A Compendium of Carrolls

C2 - There Goes Bill!

I should have guessed that shopping trips for my muse Write-Write and her sister were not a one-off, nor even an infrequent event. Rather more accurately they are apparently both regular and frequent occurrences. Therefore, it should not have come as a surprise that I was once again called upon to 'babysit' Write-Write's several thousand years old nieces, 'Please to write more immediately', and her younger sister 'You must write more or chop-chop.'

Refusal is not an option with Write-Write, and my instructions were to take the girls on a nice day trip to the seaside, keep them entertained, and, (no surprise here), to write about it afterwards.

You-Must had a cute panda backpack, with many small zippered pockets. For reasons unknown, this was riding shotgun, whilst the two teen-muses, (despite their incredible age, they appeared to be demure Japanese teenagers), sat in the back. Worryingly they were fairly quiet, though the quiet was sometimes broken by muffled whispering and giggling.

"Auntie Write-Write says that you write some very funny stories Adhere-San." said You-Must.

Warily I looked in the rear view mirror, in time to see some whispered conversation.

Please-To looked directly at me and beamed.

"What Auntie actually said was that it is funny that you think you can write stories without her help. "

There was the briefest of pauses and then she added,

"She told us all about 'Jane Eyre'."

And they looked at one another and burst into peals of laughter.

Fortunately, they were then quiet for a while, as they took out tablets, and began to read.

I have learned something new about muses, and that is that they specialise. Please-To is going to be a History Muse, whilst You-Must is destined for Marine Biology. It follows that a trip to Sea-World is on today's agenda. And probably to the local history museum. That should keep them amused for a while.

From the back I heard more worrying whispering, then together they chorused,

"Are we there yet Adhere-San?" before having another fit of the giggles.

At least they're happy, I thought.

The day went surprisingly well, and both muses seemed to be enjoying themselves. We were eating fish and chips on the seafront, watching the sunset, and keeping one eye on the seagulls, who were in turn keeping several beady eyes on our food.

It was then that You-Must noticed the Ferris wheel. It is a new attraction on the pier, and is quite prominent from anywhere along the sea front, but in the evening, it comes into its own. The wheel has a lot of lights that seem to be able to change colour. These have been programmed, to produce a quite mesmerising effect as they appear to swirl and radiate out from the hub.

After watching open mouthed for some time, You-Must looked at me with anime sized puppy eyes and asked if we could have a ride on the big wheel.

I should state at this juncture that I am really not fond of heights, but... Write-Write's instructions were very clear, so I somewhat grudgingly agreed. I have watched the ride, and counted that it was over in a mere four revolutions. I figured that I could stand it for that long. It was all encased, and the likelihood of falling off was pretty remote.

There wasn't much of a queue, and after a short wait we entered one of the cabins, and were rising upwards. It wasn't actually too bad, and I was able to enjoy the view.

"Did you know that George Washington Gale Ferris Jr. only built one Ferris Wheel Adhere-San?" Please-To asked earnestly, "and that sadly it was to bankrupt him?"

"No, I did not know that."

Please-To smiled.

"You could write something about him Adhere-San, if Auntie Write-Write does not mind.

I doubted Write-Write would mind, it was evident that she adored her nieces.

Then I noticed that we weren't moving. Perhaps they are letting someone get on below us, I thought, but then I realised that was unlikely part way though the ride. Despite listening to the chatter of the two muses, I had been counting, and knew we were only two and a half revolutions done.

We remained still. The view was quite magnificent as the sky darkened, the town and seafront lit up, and a huge moon rose above the sea. Fortunately neither teen-muse seemed worried by the situation, indeed You-Must was happily showing her panda backpack the view, and making it wave to the small crowd of people who were gathering below. I saw the ride operator in urgent discussion with a couple of others, occasionally he gesticulated at the wheel.

"Hello, errm, everyone on the wheel. I'm really sorry but we have a problem. Not sure how long it will take to fix, but we're going to contact the fire brigade in case we can't get it going again. Please don't panic, and we'll have you down as soon as we can."

I sighed heavily. Despite not liking heights, my position was tolerable in that I felt safe, but exasperating in that I was supposed to deliver two teen-muses back to their mother and auntie in a very few hours time.

"So not worry Adhere-San." Said Please-To in what she imagined were reassuring tones. "In accordance with your narrative instructions, we have the means of escape right here."

I looked at her, somewhat uncomprehendingly.

Meanwhile, You-Must was opening her backpack to reveal a rope ladder.

Oh great!

The two muses insisted on going down first, something to do with modesty. This left me to clamber down the ladder, with my eyes tight shut, and my knuckles white with terror. When I reached the pier, there was a ragged cheer, and someone even offered an alliterative beer, which I declined.

The Wheel operators were very nice and offered free tickets for next time.

Next time!!!!!

WORD COUNT & PROMPT ▼

Word Count: 982 Words.

2. "There Goes Bill!" – You're trapped in a situation not of your doing. How did you end up there, and what can you do to get out of it? Kicking lizards out of chimneys optional. Short story (<1000 words) or poem (<40 lines).