Friday, January 25, 2013

Louise and the Death Skull ~~ Chapter 2


Two
Lou stayed near silent while I helped Mr. Thomas prepare for take off. She’d taken to staring at everything with a wide-eyed, wild look. “You ‘kay, Lou?” I asked as I bolted a panel back into place.
“You’re insane. Both of you are utterly insane,” she murmured, rocking back and forth.
“Nonsense,” said Mr. Thomas as he popped the casing off the back of the lone chair on the bridge. He tossed it aside and began pulling the fluff from the cushions. Finally, his hand must have hit what he needed and he yanked something rectangular and metallic from inside the chair, causing it to sag sadly to one side. “Now, once I get the AGP fixed, we’ll be on our way!”
“What’s an AGP?” Louise asked as Mr. Thomas flounced across the bridge. He looked over at her and chuckled.
“The Anti-Grav Pump. It’s how we stay firmly on the floor while we’re in zero gravity situations. Without it, we’ll be floating freely throughout the ship, which is fine and dandy when you don’t have places you need to be, but considering the nebula is only our first stop, I figured it may be a good idea to fix it now.”
I was practically bursting out of my skin. “You really mean it? We get to go more than just one place?”
“I just wanna go home,” said Lou.
Mr. Thomas smiled and nodded, “I’ve got the time engine synchronized now. We should be able to travel for months on end and not disrupt your timeline.”
“What does that even mean?” Lou demanded. “For that matter, what am I doing here? What have you done to my sister? Why is she so excited about being trapped with a creeper like you?”
“What?” Mr. Thomas asked absently, focusing on a console he’d more-or-less completely ripped apart. But that was his method.
“What has he done to you to make you feel like you need to stay with him?” Lou asked, turning her attention to me. I rolled my eyes.
“Nothing! Mr. Thomas is… He’s nicer than anyone I’ve ever met. You’ll see, Lou. Being with him is amazing.” How could I make her understand? He made me feel safe.
“You’ve obviously been brainwashed.” Mr. Thomas dropped the tool he was using to attach the metal rectangle to the inside of the console and slumped his shoulders, glaring at Louise through his unruly hair.
“Because races not from your world obviously want nothing more than to brainwash and enslave young, impressionable children, right?” he asked with a single dry laugh, “I already know I don’t like you. You may look like Jenna, but you’re nowhere near as open-minded as her. How much has your age tainted you, Louis?”
“Louise,” she corrected him.
“Whatever. Have you really lost your sense of wonder? Is Earth really that dangerous to live on that anyone who would show you something different is automatically evil?” He reached down and picked up the tool again, raising his head to properly face my sister. “Your sister came upon me by complete chance. I didn’t whisk her away without her consent-”
“How exactly can a 10 year old consent to anything?”
“I’m done talking to you,” Mr. Thomas snapped, turning his full attention back to the console. After a few tense moments, he reached his free hand out toward me. I hurried over and he pulled me in close to him, whispering into my ear about the repairs he was making and guiding my hands so I could help.
I could feel Louise’s glare at the top of my head. He did this a lot. It seemed to calm him down when he got stressed. I didn’t mind, it made me feel almost like I had a dad.
Before too long, Mr. Thomas backed away from the console, his hands leaving mine as he stood up and reached for the panels that were meant to cover it. I sulked for a couple seconds before wandering over to where Louise sat.
“Why don’t you like him?” I asked.
“Why do you?”
“I don’t know,” I said after a few moments of thought, “He saved me, though. Isn’t that enough reason to like someone?”
“Same way he saved me?” she asked, rolling her eyes.
“No. You wouldn’t believe me if I told you.”
“Try me.”
“Oi, find yourselves some seats, ladies, we’re about to take off,” Mr. Thomas said as he finished replacing the console cover. Something told me that he didn’t want me telling Louise how we first met.
“I’ll tell you later,” I whispered before heading back across the bridge to where a smaller harness hung from the bulkhead. I maneuvered my way into the harness until I was suspended comfortably about a foot from the floor. Louise did the same, but she hung a bit higher and my view of her was obscured by Mr. Thomas, who sat in the lone chair, leaning against the console. Unlike us, he wasn’t harnessed in.
“Louise,” he said without looking at her, “did Jenna tell you how rough these can be?”
“What?” Lou asked. I could hear the fear in her voice. Mr. Thomas glanced up at me, a sly grin on his lips. He winked, then turned back to Louise.
“Oh yeah. Well it wasn’t really meant to land, so it has a hard time conceiving of land.”
“What?” Lou sounded absolutely horrified by now. I didn’t understand what he was saying. Maybe she didn’t either. Maybe that’s what was so frightening to her.
“There is a way to make sure you aren’t injured,” Mr. Thomas said after a long pause.
“There is?” Lou asked.
Mr. Thomas slammed his hand down on a large, square button on the console he’d just prepared. All around us, the ship whirred to life. I couldn’t help but laugh as I realized what Mr. Thomas was doing- what he’d done when he’d first picked me up.
“Louise Warren,” he said, unable to contain his smile. I caught a glimpse of Lou’s face as she realized something.
“What do you mean, the ship ‘can’t conceive of land?’ What does that even mean? Is the ship sentient?” Mr. Thomas chuckled.
“Listen carefully, Louise Warren,” he said, emphasizing her name in a near-perfect imitation of our Minnesotan accents, “If you want to come through this unscathed, don’t brace yourself.” He hit another button and pulled a lever, and the ship began to move.
I was tossed back in my harness, my butt brushing against the bulkhead. I couldn’t see Louise anymore, but I could hear her trying to form questions, her voice getting shriller as she went. The hum from the engines was too loud for me to make out her words, however, and eventually everything was drowned out by it. The ship jerked up violently, and Mr. Thomas lost his footing, sprawling back against the console behind him.
He caught himself and punched a few buttons on that console, before being thrown near Louise’s feet as the ship suddenly rocketed forward. The engines stopped straining almost as quickly as they’d started, and fell almost totally silent, giving way to Louise’s screams of terror and Mr. Thomas’s uproarious laughter.

Monday, January 21, 2013

Louise and the Death Skull ~~ Chapter One


This is chapter one of a Mr. Thomas prequel. This will be posted here and on my personal blog: http://guldukatandthedoctor.tumblr.com. These are the only two places that this story is allowed to be posted and read for free. If you see it posted anywhere else for free, report it to me immediately. All characters herein are © 2012 Emmaline Westlund. All rights reserved. (And for the record, I do go after thieves with everything I’ve legally got, so don’t fucking tempt me.)

One
“Lou, you should come with me. Please? I need to show you something.” My older sister, Louise, sat stoic on the sofa, her back perfectly straight and her legs crossed at the knee. She glanced at me over her book.
“And why would I want to come with you? What’s so special that you need to show me?”
“Oh come on,” I begged, “You know Mom doesn’t like me wandering alone.”
“So go play a video game. I’m busy.” She turned her full attention back to her book and I sighed. Mr. Thomas was waiting, and this time I didn’t want to leave alone. Nobody had believed me when I told them I’d been all across the universe last time.
Of course, that was probably because Mr. Thomas had dropped me back at the same second I’d left.
I still don’t know how he did that.
“I’ll let you nag me about my posture without me complaining about it,” I said, hoping to bribe her. She loved keeping things proper. Proper posture, proper etiquette, proper attire… Her eyes lit up at this idea.
“For three weeks,” she said, continuing to read. I grimaced. “And, you have to use your proper manners at all times.”
“But-”
“Well, if you don’t want to go for your walk,” she said with a shrug.
“Fine. Can we go now?”
“Ahem?”
I gritted my teeth. “All right. Now may we go? Please?”
She closed her book, looking at me with a grin. “Fetch your jacket, I’ll tell Mom where we’re going.” She stood up and made for the door, then stopped. “Where exactly are we going?”
“It’s a surprise!”
“Jenna…”
“Just tell her we’re going to the park.”
She flounced out of the room, rolling her eyes. Louise was four years older than me: fourteen years and two months old. It wasn’t often I could lure her into spending time with me.
But I couldn’t keep Mr. Thomas just for myself. I just hoped that she wouldn’t freak and tell our mom.
After another ten minutes of grumbling and stalling, Louise was finally ready to come out with me. I walked quickly, practically skipping. Lou, on the other hand, walked slowly, nose still in a book.
“Are you gonna read that the whole way?” I demanded as she almost walked into a stop sign. She shut it, scowling at me.
“This doesn’t look like the park.”
“We aren’t actually going to the park, doofus.”
“Well then where are we going?”
“I told you, it’s a surprise!” I said, a notable hint of whine to my voice. Lou stopped walking and sighed disgustedly.
“I’m not gonna move until you tell me where we’re going,” she said with a huff.
“Oh come on!” I said, balling my hands up into fists as I turned around to face her. Why did she have to do this now? We only had to go a little further and all would be revealed, why’d she have to always try to weasel out of everything? “It’s just past the bushes here. I swear, it’s awesome!”
“What is?” she asked, pushing her glasses up her nose with her finger and looking at me skeptically.
“We’re gonna miss it and I’m gonna hate you!” I stomped back to her, grabbed her arm and started pulling. No luck. I walked around behind her and started pushing.
“Get off my butt!” she shrieked, smacking me with her book, “We are in public, you little creep!”
“Is everything proper?” I cringed. She was supposed to see the ship first, not Mr. Thomas. She’d never understand.
Lou swatted me away and fixed her skirt. “My apologies, sir, my sister startled me. No need for alarm.”
“Jenna?” Mr. Thomas asked.
“How do you know her name?” Lou asked, taking a step back and slamming into me. I lost my balance and fell to the ground. She turned to face me. “How does he know your name?”
“Lou, calm down,” I begged.
“Oh, Jenna!” Mr. Thomas said, smiling when he saw me. He closed the space between us in two more steps and helped me up while Lou gawked.
“What is going on? Jenna, get away from him.”
“Lou-” I started.
“I mean it, Jenna, we gotta get out of here,” Lou said, grabbing my arm, “Leave her alone, you creep.”
“Unhand her,” was Mr. Thomas’s reply.
“Lou, stop!” I said, struggling against her as she pulled me away, “That’s Mr. Thomas!”
“Mr. Thomas doesn’t exist. That’s a pedophile and we’ve got to tell Mom!”
“Mr. Thomas!” I stretched my arm back toward him, reaching for him. I couldn’t shake my sister’s tight grip on my wrist.
“I am Mr. Thomas,” Mr. Thomas said, “and I’m really quite sure I exist, thank you.” His voice was thunderous and powerful without being intimidating. “I don’t appreciate being told I don’t. Now unhand my companion. There’s a nebula on the other side of the galaxy that’s got our names on it.”
“Told you,” I said, finally pulling my arm free. Louise grabbed for me again. “I wanted to surprise you. I was taking you to his ship!”
“What?” Mr. Thomas and Lou asked in unison. They both sounded shocked and mildly disgusted.
“Jenna, I’m not something you can bring to show and tell. People can’t know about me. Nobody but you can know about me. If the wrong person were to find out about me, I’d be arrested and vivisected quicker than you can say ‘Doctor Who,’” Mr. Thomas said, giving me a stern look.
“What’s vivisected mean?”
“They’d cut him open and study him. But they only do that on aliens. It’s on the History Channel all the time.”
“They do it to aliens?” I asked, worried.
“And that’s why you can’t go telling everybody about me. Now run along and get buckled while I grab your sister,” Mr. Thomas said, his expression softening. He turned his attention to Louise.
“I’m not going with you,” she said, backing away slowly. Mr. Thomas matched her pace, staying only a few feet away from her. I gawked for a moment.
“Jenna, get in the ship and get yourself seated comfortably,” Mr. Thomas said, keeping his eyes trained on Lou. I knew the second I turned around that she’d try to run and Mr. Thomas would snatch her up. I waited a moment longer, only to be scolded with, “Now, Jenna, or we’ll just go back and research for your next history test in real time like we did last time you came with me.”
I sighed and turned to walk to the ship. As I looked through the trees to find the hatch, I heard Lou’s muffled screams. He’d gotten her, all right.
As I climbed into the ship, Mr. Thomas caught up to me. I glanced back as I was about to enter, and saw Lou fighting against him as hard as she could. “Calm down, Lou, nothing bad’s gonna happen!” I looked up and down the corridor inside the ship before stepping in and deciding to go left. It was always difficult to tell which way was which when he had the ship cloaked.
“Wrong way,” he said as he ascended the ramp in a few long strides. He let Louise go as he closed the hatch, and she threw herself at it despite it being closed already.
“Let us go!” she cried, “I won’t tell anyone about you I swear just let us go!” She was on her knees, tugging at Mr. Thomas’s sleeve. “Please don’t kill us!”
He looked at her the same way a cow would look at an oncoming train and said, “Why would I want to kill you?” He then pulled his arm away and gestured for me to follow him before turning and walking in the opposite direction from where I’d gone. I hurried to catch up, dodging my sister’s attempt to grab me once more.
Mr. Thomas kept his pace deliberately slow to allow my short 10-year-old legs to catch up. When I did, I hugged him around his waist from behind. “I’m sorry I told her about you,” I said, thinking about how disappointed he’d looked outside. He stopped walking and turned to face me. He crouched down until he was my height and looked me in the eye.
“It’s all right, love. You’re a child and children make mistakes,” He said with a shrug and an indifferent expression. “But if you tell anyone about me again without clearing it with me first, I will not come back. Do you understand?” I nodded, and he hugged me, patting me on the back. “You’ve no idea how much I’ve missed you, Jenna. It’s only been a few weeks for you but it’s been many years for me.”
“You went traveling without me?” I asked as we started walking again. I felt a little hurt.
“Of course. It’s my life. All I do is travel. Never stay in one place too long, that’s my motto.”
“But you said you’d take me with you.”
“You can’t run with me forever. Not now, at least. Maybe when you’re old enough to leave home.”
“But-”
“No buts, young lady. Now. About that nebula…”

Sunday, January 20, 2013

Forever trying new things

The mimic bands the keyword opposite the given earth. 
I'm setting up my blog through a few different get-paid-to-blog sites, and the above sentence had to appear on my blog to prove that it is my blog.

Saturday, January 19, 2013

Louise and the Death Skull

It is starting to seem that Louise and the Death Skull may wind up being a novella instead of a short story. I forgot how exciting it can be to write a new character into a story.

But our next new character is Louise, Jenna's older sister. She's four years older than her. She looks nearly identical to her sister, except for older and with a better fashion sense. She's exceedingly prim and proper, and doesn't like to waste time on anything idle.
Louise Francesca Warren prefers reading to anything else, including sleep and food. She never goes anywhere without at least one book on hand.
Her hair is kept pulled back with a pencil, and she uses that pencil to make notes in the margins of her books. Someday she hopes to be a teacher.

Saturday, January 12, 2013

Mr. Thomas

In my new series of stories and books, The Adventures of Mr. Thomas, there's only about four characters that will really have more than two lines of dialogue throughout the whole series. Today I'll talk about one of those characters:  Mr. Thomas.

Mr. Thomas is based HEAVILY on a variety of other characters I've had a lot of exposure to lately. To name a few: The Doctor, Giles, Mr. DeMartino, and Tyler Durden.
He's an alien, but as of yet it's not been revealed where he's from, so I'm not going to spoil the story for you lot. He's got a ship that can travel space and (if he's really careful with it) time. It breaks down repeatedly throughout the series. Mostly whenever they attempt to travel time. It's a very old ship. He calls it many things throughout the series, most commonly "sweetheart."
My dream cast for him is Chris Eccleston.
He's traveled alone up until he first found Jenna Warren when she was only 9 years old. He also briefly traveled with her mother when she was in her teens, but never for as long as he's traveled with Jenna.

Thursday, January 10, 2013

The Adventures of Mr. Thomas Prequel story #1


 “You aren’t what I expected,” I said, breaking the horrible silence that had fallen. He looked up from the console he was repairing.
“Yeah? And what did you expect? Little green dogs from Mars?” His attention turned back to the console and I continued to pace. All around us- outside his ship, trying to get in- were hundreds of thousands of ants. Ants the size of Dalmatians.
“But you look human!” I exclaimed after a few more insufferable moments, “You can’t just tell me that you’re an alien and expect me to believe it!”
“Jenna, I need you to do one thing for me now,” he said without looking up, “can you do just one little thing for me?”
“Why should I?”
“Just shut up and let me repair my ship so we don’t die.”
“What?”
“Are you deaf or just plain stupid? I told you, girl, shut up and let me work!”
I bit my tongue and kept my mouth shut, continuing to pace back and forth. Tears welled in my eyes and I tried desperately not to cry. His ship seemed like it was larger on the inside from what it’d seemed, then again, I’d never been inside a real spaceship before. Perhaps they were all larger on the inside. I just wished I knew how to open the door.
“Why can’t you just let me go?” I asked after an unbearably long silence had passed. He snorted with frustration.
“I told you, Jenna. Shut up a minute and let me work. I can’t do this and explain what I’m doing at the same time. At least, I can’t do that as fast as I need to do this. So for the last time, let me work.
“Is this really the end of the world?” I asked. He looked up at me, making fierce eye contact.
“Yes. It is.” I froze in my spot, staring at him. He turned back to the console, his hands moving quicker than I’d ever seen anyone move.
“But, ants?”
“Here’s the thing: It’s never the thing you expect it to be.” He reached up and hit a couple of buttons on a console above his head, and the entire ship jerked, sending me flailing to my butt. His eyes locked on me again and he let out a maniacal laugh. “Here we go, Jenna Warren.”
The ship jerked again, and I was thrown forward. My head hit the bulkhead, my vision blurred, and everything went black.