Patchwork Universe

Yarrow · Posted: Wed Jan 21, 2004 3:08 pm Post subject: *Clang.... eee eee eee*

*Clang...* Something came out of the mists on the edge of a bridge, resolving indistinctly out of the pouring rain. *eee eee eee* A metal basket on wheels that squeaked rumbled across the bridge, pushed by the hunched-over shape of an elderly woman enveloped in a vile smelling oilskin.

"Lovely weather we're having," she muttered to herself as she paused to look over the edge of the iron bridge. "It'll be a wonder if his Eminence has a decent cup of tea on the whole grand high whatdyamacallit."

She took up the handles of her wheeled basket again and pushed it onwards. The rumbling of the wheels over the metal combined with a persistant squeak set up a grumbling noise that could doubtless be heard over on the other side of the bridge. As she maundered along, the old woman complimented it with her own series of muttered complaints.

Justice Paine · God Joined: 16 Dec 2003 Posts: 14 Location: Bridges

The fractious metal cries of the basket wheels found cawing answer ahead, returning like course mockery. A few dozen crows had settled across this section of the bridge, and thorny briar and thatch stuffed into every open angle gave evidence that the site had once been used for nesting, although no adolescents were to be found in this particular gathering.

The nearest few, strutting on the rails, watched the intruder sullenly, whilst those further on, that had settled between the footplates, stared in aparent hostile defiance.

Yarrow · Posted: Tue Feb 03, 2004 2:07 pm Post subject:

The wire basket came to a slow stop and the old woman considered the crows. Black beedy eyes watched her resentfully and she regarded them with much the same attitude.

After a moment she started to fumble in her pockets. The hunt yielded a broken comb, a cracked hand-mirror, a hank of wool and, finally, half a bath-bun. Crumbling it in her fingers, and inadvertantly getting crumbs stuck to her already-grimy fingerless gloves, the old woman let the crumbs of bun drop to the surface of the bridge where eddies of wind sent them rolling about among the crows.

Yarrow · Posted: Wed Feb 04, 2004 7:28 pm Post subject:

The crumbs blew hither and thither, getting trapped between small grooves and pits in the metal, but strangely not rolling off the bridge. The movement set the crows flapping and the old woman peered at them, trying to determine if any of them were eating the crumbs.

Turning back to her trolley, she siezed on a protruding shape. A moth-eaten old black umbrella of immense age and ending in a pronounced spike. Obvious to the raucous cries of the birds, Yarrow grasped the umbrella by the metal spike and turned to swing the handle to face the main bulk of crows in her path.

The handle was black and curved and ended in a razor beak end, with two black button eyes. Snapping the umbrella open from the reverse end Yarrow flapped it at the crows suddenly so that the folds opened like wings around the handle, giving the umbrella the appearance of a massive black bird.
"Awk, awk!" Yarrow screeched with parody at the crows. "Out of my way!"

And taking a firm grip on the trolley with her free-hand she propelled herself forward across the bridge.

Justice Paine · God Joined: 16 Dec 2003 Posts: 14 Location: Bridges

The crows ahead exploded upward in a flapping cloud of black, save for two stragglers fighting over a particularly large chunk of bath-bun. At the last moment, as the raised brolly cast them both into shadow, they too abandoned their ground, but still together and locked in combat, to plunge down towards the distant blue of the sea.

The spectators from the handrails joined their departing relatives shortly afterwards, although somewhat more lazily - as if to say that taking flight was their choice, and not some act of cowardice. From the bridge, Yarrow could see the whole murder, circling upwards in a pillar of lift, towards the distant and apparently peaceful top island. The battling crows dwindled to a single point far below, before becoming lost against the shadows on the sea.

Yarrow · Posted: Fri Feb 06, 2004 2:48 pm Post subject:

It took the trolly some time to slow down as Yarrow hauled back on the handle. Finally it came to a halt with a clang and a shriek from the squeeky wheel and she turned to look up at the flapping black shapes in the distance. Once satisfied that they were out of sight she paused to collect a black feather from one of the many nests and tucked it for safekeeping inside the umbrella before poking that back into her pile of oddments.

Wrestling the trolly onwards, Yarrow saw that she was nearing the end of the bridge.

Yarrow · Posted: Mon Feb 23, 2004 5:33 pm Post subject:

Yarrow had been wandering through the bottom island for some time. Tracks lead through the farmland and in the distance she glimpsed the arches of more iron bridges. But it seemed to be taking her a while to find the route up.

Pausing to catch her breath, she leant over the wire basket of the trolley and poked about in a desultory way among the contents. Suddenly something catch her eye and she seized on a shape bulging out of a lumpy black bag and yanked hard.

It came free suddenly, spilling a tide of other items into the heap of sacks but Yarrow ignored that: studying her prize. It was a wooden model, a canoe-shaped object with wide flat wings protruding from either side. Slim poles stood at the end of the wings and on the covered back of the canoe, with fans mounted at the top.

Huffing her breath out, Yarrow set the fans turning merrily and then, with a sudden motion, she threw the little model into the air. The winds of the island buffeted it up into the sky and quickly it was a little speck in the distance. Yarrow continued to squint into the sky after it and then, finally slumped down again with a sigh of relief.
"Well, that'll keep me occupied for a while," she said to herself. "I'm not one to kick my heels when there's work to be done." Taking hold of the trolley handle once more she pushed it into reluctant motion and set her sights on what appeared to be the nearest bridge.
"Now, let's see about finding that cup of tea..."

Yarrow · Posted: Tue Jun 01, 2004 9:44 pm Post subject:

Some time later found the old woman leaning wearily on the handle of the trolley, still having made no progress among the bridges.
"Well, bugger this for a game of soldiers," she said to herself. "I've tried to tell him what I was about but he's blatantly not in."

She hesitated and then shook her head. "I could hang about, I s'pose but this cloning business is already making my head ache something chronic, not to mention that the forms of transportation leave something to be desired... How's about some of that teleporting for a bit of a change."

And with that, she vanished.

ooc note: Yarrow has now left Bridges for Heaven.