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I finally finished that Bit of story I made!
Vella swept through the streets, rambling through the multitude of shadows that collected in every nook and cranny of the alleyways of Venice . A peculiar bulge could be seen from the side of her cloak, though no normal passer-by would glance upon it that night, for no one dared venture from their houses to near to the Midnight Hour. Holding the parcel within her cloak, Vella looked around franticly, jumping to and fro nervously at every looming shadow and every pitter-patter of a cat’s paw. Relax, she thought to herself. No one can see you. Moonlight poured from the sky, revealing the reflection of her slender figure as she approached the water. Nimbly, she jumped to the side of a building and clung onto the chipping stone. The ledge she stood upon was merely half a foot wide, so she had to be careful not to loose her footing as she inched along, perilously close to the cold water of the canal. With one hand she clutched the parcel, and with the other she held onto the wall. Her knuckles became white with anguish as she strained to keep clutch of the crumbling stone. The black water seemed daunting as it flowed beneath her, sloshing eerily as if to break the silence of the night.
“I could use a little help right now,” murmured Vella through gritted teeth, speaking so softly that her words melted into the darkness. The ledge was starting to crumble beneath her feet as she spoke. “Help,” she said a bit louder, though she could hardly hope anyone was there to hear. The bits of stone tumbling into the canal racked her nerves as she clung onto the wall for her life. As the rest of the ledge crumbled from beneath her feet, she uttered one word. “HELP!” she screamed into the darkness, praying that someone was there to help.
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Jev fished through his pockets, searching hopefully for some crumbs left from the last scraps of food he had managed to “come across” last night. The pangs of hunger were driving him to search faster, for his stomach told his fingers that he was desperately hungry.
“Where did I put it…” he muttered to himself, trailing off when he drew something brown and hard from his coat pocket. A crust. With a smile of satisfaction, Jev pushed it into his mouth, savoring every last stale piece. Of course this did nothing to kill the hunger, but it would tame it for a while. Once the issue of hunger was attended to, Jev needed to address the issue of where he was going to sleep - he needed a safe place to hide away when the sun went up. Sighing, he began to walk down one of the alleys, hoping his luck might lead him to a place where he could sleep for a few hours. When he arrived at end of the alley, Jev began to see that the alley was spreading out into a bit of an opening - obviously, a canal. Maybe there will be an abandoned loading place, thought Jev, because places like these were not rare in Venice. But there was something different about this, something strange about this canal he was approaching. Little splashing sounds were coming from it, yes, that was it. Jev walked faster, hoping to find out what was happening. The splashing sounds got louder, only making Jev want to rush to get there sooner. He ran, arriving in just enough time to see a figure in a black cloak tumbling from a ledge and into the black water. Soaring through the air was a box, flipping and jerking in the air until it landed, strangely enough, directly in front to Jev.
For a moment, Jev was entranced. The box was lavishly decorated, showing off many different types of gems and rare stones. Carvings were whittled out around the sides of the box, twisting and turning around each other. In gold writing, the name “Cecilia” was painted onto the front. There must be something beautiful inside…thought Jev. Finally, he tore his eyes away from the box and directed them to the thrashing person in the canal. This was most probably their box, obviously having fallen from their grasp during their fall. He was about to run to aid the drowning person, until he considered the box again. It was beautiful, and it’s ornate designs made Jev want to drool. That could feed me for a month, he though to himself. Why not take it? He could let the person drown, and then just take the box. Just take it, he thought. Though the box called to him, bellowing a welcoming song, what was left of Jev’s compassion seemed to come out into the open - he sprinted to save the person flailing around in the canal.
Grabbing the frantic, wet hands of the distraught person, Jev began to pull them out, surprised by how light the person was. He had been half expecting to be pulled into the water himself by the weight. But he kept on pulling until he could make out a face - the face of a girl around 13, not much younger that him. Jev finished pulling out the girl, and set her on the ground. On her knees she bent over, coughing up water.
“uuhh…” said Jev, still confused about the fact that a girl was thrashing in the water at this time of night. “You OK?”
The girl whipped around, revealing deep Amber-colored eyes that seemed to burn holes in him. “I didn’t need your help,” she growled. Though her face seemed to mean anger, her eyes flitted with a thankfulness to be alive. Out of nowhere, she pounced into the air, scrambling towards it. She grabbed it and ran off before Jev could say anything about it.
Jev stood there for a few seconds still confused. His box was gone. Shaking his head, he began walking away - again, to find a place to sleep.
 clarabbarton · Thu Jun 28, 2007 @ 03:46pm · 0 Comments |
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