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Fresh from the airport
TITLE: Under The Hill
AUTHOR:![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
edg
LINK TO TOPIC INSPIRED BY: Week 3:2
AUTHOR'S NOTES: Special thanks toladyjaida, melpomenes_mask, pyrephox, and archangelbeth. In particular - pyrephox, your comments have merit, and I'd like to discuss them with you, but I'm posting this unchanged for the time being.
This is a rough draft.
Jim daydreamed on the hill over his house. It was an unseasonably cool July day, and the sky was dotted here and there with clouds. The hillside had not been mowed since the end of last summer, so Jim could lie among the yard-tall grass and think. Just then, he was thinking about how the clouds above him looked quite a bit like the pair of sneakers that he wanted to buy, and his thoughts wandered swiftly to how jealous his friends would be of his new sneakers when he showed up on the basketball court wearing them. He got so into this vision of envy, admiration, and athletic skill improved tenfold by dint of having bought the right sneakers, in fact, that he entirely missed the creature that crouched at his feet.
It was shaped like a human would be if you tugged his ears and nose out to three times their normal sizes, and then did the same thing to his fingers and toes, and then shrunk him down to about two feet tall. It had green skin and brown eyes, and it wore a tunic and pointed hat the color of slate. It sat at Jim's feet and stared at him, and it hadn't blinked once when Jim noticed it about five minutes later.
Jim's first instinct was to leap to his feet, but he managed a good sitting-up before the creature clambered onto his legs and sat across his knees, resting its hands on his thighs and peering at him through narrowed eyes. "What are you?" Jim managed, still a little startled by the whole thing.
"Goblin," said the creature, with a grin like a cut throat. "Name's Rudger." Its voice was raspy, and it had an accent that Jim couldn't quite place.
"I'm Jim," said Jim, and without quite thinking about it he stretched out his hand to greet the goblin, who promptly climbed up Jim's arm and onto his shoulder. "What are you doing?"
"Examining," said Rudger, tugging at Jim's hair. "Is that real?"
Jim was keeping his hair short for the summer, but there was still a pretty good amount of it, and it hurt when Rudger pulled on it. "Yes, it's real. Stop it."
Rudger shook its head. "Y'd get a fortune for that."
"Really?" asked Jim, suddenly interested.
"Oh, sure," said the goblin, crawling down Jim's still-outstretched arm and back onto his legs. "'Course, fellow like you, you might not make it back to spend it. Should give it t'me, I'll sell it for y'-"
"No!" cried Jim. "What do you think my parents would think if I came back with a shaved head?"
Rudger considered this for a moment. "I think," it said at length, "they'd say 'Aha, he shaved his head', and go back to their coffee and newspapers."
Jim eyed the goblin. "How did you...?"
"They're parents. It's coffee'n'papers for the lot of 'em." Rudger looked around. "No knife when y'need it..."
"Hold up a second. Where did you come from?"
Rudger's eyes snapped up to Jim's. "Th' hill," it said, matter-of-factly. "Just like you came outta y'r mom."
"How come I've never seen you before? Or anyone like you?" Jim's eyes were wide.
Rudger shrugged. "Y'had a breakthrough, I guess," it said. "Maybe it was the sneakers, greed can do it."
"Greed?" Jim fairly shouted. "And how did you know about the sneakers?"
"Y'were lookin' at the cloud. I figgered the rest."
"Oh." Jim lay back in the grass and frowned. "Greed?" he repeated.
Rudger climbed up onto Jim's stomach. "Sure. Greed, av'rice, the d'sire to acquire. Y'don't really want the shoes 'cos they're good shoes, or 'cos they'd make you a better at'lete. You want the shoes 'cos they're pretty, an' 'cos y'r friends don't have 'em."
Jim's face flushed. "That's-"
"Th'truth." Rudger finished for him. "Just like me sayin' y'wouldn't get out from under th' hill easy. But y'got the greed for it, if y'want t'try."
"No!" shouted Jim, then lowered his voice. "No. I'm going home. Nice meeting you."
Rudger scrambled off of Jim's body and stood there while he watched Jim get up. "Right. Nice meet'n' you, too," it said, and sketched a bow. Jim looked down the hill toward his house, and when he looked back at his feet the goblin had vanished entirely.
AUTHOR:
edgLINK TO TOPIC INSPIRED BY: Week 3:2
AUTHOR'S NOTES: Special thanks to
ladyjaida, melpomenes_mask, pyrephox, and archangelbeth. In particular - pyrephox, your comments have merit, and I'd like to discuss them with you, but I'm posting this unchanged for the time being.This is a rough draft.
Jim daydreamed on the hill over his house. It was an unseasonably cool July day, and the sky was dotted here and there with clouds. The hillside had not been mowed since the end of last summer, so Jim could lie among the yard-tall grass and think. Just then, he was thinking about how the clouds above him looked quite a bit like the pair of sneakers that he wanted to buy, and his thoughts wandered swiftly to how jealous his friends would be of his new sneakers when he showed up on the basketball court wearing them. He got so into this vision of envy, admiration, and athletic skill improved tenfold by dint of having bought the right sneakers, in fact, that he entirely missed the creature that crouched at his feet.
It was shaped like a human would be if you tugged his ears and nose out to three times their normal sizes, and then did the same thing to his fingers and toes, and then shrunk him down to about two feet tall. It had green skin and brown eyes, and it wore a tunic and pointed hat the color of slate. It sat at Jim's feet and stared at him, and it hadn't blinked once when Jim noticed it about five minutes later.
Jim's first instinct was to leap to his feet, but he managed a good sitting-up before the creature clambered onto his legs and sat across his knees, resting its hands on his thighs and peering at him through narrowed eyes. "What are you?" Jim managed, still a little startled by the whole thing.
"Goblin," said the creature, with a grin like a cut throat. "Name's Rudger." Its voice was raspy, and it had an accent that Jim couldn't quite place.
"I'm Jim," said Jim, and without quite thinking about it he stretched out his hand to greet the goblin, who promptly climbed up Jim's arm and onto his shoulder. "What are you doing?"
"Examining," said Rudger, tugging at Jim's hair. "Is that real?"
Jim was keeping his hair short for the summer, but there was still a pretty good amount of it, and it hurt when Rudger pulled on it. "Yes, it's real. Stop it."
Rudger shook its head. "Y'd get a fortune for that."
"Really?" asked Jim, suddenly interested.
"Oh, sure," said the goblin, crawling down Jim's still-outstretched arm and back onto his legs. "'Course, fellow like you, you might not make it back to spend it. Should give it t'me, I'll sell it for y'-"
"No!" cried Jim. "What do you think my parents would think if I came back with a shaved head?"
Rudger considered this for a moment. "I think," it said at length, "they'd say 'Aha, he shaved his head', and go back to their coffee and newspapers."
Jim eyed the goblin. "How did you...?"
"They're parents. It's coffee'n'papers for the lot of 'em." Rudger looked around. "No knife when y'need it..."
"Hold up a second. Where did you come from?"
Rudger's eyes snapped up to Jim's. "Th' hill," it said, matter-of-factly. "Just like you came outta y'r mom."
"How come I've never seen you before? Or anyone like you?" Jim's eyes were wide.
Rudger shrugged. "Y'had a breakthrough, I guess," it said. "Maybe it was the sneakers, greed can do it."
"Greed?" Jim fairly shouted. "And how did you know about the sneakers?"
"Y'were lookin' at the cloud. I figgered the rest."
"Oh." Jim lay back in the grass and frowned. "Greed?" he repeated.
Rudger climbed up onto Jim's stomach. "Sure. Greed, av'rice, the d'sire to acquire. Y'don't really want the shoes 'cos they're good shoes, or 'cos they'd make you a better at'lete. You want the shoes 'cos they're pretty, an' 'cos y'r friends don't have 'em."
Jim's face flushed. "That's-"
"Th'truth." Rudger finished for him. "Just like me sayin' y'wouldn't get out from under th' hill easy. But y'got the greed for it, if y'want t'try."
"No!" shouted Jim, then lowered his voice. "No. I'm going home. Nice meeting you."
Rudger scrambled off of Jim's body and stood there while he watched Jim get up. "Right. Nice meet'n' you, too," it said, and sketched a bow. Jim looked down the hill toward his house, and when he looked back at his feet the goblin had vanished entirely.