Travelin’ for Blogophilia 40.5

The misfits are, as usual, hanging out at Victor’s beautiful historical home. Myrth (the witch) in an armchair at one end of the coffee table, Ryan her partner (the pharmacist) at the other end. Victor (the host), Eve (his partner the trucker) and Beth (agent) are seated on one sofa, Gideon (agent), Phoebe his partner (librarian) and Charles (primary school teach and partner of Beth) are seated on the other. Drinks, snacks, bottles of scotch and wine scattered on the table. The night outside is cold, blustery  and snow is in the air, a storm may be brewing. A hazy shade of winter  might  be an apt description.

“Guess that’s the end of the beautiful autumn we had,” Phoebe threw the words  into the stillness of the room. The silence caused her unease. This group never kept quiet, it seemed.

“Never mind the weather, my dear. What are we going to do about the larger problem?” Gideon all but snapped.

“He means ‘her’,” Eve sighed.

“She is going on holiday next month.” Victor’s expression was one of disgust. “We cannot take vacations why should she?”

“She is human you know. They can take time off. She’s going to visit a friend in Nottingham and is looking forward to it. And then they are traveling all the way to Egypt to fulfill her husband’s boy hood dream.” Charles shrugged. “There’s nothing we can do about it.”

“I hope she will take the computer. That November exercise of hers needs a lot, I mean a lot, of editing,” Beth plucked at her  velvet leggings. The colour matched the moss-green of her eyes. “We work like  troopers for her, she should do the same for us.”

“Maybe I should weave a spell and prevent her from leaving,” Myrth mentioned hopefully. Ryan shook his head. “Don’t do it honeybun. Don’t be cruel. She wouldn’t like it and she’d get back at you somehow.”

Beth tapped her teeth with a fork, Charles had given up trying to break her of the habit.. “About a year ago those kids from her other story sat around mooning that she had gone and left them to visit her friend in Houston. And they were right. Now it is our turn to sit around and curse her out.”

“I do not get it,” Victor said. “What is this facebook? She met Trevor on it through that weekly writing group of hers run by the mad Martian.”

“You never did try to accept computers did you Victor? Get with the times man! You are never too old to learn. Gideon leaned forward intently. “Our author’s father used it right until he died at the age of 98. And he was a human! You work for the devil; surely you could manage a computer.”

“I have enough trouble understanding the cell phone we use for our scheduling. I preferred the old messenger imps we had a century ago.”

“That’s what messed up his relationship with Kathryn,” Phoebe murmured under her breath.

Phoebe caught Gideon’s glare and quickly busied herself with her Bloody Mary (no hot sauce).

“She’s kind of stuck on ideas at the moment. Maybe the activities in the UK will stir her imagination,” Ryan’s voice sounded bright with hope. “Have any of you been to Egypt?” He turned to peer at the agents on either side of him.

They all nodded that they hadn’t.

“She better not get sick while she is there. I will not be able to cure her at that distance.” Myrth fingered the amulet around her neck, frowning. “her friend told her to be careful with the water and all. She is such a Gobshite, never know what trouble she will get into.” Myrth’s fond smile belied the criticism she heaped on their author.

“It’s not nice to call her names. We should show her some respect.”

“You would say that, Phoebe. She likes you, Mryth shot back.

Charles always got a charge out of the witch, who was also a devil’s agent, when she used her native Irish slang. “She emailed Nelly, Mo’s wife, so they may reconnect which would be fun. Mo lived in London for several years before moving back to Cairo. He is a father. The kid must be at least three by now….Mo a dad…that’s almost as weird as soul collectors sitting around talking about the weather or thinking they only exist at the leisure of a human.” Beth, his foxy lady, hurled a teaspoon toward his head. He ducked.

written for

Blogophilia Week 40.5 – A Hazy Shade of Winter Bonus Points:

(Hard, 2pts): Include a song that has been remade (such as “Sound of Silence” by Simon and Garfunkel remade by Boboflex’)

(Easy, 1pt): Incorporate stormtroopers