emmel
2009-08-07 17:14:47 UTC
I just remembered I have a half finished instalment lying on my hard
disk and I figured I leave you something to read while I'm away. Feel
free to leave any comments, but remember that it isn't finished and
certainly not error checked beyond what little my spell checker does.
*****
Mynor behaved as if he felt quite at home in the city, which came as
both a surprise and relief to Laiva. With every moment the streets
grew wider and the houses more friendly. After a while they also
started meeting people. Few at first, but the trickle quickly turned
into a drizzle and before there were whole streams of people, some
shooting them strange looks, but mostly ignoring them.
Then, after a few handful of minutes the stream of people
suddenly poured out into the open, into the large sea of people that
was the bazaar. Laiva didn't even notice until a market stand suddenly
appeared in front of her and she was almost shoved into the display.
There were the reddest and most delicious looking tomatoes
right in front of her, and she had to count every coin. Then again she
could probably afford to spend an iron or two... She was just reaching
for her purse when the owner of the stall turned towards her and
bellowed:
'Hands off, you dirty street-rat.'
Dirty? She had thoroughly cleaned herself in the river the
evening before! And what kind of insult was street-rat? She shoved her
purse back, deep into her pocket, gave the man a look of her own,
raised her head, turned on her heels and strode off, leaving him
standing dumbfounded.
Things went downhill from there. Most merchants suspiciously
watched her every movement, others were outright hostile and shooed
her away. This wasn't how she remembered the bazaar at all. The couple
of times daddy had taken her with him, everybody had been nice to her,
and some of the merchants had even given her the odd fruit or piece of
candy.
The bazaar had been some kind of wonderland to her, where
there is everything to see you could imagine - and buy, if you had the
money. The goods were all there, of course, as was the multitude of
scents that went along with them, but it was a cold place, full of
unfriendly people and not the wonderland of her memories. Somehow she
felt betrayed.
She was also starting to feel desperate. The plan - her plan -
had been to go to the bazaar, find a merchant going to the capital and
in need of an extra pair of hands, and hire herself out in exchange
for food, a place to sleep and a handful of coins. That's what the
elder boys did, when they left the village to see the world - and even
though she was still a few years younger than was traditional, she was
tall for her age and could work hard.
But how was she going to find somebody to take her along when
all the merchants just wanted to get rid of her? And how was she
supposed to get to the capital on her own? Even if she lived mostly on
what she caught, her money wouldn't last her farther than maybe
halfway to the capital. If she only knew what she had done to draw the
scorn of all those merchants.
'Hello there.'
The call startled her and she raised her head ever so slightly
before realising that she couldn't possibly have been meant. She
scowled; the city hadn't spared a single kind word for her so far and
she had no reason to believe that was to change all of the sudden.
'Now, now, you aren't going to just ignore old Niry, are you?
That would be very rude, you know.'
Laiva stopped in her tracks and slowly turned around. There he
stood, a stocky man with a round face and a pair of beady eyes looking
right at her. She gulped.
'I'm... I'm sorry, sir. I didn't mean to be rude, sir.' she
stammered,' I... I didn't know you meant me, sir.'
She turned down her gaze, and, under her breath, she repeated:
'I'm truly sorry. Sir.'
For a few moments there was silence, safe for the noise of the
bazaar.
'Look at me, lass, will you?'
Nervously Laiva lifted her gaze, and looked at the man's face.
To her surprise he was smiling.
'I didn't mean
For a few moments she stared at the tips of her boots, but
then she heard something that sounded like chuckling and she ventured
a look at the man. He was smiling.
'Lass, there's
*****
You can easily see my habit of rewriting certain parts again and again -
so there's actually two variants of how this will continue (although
they are very similar). I think I have a third on paper together with a
couple more paragraphs I didn't get around to typing into the computer.
--
emmel <the_emmel*you-know-what-that's-for*@gmx.net>
(Don't forget to remove the ** bit)
story archives available at http://ranira.wordpress.com
Official AGC feedback maniac
Proud owner of 1 (one) DISOBEDIENCE point.
Former owner of 1 (one) eating point (eaten, sigh).
disk and I figured I leave you something to read while I'm away. Feel
free to leave any comments, but remember that it isn't finished and
certainly not error checked beyond what little my spell checker does.
*****
Mynor behaved as if he felt quite at home in the city, which came as
both a surprise and relief to Laiva. With every moment the streets
grew wider and the houses more friendly. After a while they also
started meeting people. Few at first, but the trickle quickly turned
into a drizzle and before there were whole streams of people, some
shooting them strange looks, but mostly ignoring them.
Then, after a few handful of minutes the stream of people
suddenly poured out into the open, into the large sea of people that
was the bazaar. Laiva didn't even notice until a market stand suddenly
appeared in front of her and she was almost shoved into the display.
There were the reddest and most delicious looking tomatoes
right in front of her, and she had to count every coin. Then again she
could probably afford to spend an iron or two... She was just reaching
for her purse when the owner of the stall turned towards her and
bellowed:
'Hands off, you dirty street-rat.'
Dirty? She had thoroughly cleaned herself in the river the
evening before! And what kind of insult was street-rat? She shoved her
purse back, deep into her pocket, gave the man a look of her own,
raised her head, turned on her heels and strode off, leaving him
standing dumbfounded.
Things went downhill from there. Most merchants suspiciously
watched her every movement, others were outright hostile and shooed
her away. This wasn't how she remembered the bazaar at all. The couple
of times daddy had taken her with him, everybody had been nice to her,
and some of the merchants had even given her the odd fruit or piece of
candy.
The bazaar had been some kind of wonderland to her, where
there is everything to see you could imagine - and buy, if you had the
money. The goods were all there, of course, as was the multitude of
scents that went along with them, but it was a cold place, full of
unfriendly people and not the wonderland of her memories. Somehow she
felt betrayed.
She was also starting to feel desperate. The plan - her plan -
had been to go to the bazaar, find a merchant going to the capital and
in need of an extra pair of hands, and hire herself out in exchange
for food, a place to sleep and a handful of coins. That's what the
elder boys did, when they left the village to see the world - and even
though she was still a few years younger than was traditional, she was
tall for her age and could work hard.
But how was she going to find somebody to take her along when
all the merchants just wanted to get rid of her? And how was she
supposed to get to the capital on her own? Even if she lived mostly on
what she caught, her money wouldn't last her farther than maybe
halfway to the capital. If she only knew what she had done to draw the
scorn of all those merchants.
'Hello there.'
The call startled her and she raised her head ever so slightly
before realising that she couldn't possibly have been meant. She
scowled; the city hadn't spared a single kind word for her so far and
she had no reason to believe that was to change all of the sudden.
'Now, now, you aren't going to just ignore old Niry, are you?
That would be very rude, you know.'
Laiva stopped in her tracks and slowly turned around. There he
stood, a stocky man with a round face and a pair of beady eyes looking
right at her. She gulped.
'I'm... I'm sorry, sir. I didn't mean to be rude, sir.' she
stammered,' I... I didn't know you meant me, sir.'
She turned down her gaze, and, under her breath, she repeated:
'I'm truly sorry. Sir.'
For a few moments there was silence, safe for the noise of the
bazaar.
'Look at me, lass, will you?'
Nervously Laiva lifted her gaze, and looked at the man's face.
To her surprise he was smiling.
'I didn't mean
For a few moments she stared at the tips of her boots, but
then she heard something that sounded like chuckling and she ventured
a look at the man. He was smiling.
'Lass, there's
*****
You can easily see my habit of rewriting certain parts again and again -
so there's actually two variants of how this will continue (although
they are very similar). I think I have a third on paper together with a
couple more paragraphs I didn't get around to typing into the computer.
--
emmel <the_emmel*you-know-what-that's-for*@gmx.net>
(Don't forget to remove the ** bit)
story archives available at http://ranira.wordpress.com
Official AGC feedback maniac
Proud owner of 1 (one) DISOBEDIENCE point.
Former owner of 1 (one) eating point (eaten, sigh).