NaNoWriMo Day 15 excerpt. (No Qale warning really needed this time.)
Posted by
Qale (aka Qale)
Nov 15 '08, 11:19
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It�d taken several hours, but eventually when it was darkest before dawn, I was brought back to the strip mall parking lot. The rippling flags that crowned some of our largest tents rustled in the slight breeze. All of the light on the rides and framework of our carnival were unlit casting the circus landscape in dark shadow. Everyone was sleeping following the huge undertaking of erecting this funplex immediately following the long drive up here.
And other than my completely dropping Hadyn, the entire first night was a rousing success.
Vydden bid Min good night and the Korean fireworks specialist gave me a drowsy but comforting smile and pat on my shoulder. I winced just a hint as he�d struck the same arm where such a large needle had injected the tetanus medication.
�Don�t worry about it too much, Dev. You and Hadyn are more important than just a few missed performances. Isn�t that right Vyddy?� Min looked to the owner of our traveling circus. It was as if he was daring him to make this about money.
�Absolutely. Min�s exactly right. I want you healthy and I want your brother stable,� Vydden, it seemed, couldn�t go without giving me at least a slight jab to the ribs with his statement. �Take as much time as you need.�
�Thanks boss.� I respond mutedly. Honestly I wasn�t trying to be rude or ungrateful. I was exhausted though and the pain from where they�d put in a half-dozen stitches was starting to ache a little along my side.
�Devyn.� Vydden called after me. Min had already got out of the truck and I was shuffling my way out as well gaining a strong hand from the man. We both looked back up into the cab where the carnival ringmaster peered to me looking concerned. �You really ought to keep your tricks more tightly coordinated. I won�t try to dictate your style, but, well, I thought what happened was mostly due to you two deviating from that style.�
My eyes narrow, not because I�m suspicious or offended, but rather because I�m not exactly sure in my tired state what Vydden was getting at. �We weren�t close enough? Like together?�
�Seems to be a growing concern, honestly.� He gave a little nod, and then reached across the empty passenger seat to shut the door. Putting the truck in gear, the mustached man drove off leaving me to ponder even further what that meant.
Fortunately Min was a bit more sympathetic, �You been through a lot tonight, don�t worry about Vyddy.�
I start to walk toward my trailer, unsure if Min was intending on escorting me the whole way. While I certainly had wondered why Hadyn hadn�t come to the clinic to see how I was, I also knew that people had probably given him an update and he did look furious with me after our spill.
�Vyddy Leighton is a businessman first and a friend second.� The fireworks technician tried to sound all sage-like. It made me giggle, but I let him go on even as we wound our way through the now closed tents that held within the games of chance. �When your momma unceremoniously dropped you and Hadyn off, he wasn�t being your friend by taking you in. He didn�t call Child Protective Services because when you did your first performance for him, he was fully thinking like a businessman.�
The memories of that bleak winter morning were intense, despite many years of trying to move on from it. The pain of the thoughts seemed to pulse in time with the injury. I wince even as I reach to hold on to my bandaged side. I wonder when I can take another pain pill.
�And up until tonight, or rather last night I guess now, you and Hadyn had been nothing but an acrobatic sensation for Vyddy�s traveling circus. If he sees that you and your twin are drifting apart and he�s telling you that,� Min pauses his stride and his thoughts as we�ve reached the mostly closed trailer door.
�It�s because he�s being a business man not a friend, I get it.� I complete Min�s series of thoughts. It certainly didn�t sound the least bit comforting. �You really ought to leave the wise words to someone like Mercurial.�
�Mercurial? The puppeteer?�
I think I actually see Min shiver with disdain. �Yeah. At least when he tries to tell me some big picture thinking it doesn�t leave me feeling more depressed than when I began.�
Min frowns a little, then wraps an arm about my shoulder more tenderly than before. �I�m sorry, Dev. I sometimes get to talking and forget just how young you are.�
�Oh no! Don�t start with that shit!� I laugh loudly. �You�re a good friend, but I am not about to listen to you talk about how young I am and how there�s so much more for me to learn.�
The Korean man pulled back and regarded me with a long bemused smirk. �There is so much more for you to learn.� He laughs just as loudly before stopping when the trailer door is raised open.
�What�s going on?�
It was Hadyn and he was speaking! I punch Min on the shoulder and then even though the bandaged wound hurt quite a bit, I climb up onto the trailer with just a little grunt. Encircling my brother with my arms, I hope to God he doesn�t push me away.
�Haddy. Iy�m syo syorry! Iy�m syo syo syorry! Plyease plyease fyorgyive mye.!� Twinspeak spilling from my lips, I�m hugging him as tight as my stitches allow.
�I�m okay, Dev. Are you?� He continued to speak and neglect our private language even with Min still remaining near. Hadyn pulled back and touched fingers lightly along the medical tape�s fraying edges. �How deep was it?�
�Not so deep. A few stitches.�
I wasn�t sure when the fireworks technician and my dear friend left us alone, but I do know that I couldn�t believe that Hadyn was speaking to me as he was. His hands eventually collected mine and drew me inside of the semi-trailer that was our make-shift home. The trailer�s door once again being mostly closed casting long shadows up within our space.
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