![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
Entry tags:
TEST DRIVE MEME #5
1. not subtle revealings
[you wake up.
it doesn't matter where you were before. going to bed? dying? opening the door to face a great evil? same result. you wake up in a soft bed with starched sheets in a cool, darkened room, sunlight peeking out from behind thick curtains. maybe you're alone; maybe you aren't. maybe you immediately notice the folded paper on the bedside table near your head. if you don't, you better fix that real quick: you won't be able to even open the door before you read it.
the note itself is written in a neat hand on white card stock; there is a stylized logo of a ship with the words SERENA ETERNA printed underneath. the note reads as follows:
Dear Passenger(s),
As your cruise director, it is my great honor to welcome you aboard the Serena Eterna, your destination for fun and adventure! We know you could have chosen any cruise line for your vacation, and we're very grateful you chose ours! On behalf of the Captain, I would like to assure each and every passenger that will we do whatever it takes to fulfill all your needs and desires during your journey with us.
At your earliest possible convenience, please attend the mandatory lifeboat drill by the end of the day. I'm sure everyone is very eager to get started on all the fun and sun, but safety always comes first! You can find your life jacket in your cabin's closet; carry it to your assigned muster station on deck one, where I will take you through the drill. If you can't find me in the crowd, just look for the gal with the winning smile!
See You Real Soon!
Sincerely,
Gal Friday
you walk to deck one. you have no other choice: every time you try to step in a direction some unseen being considers "not towards deck one," you find your legs no longer move, staying stock still, frozen. whether compelled quickly by curiosity, or delayed by pure stubbornness, the result is the same, and you are left milling around with other similarly curious or stubborn people.
you see someone in uniform near the front of the crowd. she seems to be a gal, but is missing the winning smile, along with most of her other features. she seems to see you, though, rushing to your side and placing a lei around your neck with great formality. a voice, cheery but artificial, sees to come from nowhere and everywhere.]
Welcome! I'm very glad to have you aboard!
[you touch the lei. rooster feathers, lotus seeds, and a carved circle of something white and hard, linked onto a silk string.
after the drill is completed, you are seemingly free to go. or, well, your legs work, now. and maybe that's as good as it's gonna get.]
2. a permanent reminder of a temporary feeling
[the reflections are missing. all of them. in mirrors. in television screens. on the backs of spoons. nothing looks back at you.
then, figures do show up. not your own, like you'd expect. thin, wispy apparitions, people with pleading eyes and hands, reaching out to place their palms against the surface, from their own end. faces familiar and not, beckoning, mouthing words you just can't quite make out. help me, it might be. get me out, perhaps. just until you're close enough, until your skin warms the surface of whatever it is you're peering into. and then, those same hands wrap, all too real, burning-cold against your flesh, and pull, trying to drag you through the surface, making up for their lack of strength with desperation. any flesh unlucky enough to enter the reflection comes back bone-white and cold, all sensation dead, though it will fade within a few hours.
in retrospect, it looks a bit more like they were saying something different. something more like, better you than me. or maybe it's not even words at all. they look a bit more like they're laughing.]
3. complex mementos
[but, hey. sometimes changes are good! like, today, in Playback, there's a brand-new game available for all the children to play! it's an old-fashioned sort of claw machine, the type that's so large, a particularly dedicated kindergartner could wriggle their way inside. the prizes vary, and sit loose: bags of candy, stuffed toys, firearms, painfully early-00s electronics, actually that one just looks like a dead iguana, tiny ship-branded knickknacks... like all the other games in the arcade, the game starts up automatically upon being touched; lack of quarters shouldn't keep you from having fun! pro tip: they are loaded, and they will go off if you suck at claw games and let it fall.]
1
[ A small girl pops up, holding up her hand too. ]
If it's coming out of his paycheck, I wanna know straight away!
[ Your treat there, new friend! ]
no subject
[ HIS WAR CRIME MONEY!?!??! ]
I can't afford to buy you a cruise, miss! You gotta find another guy!
no subject
Huh? But we're already on the cruise, sir. It's a little too late to complain.
[ RIP. She was told this was all expenses paid!!! Okay, so she wasn't, but it should be! ]
no subject
[ Yeah just drop him off ehhhh wiggles hand....that way. He's fine, he's got a good sense of direction. He'll just wander back to the landship no problemo.
Well. After dropping this kid off first! ]
It's never too late look into customer service, kiddo. Lemme see...where's that nice women who looked like the manager.
no subject
[ seriously buddy you're on vacation, it ok??? ]
Oh! Her? Mmm, I'm not sure. She shouldn't be too hard to find though, the poor lady.
no subject
[ He scoots down closer to Bonnie to (loudly) whisper in her ear. ]
You're saying we should get my money's worth before we cancel. It's devious, man. Like playing a video game before returning it. But hey, I love a good pool party. Think they have water guns?
[ He nods empathetically. ]
She looked pretty happy to be here! Happy people are easy to deal with. I'm sure she'll be happy to cancel my purchase even after we goof off.
no subject
There's no reason not to, first class is even better when you get it for free. Just leave it to me.
[ Aaaaanyway-- ]
She sounds happy... but if you look at her face, you'll see it. She's never really smiling.
[ Hard to, without a face. ]
no subject
Is she? Sorry, my eyesight is a little poor... [ He'd chalked up her indistinct features to his own oripathy. ] Shit. That's not good. Think she'd also want to come to our pool party?
She doesn't have to pay, its a free pool party. I think.
no subject
Mm, maybe! Oh, but if she has to work, then we'd call attention to ourselves by letting her participate. They might call in her manager!
no subject
[ He throws his hands out wide to accentuate his point. Bonnie has totally converted him to the idea of enjoying a cruise in less then five minutes. He's locked in now. ]
Come on, lets set it up before they can stop us!
no subject
[ Because she clearly plans to help out in any feasible way. Other than really... ]
Oh oh, you should lock down the pool first. I could always look for the water guns, unless you're afraid of me getting a head start.
no subject
Oh, my slipper sly friend, are you implying you'll ambush me the second you get your hands on our weapons?
[ Because...hold on let him lean over so he can ruffle her hair. ]
I'm great at dodging ambushes! Do your worst! I'd like to see you get me wet before I'm done setting up.
no subject
[ Part of her was thinking of ditching this guy immediately, but being great at dodging ambushes... interesting! She's impressed so far with the folks who keep saying fun things like that. ]
But if you're expecting an ambush, that means I'll have to work twice as hard, doesn't it? ♪
no subject
[ He pulls a little piece of paper out of his pocket and starts scribbling on it. ]
Lets see...how about this! If I can go an hour and dodge any ambush of yours... you have to call me the hottest guy you know to the next person you meet!