codenamewanderlust: (a novel by josephine march)
Codename: Wanderlust ([personal profile] codenamewanderlust) wrote2017-05-26 07:58 pm

LJ Idol 10: Week 19: Invitation

The Herald

There is a shadow hovering in the corner.

Julie cannot turn to her head to look but she knows it is there. Just as she knows her hand is at the end of her arm but she cannot move it. She cannot turn her head; she cannot run.

She can breath though,and she can scream.

She does not want to scream but she opens her mouth anyway and begins to to speak in garbled and odd sentences. She is channeling the speech of the masters of the unseen realms that live in in-between spaces by the cliffs and the valleys that are not valleys but roads and the dessert sands. Among doorways and within the dimensions of time.

The shadow descends and they become one and they begin to rise from the bed. They reach the door and stand on the periphery of all things. They step through into the great unknown, the great beyond, the place where here is not there because it was not the here, but the journey.

Julie gasps awake in the light of the afternoon sun streaming in through the holes in the curtains; the dust swirling in the light. Her head aches and she wants to go back to sleep but feels too restless now.

She moves to sit on the side of the bed and slowly rises to her feet. She slips her robe over her shoulders as she walks toward the washroom.

She stops in the doorway suddenly recalling the feeling in her dream with a vivid clarity when she catches her reflection in the mottled reflecting glass above the sink. Then she remembers with vivid clarity cutting her hair with a pair of sewing shears the night before but then she remembers that there is more hash and moves to the window sill where she left it.

She props herself on the end of the cabinet next to the window breathing in a little hair of the dog and trying to recall more of the visions of the night before.

She reaches into the pocket of her robe and retrieves her notebook but instead of making notes she slides out the small cream colored card she’d stuck in the back.

She’s still feeling impetuous, running her fingertips over her scalp recalling the snip of the scissors as her hair fell away. After she rereads the invitation for the tenth time since she recieved it weeks ago she heads back into the bedroom and begins to pack.

She gets to the end of the pier just in time to watch the last airship lift away from it’s mooring and sail into the clear blue sky. She drops her leather case onto the damp boards beneath her feet and sits on it panting and shading her eyes to watch “The Sailing Junkband” get smaller and smaller.

She's walking back to the boarding house when she sees the tinkerer's cart. She looks back up the street weighing her options. She's heard traveling tinkers will sometimes take on passengers and she did go through all the trouble of packing. She decides it's worth a try before giving up entirely.

He is standing beside the caravan holding a flaming torch and working on some gizmo when she approaches with her hood up to hide her unseemly cropped locks.


"Excuse me, I am looking to ride west,” Julie says loudly, akwardly.

He looks up from his work and turns off the torch.

"What reason have yuou to be heading west?" The tinker asks in a watery voice.

"I'd rather not say."

He nods and turns back to his instrument.


"Someone I love is in trouble," she says. "I need to warn them. I am — it’s not safe for me here."

"It isn’t safe for an unescorted lady most places in the twelve kingdoms, I think you will find."

"I can take care of myself."

"Of that I have no doubt. Do you believe one can find what they are looking for by running away?" He shakes his head in response to his own question. "You girl do not know what you seek and so you will never know when you have found it."


"I can’t stay here," she says, it is the truth at least.

"Can you drive a mech horse?" He asks motioning to the steam powered mechanical next to his cart.

"I can learn," she says.


"The truth suits you young miss."

"You know I am older than I look."

"To be sure, but, when you are as old as I am there is naught that surprises ye much."

"So will you take me along?"

The tinker smiles and waves a beckoning hand to her.

[identity profile] swirlsofblue.livejournal.com 2017-05-27 11:22 am (UTC)(link)
Love the tone of this piece, intriguing.

[identity profile] i-17bingo.livejournal.com 2017-05-27 08:44 pm (UTC)(link)
I like how you didn't explain specifically what made her in a big hurry. You just gave us her reaction to it, and that was enough. I'm curious about Julie, and about her steampunk surroundings.

[identity profile] rayaso.livejournal.com 2017-05-28 02:25 pm (UTC)(link)
The opening dream was fascinating, and I would love to know why she needs to leave, and why she cut her hair. There's a lot of mystery here!

[identity profile] penpusher.livejournal.com 2017-05-29 07:03 pm (UTC)(link)
You've left a lot to the imagination and a lot of varied corridors to explore, both within this world of twelve kingdoms and within the mind of Julie, who is both haunted and haunting...

[identity profile] beeker121.livejournal.com 2017-05-31 12:04 am (UTC)(link)
That dream is Lovecraftian, and I'm a little glad she missed her invited airship ride if it was in fact related at all. Much better to make her own way west.

[identity profile] eternal-ot.livejournal.com 2017-05-31 11:16 am (UTC)(link)
I wonder where she's headed and what adventure awaits her. This made for an interesting read. Hope you get back to this world soon.

[identity profile] bleodswean.livejournal.com 2017-05-31 02:35 pm (UTC)(link)
This is a riveting beginning to something much bigger! Great and quick world building! You've also begun a strong character sketch! I'm a sucker for dreams and this one pulled me right in!

[identity profile] lolaslaughter.livejournal.com 2017-06-01 04:43 am (UTC)(link)
I love the dream in the beginning!! You left me so curious about where she was headed and where she's going now!! I can't wait to find out more about this character and the Tinkerer seems like he would have an intriguing story himself!! Another piece that I love from you!! ❤️❤️

[identity profile] halfshellvenus.livejournal.com 2017-06-01 07:08 am (UTC)(link)
Well, this looks like the beginning to an interesting tale!

do not know what you seek and so you will never know when you have found it.
True and very nicely phrased.

I find myself wondering what the invitation said, and what put Julia in the position of having such horrible nightmares that she just wants to leave where she is altogether.

[identity profile] flipflop-diva.livejournal.com 2017-06-01 10:11 pm (UTC)(link)
Awww, that ending was too soon! I'm so intrigued by where she is going and how she'll get there. Great start!

[identity profile] murielle.livejournal.com 2017-06-01 11:12 pm (UTC)(link)
Must know more! This has the feel of an epic story, and I am definitely on board. (Pun! See pun?) I want to know more about Julie, and about this wise old tinker.

Brava!

[identity profile] encrefloue.livejournal.com 2017-06-02 12:37 am (UTC)(link)
The vision, so deftly painted, seemed to leak its influence throughout the rest of the piece. Like there was this presence just pulsing underneath. What an intriguing tableau you've crafted!