Each Tuesday, rather than a POSSIBLY
IRRITATING ESSAY, I'd like to both challenge you and lend a helping hand. I
generate more speculative and teen story ideas than I can ever use. My family
rolls its collective eyes when I say, "Hang on a second! I just have to
write down this idea..." Here, I'll include the initial inspiration
(quote, website, podcast, etc.) and then a thought or two that came to mind.
These will simply be seeds -- plant, nurture, fertilize, chemically treat,
irradiate, test or stress them as you see fit. I only ask if you let me know if
anything comes of them.
H Trope: Alien
Geometries – “Even the very body of a particularly squamous thing may exhibit
this, though more often it shows up in architecture as physically-impossible
buildings—occasionally sentient themselves.”
Xiaoyan Tahtawi
shook her head and said, “Egypt hardly qualifies as the originators of
architecture! They’ve only been building things for five thousand years! China
is the true parent of the science!”
Murad Sūn
harrumphed and said, “I am sorry to disappoint you, but the ‘Chinese Dynasties’
didn’t even begin until fifteen hundred years before the Common Era began.”
“I’m not talking
about official dynasties! I am, however talking about Civilization.” Murad
rolled his eyes, he could hear her tone of voice capitalizing the word and
ascribing it solely to her forebears. While he was prepared to admit that
Chinese architecture was impressive in its own ancient and pretty way, they had
nothing like the Pyramids at Giza.
Of course,
technically the Egyptians didn’t actually have them at this time, either. He
said, “That’s beside the point!”
“This stupid class
we’re taking is talking about the civilizing influence of architecture – how
can the fact that the ancient Chinese built the Great Wall to protect their
civilization...” Xiaoyan said.
Murad laughed,
“Your ancestors built your Great Wall to keep the barbarians from stealing
their food and women!”
“I wouldn’t call
constructing tombs for dead old guys the pinnacle of an evolved intelligence.”
The stared
silently down from the highest point of Jingshan at the Forbidden City. Their
tour group was out running around the city today, leaving them behind – most of
the group figured they were going to…Murad snorted. He wasn’t “that” kind of
guy. Xiaoyan wasn’t his kind of girl, either. The thing he loved most about her
was her razor-sharp mind and uncharacteristically Western way of speaking it. “Let’s walk over,” he said abruptly.
“What?”
“To the Forbidden
City. Let’s go.”
“That’s reserved
for the last day of the tour.”
He grabbed her
hand and pulled her along, “Then they shouldn’t have put us up in this
apartment and they shouldn’t have left us alone.”
She said, “They
put us up here because it was cheap and they left us alone so that they could
have something new to gossip about.” He thought for a moment that she was going
to resist, but she said instead, “You’re right. Let’s go over there.”
They bounded down
the steps to the first floor when Xiaoyan said, “Wait! What if they left
someone behind to watch us?”
Murad paused and
scowled. “You’re right. Come on.” He grabbed her hand. One of the other guys in
the group had discovered a sub-basement when they were poking around the house.
They weren’t technically supposed to go down there, but most of them had gone anyway. They’d come up talking about stacks of covered furniture and an
entire wall of books. “Who reads books anymore?” He said.
“Down into the
library? There’s a door there?”
“I think so. Come
on.” They rattled down the stairs and into the library. It was dark. Cool. It
obviously smelled of books. Xiaoyan flipped on the lights and the room seemed
to suddenly lean into them. She cussed in Chinese. Murad cussed in Arabic and
they took a step backward to the stairs and were suddenly staring across the
room, looking at the open basement door they’d just come down. The door closed.
“What...” Murad
exclaimed.
“What did you do?”
“Nothing! You were
with me! We walked down the stairs and into the library and now…”
“I know, idiot! I
was here, too! Let’s get back upstairs before…”
There was a knock
at the basement door across the room from them…
Names: ♀China, Egypt; ♂ Egypt, China
No comments:
Post a Comment