|| -------- -- -----  A E R I E   O B L I V I A N A . singular book of text wandertainment by Frank Edward Nora ------------------- ----------- THE MILDRED CORK--CUP 10--"CYAN" <-------  ||  Severe Repair  ||  The Mildred Cork  ||  -------> (Cup SRmc010, Created v2 (6/7/99), Copyright 1999) = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = I headed for a little park with a shorefront. Kind of a crummy place--no sand to really speak of, just rocks and overgrowth. But there was this pier kind of thing that went out, like this metal thing, and at the end would be a pretty good place to throw the shaving; it was pretty deep and stuff. It took a while to get there, cuz the traffic was so bad. But I finally made it, just as the sun as completing its set. There were a few people about, but not many. A bunch of dog walkers. Very average conditions. So I went to the end of the pier, my anticipation electric. There was a little bit of a breeze, so I was exceedingly careful opening the bag and grasping the shaving again. Huh. It was still hot--as hot as it had been before I put it back in the bag. Huh. Guess it was primed and rarin' to go. I closed my eyes and reached out with my mind--to see if anything came to me. Not much did--just a hungry feeling. A hunger for the mammoth body of water before me. The breeze shifted seaward, and I let the shaving go. I watched as it arced and then hit the water. When it did, a thin beam of white light shot up from it, and continued rising for a few seconds before it faded. I took this to mean that it was working. Whew. I stood there for a long time, waiting to see if there'd be any more such signs. The scroll said, it would take a day for Mildred to form. I felt like waiting there for her the whole time. I couldn't imagine the thought of going to sleep that night, no way. Maybe I would just stay here--as long as the police didn't chase me away. Yeah. About forty minutes later there were still no further signs, it was really dark out, and there wasn't a soul in sight. The sounds of the sea and a nearby highway came to my ears. It was a pleasant cool, the kind of weather you just want to luxuriate in. And why not? The cool supernatural stuff I'd always craved was finally starting to happen. Mildred would be a wonderful companion on the roads yet to be travelled... Oh. I was getting tired. I though I saw two glowing blue eyes by the rocks. Huh. Coulda sworn. Could it be... Could it be Mildred--could she have finished early? I didn't know--it just didn't synch. It was so sudden. It could have been--I don't know--reflection of car lights off of blue glass? No way, but I convinced myself it was something like that. Still--it could be some other supernatural force associated with Mildred... I closed my eyes, sat down, and began to fantasize about what I'd do with Mildred as soon as we were alone together. Oh yes. This calmed me down a lot, or at least, made some pretty loud mental white noise to block out the apprehension over what I saw. But yeah--I was gonna be all over her. I imagined just what she'd look like. My tongue would be everywhere on her--I wouldn't miss a single spot. Oh yeah... I licked my lips and wriggled around a little. Then I heard something. Or FELT something. I stopped wriggling and retreated my tongue into the safety of my mouth. I kept my eyes closed with the brief idea of feigning sleep, but a shadow crossed my eyelids and the value of pretending to be asleep was questionable at best. So I opened my eyes. A thing stood above me, only a few feet away. A massive black shape, with two glowing cyan eyes. It looked--I don't know. It looked like a minotaur or a devil or a grim porter or something. I remained motionless and just looked up at it. Could this be Mildred? Was it some sick joke, played by the scroll guy, or even Sally Sust? Maybe she gave me the scroll on one Cork and switched it for another? Why, though? I thought about just jumping into the water. That would mean standing up, turning my back to the thing, climbing over the railing, and jumping off. If it had bad intentions, I didn't think I'd make it through all these steps. I tried though. Didn't get too far. As soon as I made a move, the thing was all over me. It picked me up and then threw me down. Damn it hurt. Then it--I don't know--punched me on the side of my torso. Unbelievable pain. I tried to fight back, but it only amounted to insignificant flailing. Then... my hair! Ow! Pulling my hair... no... LIFTING me by the hair... I looked into those horrific eyes for a moment before the creature delivered a powerful blow to the side of my head. That was it for staying conscious--goodbye. -------> ------------------- ----------- -------- -- -----