Picture 2
Samantha Lee’s Picture Choice: 2
Title: No
"No."
"No?"
"You heard me; I said no."
"I did say please."
"I know. I was listening. It was very impressive. I'm still saying no."
"Well, why?"
"Why what?"
"Why are you saying no?"
Cat looks at me as though I've lost my mind. "I happen to enjoy not being grounded, you know. Da only finally forgave me for the last time I went along with one of your ideas less than a fortnight ago. My birthday is in three weeks. I am not risking it. No."
I roll my eyes and throw up my hands. "We only got found out the last time because of your cat triggering that stupid charm. And there's no charm to trigger this time around."
"Rav, you want us to go tomb-raiding in Egypt; someone's going to notice."
"No one noticed when we redecorated Easter Island."
Sighing, Cat shakes her head and begins to pace back and forth across her balcony. It's night, the crisp air haunted by the scent of flowers blooming in her private gardens below. Two cats, huge black beasts more on par with tigers than house pets, prowl along her rail and she pauses to pet them every now and then. She seeks comfort in the touch, but more than that, it grounds her, lets her see through the chaos in her brain to the real world. It's one of the reasons her father allows her to keep so many of the beasts around, but then he would understand best. "They noticed, Rav," she tells me, snapping me out of my thoughts, "they just didn't realize it was our doing."
"That's because we are geniuses who can cover our tracks like nobody's business, especially when we're working together. Enchanting those Easter Island statues to date to specific centuries - some in the future - was particularly brilliant, no?"
My little sister snorts, folds her arms across her chest, and turns her back on me. It's a move she's pulled on me countless times since our childhood and has yet to succeed in deterring me, although I find it cute when she tries. "No, creating the ruins of a workshop was brilliant," she informs me, her tone haughty. One guess whose idea the workshop was. "But one successful excursion does not mean this one will be and, again, Rav, my birthday is three weeks away; I am not okay spending it in my room."
"You won't! And this will be fun, sis, swear."
Cat tilts back her head and sighs. "Fine, run your plan by me one more time."
I grin, feeling my impending win. "Well, Egypt is riddled with all those tombs, right?"
"Hmm, I had heard something to that effect, yes."
"Well, I found this one particular tomb that's still intact; the mortals haven't found it yet and for all intents and purposes its basically forgotten and thus unspoiled."
"Unspoiled?"
"Still holding all of its treasures. It's got this wonderful atmosphere too. You can just picture it, can't you? Catching your first glimpse of it through a crack in the rocks, seeing the columns and carvings cut into the rockface, feeling that first stir of dry air as it carries the echoes of the past to you. And, plus, you know, camels."
Cat freezes midstep and slowly turns her head to stare at me. The expression on her face is priceless. "Camels. Rav, we're not only Fae, we're nobles! Surely there's some...non-camel alternative!"
"Camels? You don't like camels?" I blink, a little taken aback. "What have you got against camels?"
"Nothing! Absolutely...nothing. I just prefer alternate modes of transportation is all...not of the humped persuasion. What about...sand dragons? They'd make good steeds."
"No. We have to do camels. It's part of the experience."
"Fine, fine - and then what?"
"Then we look around. It'll be fun. Come on, Cat, where's your sense of adventure?"
Cat considers, sighs, and nods, caving in. I knew she would.
We go tomb-raiding.
FIVE WEEKS LATER
"No."
"No?"
"You heard me; I said no."
"I did say please."
"I know. I was listening. It was very impressive. I'm still saying no."
"Well, why?"
"Why what?"
"Why are you saying no?"
If looks could kill, Cat's would have had me poisoned, stabbed, shot, hung and beheaded all at once."I happen to enjoy not being grounded, you know. The last time I went along with one of your ideas, I ended up grounded for my birthday!"
I wince. "It wasn't as bad as all that, Cat, not really."
"Rav, you brought me to a tomb and neglected to let me know just how many mummies were interred there."
"I didn't know!"
"I'm a necromancer, Rav! You brought a necromancer to an ancient Egyptian warrior graveyard! Da's guard are STILL hunting them down!"
I wince again - she has a point about that - but I push on. Let it never be said I'm not persistent. "But, Cat, this time will be different."
"Oh? How so?"
I smile wide and spread my arms. "No camels!"
Cat blinks. "Rav?"
"Yes?"
"No."
I sigh. This just kept getting harder and harder each and every time. I couldn't understand it, no siree.
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