Saturday, January 10, 2009

The shriek that pierced the air over the whole village, the whole country side brought the fleeing folk to a stop.

And in the following silence, they were drawn backward, in curiosity and hope back to the bar.

Joe was the first back on the scene.

He took it all in.

The women, their bloodlust suddenly released into the smoking and steaming air, all blinked and looked up. The captain, he could not believe that she was what the dwarves called Giant Queen-- he'd just thought she was big boned, her guns silent now, as the men who had been attacked slowly got up from the floor-- or laid still never to stir again.

And then he saw her.

Violet.

Bleeding on the floor. Unmoving.

"No!" Joe cried and ran to her side.

She stirred as he reached her. "Joe..." she whispered. "I'm sorry... I ruined it all."

The door banged open and all the people, shock-sore, jumped and turned at the sound.

"I couldn't do it!" Jack cried. "I'm sorry Violet, I tried, but I couldn't leave you. Violet?" He too saw her lying on the floor, and so did James, stepping out from behind him.

"Mommy?" he said, and ran to her side.

23 comments:

Rowena said...

I'd just like to add that of the loose ends and questions posted on the sidebar, there are only a few left, I think.

What will happen with the Northumberland estate that was left to Alice by Gideon Stone?

Why did Violet and Randy bury that box 16 years ago?

What's the significance of the ring that was Alice's, then Swosty's, then swiped by CJ?

And, What the hell is a Swotsy Mondy? Did someone make it up or is that some Brit thing?

I might add...

How exactly is Baby James supposed to fix all this?

How will we handle this love triangle between Joe and Violet and Swotsy, who is unfortunately, Vi's cousin. Mea Culpa, it was an accident but it still gives me the willies.

Can the council of the black mask rid themselves of the bloodlust?

Anyone else have any ends they want tied up?

Anonymous said...

OMG, you are a genius at handling all these cross-references and loose ends.

I do know how Swotsy Mondy got her name. and a few weeks ago I actually drafted (and deleted, but retained offline) the explanation. But I haven't had the right opportunity to work it in.

Maybe I can throw it in as a footnote or epilogue or something. :)

Ms Scarlet said...

Erm... "Swotsy Mondy" was just a nick-name I made up - off the top of my head. It was because her name is Monica and she was a swot at school. Apologies for any confusion.
Sx

Rowena said...

It turned out to be an amazing name along the lines of Gideon Stone, so no problem.

However... what's a swot?

Kate Lord Brown said...

'swot' is English slang for an intelligent, (prob geeky) hardworking bookish type :)

Rowena said...

Ah. Well then. Now it all makes sense and we can knock that question of the loose ends.

Yay.

Anonymous said...

Damn. This is so much more common-sensical, albeit duller, than my "Swotsy" explanation...

I'll save mine for (a) the publication of Burning Lines '08: The Annotated Edition or (b) the Burning Lines wiki. Whichever comes first.

Julian Meteor said...

I am lost.
Does Mr Owl feature in this story?
Let me know either way

Anonymous said...

Julian: If you are lost in Burning Lines, you may be unfindable.

As for Mr. Owl, if he's not in this story it must be simple forgetfulness. Apparently everything else we knew of was thrown in at least once!

Unknown said...

It's never too late for a visit by Mr. Owl . . .
Ominous, forboding music is heard in the backround

Julian Meteor said...

Ok. Just to be clear, Mr Owl is NOT an actual owl.
He is the same size as Daddy but he wears an owl mask.
Mr Owl's visits are secret, I MUST NOT tell mummy.

Rowena said...

Intriguing, Mr Meteor.

I sense a possible participant for our next Burning Lines session?

(Whenever we get this one wrapped up, I guess.)

Anonymous said...

Whenever we get this one wrapped up

Yeah, no kidding! Exactly what day was that scheduled for, again? ;)

Kate Lord Brown said...

Mmm - Dec 31st I believe :)

I propose we finish up this weekend then start in on a fresh tale if people are game? Deadline Sunday evening?

If anyone has an idea for a fresh story to start off next week do shout out!

Maybe we can all have a think about what we would like to do with the first story as well - a permanent home?

The Writers News feature is being published Feb 5th in the UK, once they send me a copy I'll post it up as a pdf for you.

Rowena and John also have admin powers now so if we'd like to invite some fresh blood (as it were ..) do go ahead.

Anonymous said...

Personally, I'd like to invite David Lynch to do a guest post.

Kate Lord Brown said...

David Lynch? Oh yes - if anyone knows him it has kind of gone this way (and the first post was so Brief Encounter!).

Love writing with you all, love the surprises it has brought and sorry I have been out of action (shot down) for the last couple of weeks.

How about we rally the troops for this weekend? Last post Sunday for this story - prob US time. Let's finish these suckers and go for a new year x

Rowena said...

I'm game for a Sunday deadline. And whatever happens or doesn't happen at that time, I'd say it's done.

I was going to say we should do a vampire story... and then I realized we just had. Although, that was kind of a surprise, and not an Anne Rice or a Twilight kind of thing.

Maybe we should do an Urban coming of age novel... uh, or a story about finding the Lost City of Atlantis. Or maybe we should do a teen wolf in London story. Or a story about a serial murderer in Russia. Or a gritty Hollywood Private Eye thing. Or a paranormal romance set in the underbelly of New York City. Or... or... an alternate history of a group of explorers who are the first to reach the North Pole... or
Pirates! How about pirates!!!

Kate Lord Brown said...

Ha! Love all of those ideas Rowena. How about we just draw a line in the sand and say last post Sunday is the end of story one, first post Monday begins the new one? x

Unknown said...

Sunday, 18.01.09 23:59:59 GMT the beast is laid to rest, says the mysterious Mr. Owl.

Looking forward to Burning Lines Mk. II, says the somewhat less mysterious Son of Incog.

Anonymous said...

Sunday deadline's good with me, too. If we're saying 11:59pm US (Eastern) time, as Kate suggests, that would mean -- there's a 5-hour gap, right? -- the last timestamp (which is always UK time for some reason :) would be no later than... Monday January 19, 2009, 4:59am.

I'd be exhilarated to work (?) on a story beginning with any of the story lines Rowena suggested. And I think she should start.

Oh, the question came up earlier -- what to do with the first go-round. Maybe set up a separate blog just for BL "archives," with one monster post for each edition? (I could copy-n-paste the HTML from the vers. on my site.)

Rowena said...

OMG that means this weekend is it. The end of the saga. And not everyone is dead.

Okay. Well then.


So does anyone have preferences on the new story lines? Should we vote on it? Are you leaning towards any? Anyone have a different idea they'd like to try?

Eenie meenie miney mo?

Kate Lord Brown said...

I say just go for it on Monday Rowena! Burning Lines seems to steer its own course - we've gone from Brief Encounter to dwarves and lesbian vampires with this storyline, so next time we could start out with Twilight and end up with the Wizard of Oz ;)

Anonymous said...

What Kate said, Rowena. And yes, YOU get to pick this time. :)

Only thing I'd counsel is: make it a story line you won't mind being hijacked at some point. Heh.