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Post by reasonably_crazy on Jun 21, 2005 12:57:18 GMT -5
You jerk!
Keep writing, you fiend!
*whiny tone* It's really goooood.... and now I can't read anymooooore....
*threatening tone* Wriiiiiiite... Or I'll come after you with a pencil.
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Post by Hobbit-eyes on Jun 21, 2005 14:38:53 GMT -5
Oh, I actually already have the next bit written... I'm just keeping you in suspense... ;D
... Why did I reveal that?
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Post by reasonably_crazy on Jun 21, 2005 21:27:26 GMT -5
If I wasn't two continents away I would throttle you.
POSTY POSTY!
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Post by Hobbit-eyes on Jun 22, 2005 2:27:37 GMT -5
EEEEEEP!!!
OK, I will in my free this afternoon.... *grumble grumble*
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Post by reasonably_crazy on Jun 23, 2005 11:23:43 GMT -5
Yay. ;D
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Post by Hobbit-eyes on Jun 23, 2005 11:32:39 GMT -5
What should she do? Keep playing dumb, tell him, stab him in the eye…
She was saved from such turmoil by a nurse coming over. “Excuse me, sir,” she said to Mr Brown. He turned away from Alex, and turned his smile on her. She visibly shivered from the intensity of it, and immediately smiled back.
“Is there a problem?” he asked.
“Oh – no, not at all,” said the nurse, tucking a strand of hair behind her ears and smiling shyly, “It’s just that visiting hours are over, and only parents are allowed to be with patients…”
“I’m terribly sorry,” said Mr Brown, “This will only take a moment.”
“That’s fine,” beamed the nurse, “I’m sorry to have bothered you. Take as long as you need.”
“Cheers, ma’am,” said Mr Brown, winking at her. She giggled slightly, and walked off, glancing over her shoulder. He turned back to Alex – who had her hand out from under the blankets, and was holding it out for him to shake.
“It was really nice meeting you,” she said, “But I’m sleepy. I think you’d better go.”
Mr Brown looked at her hand, smile fading slightly, as though he couldn’t quite believe it. Slowly, he took it and shook it. Alex smiled at him. “Bye bye,” she said.
Mr Brown surveyed her for a moment, and then got to his feet. “If you remember anything,” he said, “or if that man turns up, do let me know.”
“I will!” said Alex brightly, “Bye bye!”
Mr Brown nodded, smile nowhere to be seen now. As he turned, he seemingly accidentally slipped on the edge of blanket that touched the floor, ripping it off her. Mr Brown immediately straightened up and looked back at the bed. The pencil was nowhere to be seen – there was just a burn mark on the sheets. “What’s that from?” he immediately asked.
“No idea,” shrugged Alex, “They were like that when I got them. NHS, you know?”
Mr Brown looked at her, as though considering her, and taking his time over it. Alex turned away and pulled the blankets back up over her. When she looked up again, he was gone.
Quickly looking around the ward to check that no-one was looking, and that Mr Brown wasn’t just hiding in some corner, she reached under the mattress and pulled out the pencil. It was no longer hot, but still slightly warm. Even as she held it, it cooled again, until it had returned to room temperature. Hand shaking slightly, she tucked it back under the mattress. It seemed safer there.
She then examined the hand that had been holding the pencil, and frowned. There was nothing wrong with it. She had felt it burning, almost felt the skin turning to ash and falling away – but now there wasn’t even a papercut.
She would think she had just imagined the heat coming from the pencil, but the burns on the sheets were evidence which she couldn’t ignore. And Mr Brown – if a man that strange could have a name so mundane – saw it. She doubted that she’d seen the last of him.
A few minutes later, her mum wandered through the door with a cup of tea and two Dairy Milks for Alex. “Mum, are you all right?” she asked, sitting up.
“What? I’m fine, dear, why do you ask?” said her mother in surprise, sitting down in the chair and handing over the chocolate.
“You were gone ages! Did you have trouble finding the café?”
“Ages? Darling, it was only two minutes.”
Alex glanced at her watch. “More like fifteen.”
“Oh. I can never keep track of time properly in hospitals. The light’s all so artificial. Are you all right?”
Alex had a feeling that strip lighting wasn’t the only reason for this time lapse. “Did you see anyone odd? Talk to anyone?”
“No. Well, there was a man out in the corridor who asked me what the time was. I looked down at my watch, but when I looked up again, he was gone.”
“What did he look like?”
“Young. Brown hair. Suit. And such a charming smile… I felt like I was a teenager again,” her mother beamed, blushing slightly. Alex frowned. Mr Brown had been old. But the smile thing certainly sounded familiar…
The nurse came over with Alex’s dinner on a tray. “Where’s the young man who was here a moment ago?” she asked.
“Young man?” said her mother immediately, “What young man, Alex?”
“There wasn’t a young man,” said Alex bewilderedly, “What do you mean?”
The nurse looked from mother to daughter, as though unsure what to say. “The one I spoke to. He looked very nice. I assumed it was your boyfriend.”
“Boyfriend?” said her mother, pouncing on the word eagerly.
“No he wasn’t!” said Alex in horror, feeling her cheeks reddening, “He was really old! Had to be fifty if he was a day!”
“Really?” said the nurse, “I’d say he looked about twenty. Brown hair, dark eyes… looked like that man from ‘Lord of the Rings’, the elf, you know. And such a lovely smile! I was quite envious.”
“Sounds like the young man I met in the hallway,” laughed Alex’s mother.
“He was way older than twenty,” insisted Alex, “And he WASN’T my boyfriend,” she added to her mother, “I don’t have one.”
Disappointment showed clearly in her mother’s eyes. “If he was in his fifties, I’d love to know his secrets,” said the nurse, “No wrinkles, full head of hair… my husband could learn a thing or two from him!”
Alex frowned as the nurse and her mother laughed, and the nurse returned to her duties. There was something extremely odd about this. Mr Brown had definitely been at least middle-aged, but the nurse and her mum had both seen a young man.
This whole situation was getting stranger and stranger. Alex was relieved when the lights were turned off, and she could close her eyes on this long and bizarre day – and even more relieved when her mother didn’t go home, but stayed to sleep at her bedside. She couldn’t help but worry that Mr Brown would return.
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Post by reasonably_crazy on Jun 23, 2005 11:40:42 GMT -5
YAY YAY YAY YAY YAY YAY YAY!
All that threatening was worth it... 'Cause you posted! And it was a GOOD post! With a LOTR reference!
Thank you, Katie. ^_^
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Post by Hobbit-eyes on Jun 23, 2005 11:59:19 GMT -5
You're welcome!
I, um, haven't actually written any more... I don't even know what's going to happen next... will have to figure that out...
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Post by reasonably_crazy on Jun 24, 2005 0:24:44 GMT -5
... Good luck with that.
I mean that. Because if you didn't have luck with it, then I wouldn't get to read more, and I would be sad beyond words.
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Post by Hobbit-eyes on Jun 24, 2005 2:36:31 GMT -5
Oh dear... I will think more while I am in Disneyland. This weekend. HAHAHAHAHAHAH.
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Post by reasonably_crazy on Jun 24, 2005 11:46:11 GMT -5
Oh, shut up.
I'm sure Hawthorne Dene will be the first thing on your mind as you ride Pirates of the Caribbean....
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Post by Hobbit-eyes on Jun 29, 2005 7:20:00 GMT -5
... It wasn't, amazingly. I was actually thinking, "Daaaang, not as cool without Johnny here."
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Post by Becky on Jun 29, 2005 11:28:13 GMT -5
Hey, isn't Hawthorne Dene the name of the house over the road?
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Post by Hobbit-eyes on Jun 29, 2005 12:51:59 GMT -5
Yeah. That's where I got the idea from.
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Post by reasonably_crazy on Jun 30, 2005 11:29:21 GMT -5
BRILLIANT!
now post.
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