The adventure: A giant mission is thrown off course by an angry sea monster and a famous dog
The time: June 2718, November 1957 and May 2010
The place(s): Carisbrooke; English Channel Desert; Outer space; Table Mountain, South Africa; Moscow; Dunster
Prompt: syncopated #vss365 (view original tweet)
By royal decree, the #syncopated voice of the Heroes’ Bells rang out: Strong is weak, weak is strong. Mice have saved the day.
But this was just the start. A Queen, a giant, a young knight and a pink-robed Mistress joined the wordsmiths, plotting at the Arthurian table.
winsome #vss365
The #winsome kiss of the computer mice had stopped the Eurasian quakes. But other tectonic plates were still in Saturn’s thrall.
“It’s a quest!” Ed clapped, “Let’s take the water shuttle!”
“Sand has blocked the sea lane.” replied Dunster, “We must carve our own path.
lose #vss365
Out in the Channel Desert, Lord Le Thal had expected to be the last noble standing when the city crumbled.
Now, he couldn’t return to court without #losing face.
He looked to the wide night sky, where Andromeda crowned the looming Saturn, and a new plan spiralled.
alpha #vss365
At the end of a red-eye nun-guarding shift, the Chancellor received a brusque thought memo.
‘I gather her Majesty is embarking on a mission? If she plans to cross the desert I have a new sand craft, Cetus #Alpha. Le Thal.’
Crow scuttled to the Hall with the good news.
nefarious #vss365
Unaware of Le Thal’s #nefarious intent, Violet led the way to the desert.
“Why does ‘Cetus’ sound familiar?” mused Dunster.
“How big is this craft?” worried Pyre.
“Where is it?” asked Ed.
As they gazed out at the bare sand waves, this did seem to be a valid question.
pulchritude #vss365
A moment later, Le Thal skulked from behind a dune, eyes swooping over the questers.
“Welcome to Cetus Alpha, dear Queen, brave Ed, noble giant… and, not least, the #pulchritudinous Mistress of the Bells.”
His bow scraped the sand, and Dunster’s robe petals furled.
tepid #vss365
Despite this #tepid reception, the Lord continued.
“Yes, wondrous Cetus Alpha, your transport to…where, might I ask?”
“No, you might not.” snapped Violet. “Come on Le Thal, where is your craft?”
“You’re in it, my Queen. It just needs rousing with this Ion Trident.”
laugh #vss365
“Do you mean an ‘Iron Trident’?”
“No Edward, I do not.” the Lord spat out a sharp #laugh. “Its positive charge commands the sand.”
Swinging his arm in a wide arc, Le Thal jammed the trident’s fork into the dune, which fizzed and curled skywards to form a golden tunnel.
poster #vss365
“Well, aren’t you the #poster-boy for dramatic gestures?” Despite herself, Dunster was a little impressed.
“I drew inspiration from the old leafy holloways.” Le Thal continued, pompously. “If it lets you, you’ll be able to travel hundreds of miles in just a few hours.”
thanks #vss365
“What do you mean, ‘if it lets you’?” Violet’s eyes narrowed.
“Well, Ma’am, it’s a prototype. Cetus Beta is in testing, if you can afford to wait?”
The Queen saw a fierce fear for Themis clutch at Pyre’s face. “#Thanks for the warning, Le Thal. We’ll take our chances.”
finale #vss365
“In that case, I wish you a favourable journey.” Bowing a low #finale, Le Thal attempted a smile.
“You’re not coming with us?”
“No young Ed, someone must watch the wordsmiths.”
Violet scoffed “I’ve left Lady Roz in charge. I’m certain she will maintain perfect order.”
relish #vss365
#Relishing Le Thal’s irritation, Ed gave a flippant salute, powered up his iMagine donkey, and charged into the tunnel.
Bending double, Pyre followed. Violet strode in his shadow.
Only Dunster paused. She glanced at the Lord’s hastily receding back. Was he chuckling?
opportunity #vss365
“Come on, Dunster,” Violet beckoned, “this is our #opportunity to save Themis!”
Maybe the Queen was right. The Mistress of the Bells stepped into Cetus Alpha, shaking her head to shed her fears.
As they set off for Africa, a trail of autumn leaves swirled in her wake.
zebra #vss365
Ed had never been abroad, so Pyre lent him an old guide book written by the King of the Giants.
After five hours of increasingly tedious map facts, Violet resorted to the ‘Africa’ setting on the iMagine. One twist and, to Ed’s delight, his donkey turned into a #zebra.
lassitude #vss365
“Are we nearly there yet?” They’d now been walking for ten hours, and both Ed and his zebra were betraying signs of #lassitude.
“Where exactly are we going?” Violet now thought to ask Pyre.
“Table Mountain.”
“Hmm, that is quite a long way – even at Cetus Alpha speed.”
extreme #vss365
As Ed stared glumly at his atlas, Violet glanced at the handle of the trident.
“Oh, there’s an ‘#Extreme Warp’ button!”
Pyre’s eyes shone at the thought of reaching Themis faster – and straightening his back.
Dunster frowned. “Le Thal didn’t mention a second gear.”
venal #vss365
The Queen sighed. “Dunster, I know you don’t trust Le Thal, and I agree he’s always been at the #venal end of pragmatic. But, if we’re to reach Themis in time, I don’t think we have a choice.”
Reluctantly, the Mistress of the Bells nodded.
Violet pressed the button.
eyes #vss365
Before their #eyes, the sandy tunnel turned a vivid ocean green.
“Are those veins?” Ed stroked the wall. It rippled at his touch, and then a roar bubbled up ahead.
Cetus Alpha spluttered, twisted and coughed up her unwelcome guests, sending them shooting into space.
navel #vss365
They soared so high that the Earth shrunk to a tiny #navel in a fat belly of satellites and stars. But soon, awe turned to terror.
“What have I done? We’ll die out here!”
In the wake of Violet’s fearful thought memo, the four companions clasped hands across the void.
sloth #vss365
Le Thal stood on the court balcony. With the studied nonchalance of a #sloth, he raised a pair of impossible binoculars to his eyes.
Way out in the Milky Way, a new, four-pointed star glittered. As he watched its bright light quaver in the vacuum, the lord grinned.
imitation #vss365
Ed frantically twisted the dial on the iMagine, before remembering that its Atmosphere Bubble was merely #imitation.
All hope was lost.
Then, as Pyre – his heart full of Themis – squinted for one last glimpse of Table Mountain, a huge shadow blocked his view.
static #vss365
Le Thal watched in horror as the Atlantian timeship drifted across the sky, its open hold swallowing first Pyre, and then the gasping queen.
For the second time in a matter of days, the fizzing #static of the death bell fragmented into frustrated silence.
surface #vss365
Instead of slipping below the #surface of suffocation, the four questers found themselves atop a vast heap of space waste.
Some items were nostalgic – like the biome of endangered bees from 2080. Others were plain sad – like the dog collar, marked ‘Laika’, from 1957.
ecstasy #vss365
As he came down from the #ecstasy of the initial oxygen high, tears of every kind washed Pyre’s cheeks.
A booming voice burst out over the tannoy. “Oi, you, big guy! Quit flooding the hold, or you’re out. If this load gets wet it can’t be recycled.”
lamp #vss365
“Follow the Bosun,” the voice went on, “you need decontaminating.”
Looking in vain for another human, Ed spotted a copper drone #lamp, blinking at a starboard hatch.
“Come on Bo, get them going!”
The lamp whisked across the hold and rapped Ed hard on the saucepan.
After an abrasive space-dust cleanse, during which Ed refused to remove his pan, the Bosun led them to the Bridge.
The Captain was dressed, dazzlingly, head-to-toe in gold. Tipping his hat to an #eccentric angle, he boomed once more.
“So, what exactly have we here?”
cousin #vss365
Violet tried to relay their story, but the Captain soon cut her off.
“So, none of you landlubbers realised you were walking into a sea monster? Ha! Even the dumbest Atlantian knows Cetus and her #cousins are tricky customers. Don’t tell me, you pressed the warp button?”
tacit #vss365
Her hackles rising like fight feathers, Violet nodded. “We wanted to get to Themis faster.”
The Captain snorted. “Duh! There’s a #tacit agreement that humans can travel the holloways. But you have to be sea smart. ‘Warp’ just means ‘bend’, you sandcrabs!”
irrational #vss365
“As in ‘bends time’?” Ed’s face lit up.
“No, lad, as in ‘bends’. Didn’t you notice Cetus twisting 90 degrees to spit you into space?!”
“So, time travel…?”
“…is just an #irrational old legend. You can see from the junk in my hold: What’s done is done.”
narrow #vss365
“Hang on, isn’t this a timeship?” Violet was losing her temper.
“Marketing ploy! We’re just the galaxy’s garbage truck, picking up the fragments that time left behind.”
Dunster glanced at the ship’s compass. Her eyes #narrowed, but she kept her own counsel.
gutless #vss365
The Captain turned to Pyre. “So, big guy, I suppose you want a lift to Thingy?”
“Themis.”
“Whatever! Oi, Bo, you #gutless wonder, call up the charts!”
The Bosun, who’d been hovering beside Ed’s pan, reluctantly obeyed.
“Ha! Looks like our best bet is the dead river.”
trophy #vss365
“The dead what?” Violet snapped.
“Oh, don’t worry, see that #trophy?” The Captain gestured towards a dusty crown in the corner. “It’s for space tacking. We’ll be fine.”
Before anyone could object, he grabbed the tiller, and swung a sharp starboard towards the moon.
hiccup #vss365
They shot into a tight channel between deserted mining vessels. The precious stardew aquifers had been exhausted long ago, and old steel arms writhed blindly as the timeship rocked past.
On the bridge, steadying himself against the gunwale, Ed felt his saucepan #hiccup.
engineer #vss365
Soon the hiccups merged to a clatter…and the old mines filled with life. #Engineers bustled, cranes swung, sirens blared.
Then, suddenly, the timeship was alone in a vast whirlpool of stardew: Glittering words, phrases, letters, from every language in the universe.
wallow #vss365
Eventually the ship came to rest in a #wallow of idle words.
As they stopped spinning, the Captain scrambled to his feet and began tugging at the halyard.
Dunster gathered up her scattered petals and glanced again at the compass. Sure enough, it was pointing due Past.
obvious #vss365
“What just happened?” Violet rubbed a bump on her head.
“Isn’t it #obvious?” Dunster flamed pinker than her robes. “We’ve been lied to. Time travel an ‘irrational old legend’? Seriously!”
All bluster and bravado gone, the Captain muttered “I was trying to protect you.”
restored #vss365
“What do you mean?” Dunster stepped up close, her eyes ablaze.
“Time travel isn’t something you do. It’s done to you. And your path can never be #restored.”
With a mournful look, the Captain reached into his breast pocket, and drew out a fragile, desiccated rose petal.
denounce #vss365
The Mistress of the Bells’ #denouncement of the Captain faltered, snagging in her throat.
“Who… who… are you?”
“I am, I mean, I was… Well, for a time I became… King of the Atlantians.”
“And?”
“My name is Thomas. Sir Thomas of Dunster.”
sob #vss365
The Bridge suddenly filled with the wild scent of summer, as Dunster’s robes bloomed a riot of roses, lilies and lavender.
She clasped her hand around the Captain’s palm, enveloping his single petal.
He closed his eyes, and struggled to suppress a #sob.
nudge #vss365
“I thought you were just a family myth,” Dunster shook her head in disbelief, “the Knight who walked into the sea and became a King.”
“All true.” Sir Thomas tried to smile. “Then I picked a fight with Neptune. His ancient fist #nudged my airship into a crack in time.”
obtain #vss365
“Since then I’ve been bouncing to-and-fro, never making it home. But I have #obtained some clues to the triggers for time travel…”
Sir Thomas tailed off, before casting a stern gaze around the cabin. “Which one of you brought contaminated space waste to my Bridge?”
window #vss365
Ed sheepishly raised his pan. Stacked beneath were several treasures from the hold. On top, spinning wildly, was the dog collar from 1957.
“Look!” Pyre pointed at an old-fashioned spacecraft outside the #window. As it drifted past, it emitted a muffled bark.
aurora #vss365
The trajectory of the tiny craft traced from the #aurora borealis, dancing over Russia.
“It’s Laika!” Ed rushed to the tiller. “We must save her!”
“No.” Sir Thomas wrestled back control. “One old tale about time travel is true – never interfere with the past.”
bottles #vss365
“I’ve tried to fix old wrongs before.” Sir Thomas frowned. “The universe simply #bottles up the sorrow for later.”
Dunster looked at the spinning dog collar. “Perhaps you’ve just not intervened in the right way? Maybe there’s a specific mission we’re here to fulfil.”
calypso #vss365
Perhaps Dunster had a point. Sir Thomas swung the ship to port, and opened the door to the hold.
As they approached Sputnik 2, Laika’s ears pricked up. And, in a Soviet base far below, Vladimir Yazdovsky detected a change in the weak #calypso rhythm of the dog’s heart.
cascade #vss365
Vladimir couldn’t work out why the capsule was overheating.
Laika’s respiratory gauges were swinging wildly. A #cascade of warning lights tumbled down the control panel. Flash yellow. Beat. Flash orange. Beat. Flash red.
Then, darkness, and the heart monitor flatlined.
castle #vss365
In the timeship, freed from her straps and sensors, Laika jumped out of Sputnik 2 and landed hard on a #castle of space junk.
Undeterred, she gathered up her weakened legs, and scrambled towards her saviour. Ed collapsed on to his back, giggling as she licked his face.
cavern #vss365
“Come on you two!” Violet’s tannoy reprimand bounced around the #cavernous hold. “Stop fooling about.”
Ed clambered to his feet, and Laika turned to growl at Sputnik 2.
“Yes, girl, you’re right.” Using every ounce of his strength, Ed rolled the capsule to the airlock.
chapter #vss365
With a heavy heart, Vladimir filed a #chapter in his mission log: ‘Death by overheating’.
Meanwhile, in a secret base thousands of miles away, Agent Nelson sat transfixed. His mole had put a tracker in the dog’s collar. It was still transmitting. But not from Sputnik 2.
craft #vss365
Back on the Bridge, the exhausted Laika had #crafted Ed into a dog bed. She was snoring, warm and heavy, on his chest.
Meanwhile, Sir Thomas had reset the rudder for Africa. And, via a rear-view porthole, Violet saw Sputnik 2 shrink to an ugly little spot in the cosmos.
crown #vss365
“It’s stopped spinning.” Dunster placed Laika’s spare collar on the shelf with the dusty Atlantian #crown.
“But we’re still stuck in 1957. So much for your time travel theory, Mistress.”
“I mentioned a specific mission, Sir Thomas. I didn’t say it would be simple.”
globe #vss365
As they boarded the landing craft, their blue #globe target swirling below, Violet saw a dark cloud cross Pyre’s face.
“Aren’t you excited about seeing Themis?”
“Umm, yes… It’s just… We’ve gone back 750 years. I’ll be so old to her. How can she love me like this?”
hatch #vss365
Violet’s heart feathered with pity. “Would you prefer to stay on the ship?”
“No.” Pyre was resolute. “I would do anything, lose anything, to help spare her those centuries of suffering.”
Yet, as he squeezed through the #hatch, a huge tear splashed at his feet.
hole #vss365
Deep in a #hole below Table Mountain, Themis strained against her chain.
After 2000 years of holding down the Nubian plate her hands were gnarled, her skin pale. She’d forgotten how it felt to rest. To her horror she realised she couldn’t even recall her lover’s face.
lion #vss365
After they’d disembarked on Table Mountain, Pyre led his friends to Themis’ prison.
En route, the iMagine zebra attracted some unwelcome attention. “#Lion!” Ed banged his saucepan with a spoon.
Unfazed, but scenting only static between the stripes, the cat stalked off.
misery #vss365
Pyre rolled away the vast rock hiding the route to Themis’ #misery.
“It’s a sheer drop!” Ed squeaked.
After a moment’s thought, Violet grinned. “Our iGravity packs! Saturn’s in its old orbit. If we choose the right setting, the words will weigh enough to take us down.”
neptune #vss365
Dunster frowned. “But which words are heaviest? We’ve been wrong about this before.”
After abortive attempts using ‘sorrow’, ‘poverty’ and ‘wealth’, Sir Thomas clapped his hands.
“I know, let’s try our nemeses. I’ll go first: ‘#Neptune’, who punched me out of my time.”
peerless #vss365
Ed was busy typing the school bully, d’Ragon, into his iGravity pack when a shadow flapped across the #peerless blue sky.
“Korf!” A crow dropped a crumpled trilby beside Laika. The dog growled.
“It’s ok, girl,” Ed patted her head, “it’s just a grown-up’s saucepan.”
pilgrim #vss365
Laika grabbed the trilby, and ran across the mountain top. Ed, encumbered by his iGravity, was too slow to prevent her nudging the hat off a cliff.
“Oi, you two!” Sir Thomas echoed from the tunnel. “Come on! This mission is getting longer than The #Pilgrim’s Progress!”
sanctuary #vss365
Eager to get Themis to #sanctuary, Pyre had loaded his iGravity with several Ancient Greeks, and was falling too fast through the mountain.
Just in time, he jettisoned Archimedes and, on hitting the ground, only displaced enough rock to cause a minor quake in Cape Town.
tavern #vss365
“Oi, Pyre, what’s down there?” Sir Thomas was descending frustratingly slowly. His anger at Neptune was perhaps weaker than he thought.
“Ish jusht a nempty #tavern… I meansh cavern.”
Violet landed gently beside the prostrate giant. “Pyre, did you bang your head?”
fly #vss365
“Well, that was a tedious way to #fly.”
Sir Thomas finally landed in the cave, to find Dunster and Violet dragging Pyre up off the floor, and Laika scratching furiously at her collar – as if it was on fire.
“Leave it, girl.” Ed patted her head. “Let’s go find Themis!”
longing #vss365
In her dank quarters, Themis was #longing for something to break the tedium of holding the Nubian chain.
Then she heard snuffling, and footsteps. Around the corner appeared a dog, followed by a young boy. Her eyes must be failing – or was he really wearing a saucepan?
memento #vss365
“Hello Themis.” Ed grinned, then called back down the tunnel: “We’ve found her!”
Crouching down, he carefully removed his saucepan, tipped out his stash of space waste #mementos, and pulled two ancient computer mice from the pile. They wriggled as he tugged their tails.
crispness #vss365
“What are you doing, child?”
Themis’ words had a #crispness she hadn’t intended. But, first, this strange boy with the pan had trotted in from nowhere like a knight on a quest. And now he seemed to be tying things to her chain.
Wasn’t her burden already heavy enough?
moonlight #vss365
Amongst the heavy links holding the Nubian plate, two mice were kissing, tails entwined.
“You can let go, Themis!” Ed grinned.
The bewildered giant released the chain. It rattled violently skywards, daggers of #moonlight thrusting through new cracks in the rock above.
fettered #vss365
Horrified, Ed called down the tunnel. “Help! It’s not working!”
Themis threw herself upon the loose end of the chain, but couldn’t pull the plate back into line.
Pyre, #fettered by shame, had been hiding in the shadows. Now he had to act. Only he could save his lover.
promise #vss365
Hurling himself across the room, Pyre grasped the chain and pulled with all the weight of his ageing body, faithful mind and full heart.
Slowly, the tectonic plate began to settle, blocking the light. Themis blinked her pale eyes. “Pyre? You…you…kept your #promise.”
illuminate #vss365
Like novice bell ringers out of their depth, the two giants clung to the chain for dear life.
“Themis, I’m sorry. I took too long.”
“You took the time you needed, my love. What matters is that you came.” Her smile #illuminated his face and thousands of years fell away.
inimitable #vss365
“Queen Violet, Mistress, it didn’t work!”
Dunster stroked the mice in Ed’s hand. “Maybe their first kiss was #inimitable; their love enough for just one plate.”
“It’s ok… We have a solution.” Violet nodded towards the giants, their lips a single breath from touching.
expectation #vss365
Oblivious to their surroundings and unaware of the weight of #expectation they were carrying, Pyre and Themis kissed. So soft, gentle, like a wren coming to rest.
Ed and Sir Thomas cheered in delight as the chain glowed white hot, then held firm as the giants embraced.
light #vss365
The chain’s white #light cast ribbons over the smiles of a brave Queen, a wise Mistress, a young knight and a displaced Atlantian King.
Violet stretched to tap Pyre’s elbow. He turned, blinking, from Themis’ gaze.
“You did it, my friend. You saved her. Now we must go.”
enjoy #vss365
“Oh, we have a problem.” Violet’s brow furrowed.
“Really, Ma’am! We’ve fixed the Nubian plate! Can’t we just #enjoy our victory?”
“I’m serious, Sir Thomas. The extra gravity that helped us down here. It’ll work against us going up. We… may not escape this mountain.”
bombinate #vss365
Strangely, Dunster had a spare iGravity pack for Themis. But they still needed to shed weight if they were to rise through the mountain.
First, they ditched all the needlessly long words. ‘#Bombinate’ was an early casualty. The packs would just have to hum from now on.
celebrate #vss365
“I’ve lost my iMag… iMag…”
Ed had accidentally jettisoned all words over two syllables.
“I have it.” Dunster handed over the iMagine, which was projecting a small, slightly glitchy porcupine.
“Oh, a new compan… compan… friend!” The boy clapped in #celebration.
mistletoe #vss365
Pyre and Themis, hands clasped, were rising fast through the rock, gazing skywards like new lovers in search of #mistletoe.
Ed, however, was struggling to lift off.
Violet frowned. “I’m sorry, you’re still too heavy. Either the iMagine or the saucepan has got to go.”
misplace #vss365
Ed’s toes trailed dust as he lifted off, his space waste stash wobbling under the saucepan on his head.
On the ground, the iMagine’s proximity alarm sounded: ‘I have been #misplaced. I have been misplaced.’ And a small porcupine gazed sorrowfully up at the young knight.
indulge #vss365
After four poor take-offs, Sir Thomas had an epiphany. Redialling ‘Neptune’ into his iGravity, he shot to the surface. His anger at the god had been replaced by joy at his new friends.
As Dunster ushered him to the landing craft, the old king #indulged in a gleeful jig.
eat #vss365
To Sir Thomas’ relief, the jaws of the ship opened to #eat the ascending landing craft. The bosun was clearly in a good mood.
Ed was also relieved. With an extra, giant passenger, the capsule was rather crowded, and he’d been forced to sit on Pyre’s hot, smelly toes.
cage #vss365
On the Bridge, the bosun tapped the paraffin jar with his copper #cage. So much for the good mood. He’d let the capsule in because he was nearly out of fuel.
Meanwhile, Laika ran in happy circles – freed from the irritating collar that’d been too heavy for her iGravity.
swing #vss365
“So, Mistress, we saved the dog, we saved Themis. Shouldn’t we be #swinging back to 2718 about now?”
Dunster turned to Laika, who had stopped circling and was whimpering as Russia spun past, far below.
“No, Sir Thomas, I think we have one more task to complete.”
straw #vss365
The mission to Moscow was risky. Sir Thomas suggested they draw #straws. But Ed was fiercely determined to accompany Laika.
As the capsule door slid shut, the young knight stroked the dog’s head. “I don’t know why you need to go back, girl, but I’d follow you anywhere.”
slide #vss365
“Wait for me, girl!”
Under the cover of a winter night, Laika was confidently navigating the icy back streets of Moscow. Ed was, less confidently, slipping and #sliding in her wake.
Reaching a narrow alley, the dog gave a single bark. Something shifted in the shadows.
cake #vss365
“It’ll be a piece of #cake, lad. She’ll just want to scavenge for stale pirozhki.”
As two large eyes glinted in the darkness, Ed decided Sir Thomas’ parting remark had been idle bluster.
Then, with a yelp, Laika sprang into a playful tussle with a huge, scruffy husky.
chef #vss365
Startled, Ed stumbled backwards into a #chef who was dumping rubbish in the alley.
He didn’t need his universal translator to spot the curse when he crushed the woman’s foot. But her face sparkled when she saw Laika.
“Oh, my lovely! Finally, you come back for my pies.”
pose #vss365
Hearing her chirpy voice, the dogs stopped play-fighting and struck a #pose of patient anticipation.
Chuckling, the chef dipped into the pocket of her whites.
As she threw pirozhki into the snow, she turned to Ed. “So, has the little Wren got you chasing her tail too?”
smile #vss365
Ed, wary of his borrowed translator, simply nodded. The chef assumed he was shy, #smiled and chatted on.
“I call her Wren ’cause she flits in and out of the shadows. Been gone ages this time, though.”
She pointed at the enormous husky. “The boy’s been pining real bad.”
teach #vss365
“He must’ve been so alone before Wren found him. He’s wary even now. Our girl had to #teach him to trust me, despite the pies!”
As the chef chuckled, Ed’s curiosity burst out. “Do they live with you?”
“Ha! No. I’ve left the door wide open, but they need their freedom.”
drive #vss365
“Right, I can’t listen to you gossip all night, I’ve baking to do.”
The chef laughed and turned on her heel.
“Oh, by the way, don’t start to think you own the Wren. You’ll #drive her away.”
In Ed’s pocket, the spare collar Laika had refused to wear felt heavy as lead.
grass #vss365
“Laika, come!”
No response. Ed tried again.
“Come here, Wren.”
Still nothing. He crouched, softened.
“Here, girl, here?”
Her nose rose, covered in pie and snow. She trotted towards him.
Immediately, the husky growled. The fur on his back spiking like tundra #grass.
push #vss365
Laika launched herself at Ed, #pushing him flat on his back.
She clambered up his chest and licked his face. He giggled, ticklish; waved one hand wildly, tugged her soft ears with the other.
Then, one bark, and she was gone. He was lying, alone, in half a snow angel.
spread #vss365
As the capsule rose, Ed stared glumly at the dark streets of Moscow, slowly melding and #spreading out into a pool of grief.
He’d scrambled to his feet just in time to watch the dogs gliding, like a single being, into the shadows. Laika hadn’t even paused to look back.
lean #vss365
Sir Thomas stepped towards Ed as he entered the bridge, his fair head hanging like a frosted daffodil.
“What’s happened, lad?”
Dunster gently touched the Captain’s arm. “Leave him be.”
Ed traipsed to the shelf to #lean Laika’s spare collar against the Atlantian crown.
beach #vss365
Suddenly, the collar began to spin and the compass whirled to South West Future.
“Mission complete, I think? I’m proud of you, Ed!” Violet clung to the boy as they flew through time.
At the tiller, Sir Thomas saw Earth fill the window. “Hang on, that’s Dunster #beach!”
horse #vss365
Riding the nose of a fierce white storm, the ship bump-landed in a field, scattering a rake of #horses.
Sir Thomas spotted an old cart, resting on its elbows by the road to Dunster castle. He smiled. “I know this story. It’s not perfect, but it will take me to my love.”
hair #vss365
As Sir Thomas’ friends watched his departing back, his #hair grew lank. His hat sagged. His golden clothes faded brown.
In this tramp guise, he reached the cart just in time to greet a lad who appeared from nowhere, shedding feathers, as if he’d been spat out of a nest.