Kevin's Watch

Here's mine. It's a little long, sorry.
***
“I figured it out, Mom!” Jeremiah cried, and removed the crumpled racecar from the structure that had returned him to himself.

“Jeremiah, honey, wait…” Linden began, but then stood, as dumbstruck as Jeremiah had previously been, as a golden glow engulfed the racecar, the structure, and her son.

The orb grew brighter and brighter – so bright that Linden had to turn away from the glare. When she chanced another glance, the light was gone, and so was Jeremiah’s structure. But the racecar had been transformed into a full-size, butter yellow dragster. Jeremiah waved to her from the back seat.

In the driver’s seat was a man she didn’t recognize. He wore blue coveralls and a yellow crash helmet that appeared to provide no meaningful cranial protection whatsoever.

“What...how... Who are you?” Linden asked. Her mind raced. Was he another Insequent? Could he be trusted?

“Tom Slick’s the name,” the driver said, hopping out of the car. “I heard there was a big race to the death happening here. Sounded like fun.”

Linden nodded decisively. “We can use your skills. We need to find some missing members of our party. And then we need to blow up some skurj.”
“Just point me toward the track,” Slick said happily, strapping on his helmet. “Hop in back with the kid. There’s plenty of room.”

And indeed, the back of the racecar expanded like a clown car to accommodate them all. “Head for the edge of the Sunbirth Sea,” Linden directed, and in a moment they were airborne.

“I made some modifications to the car,” Slick cried modestly over his shoulder. “Hang on!”

In moments, they had reached their destination. The dragster landed with a bump, spraying sand, as it came to a halt next to Covenant. He stood stock-still, looking out to sea – to the spot where he had last seen his ex-wife. Then he turned and spotted the car. “Linden,” he groaned.

“Where’s Joan?” she asked.

“Gone.”

“Good. Get in the car.”

Covenant groaned again. “It’s not that easy.”

“Let me handle this,” Tom Slick said. He leapt from the car and clanged Covenant’s noggin with a monkey wrench. The Ur-Lord dropped like a rock. “Learned that maneuver from Baron Otto Matic,” Slick said with a grin, tossing the wrench to Linden.

Linden nodded her thanks. “Put him in the car,” she told the Haruchai, who obeyed her instantly. Then, “To Andelain,” she said, and they were airborne again.

Slick made a wide circle over the fiery beasts and the disappearing Land. “I have an idea,” he yelled back to the group. He landed the car a safe distance from the monsters, and ushered everyone out. Then he said, “I made a few other modifications,” and pushed a button on the dashboard. A canister-shaped device rose from the front of the car. On the side of the device, in cheerful letters, it said, “WARNING! FISSION REACTOR!”

“This will be my greatest victory ever!” Slick yelled. “So long!” And he drove straight into the maw of the nearest skurj. The creature bit down on the car, then turned a sickly yellow-green and exploded, showering debris over the other skurj. The monsters ate the poisoned meat, and one by one, they too exploded, until there were no more skurj.

Behind Linden, Covenant groaned and sat up. “What happened?”

“The skurj have been destroyed!” Jeremiah crowed. “But my racecar is gone.”

“They can’t all be dead,” Covenant said, blinking in disbelief. “It’s not that easy.”

“Shut up, Covenant,” Linden said in exasperation, and hit him on the head with the wrench.

ali - that was great!

Well done on tying to that same very important racecar)

Thanks ali, that's simply brilliant!

It's the first thing that I've seen in relation to that stoooopid *@&%#! race car since I first read about it that makes me smile

Now if you'd only emptied your thesaurus all over the page it would have read like pure SRD

u.

Thanks, guys!

ussusimiel wrote:Now if you'd only emptied your thesaurus all over the page it would have read like pure SRD

I thought about it, but my submission was already late.

aliantha wrote:Thanks, guys!

ussusimiel wrote:Now if you'd only emptied your thesaurus all over the page it would have read like pure SRD

I thought about it, but my submission was already late.

LOL, does the lateness of the hour really matter? I mean, isn't every other Survivor lagging further behind, Savor Dam promised his would be forthcoming, but it hasn't surfaced yet (IE: You are the first to complete the Challenge?)

Therefore I should win, right? I like the way you think, Sin!

Okay, folks, aliantha is "in" with a great entry. But I need four more.

Oh, Sur-VI-vors!!!!

(BTW, I have been off-an-on on vacation the last few weeks. [It was nice, thank you: Cape cod; whales; lobster; coconut rum and diet coke.] But I am "back" now.)

If only I had even the slightest inkling where to begin.
I'll get there.
...I hope.

Menolly wrote:If only I had even the slightest inkling where to begin.
I'll get there.
...I hope.

begin in the middle - that way you can go in either direction...

If you are stuck, send me a PM or an e-mail.

After the protracted and arduous ascent from the Spoiled Plains up to where the river Landrider cascaded down from the foothills of the Southron range, as Linden and her companions gained the plateau of the Upper Land, they found a figure on horseback awaiting them and patiently studying their approach.

His garb was as outlandish as had been that of the Harrow, the Ardent or the Mahdoubt; he wore trousers so deeply blue as to appear black with a yellow stripe down each leg and a scarlet high-collared tunic secured with a broad belt and gold buttons. On his head was a wide-brimmed tan campaign hat.

He faced their approach while mounted astride a snow-white horse. As they drew nearer, it became apparent that his seating there was unconventional, facing the horse’s nethers.



Stave rode Hynyn close up beside Lynden. “Chosen, there are accounts of this man in the lore of the Haruchai. It is said he is an untiring hunter of those whose deeds conduce ill ends, and that he never fails to catch those he seeks. He might be a potent ally.

"While we knew not of such beings when those stories first were shared in the mind-speech of my people, his deeds and the way he was known to us suggests that he may be an Insequent. In our tales, he is called The Mountie. However, there is another name mentioned…and if he is truly Insequent, that name may be a key to impel his aid to our cause.”

Linden hardly heard him. Her entire focus was upon the stallion The Mountie rode. She slipped from Hyn’s back, circled around the mounted figure until she met the eye of the beast bearing him. She drew a shuddering breath and spoke one word in a voice deeply affected by passion:

“Horse!”

At this, The Mountie’s head snapped around “How do you know his name?”

Before she could answer, Hyn, Hynyn and Narunal all stamped and whinnied at once. Khelen made no move nor sound, but but both he and Jeremiah astride him were avid with attention as acrescendo of hoofbeats hearalded innumerable Ranyhyn thundering from the southwest where the Plains of Ra stood in the distance beyond the horizon.

As the great horses arrived, forming a ring enclosing the company, Mahrtiir dismounted and respectfully stepped away from Narunal. Stave followed suit, dismounting from Hynyn, but the stallion turned and nuzzled the back of the Haruchais head. Stave stopped immediately; despite his characteristic dispassion, it was clear that something had very much engaged his attention.

“So, this is the intendment of what was imparted to me in the horserite. Chosen, I mispoke a moment ago, but Hynyn has enlightened me, calling upon knowledge which I was given when you and I ran with the manes one dark night far away.

"Notwithstanding what has been handed down in Haruchai legend, this man is neither Insequent nor anything more than the abettor of one far greater. Your utterance a moment ago touched on who that one is.

"Still, I must reiterate the question you were asked. How did you know the name you spoke?"

Linden and the white horse had not broken eye contact throughout the arrival of the Ranyhyn, nor while Stave spoke. They did not look away from each other now.

“Neither this man nor his steed are unknown to me. Many times have I seen him, posing as hero. I even know his real name. Although you now tell me it will have no power over him, I still say: Dudley Do-Right, get off The Horse!”

Dudley did as she asked, doffing his hat with characteristic politeness as he said, “But of course, dear lady. Just as Nell always seemed to know who the real hero was, clearly you do too. He has served me well, even if I have not always returned the favor. However, he has long awaited the time when he could return here to reclaim what he was forced to leave behind. His foe believed him dead…but he has merely taken sanctuary where Time runs differently than here.

"Surely, you know who The Horse is?”

Mahrtiir, Stave, Linden and Jeremiah spoke the name as one voice “Kelenbhrabanal!”

And the assembled Ranyhyn nodded joyfully.

Nice punch line!

Question, way.

I have finally come up with a story idea, but there is no way I can write it in anyway to compare with ali and SD. It has been suggested in another thread that I post a synopsis of my story. I don't even know if what I have could be called a synopsis, but would basically a description of what I visualized, without writing it in a true story format, be acceptable?

A: You don't have to write a story. You only have to suggest how the new character is worked into the plot of the Final Dark. You can do that in one sentence if you would like.

- - - - -

Was it a mistake not having a dealline, or what?

Yeah, I kind of ignored the part about "synopsis." Sorry.

Well, it's not bad if you write a story. It's just not necessary.

You are competing for votes. (Should we ever actually vote.) Whatever you would like to do to attract votes, feel free to do it. Richard Hatch Survived by getting nekkid on the beach. So I can hardly call a bit of embellishment out of line.

wayfriend wrote:You are competing for votes. (Should we ever actually vote.) Whatever you would like to do to attract votes, feel free to do it. Richard Hatch Survived by getting nekkid on the beach. So I can hardly call a bit of embellishment out of line.

Truth.

I suspect by not writing it in a story format, I'll be hurting my chances. But I really am not a storyteller on the level of at least the previous two entries.

Anyway, synopsis to follow...

So basically, without having an explanation of how they get there, I was thinking of ending the story with another confrontation with Foul, this time with the entire party. In desperation, TC utters "Nom." Linden informs him that the descendents of Nom came to her aid before he was resurrected, and have "discharged their debt," so he should not expect aid from that quarter. But then Stave says, "Chosen, look."

On the horizon, a whirlwind appears. The party watches it approach until it halts within the chamber.



TC and Linden, being the children of the 60's that they are, instantly recognize him, and break out in laughter. Taz behaves in his typical manner, causing the rest of the party to laugh at his antics as well. The laughter has the same effect on Foul as it had before, and he diminishes before the party's eyes.

TC retrieves Loric's krill from whomever took it from Joan, and placing his wedding band on his hand with which he grips it, places it against the diminished Foul before he disappears entirely. Foul's essence slowly dissolves, turning the gleam of the gem in the krill in to The Last Dark, where he remains forever trapped.

You did it!

Now we just have to hunt down ebony_squire and Effaeldm.