Knights Becoming and a Lady in Waiting

Tossed (2)

As the survivors start to get settled in, Kim and Jill decide that they need to see if they can find the rest of the convention hall.  It appears that everyone on the beach with them is from the main hall; none of the main speakers or their audiences are anywhere to be found.  At the last minute, a woman named Cheri joins them.  Kim stares at her for a long time as they're walking.

"Have we met?" she asks finally.

Cheri giggles, a pleased look on her face.  "You've probably seen my picture on my blog.  I'm the writer of ArriveLast, about delayed homeschooling."

Kim blinks.  "Oh, that's right.  I was looking at your blog right before the convention."  She starts to say more, but a deluge of convention flyers pours down on them, making conversation nearly impossible.  "How many of these things did they print?" Kim shouts.

Jill shrugs.  "I heard a few thousand, but ..." she stops as a strange noise echoes through the jungle.  The three move closer together, but continue searching.

In the middle of nowhere, they find the main stage podium.  Still hanging on for dear life is the keynote speaker, a respected homeschooling father who looks rather the worse for wear.  Jill and Kim run to try to help him, while Cheri disappears into a dislocated bathroom.

"It's not good," the speaker gasps.  Where he was once a suave, well-attired, relaxed man, he is now rather bedraggled, with a wide-eyed terror in his eyes.  His hair stands on end.  He looks, in fact, rather like his wife does every day when he comes home from work.  "They took the microphone."

Jill frowns. "Who took it?"

The speaker opens his mouth one last time, then vanishes from sight.  The two woman stare at the now barren podium, just as Cheri returns.  "What could have done that?" Kim whispers.  They don't even think to ask where Cheri has been.

Tossed

[A little break from the serious...]

[This is a send-up of TV's Lost just for Trish.  All rights to Lost, its plot and characters remain the property of ABC and its creators.  This is only intended for fun.]

A woman wakes up in a jungle, nearly buried under a pile of books.  A closer look reveals many curriculum texts, half-done science experiments, and piles upon piles of artwork.  A social worker, clipboard in hand, watches her from the trees, then fades back into the distance.  The woman forces herself into a sitting position, items sliding off her reluctantly.  She winces in pain and checks her pocket; coupons, flyers for activities, tissues, and half-used crayons tumble to the jungle floor.  Realization crosses her face and she struggles to her feet, running through the trees until she reaches a beach.

Chaos and noise suddenly erupt around her.  People are everywhere and the remains of a homeschool convention litters the beach around her.  A vendor lies trapped beneath the rubble of a massive, nineteen DVD series on Algebraic functions.  A woman wanders with a dazed look in her eyes, her empty pocketbook hanging limply from her bloodless fingers.  A pregnant woman with a child in a back pack wanders the wreckage, calling out the names of nine other children in endless succession.  The first woman freezes in place with a hunted look, then starts to help people one by one.  Her name is asked: Jill.

Jill rallies other homeschoolers to help remove the debris from the vendor, but his pulse is slow and he babbles mathematical equations senselessly.   She convinces the woman to release her now-useless pocketbook, but she continues to wander, searching for something.  The pregnant woman settles down on her own, obviously used to small crisises, as her children drift toward her one by one.  Eventually Jill takes a moment for herself, finding a first aid kit and disappearing back into the jungle to tend to her own wounds. 

"That doesn't look good."

Jill whirls, startled, her fingers slipping from the hilt of the knife she's trying to remove from her back.  Another woman is watching her.  Although she looks like she's in shock, there is a sense of strength around her that radiates, even in the middle of the chaos.  Jill licks her lips, then offers a tentative smile.   "It's not.  I can't seem to get it out on my own.  Can you help me?"

The other woman just stands still.  "I don't know.  I've never...".

"Look," Jill interrupts as patiently as she can, "I'd do it myself, but I can't quite reach it.  I'll talk you through it, okay?"

The woman hesitates again, then nods.  "Alright.  What do you need me to do?"

Jill walks the woman through removing the hilt, gritting her teeth against the pain.  "I'm Jill.  I'm a support group leader."

The other woman nods. "I thought you looked like you were used to taking control.  Kim.  I'm a bit of a homeschool newbie."  She looks over the blooded blade of the knife with distaste, then tosses it aside.  It vanishes immediately.  "How'd that happen?"

Jill sighs, fingering the hole in her clothing.  "I'm not exactly sure.  When everything blew up I was trying to help two friends resolve a disagreement.  One of them must've done it."  Her eyes scan toward the beach.  "I'm going to go see if I can help the others."  She limps in that direction.

Kim watches her go, then shrugs and starts to follow.

[more to come]