Through the Cat Flap : A Novelette Written by Apricians!

[Fortis in Arduis]

It was an unusually cold London morning. Jenni could see her breath as she walked out of the basement flat of her parents' house on Haverstock Hill. She was wearing differing textures of black, punctuated with splashes of pink. She drew a Marlboro Lite out of its shiny packet, slowing slightly to light it. The postman was walking up as she walked down. Their eyes never met. Hers were always slightly hidden under a dark dyed-black fringe. No hurry today. Jenni turned up Regents Park Road, a window display of pretty frosted cupcakes catching her eye. Could they taste better than skinny feels? She pushed that thought to the back of her mind, tasting instead the acrid flavour of her pink-stained cigarette.

Across the road the Greek restaurant had just opened its doors for the coffee consumers. The manager waved at her, she waved back. His face had been a fixture of so many Sunday afternoons, since she could ever remember.

She turned down a side street onto Chalcot Place and walked up to the entrance of number twelve and rang the bell. Strangely, no-one answered, yet the door was ajar. She pressed her eyes against the window and shielded them from the low sun. There was music on the stand, and an empty coffee cup on table by the window.

Jenni cautiously opened the door and shouted, "Hey, it's Jenni! I brought you those old cassettes!"

[Osprey]

It was a misty morning in the Sylvanwood Mountains. The ice was just melting into the streams, birds perching upon the oak branches and snow swept off the Pine leaves.
The tall, handsome strange with deep set eyes and hair as golden as the rising sun was walking down the road with a sword within his hands. The crunch of the his steps was strangely eerie in the quiet atmosphere. He was the first of the adventurers lured down into this lonely ravine because of mana.

"Mana is the rarest and the most valuable metal found in the history of humankind. It has helped shape up some our most daunting architectural projects and ambitious metalworks. Countless lives have been....."
The old master's voice was like a fly's buzz to Elsie's ears. Her soft red curls were getting in front of her eyes as she tried to pay attention to that bearded old man in the ckass room. Then suddenly, she felt an urge to stare outside the window, (she was just sitting at the edge). She was enamored by the mysterious figure trudging down the thicket.
He was tall, blond and had two gorgeous blue diamonds in his face. His nose, was like a sculpture's art and lips were chiseled to perfection.
Elsie gasped. She had never seen such perfection in a male. But her scrounge for air, soon caught the attention of her fellow students. Most of the girls began seeing outside while the old master slowly came to his senses.
"Attention class!!!"

[Fortis in Arduis]

*sigh* ^ off-topic :shrug:

[Fortis in Arduis]

Jenni waited for an answer back. There was a noise upstairs.

"Hey! It's Jenni!", she shouted again.

She had known Sam since she was fourteen. They had met at school and had been best friends at various points, sometimes falling out, but since they were both on their gap year fate had thrown them together. A friend by default, but they had both changed, gone through phases like punk or grunge, spending time with the music crowd on Chalk Farm Road in different scenes which no longer seemed to matter quite so much. Without a peer group there was nothing to react against, except their own company and pressure from parents.

"I'm coming!", said a deep voice from upstairs, followed by the quick thunder of bare feet on bare wooden stairs.

Sam's parents house was sparsely decorated with ethnic objet d'arts and plain country furniture. It wasn't fashionable like those of the newer residents. Sam's father was a Professor of Anthropology who held opinions which would have horrified some of his colleagues as being "racist" had they known of them. Dr Openshaw had a particular affection for the Masai, having grown up in Kenya.

"Boo!", shouted Sam. Jenni shrieked realising that Sam had crept down the stairs of the mezzanine at the back of the house. She slapped him on the upper arm before following him back through to the back of the house.

"I brought those old cassettes you were asking about."

The cassettes were recordings of old punk bands, littered with obscene yet now antiquated language and ideals, a relic of a scene which had died. The only punks left in Camden now were Eastern European, often Czech.

"Wicked. Thanks for remembering.", said Sam, "How are you? I have been bored and James has been getting on my nerves. Mum and dad keep saying I should do some voluntary work."

"Well, I am supposed to be working for my dad in August. He said that it would only be temporary, until something else comes up. How can you not like your brother? He's so adorable.", she said, changing the subject.

"You don't have to live with him", said Sam.

It made sense. James was thirteen and knew everything. He was horribly precocious and enjoyed playing Chopin. Still, it sucked being an only child with a fussy mother. Jenni had moved into the basement flat a year before taking her A-Levels. Her parents seemed to want to control everything she did, yet, get rid of her. Trendy parenting she thought to herself; would she one day do the same thing?

Sam poured two glasses of apple juice and grinned through his wet hair and offered Jenni a bowl of pistachios, raising an eyebrow.

"I'm alright", she said, looking down.

Nothing tastes as good as skinny feels: How could she be afraid of a bowl of nuts? There were more calories in a glass of apple juice.

"We'll have to go outside if you want to smoke that.", said Sam.

Jenni had instinctively drawn a cigarette out of the packet. She put it back.

"Yes, I'm fine. It's funny but I miss everyone. They are all going places. Chloe is in Tanzania, teaching English. I feel that I should have done something similar. It's boring here. I mean, Camden is boring."

"I know what you mean, but I'd rather be here than digging a hole somewhere in the third world. I'll show you something if you come outside."

Jenni followed Sam towards the glass doors of the sun room, and out into the garden. The garden was south-facing with lots of sub-tropical plants, and a narrow pond. Sam was bare-footed on the gravel and happy to place his foot on solid stone and then the grass. The sun was beginning to draw the chill from the air.

"Look", he said pointing at the end of the garden, towards a structure Jenni had never seen before, "it's a studio. Dad says I can use it. We both could."

"Oh my God! You kept this very quiet!"

The studio had four north facing Velux windows on the roof and dark wood and glass doors. Inside she could see studio white walls, a grey linoleum floor and a battered old Chesterfield sofa and some of Sam's GCSE artwork on the walls, including the portrait of her. The painting had been one of his final pieces. The painting was dominated by shades of blue, and she looked hungry. It had been a true vision of her. Only Sam knew of her secret, but she was almost over it now. No-one else had to know and no-one had noticed.

[Jedthehumanoid]

*sigh* ^ off-topic :shrug:

I think he was trying to make it a little less Londoncentric;)

[Fortis in Arduis]

I think he was trying to make it a little less Londoncentric;)

No, it was a misunderstanding, resulting in more OT.

[Jedthehumanoid]

No, it was a misunderstanding, resulting in more OT.

I think I know what you're trying to do but I don't have the talent to help you. I do know a young man who has the talent but i wouldn't dare let him loose on here although I'm sure he'd appreciate the Cigarette forum:p

[Fortis in Arduis]

I think I know what you're trying to do but I don't have the talent to help you. I do know a young man who has the talent but i wouldn't dare let him loose on here although I'm sure he'd appreciate the Cigarette forum:p

Invite him. The Apricity is a mind-expanding experience.

[Jedthehumanoid]

Invite him. The Apricity is a mind-expanding experience.

......and today's youth of England have such small indoctrinated minds....sigh.

[Bobcat Fraser]

......and today's youth of England have such small indoctrinated minds....sigh.

Would it be proper to describe the UK as a police state? Hopefully, MI6 won't spy on me for that one. It's already a drag that the DHS and the NSA hacked my computer and tapped my phone. I kid the spooks (not a racist comment). This is what happens when you can't sleep. You post gibberish off the top of your somnambulistic head. I just hope and pray that insomnia can't lead to insanity. I'm finding my way there without it.;)