Saturday, May 17, 2008

Tinytower Manor

Blue paint, white shutters. Clean windows but the doors hang delicately on their hinges.

In the steepled attic there is a steel box, nailed shut; in the steel there is a glass bell; in the bell is one torn corner of tracing paper, with a red circle inked on it.

The second floor has two rooms. One of those rooms has been divided in half with Cellophane; one long dinner table and several white picket chairs dominate this room. Penny has also added what looks to be an easel constructed of popsicle sticks. The second room has been painted a dull gray; here the decorative wallpaper and flowery curtains have been stripped off. Piles of little cardboard cutouts and jumbles of colored wire decorate one corner. In the middle stands a male bear doll, standing upright and attired in fresh-pressed professional clothes, with a cardboard cone for a hat.

The first floor has a kitchen; cheery yellow tile supports a scrubbed-looking stove with gleaming copper pots. There is a flowery couch and, where the TV should be, a small round spiral paper cut-out. The spiral has several pencil nicks and dings, apparently much abused in the otherwise well-cared-for home. The dining room table is absent (having been moved to the conference room above), but meals are probably not taken in the kitchen much anyway; inside the cardboard refrigerator are only shelves and shelves of drawn-in bottles. It would seem the preferred drink here is something red.

The basement is where the beds are. There are only two beds, but there are three little bear dolls here, at the moment happily snuggled against one another in one corner of the room. In another corner are piles of some black plastic shapes (spears? Guns?).

Other bears are outside. They seem to be laughing at a whispy figure on the roof of the house whose numerous skirts are made of twisted Kleenex. The smiling bears are pointing up at the Kleenex, inviting her down.. Is it a ghost? Is it an angel?

Only Penny or her Ka-Tet could say.

Wednesday, May 14, 2008

A Penny Saved is a Penny Earned / Sack Lunch

James drank the last of his blood.

He doesn't want to take my blood. Or anyone's. It doesn't matter to me, cuz I got plenty of it. Plus I have accepted that he's a vampire. It's just how he is; no question of right or wrong.

Except for him, there is a question. He doesn't like it so he can't accept it. I guess he wouldn't be James otherwise. That's the hard part, because it means...

That's the worst. Carrie should be wrong. She's wrong right now. But if James is James, she'll be right someday, and we'll both be mad. Cuz they kissed! And that makes us a family. We go good together!!

Maybe he'll have to keep saving us, over and over, and then he won't have to think about himself. Investing in us is a good way to diversify his portfolio, see, cuz now he has more to himself than just the vampire bits. Yay! Good thing Carrie is here for him too.

If he just had enough blood in his thermos, maybe he wouldn't have to think about his vampire self...

There's no way to trick him into it though. I would try otherwise. He's too smart for that. Plus, also... We're going into battle. We're going to see a lot of dead people who won't need their blood anymore. Maybe - I mean - if it's not mine, he won't care, will he? I can just take some and put it in the thermos and then it'll be real easy for him. Like eating a sack lunch in the park. (Well, except Jericho Hill isn't really a park. I better make sure to remind everyone not to step in the booby traps the Genius laid.)

Yep. It's a good idea. Gives me something to think about besides not teleporting too. That alone is a worthwhile investment.

Keeheehee!