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Post by SF on Sept 7, 2005 18:03:12 GMT -5
Somehow, I've been overlooking this for a while, and have just now read through it... my apologies George! This is very good, I like it a lot... but the tea thing is nasty.... as I think tea is vomit inducing. Other than the tea, I love it, very witty ;D!
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Post by lampy on Sept 17, 2005 15:50:30 GMT -5
[glow=red,2,300][shadow=blue,left,300]I like!! really good keep going!![/shadow][/glow]
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Post by SF on Oct 21, 2005 19:08:57 GMT -5
I have PMed him today, and he said that he'd try to get back to it.
Pretty much, just write.
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Post by champ103 on Oct 22, 2005 4:53:54 GMT -5
Factory, part six
6 ‘In which Kimia declares that the airplane tea is ridiculously expensive’
‘Are you ready?’ Kimia’s mother asked. ‘Yes, mum,’ Kimia replied. ‘Suitcases packed?’ Kimia’s mother asked. ‘Yes, mum,’ Kimia replied. ‘Did you brush your teeth before you packed your toothbrush?’ Kimia’s mother asked. ‘Yes, mum,’ Kimia said. She sighed and walked towards the door. ‘Did you-‘ her mother began. ‘Mum,’ Kimia said sternly, jerking around. ‘Everything is ready.’ Her mother-who was holding a mug of tea as she stood nervously, leaning against the side of the kitchen doorway. ‘Okay,’ she said quietly, and took a sip. ‘I just wanted to make sure that-‘ ‘Mum.’ Kimia’s mother picked herself up from the side of the doorway and started striding towards the front door, where Kimia’s and James’s suitcases were sitting about a foot from. She peered out of the peephole carefully and sighed when she returned. ‘It’s late,’ she said. ‘You could miss the flight…’ As Kimia’s mother started to mumble to herself about all the problems with the pick-up car being late could cause, Kimia walked over to the window, and perched herself carefully onto the windowsill. Making sure the curtain was brushed out of the way; she stared at the road, her eyes taking her along the path and past the front garden gate, where a blank road awaited. They had been told that a car would be there to pick her and her guardian from their house at ten o’clock, and as it was approaching ten minutes past the given time, Kimia began to allow her thoughts to mean something and properly get inside her head. In a true Snicket style, Kimia had been told that she and James would be escorted to the airport in a long black car with tinted windows, and even a VFD insignia stitched onto the inside of it. She was looking forward to everything-the car journey, her first experience on a plane, seeing America and the hotel she would be staying in, and of course entering the factory. It seemed so close after weeks and weeks of waiting. Two days later she would be standing at the gates around this time, if she hadn’t already entered the factory by then. Kimia smiled to herself as the rampaging feet of James rushed down the stairs, and she turned her head to see him with a long coat and a scarf wrapped around his neck. ‘Are we late?’ he cried, rushing towards the door as a hand spread out by his side in preparation to pick up his luggage. ‘The car is,’ their mother explained, as she put her empty mug of tea on the small coffee table, and started walking over to James. ‘If it doesn’t arrive soon, I’ll-‘ ‘It’s here!’ Kimia cried, as the long vehicle parked outside the front gate. She ran over to the front door of her house and slung her backpack round her back as she used her free hand to scoop up her small suitcase. The flight back was only a day after the visit to the factory, and so Kimia didn’t see the need to take much stuff with her. The suitcase was almost entirely filled with clothes, and her backpack had some old CD’s and some books inside to keep her entertained in the car, or on the plane. ‘Have a,’ Kimia’s mother said, as she wrapped her arms around her daughter,’ great time,’ she hastily added after wiping a tear from her eye. ‘I will,’ Kimia explained with a smile. ‘I’ll tell Mister Snicket you said ‘hi’.’ Her mother gave a smile and a little laugh, before giving James a hug and a pat on the back, a similar ritual to Kimia’s. ‘I’ll see you in a few days,’ she said, as she opened the front door for her children. She watched and waved from the door as Kimia and James approached the car, and as two men with a combination of two eyebrows between them helped put their suitcases into the trunk of the car. Kimia gave a final wave as a man opened a door for her, and she disappeared into the car, James following her and sitting beside her. And with that, the black car started its long journey.
‘Would you like a drink?’ the airhostess asked. Kimia was sitting on the small public plane, James beside her. The third seat in their row was empty, and instead, James had placed his own small bag there. ‘I…’ she began and turned to James. ‘Would you like a drink?’ she asked. ‘Sure,’ James murmured, and fished an English money note out of his pocket. ‘Two cups of tea,’ he requested. Seconds later, their money was taken, two cups of tea had been handed to them, and James hadn’t received any change for the drinks. ‘This airplane tea is ridiculously expensive,’ Kimia declared angrily, as the airhostess walked off, leaving her and James alone again. The younger of the two placed the book they were reading down on their lap, and reached out to their cup of tea. They took a gulp of it, as the hot liquid ran down their throat. Kimia almost coughed it up again, as did James. ‘That was…’ she muttered, pulling a face as she swallowed it. ‘Disgusting?’ James finished, placing his tea down on the small table that extended from the seat in front of him. Kimia nodded and did the same as her brother. ‘So, are you looking forward to the big day?’ James asked. Kimia gave him a frozen look. ‘No, I’m dreading it,’ she said sarcastically. James snorted and gave a chuckle. ‘What do you think Mister Snicket will be like?’ he asked. Kimia shrugged. ‘Mysterious,’ she replied. James smiled. ‘And what about the other five children?’ he then questioned her. Kimia rolled her eyes. The two of them were quiet for the rest of the plane trip-James was rereading the new Lemony Snicket book again, and Kimia slowly drifted into dream as the plane carried them from England to America. It was a long journey, but when it finally landed, it only seemed to Kimia like it had been an hour or so. The two of them collected their luggage at the San Francisco airport, and they left. They were both excited about visiting the United States of America, and they were both very excited about having this small holiday. But as they travelled around the local area, had an expensive meal, checked into a luxurious hotel, as promised, and even as they rested on the soft, double beds that were in their hotel rooms, the only thing they were looking forward to was the grand ceremony the next day, where they would find themselves at the factory, and they were most excited about what they would find inside. - Kimia opened her eyes. It was the morning she had been looking forward to. Everything was quiet around her as she sat up and gave a yawn, stretching her arms and legs, wiping her tired eyes. James was in the other bedroom of the hotel room they were staying in, and Kimia quickly tiptoed over to the door of his room, and peeked inside. James was asleep, snoring away and clutching onto his pillow, but another thing caught Kimia’s attention. His digital alarm clock that was rested on the bedside table was announcing that it was only four in the morning, and yet Kimia felt so excited she wouldn’t be able to get back to sleep. She pondered over whether or not she should wake her brother, but she decided not to, and crawled back to her own bed, where she picked up her copy of the new book, and smiled as she leafed through the pages to one of the last, where it had a mysterious picture of the author she was to meet that day. She wondered what she would ask him, as she read through the small paragraph beside the picture. How is he connected to the Baudelaires? What happened to them next? Was he the mysterious man in chapter ten? She couldn’t help but think of more and more questions as she sat and read the paragraph again and again, peering at the picture between every sentence. When eight o’clock arrived, Kimia had fallen asleep, and James was now the excited sibling, except he showed less courtesy to waking his sister up, although maybe that was because it was late in the morning of March the fifth, and they now only had an hour before they were expected at the gates. The next hour was hurried as the two of them got dressed, had breakfast, brushed their teeth, made themselves look fancy and presentable, leave the hotel, and finally get into another car, similar to the one that had escorted them the day before. The V.F.D insignia was designed on the back, and the car was a harsh shade of black, same as the other. They both clambered in, and realized that it was the same inside as well, although they were too excited about where they were going to particularly care. The journey was a short one, because the hotel that Snicket had rented a room for them was the closest to his factory. Kimia thought that it was very generous of him to do this all, especially when he had been so secretive in the past. She couldn’t help but wonder why had taken all the trouble to do this, when previously, all she had heard from him was that he was on the run and trying to stay away from villainous people, but she decided not to tire herself with these thoughts, and as she stopped to look out the window, she saw that they had arrived. Outside the gates of the factory were two crowds-one of the left side, one on the right side, both kept back by a small makeshift fence. In between the two crowd were four children, facing the gates, with their parents doing the same beside them. James and Kimia left the car, thanking the driver for taking them to the factory, and hurriedly joined the lines, as the crowd watched, cheering for one reason or another, although some were still quite suspicious about the sixth ticket. Kimia wasn’t sure she cared much about the public’s opinion on her anyway. As Kimia took her place in the end of the line, she couldn’t help but feel a little bit nervous and skittish: she had been looking forward to this moment for so long that she had hardly even begun to think about what she’d do when it finally arrived. She turned her head slightly, so that she was looking t James, and saw her fellow five winners looking towards the gates. Some looked nervous, some looked confident: it was a fruit salad of emotions taking place right in front of the factory. Kimia recognized them all. PJ Thomas was standing a little bit closer to the gates then everyone else, and he was one of the children who was looking very confident, as Kimia had expected from someone with his character. His two hands were clasped together, as he gazed up, his nose sticking up into the air high. Beside him was the youngest of the winners, Pandora Morose was waving a plastic fairy wand at her mother, clapping childishly, giggling as she put some sort of spell on Erin Morose. The third winner, Shruti Scipio was standing with her arms folded, and a look of annoyance on her face. She was kicking at some pebbles in front of her, as some smacked against the metal of the gate, and some just rolled against the ground, her flip-flopped feet barely leaving the ground. Beside her was Michael Tee, who was peering around the gates. Kimia guessed that he was curious as to what would happen next, and out of the corner of her eye; she could even see him twitching and twisting his head to try and see more. The boy next to Kimia in the line was Derik Q Beaulieu, who was standing quietly, looking down at the ground as he listened to the music pumping into his headphones. Kimia wondered whether she should say ‘hello’ to him, since she found him the nicest of the five other winners. As she watched him, Derik started to head-bang, his long hair moving dramatically with his head. Kimia sighed, and looked forward like the rest of the winners, although as she did, Michael Tee apparently saw something, and he pointed out with a gasp. He was jumping up and down in glee as everyone turned their heads to see what he was pointing at. Everyone stared at the gates, as behind them, the factory doors slowly creaked open, Silence. The six children and their parents waited in anticipation for something else to happen-the crowds on either side of them waited quietly too, seizing opportunity for taking a photo, whipping out cameras. ‘What do you think-’ Kimia began to ask, turning to James, but something already answered her question. Shruti Scipio rushed up the gate, and kicked at the heavy metal bars. She was quickly accompanied by a curious Michael Tee, and PJ Thomas, as the three of them started kicking and punching at the gates, willing them to open, desperate to enter. Kimia watched as they tried to get it open, but it was quite clearly locked. She rolled her eyes, but something then suddenly happened. The gates slowly creaked open, pushing the three of the children back. It was certainly not done by their work, since it swung open as if it had suddenly been unlocked. Kimia didn’t have time to suspect anything, as the crowd stared at the six children and their guardians. Five of them walking forward, past the gates and approaching the front doors of the factory, one of which was open. Kimia and James froze, and watched the other five enter, before Kimia smiled happily, and entered Lemony Snicket’s factory.
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Post by Dante on Oct 22, 2005 5:58:14 GMT -5
Cool chapter, Dupin. I liked the reference to the events of the real most recent book. (And thanks for coming back to this.)
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Post by PJ on Oct 22, 2005 6:04:53 GMT -5
Yzay, you updated. Nice chapter, too. Stupid metal gate....
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Post by Charles Vane on Oct 22, 2005 11:50:18 GMT -5
My fairy wand broke. It was a sad day. Cute chapter, I'm glad you updated.
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Post by SF on Oct 22, 2005 12:49:48 GMT -5
Thank-you for updating this Dupin.
Great chapter. Also, another reason Kimia might have gotten up so early is because (I think) England is about 9 hours in front of California.
Don't slack on the next chapter.
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