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I don't really care. You can choose.
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OK, if you say so :).
Mattie sat down on her red loveseat, exhausted. She made herself sit up straight and think straighter. There was a toothbrush on her night table. She picked it up, and noticed toothpaste next to it. She stepped out of the room. There was a bathroom next to her room. She went in; it was a private bath, and it was empty. There was a toilet and a sink.
She brushed her teeth with her eyes shut, leaning against the wall. The dinner had been awful. The food was good enough, but… She leaned over the sink to spit out her toothpaste, so tired. All other thoughts were lost in a face-splitting yawn.
She stumbled sleepily back into her room. Sthris/qi-se was there, holding up a long flannel nightgown. "This should fit you too," it hissed. Mattie changed into the nightgown and Sthris/qi-se left. Mattie lay down, pulling the covers up to her neck, mind attempting to be awake.
The dinner. It was hard enough to enjoy a meal with her father smiling at her. Her father. Whom she at once loved and hated. Who looked young enough to be her boyfriend. Who was going to throw all her family into the dungeons. That made the dinner so much harder. Sitting across the table from her father with the triplets on her left, enjoying the adventure, and her mother on the right, looking wistfully at the king and also unbearably sad. That was hard.
Mattie reached for her light to turn it off. There was a knock on the door. "Come in," she said, sitting up and dropping her hand.
It was Jane. She shut the door behind her and sat on Mattie's bed. "Mother!"
"Mattie." Jane's voice was sad. "Your father is ill. He -"
"Sthris/qi-se explained it to me," said Mattie. "How he'll send you to the dungeons as his last act as king."
"Who is Sthris/qi-se?" said Jane, puzzled.
"Sthris/qi-se is one of the Sters/gunt-si, the slime machines. She… it… Sthris/qi-se said it didn't have a gender. It gave me a bath and those clothes."
Jane looked a little confused, but let it pass and said, "I am hoping to let the triplets escape."
"I am hoping all of us can escape!" cried Mattie. "But I do not think we can… I will do my best to halt the execution order before it is carried out. I think that's all that can be done."
"Oh, Mattie." Jane leaned over and put her arm around her daughter.
"She – it also said that someone might listen to our conversations."
"It doesn't matter," said Jane. "You're right, we can't escape. It was a false hope."
Mattie hugged her mother back, fiercely. "I'll try and find a way."
"Don't risk it." As Jane said it, she slipped a piece of paper into the folds of Mattie's blankets. Then she kissed Mattie and went to the door.
"I don't know if we'll see each other again," she said, "so I will say goodnight, goodbye and enjoy being queen." She smiled.
"Goodbye," whispered Mattie with tears running down her cheeks. "Give the boys my love."
Jane nodded and went out.
Mattie whirled onto her pillow and sobbed herself to sleep.
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Someone post here please! Or this thread will die, and you will all be murderers!!
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SOMEONE POST HERE!!! THIS THREAD IS DYING!!!! HELP ME SOMEONE!!!!!!!!
Spammy/TDM: kcmb!!!!!!!!!
Dying RR: …nooooooooooooooooo…
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WHERE IS EVERYONE??? POST AND SAVE MY THREAD!!! CONTRIBUTE TO THE WONDERFUL AWESOMENESS THAT IS THE SLIME MACHINE ROUND ROBIN!!!!!!!
Spammy/TDM: wvce!!!!!!!
Slime Machine RR: *starts to die a tiny bit* nooooooooooooooo…….
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I'll post later, okay? You can post again if you want to while you wait.
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Hey, this story is really fantastic! So many surprising twists, makes me want to read more…I guess I'll have to write it before I can read it. 😉 I can't stay on long at the moment though, so now isn't the best time to write part of a novel…I'll try to add some more later this week. You buggies really are great authors! 🙂
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TOP!!!! THIS THREAD IS SLIPPING!!!! COME BACK ME AND KIMBERLY AND MEADOW AND EVERYONE ELSE!!!!!! HELP ME SAVE THE THREAD!!!!!!!!
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Oh, all right! I'll post again!
When Mattie woke up much later, her room was flooded with light. She rolled over and looked up, remembering that she was underground. On the ceiling were rows of lights. She sighed. She missed the Surface, the sun, the birds, the grass, leaves, trees, plants, animals. Here there were brightly lit tunnels. She looked around her, closely. There in her bedside lamp was something strange. In the switch was a tiny grating – a microphone. So they could listen in on her. That was all right, she would let them. But she wouldn't let them spy on her with a camera. She got out of bed. There wasa piece of paper there – what was it? That's right, her mother had given it to her. It was a tiny scrap, folded in half. She started making the bed, and picked it up inconspicuously. Just in case. She laid it on her table and fluffed the pillows. Sthris/qi-se came in.
"Good sleep?" it said.
"Yes," said Mattie, "thank you."
"Good. Come look with me here." Sthtris/qi-se opened the chest at the foot of the bed. "This should fit you." It pulled out a light purple dress of cotton with a white collar, princess seamed, opening into a full skirt. The sleeves were longish and had white cuffs. Mattie started to take off her nightgown, then said, "There aren't any cameras in here, right?"
"No," said Sthris/qi-se. "I do not think so."
Mattie changed into the dress. Sthris/qi-se put a greenish-white shrug around her shoulders.
"Okay," Mattie said a little hesitantly. "I guess I'll brush my teeth, then."
"Don't take too long," said Sthris/qi-se. "Your father summons you to breakfast and he does not like to be kept waiting."
Mattie picked up her toothbrush and toothpaste from the table, along with the piece of paper, and went into the bathroom. While she brushed her teeth she unfolded the piece of paper and read it.
"Dearest Mattie,
Walking from my room to the main hall I saw a service exit. Please ask about it or explore it. The boys and I are watched very closely. They send their love and I send all of mine. We must escape or we will die. Love always,
Mom"
Mattie ripped the paper into tiny bits and flushed them down the toilet. Tears streamed down her cheeks. How had she been so selfish? Of course they would die if she didn't help them. Their lives depended on her. She would help them. She dried her tears and went back to her room.
What will happen to our heroine next? Read on to find out! Spammy says evnt. There will be a big event!! Oooh, I can't wait!
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TOP! TOP! toptoptopTOP, topTOPTOP, TOP! toptoptopTOP, toptoptoptopTOP, top, TOPtoptopTOP, topTOPtoptopTOP, topTOP, toptoptoptopTOP, toptoptoptop, toptoptopTOP, toptoptoptopTOP, top. TOPtopTOPtopTOPtoptoptoptoptop! TOPtopTOPtopTOPtoptoptoptoptop, TOPtoptop, TOPtoptop, toptoptopTOPtoptoptoptopTOPtoptop.
(Have you ever noticed that the longer you stare at a word, the weirder it looks? Try staring at "buffalo." Type it out a few times. Your head will start spinning. Mine does.)
(Oh, and I think Guess Me is Princess P.)
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TOP! toptoptop, toptoptop, toptopTOPTOPTOP, toptoptop, toptoptop, topTOPTOPTOPtop, top!!!!!!
THIS THREAD IS DYING!! WHERE IS EVERYONE!!! HEeEeEELP MEEEE!!!!!!!!
Spammy/TDM: eoxt???!!??!??!?!?!?
"Slime Machine" RR: Noooooo…
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This thread is dyyyyyyyying…. save it someone… you will force me to finish the story myself… I'm fighting an uphill battle here trying to get people to post… nooooooooo….
TDM: akbe!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! *growls menacingly and triumphantly*
*thread starts dying (AGAIN!)*
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Come on, guys! Not even one little post? A favor? A last request of a dying thread?
Mattie followed Sthris/qi-se back to the throne room. The table was there, with her father at the head of it, and Jane and the boys along the sides, all eating. Some Sters/ki-ko moved along the table, pouring milk and cereal, and orange juice, and dishing out waffles and butter and jam. Mattie sat down at te table, saying "Good morning."
"Hello, my daughter," said the king, sounding pleased, though his voice broke off into a cough.
Mattie started to eat her waffles.
She finished her waffles.
She started her cereal.
She finished her cereal.
She started her apple, which was cut into slices. No one had spoken. The silence was awkward, horribly so. But she didn't know what to say. Occasionally her father coughed again. He seemed to have only a mild cold.
Mattie finished her breakfast and sat there, not knowing what to do or say. Pretty soon everyone was done. They sat there a moment, then the king sighed noisily and got up, clapping his hands three times. The doors opened again.
Three new slime machines were led in. They moved over to the king and bowed low. He folded his arms.
"You will teach this girl my daughter," he said. "I permit you three to speak to her until her training is complete. She is to learn all necessary things for ruling Sters."
The three hissed softly, bowing again. Mattie got up hesitantly. Her father gestured impatiently at her, as if to say, "Go! Go on, leave with them!" Mattie followed the three out of the throne room.
They led her down corridors into a metal elevator like the one she'd come in. Her stomach turned over at the memory, and the ride was indeed somewhat nauseating, but it was better. Either she was getting used to it, or she was simply less frightened this time. This time they seemed to go even deeper underground. The elevator stopped once and another slime machine got on, eyeing Mattie curiously; she was rather disgusted at sharing such a small space with so much slime, but she couldn't do anything about it. Finally the elevator stopped and the three first slime machines left, with Mattie following.
As they went down this hallway, she watched the way they moved. They didn't have legs, rather a mass of tiny slimy tentacles. The tentacles all moved at once, taking little steps, swarming over the ground. The floor was slippery with a thin layer of slime, but Mattie's shoes didn't slip. They must be a special substance, she thought. But then she had no more time for thinking, because the three turned a sharp left into a room, and as Mattie passed through the door, it snapped shut, the lights came on, and the three sat down on brown armchairs. One gestured Mattie to a green-painted stool with a brown seat cushion. Mattie sat on it gingerly, as if it migt explode.
"Do not be afraid," said the left slime machine. "We will not hurt you."
"We are here to teach you," said the right slime machine.
Mattie nodded, though she was still rather apprehensive.
"What is your name?" said the middle slime machine. "We may as well get the formalities over with."
"Mattie," she tried to say, but her voice didn't sound. She cleared her throat. "Mattie."
"I am Spon/yi-ser," said the middle one.
"And I am Svir/tes-ma," said the left one.
"And I am Scaith/us-i," said the right one.
"Okay," said Mattie. "I hope I can keep you all straight. You're Scathe/us-si, and you're Sveer/te-sma, and you're… Spoon/yis-sar?"
The slime machines seemed to chuckle. "Not quite," said the right one. "Never mind, Mattie. You will learn as we go on."
Now will someone post??? Come ON! It can't be that hard! One sentence, even? Even just one sentence? Puhleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeze????
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Sheesh.
"As you heard the king say," said Svir/tes-ma, "we're going to teach you what you need to know to be a good queen."
Scaith/us-i added, "That's a lot."
"And it has to be done before the king dies," remarked Spon/yi-ser, "bless his royal heart."
"You're religious?" said Mattie in surprise.
"Not in your sense of the word," said Spon/yi-ser. "it is an expression of English and we use it."
Svir/tes-ma looked thoughtful. Mattie wasn't sure how it looked thoughtful, but it gave her that impression. "We will begin each lesson," it said, "with a session during which you may ask us any questions you have. We will endeavor to answer them. We will end each lesson with a similar session." It looked to its companions for agreement.
Scaith/us-i and Spon/yi-ser nodded agreement, hissing very softly.
"Now then," said Scaith/us-i, "your questions. Say, fifteen or fewer."
"Why?" said Mattie. "Why does my family have to die?"
"One of the most difficult questions of them all," sighed Spon/yi-ser. "I do not know the answer. No one knows the answer. It is an ancient tradition and in the olden days, when there was a different religion, to let the family live was to offend the gods. Now those gods have been rejected. Now to let the family live is to offend the ancestors. People speculate that it is so the family can accompany the ruler to heaven, so he will not be lonely."
"That still doesn't answer my question," said Mattie.
"I am sorry, Mattie," said Svir/tes-ma. "I have no answer either."
"Nor I," said Scaith/us-i.
"Oh well," said Mattie. "More importantly, what would prevent me from stopping the death order after my father died?"
"Many things," said Scaith/us-i. "For the first, it is, of course, wrong to anger the ancestors. The populace would prevent you. If they didn't prevent you by physical force, they would then oppose you at every move, including rising to the throne. They are a large people, Mattie, and they would impart great force. A ruler cannot rule without her people."
"Secondly," put in Svir/tes-ma, "in all technicality you aren't queen until you're crowned. And you aren't crowned until five days after your father's death. That's very specific, five days to mourn the old ruler. And, for that matter, to prepare for the coronation. So as your father gives the order, you have no power. You can't stop an order like that – not unless you're queen, and you wouldn't be, yet."
"Thirdly," said Spon/yi-ser, "there's no precedent. No one has ever done it. Though I imagine many have wanted to. That means that if you did try, and someone had done it before, you might get away with it, but it would be taken to court, and a jury of the Sters/ki-ko would decide."
Post now? Enough incentive? Aw, come ON!
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I can't post this very instant since I don't have a lot of time now, so I'll just top it. But PLEASE help me keep this thread alive and going for Oregano's sake!