CxB
Stories
6
Chapters
85
Words
116.8 K
Comments
0
Reading
9 h, 43 m
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To make any of this make sense, I need to start at the laundry.That’s where it all started, where much of it happened, and where, with any luck, it will all end.“Lake’s Authentic Chinese Laundry” is the name of the place, though in most of it’s incarnations the sign has faded so that all you can make out is “Lake’s”. Fortunately for the business, it’s pretty obvious what sort of establishment the place is for anyone who wanders past, and even though the sign is basically useless, the…
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9.0 K • Hiatus
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Lake & I stood in the rain on the roof across the street from the laundry, watching Lake & I stare through the skylight at Lake & I, who were dressed in hastily-assembled 'Mystic Robes', trying to impress Lake and I, who were cowering behind an overturned table & trying to improvise weapons out of mops and laundry supplies. Beside me, Lake was complaining about rain, substandard raincoats, & the cheap-ass customers who leave them behind.“I still wish we had the option of taking a…
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9.0 K • Hiatus
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It took a few days and a lot of swearing to get the Machine working, and a few more to figure out what settings not to use. Not sure why anyone would want to set fire to their laundry on a drying cycle, or freeze it solid on a wash, but this thing could do both; Oddly, without much of a power drain.I was still musing on that one when I wandered into the laundry with lunch kebabs. Lake had dragged his favorite armchair out of it’s corner and was staring meditatively at a load of sports gear in the…
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9.0 K • Hiatus
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Webfarmer looked out across the meeting cavern as the last of the goblins shuffled in and found places to sit. Getting everyone together without causing alarm had been a challenge, but somehow the improbable duo of Tunnelfinder and the Cave Spider had done what no amount of message passing and explanation could manage; Goblins of all ages, nearly a hundred of them, all calmly gathered in one place.Waiting.Staring at her."Whenever you're ready." The Elder patted Webfarmer on the knee. "I think this is…-
7.1 K • Hiatus
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Dann and Miller trudged along the stone path, hunching over to let their rain-cloaks take the worst of the weather."The big sticks I understand," Dann remarked. "But I don't understand the little skinny ones. Why do we need little skinny sticks?""For poking things, of course."Dann risked the rain to make a rude gesture at Miller's back."You know that I could have stayed in the fishy smokey place, right?" He asked. "Or gone to bed, or any number of other things that aren't this?""That's true," Conceded…
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3.6 K • Hiatus
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Miller stared in horror at the ice-cold hand gripping his ankle, trying to pull free of it’s grip. With a mighty heave he wrenched free, then overbalanced and tumbled back through the door, sprawling on the floor.The pale hand groped at the doorframe, was joined by another, and as Miller watched, a shrouded figure pulled itself into view. It slowly raised a hand and pushed back it’s hood.“Miller?” Dann asked sleepily. “What’re you doing here? You hate smoked fish.”Miller threw the sandwich at…
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3.6 K • Hiatus
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Miller gradually surfaced into consciousness, fighting the soothing sounds of rain against canvas trying to lull him back to sleep. Gradually he started to wonder why he could hear rain on canvas, and not against a roof or shutters, and why his bed felt so hard.Opening his eyes didn’t help; Everything was dark.Experiments with moving his limbs revealed that he was wrapped in a blanket & covered with heavy canvas, and after finding an edge to stick his head out of, lying on the weatherbeaten wooden…
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3.6 K • Hiatus
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Dann held the second bucket at an awkward angle, trying to get as much of it into the little pool as possible without overbalancing & falling in. He carefully pulled it out, setting it down beside it’s counterpart & watching with satisfaction as the water lapped at, but didn’t quite overflow, the downhill edge.“Nicely done!” came a call from above.He leaned back & squinted at Miller, who leaned against a railing at the edge of the valley wall & grinned down, waving his watering…
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3.6 K • Hiatus
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Start with the long view. A blade of rock cuts across the ocean, a mountain range so high that it’s white for more than half it’s height with snow slowly compacting into ice. There’s the slightest hint of more mountains behind it, but that’s hard to tell from here. Look closer. Down at the base, it’s not just rock and pounding waves. The terrain flattens, forming a plain which gently slopes up towards the foothills of the peaks & down towards the water. In one direction, a massive…
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3.6 K • Hiatus
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Never again will I use the phrase Nightmare Fuel to describe something unpleasant, like a roach infestation or a fried centipede on a stick. No, those don’t count anymore, because they’ve been replaced by the much more substantial “waking up in what is clearly an actual coffin to the distant sounds of digging” nightmare fuel.Pretty sure I screamed. A lot.The digging paused, then started again, with more enthusiasm, and a dim orange glow filled the space.“Hey Buddy?” A muffled echoing voice…-
19.5 K • Hiatus
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