct it.

Tuple. A row in a relational database table.

Tuple. In some contexts immutable.

Tuple. A collection of name-value pairs.

Tuple. N-tuple.

Tuple. Not Tiple and not tipple either.

(3:54 pm Wed Nov 24, 2010)

(7:16 pm Wed Nov 24, 2010)

Sorry gentle reader, my eyes just couldn't take it. Back to the Two Knights and a Day part.

***

They two knights looked around themselves in amazement. What city was this? What world was this?

I mean, how would you react if you were suddenly taken from the middle ages to modern times. I know that sounds like a time travel question and I have already assured you that there was no time travel in this story so I will say again, they did not travel in time, other than as you and I do throughout our whole lives. Unless of course some of you readers actually do travel backwards in time and / or forwards in time at a faster rate than the rest of us do. Hmmm, would it be considered time travel if a person were to travel forwards in time at a slower rate than the rest of us do? What would the implications of that be?

Now, can you imagine the surprise on the part of the modern city dwellers on seeing two knights come up out of a manhole in a busy street. Now you might be thinking that modern city dwellers would take this all in stride as they see strange things every day.

Yes but these Knights were only three feet tall in this modern world. Fully kitted out in shining armour and weapons but tiny. Make no mistake, these Knights were tall and strapping men where they came from but when they came up onto the street, not so much.

The knights were dazed, what was this place? Some land of giants they had never heard of before?

A policeman came up to them and began speaking, "OK buys, why are you not in school today? Playing hookie are you?"

The Starry Knight looked up to him and replied, "I pray thee Sir Giant, tell us, what land is this?"

The policeman could barely understand the Starry Knight's accent. "Stop fooling around guys. Tell me which school you go to and I will take you there."

"Kind Sir Giant, we are Knights on an errand for the red queen and not children still in school." replied Sir Higgi.

(7:49 pm Wed Nov 24, 2010)

*** Venn ***

Mr. Diagram.

Venn. Sets. Union. Intersection. Exclusion.

Eulerian Circles?

Maths. Was that Form III or Form IV?

***

"Come on guys, stop fooling around. I don't want to have to take you in and cause you a lot of trouble. Just let me take you back to school and we can leave it at that," said the policeman. "and stop calling me Sir Giant, I am Constable Gareth."

"Ah, Constable Gareth is it? A fine Knightly name I might add. We cannot let you take us to this school you wish us to accompany you to but it would be very kind of you if you were to help us on our way," said Sir Higgi.

"Look boys, I am not going to tell you again, stop fooling around and come with me. What are your names anyway?"

"I am Sir Higginthorpe of Blatherdash,you may call me Sir Higgi and this is Sir Reched of Aimless, also known as the Starry Knight." replied Sir Higgi. "Can you take us to your King or Queen?"

The policeman was at the end of his patience with the two. "Sure, I can take you to my leader, Come with me to my car."

"Good. Thank you kind Constable Gareth," said Sir Reched, "what is this car you speak of?"

"Just follow me," said the policeman, exasperated,"right this way."

And so the two knights had their first ride in a police cruiser and were taken to the police station. On the way, the policeman had made one final effort to get them to tell him which school they attended, trying to save them, and himself if the truth be told, some trouble. They kept insisting that they were not children and so he saw no other choice but to follow procedures.

When the three walked through the front door of the police station they were greeted to laughs and teasing. Mostly directed at Constable Gareth but some at the little knights. Things like, "Hey boys, Halloween has passed," and "Are they filming a kids movie in town this week without permits?" None very funny.

The Starry Knight was nearing the end of his patience and looking around and making plans for what to do once he drew his sword.

In case you are asking how the policeman could have left the knights in possession of their weapons in this day and age, both while transporting them in his cruiser and how he and the other policemen could have let them armed into the station, don't. The answer is simple, he assumed, as did the other policemen, that they were toys. It never occurred to anyone that they could be deadly weapons.

(8:49 pm Wed Nov 24, 2010)

*** Matrix ***

Matrix. A rectangular array of numbers.

Matrices. More than one matrix.

Matrix. Matrix multiplication is not commutative.

Matrix. Element. Vector. Tensor.

(9:16 pm Wed Nov 24, 2010)

Well gentle reader, I don't know if I am going to be able to make it tonight. Perhaps if you can help me some. Any thoughts on what I can do tonight to increase the quantity of my word output? I mean, this temporal black hole and these mental chains or mental goo is it are making things tough. Perhaps it is a mental daze. Perhaps this is the daze that has been infecting the red queen's realms.

And again, we have not made any progress on the actual story, we have spent all of the time on the story within the story.

I am here clicking away watching nothing while trying to write. How silly is that? How whacked? Divided attention. Multiplied problems. And so it goes. Plodding. Pushing. Struggling. Hurting. But at least the eyes are not hurting like earlier. At least not yet.

How is it that sometimes words come so quickly? You write for a while and then save and do a word count and there they are, a hundred words or more is a short time. At other times, you write and think you have made a good amount of progress only to count and see very little. It doesn't seem possible that you have made such little progress so you save and word count again, just to be sure. But there is no mistake, You have made very little progress. Still other times, you know for sure you haven't made much progress and you haven't.

***

"Is the chief in?" asked the policeman?

"Yeah, he's in his office with a reported from the paper about that shooting yesterday," replied the officer at the desk.

"Come on boys, let's go back this way and wait, you can give me a statement in the meantime."

The knights followed and sat down on the chairs that the policeman indicated. He sat behind the desk and took a notebook from the middle drawer of the desk.

"OK, names and addresses, who wants to go first?"

"We have already give you our names Sir Giant," said the Starry Knight.

"OK guys, seriously, enough fooling around now. I want your real names this time and your addresses and while you are at it, take of those helmets and let's see what you look like," said Constable Gareth, "and cut it with the Sir Giant already."

"As I have already told you," said Sir Higgi, "I am Sir Higginthorpe of Blatherdash,you may call me Sir Higgi and this is Sir Reched of Aimless, also known as the Starry Knight. I am twenty eight years of age and you will have to ask the Starry Knight his age as I have no knowledge of that."

(9:52 pm Wed Nov 24, 2010)

Almost to the last quarter now gentle reader.

*** Sine ***

Well, you can see by my introducing my last key word that we have now reached the last quarter. It has certainly been a long haul so far though.

Sine. Arcsine. Cosine. Arccosine. Tangent. Arctangent. Secant. Arcsecant. Cosecant. Arccosecant. Cotangent. Arccotangent.

Is your head hurting yet? getting any flashback memories?

Sine, sine, all around you sines.

Sine me up.

Sine on the dotted line.

Sine it over.

Sine of the times.

Sine off on it.

So this sine comes into the bank and asks for a loan. The manager asks if he has a knick-knack? The sine says no he hasn't had a knick-knack in years. So the manager tells him he will have to get a cosine before he can be approved for a loan. So the sine starts talking about this and that and asking about the managers family and more this and that and about what a great business idea he has and could he have the loan please? Well, the manager tells him to stop going off on a tangent and to just go an bring in a cosine. So the sign gets up and leaves the bank but says he will be back in a secant with a cosine.

(10:23 pm Wed Nov 24, 2010)

Well, time is still moving forward. Not much to be done about that. That famous easy button will not stop time for me now will it?

***

Well, the officer was about to lose his temper and was beginning to stand up when the Starry knight raised his visor to reveal his bearded face. The beard took the officer by surprise. The Starry Knight then proceeded to remove his helmet completely revealing his manly features. The officer dropped his pen in surprise.

"Hey guys, take a look at this. Whoever is putting on this movie or play is going all out hey? I mean, fake beard and everything. This must be more than a school play, the makeup is way too professional for that level of production."

The other officers came around for a closer look. Sir Higgi decided to remove his helmet as well and in doing so, he to revealed a man features.

All of the police in the station gathered around and one even tried to touch the Starry Knight beard to see if it was real but Sir Reched knocked his arm away and stepped out of the way.

The officer was one of those who did not like to be thwarted and lunged forward to have another go. Now this officer was a large and powerful man and he worked at it in the gym regularly.

Sir Reched grabbed his hand and forearm and squeezed with each hand. The officer went to his knees, wincing in pain.

When the officer went to his knees, Sir Reched eased his grip enough to lessen the pain. The officer looked at Sir Reched from his knees, a look of profound surprise on his face. Surprise and wariness.

Now you may be wondering how some tiny knight from wherever could be so powerful in the face of a large police officer. A part of it had to do with the hard life knights like him lived and another part had to do with the native strength of all the people of his world.

(10:42 pm Wed Nov 24, 2010)

Well gentle reader, I guess that does it for the day. Thanks for understanding. It has been a tremendous comfort.

(10:43 pm Wed Nov 24, 2010) 54836

Tuesday, November 23, 2010

23. Baldy Nov 23 Tue

(2:56 pm Tue Nov 23, 2010)

[ Fri Nov 19, 2010 - morning ]

*** Turtle ***

Is this the end gentle reader? Will we ever find out the end of the tale of two Knights one Day? Much less learn how the tale of Baldy turns out. No, not the tail of Baldy. That is something completely different. I mean, we know he has a tail, a little grepping just told me that even though I didn't remember off the top if I had revealed the existence of said appendage as yet.

It turns out Baldy does have a tail and you already know that he has a tail. That is, unless you have been being a bit naughty and jumping about in the text rather than reading along with me as I write. If you have been doing that then there is not much I can say at this time. In fact, if you are doing that, you may never even read this to figure out that I might be on to you.

You see how novel time has stood basically still for a good while now gentle reader? You see how novel time and novelling time are getting more and more out of sync? The thing is, I am not sure anything much is going to be done about this worsening situation today either. Not sure at all.

This message brought to you by the Department Of Redundancy Department.

There are absolutely no absolutes in this life we are living.

Will the tolerant tolerate the intolerant?

Who put the ROT in rotten?

(3:29 pm Tue Nov 23, 2010)

Where was I? Oh yes, turtle.

Turtle. Green.

Turtle. Sea.

Turtle. Terrapin.

Turtle. Tortoise.

Turtle. Dove.

Turtle. Martial.

Turtle. Shell.

Turtle. Conflict.

(3:42 pm Tue Nov 23, 2010)

We peek in now to see the shop keeper still reading the story online. How this relates to turtles is currently a mystery.

***

This upset Sir Higgi tremendously. Why would the Starry Knight insult him so? He picked up a bell rock and tapped Sir Reched on his helmet in order to wake him up an get his attention. It worked.

Sir Reched woke up and jumped to his feet, drawing his sword. "Who struck me?" he shouted.

Sir Higgi jumped to his feet as well and took off his gauntlet and threw it at Sir Reched's feet.

"What's this all about then?" asked Sir Reched.

"What this is about, Sir," said Sir Higgi, "is a challenge. I have had enough of your insults to my queen and to my person and I challenge you to a duel. Choose your weapons and prepare to defend yourself forthwith!"

"Oh my! You are the naughty one aren't you Sir Higgi?" responded Sir Reched.

"I am the naughty one?"

"You said it!" replied Sir Reched.

"How am I the naughty one. You Sir, are the villain, not I" replied Sir Higgi.

"Oh, come now, don't be coy, of course you are the naughty one. Caught red handed too I might add." said Sir Reched.

"Explain yourself sir or I will run you through without the benefit of a proper duel." said Sir Higgi.

"Well, it is obvious isn't it? Tell me, was I just talking in my sleep and insulted your red queen while a-slumber?" asked Sir Reched.

"No, certainly not." replied Sir Higgi.

"There you see? Obvious!" said Sir Reched.

"I warn you, explain yourself clearly or face my blade!" cried Sir Higgi.

"Well, since I did not just insult your queen in my sleep, it stands to reason that I had already insulted your beloved queen before and you had already decided to let those insults go and not defend her royal honour. And now, I must have done something to insult your person as you put it and now you decide to issue a challenge. A little naughty only I grant you but you take it further. Oh yes you do! You can't just issue your challenge on behalf of your insulted person and be done with it. Oh no, you have to bring your queen's honour into it to justify your actions, the same honour I might add that you were prepared to see violated without a defense if your behaviour to now is to be our measurement. As I say, quite naughty!" expounded Sir Reched.

***

(4:02 pm Tue Nov 23, 2010)

*** Tango ***

Tango. Foxtrot.

Tango. Oscar.

Tando alpha november golf oscar.

Bravo Alpha Lima Delta Yankee [space] [Dash] [space] Alpha [space] Bravo Alpha Hotel Alpha Mike India Alpha November [space] Sierra Hotel Alpha Golf Golf Yankee [space] Delta Oscar Golf [space] Sierra Tango Oscar Romeo Yankee

November Oscar Whiskey [space] Tango Hotel India Sierra [space] Charlie Oscar Uniform Lima Delta [space] Bravo Echo [space] Uniform Sierra Echo Delta [space] Tango Oscar [space] Delta Oscar [space] Sierra Oscar Mike Echo [space] Sierra Echo Romeo India Oscar Uniform Sierra [space] November Alpha November Oscar Whiskey Romeo India Mike Oscar [space] Whiskey Oscar Romeo Delta [space] Papa Alpha Delta Delta India November Golf [space] Golf Echo November Tango Lima Echo [space] Romeo Echo Alpha Delta Echo Romeo [Dot]

Whiskey Oscar Whiskey [Dot] [space] Alpha November Delta [space] Delta Oscar Uniform Bravo Lima Echo [space] Whiskey Oscar Whiskey [space] Tango Hotel Echo [space] Whiskey Oscar Romeo Delta [space] Charlie Oscar Uniform November Tango [space] Papa Romeo Oscar Golf Romeo Echo Sierra Sierra [space] India Sierra [space] Sierra Oscar Mike Echo Tango Hotel India November Golf [space] Alpha Mike Alpha Zulu India November Golf [space] Whiskey India Tango Hotel [space] Tango Hotel India Sierra [space] Lima India Tango Tango Lima Echo [space] Tango Romeo India Charlie Kilo [Dot] [space] Sierra India November Charlie Echo [space] India [space] Alpha Lima Romeo Echo Alpha Delta Yankee [space] Charlie Romeo Oscar Sierra Sierra Echo Delta [space] Foxtrot India Foxtrot Tango Yankee [space] Tango Hotel Oscar Uniform Sierra Alpha November Delta [space] India [space] Mike Alpha Yankee [space] Juliet Uniform Sierra Tango [space] Papa Alpha Sierra Sierra [space] Tango Hotel Echo [space] Delta Alpha Yankee [space] Tango Oscar Delta Alpha Yankee [space] India November [space] Tango Hotel India Sierra [space] Foxtrot Alpha Sierra Hotel India Oscar November [Dot] [space] Bravo Uniform Tango [space] Papa Echo Romeo Hotel Alpha Papa Sierra [space] November Oscar Tango [Dot] [space] India [space] Alpha Mike [space] Echo November Juliet Oscar Yankee India November Golf [space] Tango Hotel Echo [space] Kilo November India Golf Hotel Tango Sierra [space] Papa Romeo Oscar Golf Romeo Echo Sierra Sierra [space] Tango Oscar Oscar [Dot]

*** Banana Bird ***

(4:13 pm Tue Nov 23, 2010)

***

Sir Higgi sat down dejectedly and put his head in his hands. Sir Reched was right. He felt ashamed of himself. What kind if a knight was he to put his own honour above that of his queen?

"Don't look so down Higgi old man, it could happen to the best of us. Now, why don't we see if we can do something about this dratted daze what?" said Sir Reched.

Sir Higgi stood up, ashamed once again for his weakness and concern for his own desires above those of his beloved queen.

"That's it good Knight. We must be about our business, no slacking what?" concluded Sir Reched.

"Indeed kind Sir," said Sir Higgi, determined to look on Sir Reched in a kinder light in light of his forbearance and continued concern for the queen's business. "How shall we proceed?"

They talked it over and decided that since this little clearing seemed to be the source for this daze that it was hear that they would best find a solution to it. Now it may seem strange that they had journeyed such a great distance to come to this place without making this exact determination before setting out but I can only relate events as they stand. Anything else would be a fiction. Something I will not stoop to.

***

Oh yes.

Banana Bird.

This is a large yellow bird with banana shaped wings and a banana shaped beak to boot. I would mention their banana shaped legs as well but that might be pushing things just a little too far no?

I mean, one can only suspend one's disbelief so far as it were. For some reason, for so far seems to sound better than for so long in this instance. Go figure.

Bananaquit. Why did the banana quit? Who knows?

(4:52 pm Tue Nov 23, 2010)

(5:25 pm Tue Nov 23, 2010)

***

Well, perhaps I would stoop to it if I had to but in this case I do not have to and so shall not.

Sir Reched, being the inventive sort, set out to build a device to clear the clearing of the daze so that they might better examine the clearing itself and see if they could see any clues as to the exact source of the daze within the clearing.

He went into the forest a short way to fell some timber, using his trusty horse to pull the felled timber back to the centre of the clearing.

Basically, what he built was a sort of horse powered windmill shaped fan, using the felled timber for the main frame of the fan and fronds from a sort of palm as the blades. He hooked both his horse and Sir Higgi's horse up to the device and slapped them on their rumps. Before long the daze had been expelled from the clearing so he let the horses stop.

Unfortunately, as soon as the fan blades stopped spinning, the daze quickly filled the clearing once again.

(5:50 pm Tue Nov 23, 2010)

*** Guppy ***

Guppy. Tropical fish. One of my favourite fish while growing up.

Guppy. A pocket cruiser.

Guppy duppy.

Duppy guppy.

Which is correct? The Duppy Strut. Can a guppy duppy strut? Can a duppy guppy duppy strutt? Etc.

So Sir Reched slapped haunches again and the two horses powered up the fan again and the fan soon cleared the clearing of the dreaded daze once again.

This time he left the horses moving and the fan running and began a quick search of the clearing. It did not take long to find a hole in the ground under a large rock with daze continuing to come out of it.

He went over and carefully lowered himself into the hole to investigate. Sir Higgi followed. Sir Reched told him not to come down into the hole in case something went wrong but Sir Higgi would not hear of it. He was down the hole in a flash, reminiscent of Alice.

(6:28 pm Tue Nov 23, 2010)

Down the hole they found a curtain of sorts formed of moss. The daze seemed to be coming from behind the curtain. They discussed the situation and decided that Sir Reched would proceed behind the curtain while Sir Higgi would remain on this side and only come in case of need.

Well, that was the plan anyway but just as Sir Reched was going through the curtain, Sit Higgi decided that he should go too and stepped through right behind Sir Reched. The daze thickened and a light flashed and thunder sounded. Sir Reched and Sir Higgi found themselves in a very noisy and dark place. There was water up to their ankles and small shafts of light coming down from above. There looked to be ladder rungs of a sort going up the wall of a shaft that rose above them.

Well, they left the clearing as knights of yore and came up the shaft into modern time. All without traveling through time.

They came up into bright sunshine with a clear sky above and a cool breeze blowing on their faces. They heard a loud honking noise and turned to see a tractor head pulling a forty foot container heading towards them. Well, even though they had never before seen such a sight, they were not dim-wits by any means. They got out of the way. Whotay to the left and Dun to the right.

A stream of traffic kept coming so that it was a while before Whotay could cross the road to rejoin Dun. Eventually though, Sir Higgi saw a gap that appeared to be large enough for him to cross the road in the face of these speeding behemoths.

(6:50 pm Tue Nov 23, 2010)

And, that about does it for the day gentle reader. I have passed two thousand words for the day and can shut it down and go and make myself some dinner.

Until next time.

(6:50 pm Tue Nov 23, 2010) 52742

22. Baldy Nov 22 Mon

(2:43 pm Mon Nov 22, 2010)

[ Fri Nov 19, 2010 - morning ]

Well, gentle reader, perhaps today. The energy level is currently low though.

*** Rope ***

Rope. A strong line.

Rope. To lasso.

Rope. Tie up.

Rope. Cable.

Rope. A Dope.

Rope. Tight rope.

Rope. Swing.

Rope. Ladder.

Rope. Bridge.

The shop keeper is sitting in front of his notebook computer reading an odd story online.

***

Two Knights, One Day.

Well, I must first tell you that I am not speaking in any way of modern knights. No, certainly not! I would not do that. Well, not today in any case. I am, rather speaking of knights of yore.

Secondly, I must tell you that, despite the fact that we are speaking of knights of yore and not of modern knights, this story is, in fact, set in modern times.

Thirdly, I must inform you that this story is not about time travel. Well, except for the normal everyday forward time travel what we all do from the moment of our birth. That kind of time travel does happen in this story. But not the fictional sort of time travel where people move backwards in time or even forwards in time at rates other than the normal rate we all experience each day of our lives. Of course, there may be the occasional flashback and what not in the story but we all know that does not count as time travel per se. Rather, flashbacks and such are just literary devices more akin to memories than to bona fide time travel.

Now knight number one was known as Sir Higginthorpe of Blatherdash. Or as his mother named him, Whotay Higginthorpe. But mostly as Sir Higgi. He was well loved by the youth for his deeds of daring, sought after by damsels for his courtly manners and admired and feared by knights and lesser men for his courage and skills at arms.

For his part, knight number two was known as Sir Reched of Aimless, the Starry Knight. Or as his father had named him, Dun Reched. He was despised by the youth for his uncouth speech (what do youth know), shunned by damsels for his ungainly gait (just because he didn't mince along) and avoided by knights for his lack of personal hygiene (what did he care for eau de toilette). Lesser men didn't seem bothered by his lack of personal hygiene though.

One day, on the day in question as a matter of fact, the two knights were called to the castle for an audience with the red queen. They arrived, one on the east road and one on the west road at noon. And not at some chopped up, mechanized, time zone noon, no, they arrived when the sun was directly overhead as the red queen had commanded.

If you musk know, Sir Higgi arrived on the west road and the Starry Knight arrived via the east road.

***

Well gentle reader, the shop keeper was enjoying himself. He considered himself somewhat of a military historian. He read Sun Tzu's The Art of War daily. Often online at http://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/132/pg132.txt and he also loved stories of martial classes and groups.

Knights, Pirates, Vikings, Ninjas, Kungfu Monks, Assassins, Gladiators, Samurai and the like.

*** Plug **

Plug up.

Plug. Socket.

Plug. Drain.

Plug. Nose.

Plug. Dyke.

Plug. Jack.

(6:00 pm Mon Nov 22, 2010)

I have been busy chatting online instead of trying to write gentle reader and have managed to burn a lot of precious time in the process. Since I want to go to band practice tonight that was not a wise course of action.

***

The red queen informed the two knights of a daze that had recently invaded her realm and that was causing much consternation among her loyal subjects. We shall make no mention of any disloyal subjects as we do not want to spread any ideas out into the wild.

She told them that the daze had first appeared on a wild summer night three years ago in a little clearing deep in a forest by the ocean. At first, no one had noticed due to the one hand clapping effect. Well, actually it was the if a tree falls in the woods effect but one can't always be too careful when classifying phenomena.

Since then it had been spreading over the realm, moving from one place to another like wisps of nothing. Like fignewtons of imagination. The stuff of dreams. Truth be told, the stuff of nightmares.

Well, she told them that she was charging them with seeking out and destroying this menace to her realm.

Sir Higgi was all excited to be given such a commission by such a lofty personage as the red queen herself and offered to begin immediately, forthwith, and rah rah.

The Starry Knight on the other hand mentioned the matter of time constraints, the difficulty of the commission and most importantly the great expense likely to be incurred by the undertaking. That plus his bunion was acting up this week.

Sir Higgi looked at the Starry Knight with alarm and disgust. He railed against him for some time before beginning to spit on the ground as an insult to him. The red queen saw what was about to happen and cleared her throat. Sir Higgi looked her way when she did so and she shook her head no. He caught himself at the last minute and had to swallow his bile so to speak.

Sir Higgi felt insulted and turned red in the face on account of the queen taking the Starry Knights side rather than his. How was he to know that the queen was actually on his side and wanted to to some railing of her own. It was just that she did not want knightly phlegm on her marble floors.

How was he to know that although the red queen held him the highest esteem and considered him the greatest knight in her realm while she considered the Starry Knight a foreign interloper. A Johnny come lately low life even that she had recently become privy to some vague information that led her to believe that the Starry Knight might just be the only knight on the face of the earth that could rid her dominions of the curse of this dreaded daze.

(7:00 pm Mon Nov 22, 2010) 49673

(9:52 pm Mon Nov 22, 2010)

Well, at least band practice was a bit of fun. Now to get down to it. Not a round tuit.

*** Grease ***

Grease. Fat. Lard. Oil.

Grease. Greasy.

***

So anyway the red queen told the Starry Knight that he could have whatever he needed for expenses and that he would receive a substantial sum should he succeed as well as be granted lands in the east.

Now Sir Higgi was really getting hot but, as he was a kindly knight, he did his best to keep his emotions hidden. The red queen, for her part, was not fooled. She smiled. "Good Sir Higginthorpe," she said "I will certainly reward you no less should you help rid my realm of this terrible daze.

Sir Higgi protested vociferously. He made it clear that he would not accept payment for either his expenses or by way of reward for a successful prosecution of his assignment. He almost offered to meet the Starry Knight's expenses as well but bit his tongue at the last moment.

And so the two knights set off on their quest for the red queen to rid her lands of the dastardly daze. They journeyed for days through all sorts of landscapes. Through desert, through forest, over mountains frozen in summer. Over seas and finally came to the forest by the ocean wherein the daze had first appeared in the red queens realm.

They landed their sloop on the rocky beach and secured it to a fallen tree with a stout rope. The climbed a vertical cliff and set out in search of the clearing of origin. The clearing of the daze.

Now I must tell you that when they set out in search of the daze clearing it was a mere thousand yards away from the point where they had rested after their cliff ascent.

After eight days of wandering in search of the daze they finally came to the little clearing. The daze was thick in the clearing on the morning they finally entered the clearing. So thick in fact that they had walked almost the whole way across it before they realized that they were actually in it.

Luckily, a small ray of friendly sunshine broke through the daze just before they were about to enter the forest again and gleamed off of the Starry Knight's visor and into the left eye of Sir Higgi. When the friendly ray of sunshine got Sir Higgi's attention he stopped dead in his tracks and the ray laughed a little mirthy laugh.

(10:30 pm Mon Nov 22, 2010) 50110

*** Albert ***

Albert. Hall.

Albert. And Oats?

Albert. Bob's your uncle.

Albert. Bert.

Albert. Flaubert.

Albert. Albrecht.

Albert. Albight.

Albert. Al.

Well gentle reader, the shop keeper was lost in the depths of the forest with the two Knights. Deep inside his own mind. Lost in a daze of his own. Unaware of what was going on around him. A smile on his face.

***

The Starry Knight did not notice that Sir Higgi had stopped and continued on to the edge of the forest and was about to re-enter it when Sir Higgi called out to him.

"What now oh proper Knight?" asked Sir Reched, derision in his voice.

"I just thought you might like to know we are here," said Sir Higgi.

"We are where?" asked Sir Reched.

"In the clearing of the daze," answered Sir Higgi.

The Starry Knight turned around and came back, he slapped Sir Higgi on the back in celebration, denting his armour from the impact and almost knocking Sir Higgi to the ground. He would have gone to the ground too if it were not for his knightly, cat like grace.

Well, they sat down and opened their saddle bags and ate a light lunch of Greek gyros and conch salad.

As they sat eating their lunch, Sir Higgi began telling the Starry Knight about a book he was currently titled "Baldy - A Bahamian Shaggy Dog Story" and wondered if Dun had ever read it or even heard of it.

For his part, Sir Reched had never heard of it. Sir Higgi waxed eloquent on the virtues of the book and explained how it was a deep book and a metaphor for lost love and courtly virtue and grace. He explained that although it was ostensibly about a dog who went in search of a treasure that it was really about the transcendent beauty of the knightly hunt and true love. After going on like this for about two hours he noticed that the Starry Knight had dozed off at some prior point.

(11:08 pm Mon Nov 22, 2010) 50459

Well gentle reader, as you can no doubt see, it is late and as you may guess, I am tired. My eyes hurt and midnight approaches faster than I might like. And although I have passed fifty thousand words tonight and am *VERY* happy about that, two thousand words have come much slower than I would have liked.

The day's goal is getting close now though and so I invite you to just sort of slide along with me as I crank some out just for the sake of cranking some out.

I will have to fill you in on some more of the Knights quest tomorrow if I can. For now it will be one word and then another until the line in the sand is crossed.

One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, and ten. Don't forget zero to start...

And with that we can wrap it up for the night gentle reader. I don't think it will get posted until tomorrow though.

Good night.

(11:15 pm Mon Nov 22, 2010) 50635

Sunday, November 21, 2010

21. Baldy Nov 21 Sun

(7:35 am Sun Nov 21, 2010)

I have been meaning to say hello for almost an hour now gentle reader. Not to get started on writing the story in earnest mind you, just to say hello. But I got side tracked. One thing led to another. Reading emails, catching up on identi.ca and following links. You know who you are... And now I am still deep in the middle of that little endeavor.

[ Thu Nov 18, 2010 - night ]

(3:48 pm Sun Nov 21, 2010)

I can't explain.

Don't even ask.

Seriously.

*** West ***

Well, there goes any serious thoughts of 4k today.

West. Westward ho.

West. Western.

West. West wind.

West. Go west young man.

West. Bat.

West. Wood.

West. North, South, East.

Ever wonder why the New World isn't considered the West and the Old World isn't considered the East?

I already feel like I am in plod mode gentle reader. If it comes to this, plod I will. I really rather not but will if I have to. Forgive me if it comes to that today. I ask this kindness of you gentle reader.

I can tell you one thing that burned some of the middle of my day though. I had to mix up some of that hamburger crumble meal that Mary made the other night.

So everyone slept well and woke up refreshed.

[ Fri Nov 19, 2010 - morning ]

Mary was up first and made some bush tea for a change. She sat on her front porch and read the paper while enjoying the quiet and the morning coolness.

(4:47 pm Sun Nov 21, 2010)

----------
Nov 21/10

What you gonna find
When you inspect yourself
Inspect yourself
What you gonna find
Inside yourself
Inside your head
Inspect yourself
Inspect yourself

----------
Nov 21/10

Dancing underwater
With a damsel in distress
I can see she's fine
But man I aint lying
That gal puts me to the test

----------
Nov 21/10

I got a bag of desire and a
Box of wants
And I lit a fire where your
Memory haunts
My childhood dreams and my
Grown up plans
The fire burns higher and meets
All your demands

----------

It is just not working gentle reader. A tabula rasa moment as it were. Although not related to birth per se.

Mary saw Devlin's light go on and smiled.

Baldy woke up and saw Mary on the porch and made his over the roof morning journey and joined her.

"Hey Baldy, how are you feeling this morning? Did you sleep well?" asked Mary.

"I had a good night's sleep thanks. I feel pretty good this morning. How about you?" replied Baldy.

Mary scratched behind his ears and rubbed down along his back and pulled his tail. Baldy didn't particularly like his tail being pulled but Mary liked to tease him in that way on the odd occasion. She liked how he chased his tail in an effort to break loose when she had a hold of his tail.

(5:15 pm Sun Nov 21, 2010)

*** Villain ***

Villain. The bad guy.

Villain. The heavy.

Villain. A wicked or evil person.

Villain. The shop keeper. Or is he?

The problem is, where is our villain? Where are his side kicks? What are they up to? What are their motives? what do they know and what do they not know? Sadly, we don't really know the answer to any of these vital questions. Neither do Baldy and Mary on this particular morning. Let's see what they can learn shall we?

Mary gave Baldy some breakfast and made herself some fried johnny cake and ate it with butter and syrup and some fried sausage.

After breakfast Baldy slipped out and went over to Stan's to try and make some plans.

"Hey Baldy, what's up?"

"Hey Stan, how are you doing? I just came by to see if we can't make some progress towards dealing with this shop keeper issue and anything else we can figure out."

"Sure man, but why don't we go over to your place and have a confab with everyone?" asked Stan.

"Nah, I don't know why, but I want just the two of us to have a talk if you don't mind."

"Sure thing man, that's cool with me. If you figure out what's bothering you though let me know." said Stan.

"So, have you heard anything from the crew we sent up to Eleuthera?" asked Baldy.

"No, not yet, I can call them now if you like though."

"Why don't you do that and then we can talk things over in light of any developments up that way," said Baldy.

(5:54 pm Sun Nov 21, 2010)

Stan got in contact with North Eleuthera and found out that the rumour was that the shop keeper, the woman and the driver had stolen a go fast boat from the marina in Harbour Island and it was later found beached near Crossing Rocks in Abaco.

There were further rumours that they had been sighted in Hope Town, Guana Cay, Treasure Cay and Green Turtle Cay.

Stan came back and gave the report to Baldy.

(6:22 pm Sun Nov 21, 2010)

"OK, look, I have some connections up Abaco way so I am going to pull out all of the stops and we are going to pin those jokers down today and put them out of business. You can take that to the bank," said Baldy.

"If you say so, they seem to be a pretty slippery bunch though, I would be careful with those predictions if I were you."

"No, I have confidence in my boys, it's a done deal."

"If you say so. What else then?" asked Stan.

"Well, the next thing is this puzzle. It is bugging me in general and I don't know how we can make any progress but there is something else that confuses me. When we first found the map and I was all excited about it being a treasure map, Buster was all 'Don't get too worked up Baldy. Treasure is not all it is cracked up to be you know. It is the simple things in life that are priceless.' and I was not paying that one bit of mind. Now, I have a small idea that maybe it is not worth the danger it has put Mary and the rest of you guys in but he is all into finding it. It confuses me."

*** Happy ***

Happy. Not sad.

Happy. Day.

Happy. As a pig in ...

Happy. Glad.

Happy. Happiness.

Happy. Go lucky.

Happy. Holidays.

Happy. Camper.

(6:58 pm Sun Nov 21, 2010)

I can tell you someone who isn't all that happy right up in now gentle reader. Yes, that would be me. I really can't seem to get untracked at all today. What did I say earlier about plodding?

And so I plod on.

"Perhaps the excitement has just grown on him is all," said Stan. "I know I am more excited about it now. I think Buster is right, this is no time to give up on the search. We can find it. I can feel it in my bones. We just need to keep our spirits up and our minds sharp. We can't give in to despair. We can't give in to negative thoughts."

"You may be right," said Baldy, "but do you have any ideas what this wisdom and the north star thing could mean?"

----------
Nov 21/10

I want to take you to the
Beach tonight
I want to look at you by
Candle light
I want to kiss you till the
Morning comes
I wanna take you in my arms and
Give you some
Of the best things in life
Cause I
Hear they're free
I want to show you what you
Mean to me

----------

"Well let's see. The North Star. Polaris. The Little Dipper. The Little Bear. Ursa Minor. The Big Dipper. True North. Magnetic North. Anything give you any ideas?" asked Stan.

"No, not really," said Baldy, feeling dejected. "Anyway, I am going to head home and put in a call up to Abaco to get things in motion up there. If we can put that problem out of the way, we can take our time with the search."

"Later. I guess I will come by around noon to see how things are going and for an Abaco update." said Stan.

"Yeah and for some good Mary grub too huh?"

Stan laughed, "Well of course."

(7:50 pm Sun Nov 21, 2010)

It is tough gentle reader. Very tough.

When Baldy got home, Mary, Buster, and Zevelyn were sitting at the dining table looking at the map. The box was sitting on the table but no one seemed interested in it. When he saw them sitting there deep in conversation, he ran hot.

"And what is going on here?" he growled. "This is my treasure you know. Or did you all manage to forget about that?"

*** Opera ***

Well, the last quarter gentle reader.

"What is wrong with you Baldy?" asked Zevelyn. "Of course we are not trying to cut you out. No one knew where you had gone so we decided not to waste the morning."

Baldy growled. He thought about it. He calmed down a little. "Yeah, OK then. Did you make any progress?" he asked.

"No, not really. Here, take a look at the map again. Are you sure these lines don't mean anything to you?" said Buster.

Baldy almost growled but caught himself and only growled in his mind. "Here, let me see." He looked at the map again. He turned it upside down, he turned it sideways and then sideways the other way. "No, nothing really, I mean from the beginning we figured the lines were are part of a map of some sort but what if they aren't? Could they be something else?"

(8:48 pm Sun Nov 21, 2010)

And the slow, plodding progress continues gentle reader. One and on and on some more.

"What else could they be?" asked Zevelyn.

"What is bugging me is this wisdom and the North Star," said Baldy, "It is supposed to mean something but we are missing it. What could it be?"

They started to discuss things around the table and Baldy remembered that he hadn't made the call up to Abaco yet. He slipped out into the back yard and went up on the roof and over to his limb in the dilly tree.

He looked around to make sure that no one was around and put in his call to Abaco. The phone answered on the second ring.

"Hello?"

"Yeah, hey, that you Blu Man?" asked Baldy.

"This the Blu Man, who wants to know?"

Baldy laughed, "Blue Man, how many times do I have to tell you, if you are gonna ask who wants to know, you do that before saying who you are. After that, it's too late."

"Baldy? Is that you you no good waste of a good name?" asked the Blu Man.

"Who wants to know?" asked Baldy laughing. "See? That's how you do it!"

""You are a nut, you know that. It is only parry dudes like you that need to ask first."

"OK Blu Man, I need a favour. I am sending you up some pictures of three people who have been giving me some problems down this way. I need you to run them down for me and keep them on ice until I can get up that way to deal with things myself. Are you good for that for me?" asked Baldy.

"Sounds OK oh bald one. Things have been a little slow up this way lately. I have been getting a little bored with myself and wondering where I might find me a little something to do for excitement. I think I am good for it. Tell me there is going to be a little danger in this to spice things up for me," said the Blu Man.

Well, gentle reader, it has been a real plod today. I have had to keep pushing but I have finally crossed the two thousand word mark. Finally!

(8:48 pm Sun Nov 21, 2010) 48549

There is no way I am getting to 50k like I was aiming at by the end of the weekend though. Still, I am very close now and this calls for a little celebration. Woot! There! I feel better after that little celebration!

I think I will say goodnight now. My eyes are tired.

Saturday, November 20, 2010

20. Baldy Nov 20 Sat

(8:22 am Sat Nov 20, 2010)

*** Home ***

Home. Where the heart is.

Home. More than a house.

Home. Sweet Home.

Home. On the range.

Home. Of the brave.

Home. Away from Home.

Home. And away.

Home. Sweet Home. Alabama.

Auburn. Go Tigers. (A shout out for the Knowles crew.)

Home. Country Roads.

Home. Yellow Ribbon. (OK then, enough already.)

Home. Hearth.

Home. For good.

----------

If I could waste away with you
I think I'd do all I could do
To get in front
To stay ahead
Live my life in or out of bed
And treasure everything you said
So don't deny
Enjoy the sky
Girl we could fly
Eight miles high
Or maybe more

----------

[ Thu Nov 18, 2010 - afternoon ]

"So," said Baldy, "do you think there is anything to these Eleuthera rumours?"

"Could be, you know how those Sigilians go. The thing is, I wonder why he would go up there. Don't he know what happened to the barefoot bandit?" asked Stan.

"That's a horse of a whole nother colour," answered Zevelyn. "Still, why would he go up there where the population is so small. Surely it would be easier for him to hide here. There must be a reason. If there is anything to those rumours in the first place."

"Look," said Buster, "we don't need to be worrying about rumours, we need to make what plans we need to make and we need to get back to finding Baldy's treasure. Remember? That's what we were all excited about before Mary got taken. Are we gonna let that guy shut us down even after we took Mary back and left his places in smoke and ashes."

"Hey! Hold on a second. We didn't burn his places down, he did that to himself. We just took back what was ours. And not even all of that to tell the truth. At least we got the really valuable stuff back, huh?" said Baldy. "Hey Mary, get the map and the box one more time please."

(9:19 am Sat Nov 20, 2010)

So Mary went and got the map and the box one more time.

Yv yj'i jhuqikhu jxqj oek iuua.

Oek ckij qffbo q byjjbu xuqj.

Dej je cksx eh Y cqo rkhd.

Jxud oekh tuiyhui Y mybb ifkhd.

and heating it up...

Wisdom before treasure.

Je vydt jxyi jhuqikhu

Oek ckij vyhij vydu myitec

Jxud myitec qdt jxu dehjx ijqh

Mybb wylu oek oekh vyhij sbku

The teacher says to look for important information below the door of my house.

OK, so we tried using Caesar's code and got this:

Vs vg'f gernfher gung lbh frrx.

Lbh zhfg nccyl n yvggyr urng.

Abg gb zhpu be V znl ohea.

Gura lbhe qrfverf V jvyy fchea.

and this for the secret invisible writing part...

Gb svaq guvf gernfher

Lbh zhfg svefg svar jvfqbz

Gura jvfqbz naq gur abegu fgne

Jvyy tvir lbh lbhe svefg pyhr

"I have been thinking, the map sent Baldy to Blackbeard's Tower where he found the box. Now, what was in the box and how can it help us?" said Zevelyn.

"Well, there were thirteen doubloons and twenty four gems in the box." said Baldy.

"OK, so maybe thirteen, twenty four, or thirty seven are important numbers," said Zevelyn.

"Right, but the doubloons are each eight escudos so maybe eight times thirteen is important. What is that.... let's see... eighty plus three eights... eighty plus twenty four... one hundred and four. What does that tell us?" asked Baldy.

"I want to try thirteen first," said Zevelyn. Let me see...

If it's treasure that you seek.

You must apply a little heat.

Not to much or I may burn.

Then your desires I will spurn.

"Got it! Caesar then rot thirteen. But that doesn't make any sense. Why do it that way." said Zevelyn.

"What does it tell us?" asked Mary?

"I don't think this part tells us anything new. I think it is just a clue to heat up the map to get to the next bit. Let's see what that bit says."

To find this treasure

You must first fine wisdom

Then wisdom and the north star

Will give you your first clue

"OK, then, we have a spelling mistake, I think that should be 'You must first find wisdom' right?" said Zevelyn.

*** Jump ***

(9:40 am Sat Nov 20, 2010)

Jump. Hop, skip and...

Jump. Right in.

Jump. Up and dance.

You can jump up, you can jump down, you can jump forwards, you can jump backwards, you can even jump sideways.

You can even jump to conclusions.

If you really want to. But jumping to conclusions doesn't always work out the way you would like. Even if it does seem like fun at the time.

Jump start. Sometimes your bondo box might need this...

"What could it mean to find wisdom?" asked Baldy. "What sort of wisdom? How can wisdom and the north star give us our first clue? What, these haven't been clues so far? How can we just be looking for the first clue? This is beginning to get on my nerves. Maybe we should just put the map back in the bottle and chuck it back in the sea and go bury the box again."

"Don't be foolish!" said Buster. "After all we have been through already? That would be a big waste!"

(10:45 am Sat Nov 20, 2010)

Hold on
Help is coming
Hold on
For one more night
Time flows
Like and old hose
Leaking water
Left and right

Hold on
To your dreams girl
Hold on
With all your might
Days pass
Somehow too fast
Days pass
And so do nights

----------

Jump up and dance
And find some romance
Look in her eyes
And let her see France
Moon and a cafe
Paris not halfway
Dance in the stars
Kiss in the doorway

----------

I was doing semi OK for a while there this morning gentle and then everything just sort of fell apart. One little interruption after another. The gaps between not quite long enough to overcome the inertia of the stops.

And now, another interruption looms ahead. I must go on a pick up run in my car. Call it a half hour probably. And then once again, any flow will be broken. Once again I will be stuck. Bound. Tied down. Nailed to the ground. Down and down.

(10:53 am Sat Nov 20, 2010)

*** Kink ***

(11:17 am Sat Nov 20, 2010)

Back. But still distracted gentle reader. Still distracted and not yet ready to get back down to the task at hand.

(11:41 am Sat Nov 20, 2010)

See what I mean.

Kink. A sharp bend in something like a hose.

Kink. A sharp muscle pain in the neck or back.

Kink. A problem with a plan or operations.

Kinky. Well.

Come round here with your kinky hair and you kink up neck an I ga put a kink in ya plans fa tonight.

"OK, so what do you suggest we do next Buster?" asked Baldy.

"We need to keep looking for the treasure, that's what."

"Hold it, weren't you the one telling me I was too gung ho about the treasure?" asked Baldy.

"I just hate to start something and not finish it is all," said Buster. "That plus I don't like the idea of te bad guys causing the good guys to give up may be another part of it."

"Well, it seems like we have been at it forever and every time we think we are making progress, nothing comes out of it. Here we thought we were making progress and we are still trying to get to the first clue. The *first* clue! I mean come on. What if there are thirty clues? A thousand clues? We could spend out whole lives looking for this. And for what? On top of that, it has put Mary in danger and I don't like that. I don't know what I would do if anything happened to her."

"You are so sweet," said Mary.

"Even if we stop, Mary will still be in just as much danger as if we keep going. The only way to end that danger is to deal with the shop keeper and his friends," said Buster.

(11:54 am Sat Nov 20, 2010) 44866

"Buster is right," said Stan. "The only way to end the danger to all of us is to deal with it head on. You know this too Baldy. Don't let your concern for Mary cloud your thinking."

"OK, OK! Still. Why don't you tell us what your next step would be Buster?"

"Well, I think we should send a crew up North Eleuthera way to run down those rumours while th rest of us stay here and look for this treasure," replied Buster.

"OK, so the first part is easy enough but do tell us your next step in looking for the treasure genius," said Baldy.

*** Level ***

Level. Flat. Having no slope.

Level. A device to indicate if something is level.

Level. To make flat. To tear down until flat.

Level. A position on a scale or indicator or mark. What level is the water up to now?

Level. To take aim at.

Level. To speak plainly with. Level with me.

"Well, I am going to level with you here," said Buster, "I don't really know. 'Wisdom and the north star' doesn't really mean anything to me now."

"Great, so even if we want to take your advice and keep searching for the treasure, we don't have a clue what to do next or where to look next," laughed Baldy.

"I can't help that. It must be supposed to mean something to us though. Why leave the map and the clues in the first place if they are not meant to lead to the treasure?" said Buster.

"I don't know. Perhaps it is just some sort of dying joke. Perhaps Blackbeard knew he was leaving the island for the last time and decided to play a trick on anyone who would go looking for his treasure." said Zevelyn.

Here is a new word for you gentle reader: Conchspiracy

(12:55 pm Sat Nov 20, 2010)

"So let's get moving on the Eleuthera part of the plan then," said Buster. "At least we can deal with the ongoing danger to us all and then we will be able to keep looking for the treasure without having to look over our shoulders all the time."

"I'll get right on it," said Stan, "I should be back within an hour."

(1:15 pm Sat Nov 20, 2010)

Slowing down big time right now gentle reader. Mind is growing sluggish. I think I need to shut down for a while and go for a walk in the fresh air and sunshine. See if that can get the creative juices flowing again.

(3:52 pm Sat Nov 20, 2010)

Big time professional procrastinator in action. Find a way to not write. What's up with that?

After Stan left, Mary went to the kitchen to start on dinner. She wanted to lose herself in the mundane. To concentrate on the ordinary things of life in the hopes of forgetting the troubles that had shown up with the map.

She looked through her pantry and her fridge trying to decide what to make. It would have to be something that did not require a lot of preparation and cooking time.

She decided on a salad, some hamburger crumble, some canned green beans and onions covered with melted cheddar. She took out some frozen guava duff from her freezer for dessert and looked around for something else to have as a part of the main course. She decided on some garlic toast and some pink rice.

She chopped up some onions and put them into a pot with some fresh thyme and a little butter to cook down. While that was cooking she opened the can of green beans. She also cut a block of cheddar and grated in preparation.

When the onions were done she separated them into three parts. One part went into a pot with some water which she brought to a boil for the rice. The other went into a frying pan waiting for the hamburger meat, the third was set aside for the green beans.

While the water was boiling for the rice, she seasoned up the meat. Lots of garlic, some black pepper, some more thyme, some vinegar, some tomato sauce, some dry mustard, some catsup.

(4:27 pm Sat Nov 20, 2010)

When she finished the meat, she turned on the fire under the frying pan and let the pan heat for a bit before putting the meat in.

The water for the rice started to boil so she put in the rice and added some curry powder and then covered the pot and reduced the heat.

When the burger was almost fried, the turned off the heat and tilted the pan to let the grease drain to the low side and used a spoon to spoon out the grease into a jar from under her sink. That done, she turned the heat on to finish cooking the meat.

Then she put the can of green beans into a no stick pot and brought it to a boil. She drained off the beans in a colander and then put the shredded cheddar and the set aside onions into the post and stirred everything together.

She checked on the rice which was almost done.

*** Stimulate ***

(4:41 pm Sat Nov 20, 2010)

Stimulate. Induce. Provoke. Stir feelings or emotions. Cause alertness. Make energetic.

Stimulus. OK then.

Mary quickly cut up some lettuce, onions, carrots, spinach, and tomatoes and mixed them together in a large bowl. She poured in some olive oil and tossed the salad mixture before adding some balsamic vinegar. A little garlic salt and some black pepper and one final toss and she put the bowl in the fridge to chill.

One more check and the rice was done. Perhaps a little overdone but that was OK as both she and Baldy were partial to a little rice pot cake.

Every thing was done so Mary put everything in serving dishes and called out to let Baldy and the rest know dinner would soon be served.

[ Thu Nov 18, 2010 - evening ]

Stan returned and Mary decided to send him home to see if Devlin would like to come over for some dinner.

Stan smiled and went home to ask. It would be nice if Devlin came over for dinner. Except that he would probably bring the rat if he came and that might be a pain.

(5:06 pm Sat Nov 20, 2010)

Mary remembered that she forgot the garlic toast so she quickly too some frozen brand out of her freezer and put some slices into her toaster oven.

Well gentle reader, it seems the dinner has really helped me with my word count lately. If you decide to make this dinner yourself, let me know how you like the various dishes.

(5:40 pm Sat Nov 20, 2010)

Mary looked out of her kitchen window and saw Devlin returning with Killer and Rug. She smiled broadly and called out a welcome.

"Hey there Mary, how are you doing? You took a little vacation recently I see." said Devlin. "You forgot to tell me this time so I could feed Baldy for you hey?"

Mary was conflicted. She hated to lie to Devlin but she didn't feel like going into everything.

"I didn't really go on vacation. Something came up that kept me away for a few days is all. Sorry I didn't get to tell you. Baldy was fine though." said Mary.

They all sat down at the dinner table and Mary served up the food. Everyone enjoyed their meal and after their duff for dessert.

Mary and Develin went out to the front porch after dinner to sit and drink a mug of tea together. The dogs went to the back porch and the birds to the dilly tree.

Baldy was surprised at dinner that Rug was not as much of a pain as he had expected him to be. In fact. He was downright decent at dinner which was really something.

"I never did thank you properly the other day for your help with finding Mary," said Baldy, "I really appreciated it."

"I was happy to help," said Rug, "I like Mary a lot, she is always nice to me. I am glad she is back safe. Is everything OK now?"

"Mostly but the people who took her are still on the loose, we are looking for them but no real luck so far. If you could keep your eyes open around here until we deal with them I would appreciate it," said Baldy.

"I can handle that. How can I let you know if I see something though. Are you going to be nearby the whole time or what?" asked Rug.

"I will get a radio for you from Buster before you leave tonight and you can use that to get me." said Baldy.

[ Thu Nov 18, 2010 - night ]

At ten Devlin left with his dogs and went home, Rug with a radio and Mary and her household went to bed for the night. Mary to sweet dreams, Baldy to troubled dreams.

(6:27 pm Sat Nov 20, 2010)

Well gentle reader, it looks like I should be able to get to three thousand words tonight but I am not sure I have the energy to go for thirty five hundred or four thousand like I had wanted. Still, yesterday and today look pretty good word wise and with my best day so far tomorrow I should be able to cross the line. It would have been nice to do better today and not needed a seasons best tomorrow to get there.

For his part, Devlin had sweet dreams as well.

And with that I will bid you good night gentle reader.

(6:33 pm Sat Nov 20, 2010) 46503

Friday, November 19, 2010

19. Baldy Nov 19 Fri

(2:27 pm Fri Nov 19, 2010)

[ Tue Nov 16, 2010 - about noon ]

*** X Ray ***

X Ray. X-Ray. Hmmm. Take your pick.

Electromagnetic radiation. See through radiation. Sickness radiation. Nanometers.

Doc wanted to x-ray my foot.

Dude had x ray eyes.

Mary was indeed OK if a good bit shaken up. She was a tough cookie with a tough life behind her but she had learned early in life how to overcome.

"This is not going to end here guys," she said. "He will not let it end like this. He will be coming for us. Hard. We have to be prepared."

"I don't think we should wait around for him to come for us," said Baldy, "We need to take the war to him. Catch him off guard if we can."

"Baldy is right," said Killer. "We need to move quickly."

And so they turned around and headed west, leaving the driver and the woman tied up in the trunk of the car and having messed up the engine and hidden the battery.

[ Tue Nov 16, 2010 - about one thirty ]

When they got to the corner store it was fully ablaze and they could hear the sirens of fire engines in the distance.

Buster wanted to try and get in to see if he could see the shop keeper but Mary and Killer told him not to risk it.

"OK, then, Killer, leave a detail here to watch things and follow after me to the docks as soon as you can. Buster, Zevelyn, take a team ahead to watch for the shop keeper there. If you see him, don't let him see you until I get there. Keep me posted of his movements via radio if he tries to go anywhere. Killer, on second thought, don't follow me. Take another team and take Mary home and keep her safe. Stay in touch by radio," said Baldy.

(2:49 pm Fri Nov 19, 2010) 40769

(3:23 pm Fri Nov 19, 2010)

Just as he was leaving, the team from the house out west showed up.

"What are you guys doing here?" asked Baldy. "Weren't you supposed to be searching the house and grounds of the shop keeper?"

"Yes but we searched and searched and didn't find anything new and then we heard on the radio that you had found Mary so we figured it was no good to keep searching for her out there so we came back."

"Makes sense but it is too bad you made that call. I need you to go back out that way and keep an eye on things until I get there," said Baldy.

So the one team headed right back west, this time with Zevelyn in the lead while Baldy took his team to the docks and Killer took Mary home with another team. The last team waited to see what would happen with the burning corner store.

(3:33 pm Fri Nov 19, 2010)

*** Voyage ***

Voyage. Trip. On water. Voyager. Tripper. On water. One who trips. On water. I have heard of slipping on water. Tripping on water is a little more rare. Now, Solid water can get tall enough to trip on but water itself. A little more difficult that one. Voyage. A long journey. As opposed to a longed for journey. It is possible to long for a long journey though so don't let that confuse you gentle reader.

(4:16 pm Fri Nov 19, 2010)

As Baldy and his team got in sight of the dock flames were reaching for the sky and once again they heard the sirens of approaching fire engines responding to the fire.

"This does not look good," said Baldy. "I think the shop keeper is getting rid of all the evidence and planning to disappear with our stuff. We need to get him before he goes to ground. If we don't we will be looking over our shoulders for a long time and I have a feeling Mary will stay in too much danger."

A call came in on the radio, "Hey," said Zevelyn, "it looks like there is a fire out this way too. The house is far gone but the garage is not burning well yet."

"Try to put it out if you can," radioed Baldy. "And keep a sharp eye out for the shop keeper, we need to catch him."

By the time Baldy made it out west, the house was burned to the ground and the garage was far gone. Too far gone to have any hope of saving it.

"What happened with the garage?" asked Baldy. "I thought you were going to be able to save it."

"Let's get away from these fire engines and the noise so we can talk," said Zevelyn.

They walked down by the lake and say in a gazebo at the end of a small dock.

"I thought so too but just as we started to try and fight it there was an explosion and the flames really took hold quickly after that. There was nothing we could do."

"He has burned down everything in one day," said Baldy, "that seems over the top. Way too drastic. What could he have going on to make him do that? And more importantly for us, where can he be?"

"It has to be something big," replied Zevelyn, "otherwise I can't see him torching everything like this. No one has even caught a glimpse of him lately though. Maybe I should take a team up east and we should secure the other two. Maybe one of them could tell us where he might be hiding out."

"Good idea," said Baldy, "go quickly, bring them to Mary's place and I will meet you there after seeing if anything interesting has happened at the docks or the corner store."

(4:57 pm Fri Nov 19, 2010)

[ Tue Nov 16, 2010 - about four thirty ]

Baldy went first to the docks and rounded up the team there. No one had anything interesting to report. The warehouse was reduced to rubble and a twisted shell. Smoke still rising feebly here and there among the destruction. The fire engines were gone but a guard detail had been posted by the authorities for the night.

Baldy and the dock team headed for the corner store.

(6:03 pm Fri Nov 19, 2010)

*** Teller ***

Teller. A vote counter.

Teller. A bank employee who takes in and pays out money. You know, you stand in a teller's line. It can be quite painful.

Teller. One who tells a story. The narrator. Does that make me a teller gentle reader? I know I am the author. Could I be the teller too?

On arriving, the corner store too was reduced to rubble and smoking ash. The fire engines were gone and a guard was posted here as well.

They gathered up the team from the store and headed for Mary's. Everyone piled into the front yard and many onto the front porch.

The team that had been sent east to secure the driver and the woman arrived last and reported that the car was burned to the ground and no one was in the trunk or around when they got there.

Mary came out with lime aid and biscuits for everyone and asked Baldy to make everyone feel at home. Before long, everyone had staked out a spot and settled down. Mary served with a smile on her face. Seeing Mary smile like that made Baldy smile too. Before long, smiles were breaking out all around.

"What an adventure that was hey Baldy?" asked Mary. Thank you guys so much for coming to my rescue. I don't know what they would have done with me."

"Why did they take you in the first place?" asked Baldy.

"Well, I stopped in to buy a few things on the way home and the store keeper saw the doubloon I was wearing around my neck. I am so sorry Baldy, I know I shouldn't have been wearing it but it was so lovely and I had it hidden in my blouse. I didn't think it would matter."

"But what did it mean to him? Why would he grab you because of some old coin?"asked Baldy.

"I think he must have heard some rumours around town and been looking for them. I don't know why or what he thought was important about them but while he had me and was questioning me he let enough slip that I think he has been interested in them for quite some time," said Mary.

"I'm just glad that you're OK. I can't seem to keep my hands on those coins and gems though. Anyway, we got back what was import and that's what counts," said Baldy.

"Oh, you're so sweet," said Mary, "I missed you too."

(6:58 pm Fri Nov 19, 2010)

[ Tue Nov 16, 2010 - about seven thirty ]

Mary called for pizza delivery and also for some chicken snack deliveries and some cracked conch snack deliveries too.

At about eight the food started arriving and everyone dug in with a will. By nine, all the food was done and the smiles were broader all around. Some were dozing off from being luggy so Baldy suggested that those from the neighbourhood return home for the night ans offered for the gulls and the owls to use his dilly tree. The gulls took him up on his offer but the owls said that they felt like some nocturnal activity and that they would return in the morning. Except for Zevelyn who decided to stick around.

*** Arcade ***

Arcade. Game.

Arcade. Fun.

Arcade. A broad passage or street, covered with stalls or shops down the sides.

Arcade. Beaumont.

Arcade. Nassau.

Arcade. Prince George.

[ Wed Nov 17, 2010 - morning ]

Mary woke early and made herself some hot chocolate and came out onto the front porch quietly to sit and read the paper. The front page was taken up by stories and pictures of the three fires from yesterday. She read with interest but did not learn anything that she thought would be helpful with their problems.

Mary enjoyed the quiet before anyone woke up in the neighbourhood. She enjoyed the time she had to plan her day but she also found her mind going back to the time in captivity. There was something about how every thing went down that was prickling at the back of her mind below the level of her consciousness. She kept running her mind over various scenes of the time but nothing much came to her. She finished her chocolate and put her mug and the paper down and closed her eyes and drifted off some where.

When she opened her eyes some time later Zevelyn was perched on the porch railing looking at her with his big eyes.

"Hello Mr. Owl," said Mary, "I am so glad you are here and thankful to you and everyone else for coming to my aid yesterday. If you're hungry I can make something for you in a little while."

"I am fine thank you," replied Zevelyn, "I have just got back from a little hunting and am good for now thank you," he continued.

Soon, Baldy woke up and came down and jumped up on Mary's lap and licked her face. "Get down Baldy. You are much too big for a lap dog and you know better. It's been years since I could let you sit in my lap comfortably."

Baldy jumped down and curled up at her feet, contented. Mary took off her slipper and rubbed his back with her foot. Baldy stretched with pleasure.

Mary slipped her slipper back on and got up and went inside calling out as she went, "Let me get you a little something to eat Baldy, I won't be long."

About fifteen minutes later she came back with some fire engine and white rice in a bowl and set it before Baldy who stood up and chowed down. Mary so enjoyed watching him eat things that he loved.

(7:41 pm Fri Nov 19, 2010)

*** Superstar ***

Salty superstar.

Super. Above.

Star. Those lights in the sky that twinkle. Said to be made of hot gases. But if the moon is supposed to be made of green cheese, I think the stars might be made of white chocolate flambé with light rum.

Hence superstar - a star above the others in the sky. Just go outside and look directly up. The star at the top is the superstar. Got it? Great.

On the other hand, a substar is a big shot in undersea boats.

The gulls started waking up and the other owls arrived one by one. Then Killer and the other neighbourhood soldiers began arriving. The porch and the yard were getting crowded again.

"What do we want to do today Baldy?" asked Stan. "Should we go search for the shop keeper?"

"I want you to pick a team to handle that, I want to spend some time with Zevelyn and Buster and Mary and do some brainstorming if it is OK with them and if you don't mind heading up the search detail," said Baldy.

It was agreeable with everyone and so after breakfast Stan divided up his team into four and sent them to the four winds to see what they could see. Who they could see. Who they could find in point of fact.

Well gentler reader, Mary, Baldy, Buster, and Zevelyn spent the day on the back porch talking through many things. Mary's captivity experience, Baldy's captivity experience, Mary was surprised to learn that Baldy had been captured, who the store keeper might be, what he might be up to, and later in the day, the map and all that surrounded it.

(8:37 pm Fri Nov 19, 2010)

Too long
Oolong
Trying to get a move on
Poor poor Mary she's
Trying to get her groove on
Baby oil she's
Trying just to smooth on

----------

I was living a T-shirt life
Kicking back at the shore
I was fishin all day
And dancing all night
Then coming around for more

----------

Where the river of time
Flows into the timeless sea (ocean)

----------

Well, they made no worthwhile progress that they could tell but they did pass a pleasant day together and got some needed rest.

[ Wed Nov 17, 2010 - evening ]

So now what gentle reader? I am about burned out but not near where I wanted to be today even though I am passed where I planned on being each day. Basically, I have passed two thousand words for the day but I wanted to reach three thousand today to get a head start on where I want to be by the end of the weekend.

So I guess it is time for some rambling. For some verbal rocking and rolling. For some alphabetical blues. Who knews?

*** Secrets ***

Secrets. Things hidden. Mysteries. Depths.

So now what? I am not sure I am even up to a good ramble. I felt pretty good today and yet now I feel things getting thick. Slowing down. Desire to veg is rising. Desire to look at the insides of my eye lids grows.

Still, even if I have to plod, I will force these words these palabras into existence. Oh, I would much rather soar in the heights of verbal fancy, words flowing and weaving in episodes of pure joy but if I have to trudge I will. Even if I have to dig and tunnel and grub my way forward, I shall.

(9:12 pm Fri Nov 19, 2010)

Great, even when I decide to plod on through, what do I do? I get up and go mini-walkabout indoors, yet again finding a way to kill some time.

Do you want to know a secret? Many do. Do you? What would you do to know one?

So how can I find enough words and where and in what order? I must find them. I must continue. And I must not edit. I must keep up the NaNoWriMo plan. Quantity over quality.

The funny this is do words themselves have quality? I mean is car of higher quality than boat? Is run a high quality while fly is of lesser quality? Somehow I don't think so. I will grant that perhaps some words have a lesser quality than others if you are looking at things in a certain way but I would guess that for the vast majority of words they are all pretty much of equal quality. Perhaps not... This could do with some deep thinking on the permutations and wrinkles at some point in the future.

Now, assuming that words are in general of similar quality, what is it that makes the difference in quality? Could it be the order of the words that bestow the quality?

Getting there but very slowly. I am not sure I can make it. I * m u s t * try. What now?

No one knows where the bad man goes
When he's sneaking around
When he's roaming your town.
No one knows how the bad man thinks
But one thing we know is
His thinking stinks
When he's sneaking around
When he's roaming your town.

Soon and very soon gentle reader.

(9:34 pm Fri Nov 19, 2010)

[ Thu Nov 18, 2010 - morning ]

The core of the teams gathered on Mary's front porch again to set the plans for the day. They decided to give it one more day of efforts along the lines of the day before to see if some breaks might come their way.

[ Thu Nov 18, 2010 - lunchtime ]

Some rumours started to trickle in that the shop keeper had been seen up in Spanish Wells. Then a while later more came in that he had been spotted in Harbour Island.

And that about does it for me for the night gentle reader. Caio.

(9:43 pm Fri Nov 19, 2010)

I sort of like the partial symmetry of that.

Thursday, November 18, 2010

18. Baldy Nov 18 Thu

(2:25 pm Thu Nov 18, 2010)

[ Mon Nov 15, 2010 - night ]

*** Opaque ***

Opaque. Doesn't transmit light. Doesn't reflect light. Doesn't emit light. At least not a a lot of it. So to speak.

Opaque. Obscurity of meaning resulting in little light being shed on the subject. So to speak.

My reasons for choosing this word are opaque, even to me.

[ Tue Nov 16, 2010 - about one am ]

Baldy was dreaming of Mary. Dreaming of the simple good times back at the house. Dreaming of his bed in the dilly tree. Dreaming of early mornings on the porch. Of quiet contentment, of comfortable companionship. Of loving breakfasts. He could smell her tea and bacon, mmmmm bacon. Mary made him a strip of bacon on special occasions. Baldy loved bacon. And the smell of bacon. The smell of bacon fresh out of the frying pan. He could smell it now. The only thing he loved better than the smell of bacon was the smell of Mary. Sweet, kind, loving Mary. He could smell her now.

Baldy woke up. He could smell her now.

He could. This was not the remembered smell of his dream. He could smell Mary now. Here. She was somewhere nearby.

Baldy got up and went to the door of his cell. He tried to look out but it was dark and the angles were bad. he called out quietly, "Mary. Mary are you here? Can you hear me? Come on Mary, answer me."

But there was no reply.

He tried for several hours to get a response with no results. Finally he went and lay down on the cot again to rest and see what would develop.

He dozed. Eventually he fell into a deeper sleep and dreamed again. In his dreams he and Mary were on the beach sitting around a fire and cooking their lunch. Buster was sitting on top of Mary's beach umbrella and looking intently offshore where a flock of his kin were dive bombing what must have been a school of fish under attack from below. Baldy did not envy those fish. Attacked from below by larger fish and from above by gulls. Not a fun position to be in.

[ Tue Nov 16, 2010 - sunrise ]

Baldy woke up alarmed. He woke up to the lack of Mary's scent. He jumped down and raced to the front of the cell and looked out. Although it was light, there was still nothing to see as the angles were bad. He took a deep breath through his nose, trying to detect Mary. There was still a faint lingering of her presence but it was plain that she was no longer nearby. He howled. He kept howling. It was a pretty good imitation of a wolf pack.

(2:58 pm Thu Nov 18, 2010)

(3:37 pm Thu Nov 18, 2010)

Well, the howling did no good. No one came. The house was quiet. He was alone. Hey lay back down and slept. Exhausted. He dreamed of Mary.

[ Tue Nov 16, 2010 - about seven am ]

Meanwhile, back with the pack... The reinforcements trickled in during the night. About two dozen gulls arrived very quickly and set up a watch on the entire property. They were to report any movements and also follow anyone leaving the property and report their movements as well. Killer and his part of the pack had arrived next about an hour after being called.

About an hour before sunrise, Max had come down from the upper floor above the garage and brought the limo to the front door. The shop keeper opened the front door to the house as he pulled up and got out of the vehicle, leaving it idling. He went into the house and a short while later, he and the shop keeper had come out supporting a woman between them who looked to be sleeping or drugged and put her into the back of the lime. Then they had gone back into the house only to return a short time later supporting another woman in the same fashion. The had put her in the back as well and then the shop keeper had gotten in the back with the two women and Max had gotten in the front behind the wheel and pulled off.

In the sky the gulls saw this and five were detailed to follow the Limo and report on its travels. One to keep tabs on each person and one on the limo itself.

The last of the reinforcements to arrive, about a half an hour before sunrise was Buster, Zevelyn and six other owls.

(3:53 pm Thu Nov 18, 2010)

*** Under ***

Under. Below. Beneath. Under water. Underwear. Under perform. Under study. (Break a leg.) Under achieve. Under cover. Undertake. Undertaker. Undertaking. Under stormy skies. Under the gun. Under the microscope. Understand. Understood?

The remaining gulls filled everyone in on what had happened up at the house. Buster and Killer made them go over the scene up at the house again paying particular attention to exactly who went into the car. Making sure that they had not seen Baldy being put into the car.

"OK, so you are one hundred percent sure you did not see them put a dog into the limo?" asked Killer.

"Yes, one hundred percent. Four people got into the car, that's all." replied one of the gulls.

"Hmmm," mused Buster, "they could have put Baldy into the trunk of the limo before they took it out of the garage."

(4:21 pm Thu Nov 18, 2010)

"Yeah, or he could still be in the house or garage," said Killer. "I say we break in and search the house and garage and then deal with the limo and friends after we see what we find."

(5:12 pm Thu Nov 18, 2010)

He dreamed a number of dreams. In the latest, Mary was running along a path through dense bush, looking over her shoulder and whimpering from time to time. Something was obviously chasing her but in the dream, Baldy could not see what that something was. Its aura was one of danger and darkness. As the was getting to an area where the bush was not as thick and more sunlight filtered through the canopy overhead, the path curved to the right. Coming out of the curve Mary disappeared amidst screams and a mini storm of refuse, leaves, and what not. She had fallen into a deep pit and was sinking down into a sort of quicksand made of doubloons and gems. She screamed to Baldy for help. Baldy! Baldy woke up to the sound of his name being called from a distance. "Mary! Mary are you OK?" he shouted.

"Baldy!" called Killer, "Baldy, where are you?"

"Hey!" he yelled, "I'm down here!"

Killer and Buster came charging down the stairs to the cells. "What happened to you?" asked Killer?

"The driver caught me looking in the window at the shop keeper and brought me in for questioning. The shop keeper had one of my doubloons, I am sure of it. Anyway, I wouldn't tell them anything and they put me down here for the night. I haven't seen them since."

"They aren't here, they left in the limo earlier this morning," said Buster, "I'm just glad that you're OK."

"They're gone? Did you find Mary?" asked Baldy.

"Mary? Why would we find her?" asked Buster.

"She was here last night, that's why! What about the other woman? Let's go ask her where they have Mary hidden," growled Baldy.

"Baldy, there is no one left in the house or in the garage. Everyone here left in the Limo this morning before I got here," said Killer.

(5:40 pm Thu Nov 18, 2010)

*** Vibe ***

Vibe. Das a wibe. Vibrate. Vibration. Vibrations. Good vibrations. A bad vibe. We be vibing. Vibrapohone. Sympathetic vibrations.

"Well we have to go find them then! they have Mary!" cried Baldy.

(6:25 pm Thu Nov 18, 2010)

"We are ahead of you on that," said Buster.

"Yes," butted in Killer, "Buster here has rounded up some gulls and some owls for the cause. We have a team of gulls following the Limo. They aren't going to get away."

"Great. Are you sure Mary is nowhere on the grounds though. We don't want to go off chasing a limo while she is hidden away somewhere here," said Baldy.

"We searched everywhere looking for you. We would have found her too if she had been here," said Buster.

"I don't trust these guys," said Baldy, "they like secret passages. Can we leave a team here to keep searching and in case they come back while the rest of us go and deal with the limo and whoever is in it?"

"That sounds like a plan," replied Killer, "Let's get moving.

(7:12 pm Thu Nov 18, 2010)

Thanks a lot. Parr for the course.

(7:21 pm Thu Nov 18, 2010)

Outside of the house, they assigned duties to all of the players and radioed the gulls tailing the limo for an update.

They learned that one man had been dropped off at the docks and that the limo had then headed up east and was currently parked by the side of the road near the rugby field.

[ Tue Nov 16, 2010 - about ten thirty am ]

*** Young ***

Young and free.

I was born young. I had to fight for my freedom.

Young. Immature.

Young. Youthful.

Young. The young.

Young. Old.

They say only the good die young. I wonder about that sometimes. Do the good ever die old? Do the bad ever die young?

Baldy, Buster, Killer, Zevelyn and the rest of the crew headed east, leaving a team behind to continue searching the buildings and grounds.

They had some trouble making jitney connections and had to do a good amount of running and flying. Their mad dashing caused quite a commotion in a number of places along their route.

As they hit Fox Hill they got a radio message that the limo was on the move, heading towards Yamacraw. Some cut through Fox Hill while others kept heading east along the Eastern Road.

The next radio message informed them that the limo had headed east along Yamacraw Road.

When the group heading through Fox Hill hit Prince Charles, it split up, some heading east on Prince Charles and some continuing south towards Her Majesty's Prison.

Another radio message came in that the limo was once again parked, this time under a tree near the T junction where Prince Charles ended.

"We have him," said Baldy, pushing his speed higher.

The teams converged on the limo from three directions, all in constant radio contact. The radios kindly supplied courtesy of Buster's pocket. Naturally.

(7:51 pm Thu Nov 18, 2010) 40204

"OK everyone," radioed Killer, "we need someone to sneak in an let the air out of the tires so they can't escape when we rush them."

"The gulls can handle that," offered Buster. "A few of us can fly down in front of the limo and put on a distracting little fight over some food while four hit the tires and let the air out."

"Great. Signal us when we should rush the bums," said Baldy, I want to get my teeth into Max."

The plan went off without a hitch. The air went out. The signal was sent and the rush want down. The limo was taken and the driver was taken down.

Then things went to pot.

"Enough!" came a shout from one of the women in the back seat. "No more or she gets it!"

Baldy looked and saw the woman who answered the door last night holding a knife to Mary's throat.

The whole team froze. Baldy couldn't. He was not about to lose Mary again. He went supersonic.

(8:30 pm Thu Nov 18, 2010)

(8:45 pm Thu Nov 18, 2010)

And that was that. Baldy took the knife and pulled Mary out of the limo and Killer took the woman down.

"Are you OK Mary?" cried Baldy licking her face with pure joy.

(8:47 pm Thu Nov 18, 2010)