![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
edenfallingThis one is set in the same world as a couple of other early 15-minute fics, "Leah's Garden" and "Reckoning." Anyway, it's an alternate America where we got settled sort of on a buy-a-lordship program, and technology has taken a somewhat more meandering path toward modernity. Also, the Protestant Reformation went a little differently, particularly in England.
These fics are all related to a novel called "The Summoner's Tale" that I've been taking stabs at starting for a while. This would be set early in the novel, should it ever amount to much of anything.
(I'm not very happy with it, but I consider it part of my attempts to work out the proper way to tell the whole story.)
---------------------------------------------
Quiet, Before
---------------------------------------------
The rail trip from Virginia to Minnesota took two days, traveling through the night as well as the morning and afternoon. Colin, who had never had much chance to ride trains before, found it surprisingly boring after the first hour or so. The train cars rattled and clacked and swayed along over the endless rails. The occasional death-defying narrow bridge over gorges in the Appalachian Mountains was interesting in a way, but he soon trusted that the train wouldn't sway off the tracks and plunge them all to their deaths.
When the train puffed into the St. Paul station the second evening, a porter came to help him with his luggage. They piled the trunks at the end of the platform, the porter left notice with the stationmaster that Colin was waiting for family, and Colin perched on a trunk corner to wait for Cousin Catherine.
When someone finally appeared, twenty minutes later, it wasn't his cousin but an older woman dressed in plain cotton. "You'll be Colin Tenaby?" she asked as she approached.
Colin nodded. "Are you here from Catherine Roxburgh?"
"Yes," the woman said. "I'm Mrs. West. Come along and we'll get the porters to bring your luggage to the car."
Cousin Catherine's car was one of the older models, plain black with open side windows. That didn't surprise Colin much -- he knew that the Roxburgh family had fallen on hard times when Catherine's father died -- but when Mrs. West tucked her skirts around her ankles and sat behind the wheel, he couldn't help making a small noise of surprise.
Mrs. West glanced at him irritably. "Yes, I drive, Mr. Tenaby," she said. "Lady Roxburgh required me to learn. Now hush."
They rattled off into the blueish twilight, heading northward on the cobbled streets through the city. Mrs. West pointed out a few sights as they passed -- the Capitol building, the university fields down by the river, the steamboat works -- but they soon passed into the countryside, driving along the river's edge. Up ahead, the fields began to grow smaller and huddle among patches of forest.
"The house is on the river," Mrs. West said abruptly, "and you're not to go near the water until Lady Roxburgh's satisfied that you can swim. Also, you're not to wander around the house until she's given you the tour. Cook will have a bit of supper waiting for you, and then you go straight to bed."
Colin nodded silently. He was grateful to Cousin Catherine for taking him in while his parents were in England, and he didn't want to get on her bad side. If he behaved, she might even like him after a while, and then he might be able to try things he'd never been allowed at home. He hoped she'd be kinder than Mrs. West, at least.
She'd been pleasant when he met her in the spring, he remembered. And she was pretty, and she didn't dress impractically like his mother, and she liked roses, and she'd smiled when he said hello to her.
Colin took that as a good sign.
---------------------------------------------
Inspired by the 5/30/04![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
15minuteficlets word #57: tender
In other news, my computer has gone crazy. There's something wrong with it, so it can only start up in "safe" mode so I can fix whatever problem it has. Except it's refusing to recognize my mouse, so I can't use the troubleshooting programs. Argh!
Also, while I can open and modify Word files, I can't move them to disk. So I can't post "Sir Ron" until I get things fixed. Double argh.
I'm going to start by trying a new mouse.
These fics are all related to a novel called "The Summoner's Tale" that I've been taking stabs at starting for a while. This would be set early in the novel, should it ever amount to much of anything.
(I'm not very happy with it, but I consider it part of my attempts to work out the proper way to tell the whole story.)
---------------------------------------------
Quiet, Before
---------------------------------------------
The rail trip from Virginia to Minnesota took two days, traveling through the night as well as the morning and afternoon. Colin, who had never had much chance to ride trains before, found it surprisingly boring after the first hour or so. The train cars rattled and clacked and swayed along over the endless rails. The occasional death-defying narrow bridge over gorges in the Appalachian Mountains was interesting in a way, but he soon trusted that the train wouldn't sway off the tracks and plunge them all to their deaths.
When the train puffed into the St. Paul station the second evening, a porter came to help him with his luggage. They piled the trunks at the end of the platform, the porter left notice with the stationmaster that Colin was waiting for family, and Colin perched on a trunk corner to wait for Cousin Catherine.
When someone finally appeared, twenty minutes later, it wasn't his cousin but an older woman dressed in plain cotton. "You'll be Colin Tenaby?" she asked as she approached.
Colin nodded. "Are you here from Catherine Roxburgh?"
"Yes," the woman said. "I'm Mrs. West. Come along and we'll get the porters to bring your luggage to the car."
Cousin Catherine's car was one of the older models, plain black with open side windows. That didn't surprise Colin much -- he knew that the Roxburgh family had fallen on hard times when Catherine's father died -- but when Mrs. West tucked her skirts around her ankles and sat behind the wheel, he couldn't help making a small noise of surprise.
Mrs. West glanced at him irritably. "Yes, I drive, Mr. Tenaby," she said. "Lady Roxburgh required me to learn. Now hush."
They rattled off into the blueish twilight, heading northward on the cobbled streets through the city. Mrs. West pointed out a few sights as they passed -- the Capitol building, the university fields down by the river, the steamboat works -- but they soon passed into the countryside, driving along the river's edge. Up ahead, the fields began to grow smaller and huddle among patches of forest.
"The house is on the river," Mrs. West said abruptly, "and you're not to go near the water until Lady Roxburgh's satisfied that you can swim. Also, you're not to wander around the house until she's given you the tour. Cook will have a bit of supper waiting for you, and then you go straight to bed."
Colin nodded silently. He was grateful to Cousin Catherine for taking him in while his parents were in England, and he didn't want to get on her bad side. If he behaved, she might even like him after a while, and then he might be able to try things he'd never been allowed at home. He hoped she'd be kinder than Mrs. West, at least.
She'd been pleasant when he met her in the spring, he remembered. And she was pretty, and she didn't dress impractically like his mother, and she liked roses, and she'd smiled when he said hello to her.
Colin took that as a good sign.
---------------------------------------------
Inspired by the 5/30/04
15minuteficlets word #57: tenderIn other news, my computer has gone crazy. There's something wrong with it, so it can only start up in "safe" mode so I can fix whatever problem it has. Except it's refusing to recognize my mouse, so I can't use the troubleshooting programs. Argh!
Also, while I can open and modify Word files, I can't move them to disk. So I can't post "Sir Ron" until I get things fixed. Double argh.
I'm going to start by trying a new mouse.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
(no subject)
Date: 2004-05-31 05:52 am (UTC)The evil of Windows. Which flavour are you using?
Have you defraged yet? Sometimes it helps when the OS plays silly buggers.
I got caught in a safe mode and blue screen of death nightmare after removing iTunes. Evil program, does bad things to files and computers. Had a fun few hours working my way out of that problem.
(no subject)
Date: 2004-05-31 06:49 am (UTC)As for the computer, I think I'm running Office '98 on Windows 2000. Probably. And I will try defragging tomorrow.
I think the problem may be related to my Roadrunner software, since the computer was working fine in Ithaca while hooked up to a network, but has gone kerflooey at home without an internet connection. *sigh* Someday, I am actually going to learn something about these machines I keep using.
(no subject)
Date: 2004-05-31 07:41 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2004-05-31 07:27 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2004-05-31 10:42 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2004-05-31 11:49 pm (UTC)Ah well. I deleted some programs that had inexplicably gotten inserted onto my hard drive, ran the defragger, and lo and behold it works again! :-)
(no subject)
Date: 2004-06-01 12:16 am (UTC)Other tips.
Clean out the programs like you're doing. If you can't remember installing them, they could be spyware. Grab a spyware killer and run it through your system. These programs shouldn't kill your computer, they need it running so they can annoy you with popup porn and gambling ads.
Clean out the Recycle Bin occasionally.
The evil of Windows updates is unavoidable. I've found it best to turn off autoupdate and let it notify me of new bug fixes. I then get a list of all the updates, download them manually and install them one by one and reboot each time. At least I then know which Windows update killed my system if it crashes. Time consuming, but a better option than being forced to reinstall my OS, which means reformatting the OS partition first.
If you've got the room, partition your hard drive. Mine is broken into four sections; where the OS lives, where all programs are installed, where my files and documents live and where downloaded data is dumped. You may find a more useable way to do your own, but it means that it Windows dies and I have to blow the OS partition away, reintalling programs is annoying, but all my personal files are safe.