| Sunny side up October 12 2001 at 1:41 PM |
Harbinger of Death |
| The Harbinger of Death groggily opened his
eyes and glanced at the clock. His eyes drifted back shut for a moment,
then snapped wide open as the time finally registered in his mind. “Good
heavens!” he exclaimed, jumping out of bed. He had barely slept the
night before, thanks to the few Debs who were already dead. Although they
were in a separate afterlife house built just for them, they still had the
music so loud that he heard it clearly in his own death mansion, for most
of the night. He quickly grabbed his gear, brushed his teeth, and went out to resume his duties. He wished that just once the Debs would make it easy on him. But then, that would probably never happen, and he’d have to learn to live with it. ***************************** Calee and Calico sunned themselves in the quad. It was a lovely fall day, sunny but pleasantly cool, so they’d thrown down a nice flannel blanket on which to enjoy it. “Mmmm, I love fall,” sighed Calee. “It’s just right. If only it would stay this way.” “But if winter never came, we couldn’t have snowball fights,” Calico said. “I don’t like snowball fights. Too many people put pebbles in the snowballs.” “But if we didn’t have snowball fights, we wouldn’t get all wet and cold.” “I fail to see how this is supposed to be a plus.” “If we didn’t get all wet and cold, we couldn’t snuggle by the fire in big fluffy robes with our heroes.” Calee paused. “You know, sometimes you are so smart.” “That’s why you keep me around,” Calico said, smiling. “I’m here,” said Antares, joining them on the blanket. “And here are your pumpkin bars. Nydiva just made them.” “Oh, good,” Calee said. “What a good assistant you are.” “But that’s not all,” she said. “I have some warm apple cider, too.” She pulled out a thermos and some small cups.” “She doesn’t pay you enough,” said Calico, munching on a pumpkin bar. “I know,” Antares said. “Wait for me!” said Forget Me Not. “Wait for me…I’ve got the s’mores!” “S’mores?” Calee said. “But it’s not dark yet, and we can’t build a campfire for s’mores until it’s dark.” “She made them in the microwave,” Antares said. “She’s a good assistant, too.” ”Thanks, Boss,” FMN grinned. She looked around. “Honey? Did you get lost?” “I’m coming, I’m coming.” Lizard King trudged out, carrying long lounge chairs. “I swear, you women have to bring everything everywhere you go. You can’t just keep it simple.” “That’s why we keep you men around, dear, to carry our luggage.” FMN patted Lizard King on the cheek and smiled sweetly. “What on earth is that?” wondered Antares, looking up in the sky. It looked like the sun, but it was another entity altogether, and much larger and brighter. “I have no idea,” Calee murmured. “It’s sure getting hot all of a sudden,” Calico noted. “Yes, VERY hot!” Forget Me Not tried to fan herself. In fact, it was uncomfortably hot, but they were still staring at this huge ball of light directly above them. They couldn’t do anything but look at it and squirm a little bit. The Harbinger looked down through his magnifying glass at the little Debs, who, unbeknownst to them, were now as small as ants. He kept the focused beam of light on them until they sizzled and smoked, and soon were tiny little ant-sized cinder spots on the ground. |
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