Tuesday 16 February 2010

The Search

Relief swept over the group as they left the bus, Jane had managed to stop the driver’s constant ramblings, but only by attempting to get everyone to sing Auld Lang Syne. Only attempting of course, as actually singing it is of course impossible because no-one can ever remember anymore than the first verse, after which point the singing becomes more of a sort of low mumble of utter embarrassment. But now, freed at last, they stumbled out into the hamlet that was Dunraer.
As they lay collapsed on the ground the realisation that they still had twenty or so houses to search dawned upon them. Sure it was fantastically noble and all that trying to stop a madman bent on doing something, they weren’t sure of what yet, but it had to be something crazy thought Hans. Diabolical too, and probably mad, but definitely evil. Then it dawned upon him that just thinking of random, malicious adjectives were probably getting him absolutely nowhere.
Chloe, however, had begun organising people. She’d sent Ted and Mervin off in one direction, and Jane in the other, she realised Hans was gonna be a bit of a handful at the moment. She knew it wasn’t that he didn’t have the motivation, he was just naturally lazy, and things seemed to happen to him rather him causing things to happen. Hans had by now rolled over and was he was grimacing and holding his back. Just what Chloe needed right now, not only was he being his usual lazy self, but he wanted her to be all sympathetic to his blatantly fake injury. “Give up!” she said in a rather no-nonsense attitude.
Hans felt hard done by, he’d just landed on top of a rather weirdly formed rock, and now instead of trying to do something about the considerable agony, Chloe was far too busy moaning at him. “Look,” he said as he pulled the rock out to show her, “I’m not kidding!”
She just stared at it, then him.
“The least you could do is to apologise!” said Hans, rather upset.
Instead Chloe turned round and shouted after Mervin, Ted and Jane, “We’ve found it!”
“Where?” asked Hans
“Sometimes I wonder if you actually have a brain in there,” Chloe replied tapping his head. “Did you even bother looking at what you’re holding? I don’t know about you but I haven’t seen many unicorn horn-shaped rocks before.”