Micaela
- Ingenious Pilot -
no, not THAT Micaela, the other one%\1\%
Posts: 239
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Post by Micaela on May 10, 2011 3:47:27 GMT -5
Every so often Micaela remembered to think how lucky she was to live in Paris for the semester, especially on days like this, when the warm breeze blew through the street where she lived and the sun warmed the rooftops. Her apartment had really been a stroke of luck--not too far from the city center or the Sorbonne, and the building had been converted one of those old houses that had a courtyard. She had two keys--one to get into the courtyard, quiet and off the streets and part-garden, and one to her actual studio flat.
Her assignment was to translate Shakespeare's sonnets into French, so she'd spread a blanket out in the garden and scattered notes and books and papers all over the place. Rocks held the especially fluttery ones in place just in case.
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Eleven
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Posts: 106
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Post by Eleven on May 10, 2011 3:55:29 GMT -5
The breeze was gentle, but a sharp-eyed observer might have noticed the leaves were beginning to stir in an agitated flurry.
-VWOORP-VWOORP-VWOORP-
A strange noise filled the air, and a minute later it was followed by a stranger sight, that of a tall, rectangular, deep blue wooden box materializing where there had been nothing before.
The noise finally stopped, the door opened, and a man clad in a very proper, slightly old fashioned, suit and bowtie stepped out.
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Micaela
- Ingenious Pilot -
no, not THAT Micaela, the other one%\1\%
Posts: 239
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Post by Micaela on May 10, 2011 4:00:20 GMT -5
The pages on the books were turning furiously and one of the rhododendrons hit her in the face before she heard it and looked up. The sound turned into a flashing light, which turned into a blue box, which--what?
Her brain was, understandably, doing something similar to short-circuiting, and the box had stopped making that ridiculous noise before she could do anything but gape. Maybe she'd been living in France for too long, but she did the only thing that seemed sensible: got up, marched over to the box, banged on it a few times as she tried to find the front, and called, in French, "what the hell is going-"
And then the man stepped out. She crossed her arms and continued, "you're in my courtyard."
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Eleven
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Posts: 106
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Post by Eleven on May 10, 2011 4:05:00 GMT -5
"Oh! Well, yes!" He glanced up and down at her "I seem to be," he turned and glanced along the bottom of the blue box, "I didn't crush your rhododendrons did I?"
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Micaela
- Ingenious Pilot -
no, not THAT Micaela, the other one%\1\%
Posts: 239
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Post by Micaela on May 10, 2011 4:10:44 GMT -5
She stared at him. "I... you're in my courtyard."
The expression on her face was probably comical--somewhere between panic and disbelief. Truly, though, if he made a habit of showing up in courtyards in his blue box he was probably used to ridiculous facial expressions.
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Eleven
- Ingenious Pilot -
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Posts: 106
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Post by Eleven on May 10, 2011 4:16:32 GMT -5
"I--yes," He glanced back and forth, his brow wrinkling, "this isn't about trespassing is it? Because I can always move it."
It would be a bit irritating to have to start it up again after he'd just arrived, but if it would calm the girl...
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Micaela
- Ingenious Pilot -
no, not THAT Micaela, the other one%\1\%
Posts: 239
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Post by Micaela on May 10, 2011 4:19:56 GMT -5
"Move it? I'm still figuring out how it got here!" She allowed herself another moment of gaping before straightening and clearing her throat. "Um. Sorry. I was--am--a little... shocked. That was rude of me. How, precisely, did the--is that in English? I haven't seen a sign in English for so long I--right. The police box. How is the police box here in my courtyard. That is the question I would like to ask."
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Eleven
- Ingenious Pilot -
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Posts: 106
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Post by Eleven on May 10, 2011 4:24:42 GMT -5
"Oh! The police box! Well, I'm not really with the police. Not at all, though I have worked with some officer types, some of them aren't bad fellows, like the Brigadier, "he smiled fondly.
"Well, anyway, d'you want me to move it? It got here perfectly safely--if that's what you're wondering, it didn't leave a path of destruction, you know, scorched earth, fragmented atoms, not that that happens--often."
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Micaela
- Ingenious Pilot -
no, not THAT Micaela, the other one%\1\%
Posts: 239
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Post by Micaela on May 10, 2011 4:26:49 GMT -5
What was he talking about? "Okay. Um. Wow, lots of words. The appearing out of thin air thing. That was really more the explanation I was looking for, but I guess it's fine where it is?"
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Eleven
- Ingenious Pilot -
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Posts: 106
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Post by Eleven on May 10, 2011 4:29:41 GMT -5
"Oh, alright then!" He clapped his hands together"And since you don't mind I--well I guess I really ought to thank you for your--"he paused thoughtfully"--hospitality in letting me use your courtyard. It's not often I wind up in the middle of people's courtyards. And now what's your name?"
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Micaela
- Ingenious Pilot -
no, not THAT Micaela, the other one%\1\%
Posts: 239
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Post by Micaela on May 10, 2011 4:31:21 GMT -5
"Micaela, but you won't be able to get back in, the gate locks..."
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Eleven
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Posts: 106
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Post by Eleven on May 10, 2011 4:34:21 GMT -5
"Wonderful! Micaela--I may call you Micaela, mayn't I? You don't mind? But I don't understand, you said this was your courtyard, why, I just apologized to you, and then thanked you, for the use of your courtyard. Which you now say isn't your own."
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Micaela
- Ingenious Pilot -
no, not THAT Micaela, the other one%\1\%
Posts: 239
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Post by Micaela on May 10, 2011 4:39:30 GMT -5
"Well, I haven't told you my last name, so--oh, well, it's technically the property of the landlord, so I've got a key to get into the courtyard and also a key to my flat, and all the tenants use the courtyard, I'm sorry for the confusion... wait, how did you get doesn't-belong-to-me from needs-a-key?"
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Eleven
- Ingenious Pilot -
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Posts: 106
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Post by Eleven on May 10, 2011 4:45:10 GMT -5
He shrugged, "Well now it's obvious, who needs a key or permission if it's your own courtyard? But even if it's not your own courtyard it's--still nice you know." He glanced at the skyline "This is Paris isn't it? Oh good. That means the Louvre--"
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Micaela
- Ingenious Pilot -
no, not THAT Micaela, the other one%\1\%
Posts: 239
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Post by Micaela on May 10, 2011 4:49:42 GMT -5
"Yes, they've got the best Rembrandt exhibition right--wait, you didn't even know where you were? And I still don't know how that thing got here, and the neighbors are going to ask questions and really you're lucky they're all at work right now because it clearly couldn't fit through the gate--" She frowned. "And who are you, blue box man?"
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