Post by FM on Nov 10, 2014 17:27:24 GMT
"You new around here?" the barkeep says while polishing a glass.
FM takes up her favourite stool and looks around. The place was empty, not a soul except the barkeep, and it was arguable whether he had a soul anyway. He was a strange looking lanky fellow who looked as though he had been starved most of his life time, with sunken cheeks and glassy eyes. "New?" FM pondered, "What does new mean anyway? Is there a defined cut off for newness versus oldness? Like, do you have to be here a day, a week, a month, 10 years, before you're not considered new anymore?" she rambles on, and then she brightens up, "Yeah, I guess I am new." She places her arms across the counter expectantly. "What's on that old menu of yours? Barney Burgers and X-Ale come highly recommended to me."
"Dunno know about those," the barkeep puts the glass down, "but I can get you a bean burger and a glass of watermelon juice if you want?"
Startled at his response, FM removes her hands from the counter and places them in her lap, sullen. "Oh okay. I guess that'll do."
The barkeep screams the order to an unseen entity at the back. "May I ask where you're from, ma'am?"
"Oh it's pretty far away... I'm from a place far, FAR away. I guess it's kinda famous in certain circles, but I don't think you'll know it... it's a place across Lake Reticula."
"Lake Reticula, huh?" he seems impressed, "Never even heard of that. Is it a gated community or what?"
"Gated co-" FM snorts with laughter. "Oh man, where do you come up with this stuff? Gated community. Yeah. You're hilarious. But yeah, it's pretty far away," FM agrees good-naturedly, "It's taken me months to get here. And don't talk to me about the visa problems at the border..."
"Is that right?" he absent-mindedly mumbles over the drone of the juice machine. He pours a red liquid into the glass and hands it to her. "So what brings you into town?"
"I came to see a dear old friend," she smiles, a flashback threatening to envelop her, but the barkeep puts his hand out.
"Now, now, missy," he says sternly, "We don't do that sort of thing here."
But the red liquid was making FM feel a little woozy and she found herself dissociating from this unfamiliar empty place and its strange lanky barkeep. The last thing she heard was the barkeep mumble, "Now we can't have that, no sirree. Reminiscing! Reminiscing ain't gonna do no one no good. Gotta stop sentimentality in its tracks. Gotta keep 'em here, not let 'em cross over."
When FM came to, she was lying on the warm sands of the Red Sea. Behind her was croyant's beach house. She put her hands out and felt the soft fur of her polar bear. "Lath," she smiled, "you found me, my dear old friend." Lath made a polar bear kind of sound. FM slowly got herself up, pretty exhausted but determined. "Come on, Lath, let's go find the others. To the S&L we go."
But Lath seemed to be motioning over to the other side. "Come on, FM," Lath seemed to be saying, "it's just a hop, skip and a jump to The Max."
"There's no time for movies," FM gently admonished, "We have to take that barkeep down and warn the others about his pink drinks."
Lath shook his head. "FM, you've always been a little slow to catch on. That place with the lanky barkeep wasn't the S&L; it was," he shivered in the way polar bears do with their whole body, "RL. The barkeep is keeping everyone hostage in RL, making them believe it's the S&L."
"Well you got me out of there, so why can't you get them out?" FM asked naively.
"My powers have limits," the polar bear bowed his head sadly. "There is naught else to do but to wait for them. Just as surely as you have returned here, they too will come some day. So let us take in a film at The Max while we wait."
"But whatever would we watch?" FM asked.
"Something we've already watched before, something old of course..." Lath responded sagely.
FM takes up her favourite stool and looks around. The place was empty, not a soul except the barkeep, and it was arguable whether he had a soul anyway. He was a strange looking lanky fellow who looked as though he had been starved most of his life time, with sunken cheeks and glassy eyes. "New?" FM pondered, "What does new mean anyway? Is there a defined cut off for newness versus oldness? Like, do you have to be here a day, a week, a month, 10 years, before you're not considered new anymore?" she rambles on, and then she brightens up, "Yeah, I guess I am new." She places her arms across the counter expectantly. "What's on that old menu of yours? Barney Burgers and X-Ale come highly recommended to me."
"Dunno know about those," the barkeep puts the glass down, "but I can get you a bean burger and a glass of watermelon juice if you want?"
Startled at his response, FM removes her hands from the counter and places them in her lap, sullen. "Oh okay. I guess that'll do."
The barkeep screams the order to an unseen entity at the back. "May I ask where you're from, ma'am?"
"Oh it's pretty far away... I'm from a place far, FAR away. I guess it's kinda famous in certain circles, but I don't think you'll know it... it's a place across Lake Reticula."
"Lake Reticula, huh?" he seems impressed, "Never even heard of that. Is it a gated community or what?"
"Gated co-" FM snorts with laughter. "Oh man, where do you come up with this stuff? Gated community. Yeah. You're hilarious. But yeah, it's pretty far away," FM agrees good-naturedly, "It's taken me months to get here. And don't talk to me about the visa problems at the border..."
"Is that right?" he absent-mindedly mumbles over the drone of the juice machine. He pours a red liquid into the glass and hands it to her. "So what brings you into town?"
"I came to see a dear old friend," she smiles, a flashback threatening to envelop her, but the barkeep puts his hand out.
"Now, now, missy," he says sternly, "We don't do that sort of thing here."
But the red liquid was making FM feel a little woozy and she found herself dissociating from this unfamiliar empty place and its strange lanky barkeep. The last thing she heard was the barkeep mumble, "Now we can't have that, no sirree. Reminiscing! Reminiscing ain't gonna do no one no good. Gotta stop sentimentality in its tracks. Gotta keep 'em here, not let 'em cross over."
When FM came to, she was lying on the warm sands of the Red Sea. Behind her was croyant's beach house. She put her hands out and felt the soft fur of her polar bear. "Lath," she smiled, "you found me, my dear old friend." Lath made a polar bear kind of sound. FM slowly got herself up, pretty exhausted but determined. "Come on, Lath, let's go find the others. To the S&L we go."
But Lath seemed to be motioning over to the other side. "Come on, FM," Lath seemed to be saying, "it's just a hop, skip and a jump to The Max."
"There's no time for movies," FM gently admonished, "We have to take that barkeep down and warn the others about his pink drinks."
Lath shook his head. "FM, you've always been a little slow to catch on. That place with the lanky barkeep wasn't the S&L; it was," he shivered in the way polar bears do with their whole body, "RL. The barkeep is keeping everyone hostage in RL, making them believe it's the S&L."
"Well you got me out of there, so why can't you get them out?" FM asked naively.
"My powers have limits," the polar bear bowed his head sadly. "There is naught else to do but to wait for them. Just as surely as you have returned here, they too will come some day. So let us take in a film at The Max while we wait."
"But whatever would we watch?" FM asked.
"Something we've already watched before, something old of course..." Lath responded sagely.