Okay, recently everything got a little crazy and I sort of let this blog slide (along with a bunch of other stuff.) But all that is behind, new year, new beginning and all that.
So for those of you who don't know I run a blog called Writing Around on wordpress. (http://valeriegaumont.wordpress.com/). Monday through Friday I post a writing exercise and then I post what I did for that exercise. It is mostly as a source of writing prompts and a way to get my brain started in the morning, kind of the mental version of those cords you pull to get outboard motors started. Anyway, several of the prompts turned into bits that I want to continue working with, although they don't currently it into any other story I'm working on. So I picked one I particularly liked and decided to see it through. Not sure how long it will end up being but I decided to post it here as it unfolds. So once a week, Wednesdays in fact, I will post an episode if you will. Hope you enjoy and feel free to comment or suggest as you see fit. I have no outline really and am completely winging it on this just to see where it goes. I think I am calling this Edwin's Elephants. Enjoy. Part 1 Edwin stared at the panting groundskeeper, waiting for him to catch his breath and explain himself. Such running about was highly irregular. The staff was trained to be discrete, unnoticed as they quietly went about their business about the grounds. The residents must not be disturbed. Running about as though the place were on fire was certainly disturbing. People came here for a rest after all. At least that is how he liked to view the residents. “There has been an incident sir,” the man finally managed to gasp out. Edwin set down his white ceramic mug on the granite surface of the tabletop, barely making a click as the two hard surfaces connected. He liked to have his first cup of tea in solitude as he reviewed the weekly requests and reports. Then, he poured himself a second cup to sip as he strolled about the grounds inspecting the work and questioning requests for expenditures before returning to his office to decide on the week’s orders. His staff knew that. They also knew of his deep dislike for disruption in his schedule. “An incident, Michaelson,” Edwin said in his coldest voice. Michaelson swallowed hard but took a deep breath and nodded. “I don’t believe it can wait, sir,” he justified causing Edwin to lift an eyebrow in surprise. Usually even the strangest incidents on the grounds could wait. Merely using the tone of disapproval on them made most of the staff rethink their desire to interrupt his set schedule. “And Michaelson has been with us for a little over a year,” he thought. Deciding that it might be worth breaking routine to investigate, Edwin slowly stood, giving Michaelson plenty of time to change his mind. The man stood firm. “At least I’ll get the benefit of a good verbal skinning if this amounts to nothing,” he mentally told himself with some satisfaction. He rather missed that element of his job, even as he appreciated the fact that it was mostly unnecessary. His staff was well trained and executed his orders nearly flawlessly. Recently any infractions were due to a minor misunderstanding, corrected with a simple change in word usage. While effective, he didn’t find it nearly as satisfying. As Edwin followed Michaelson out of his office door, he found himself missing the old days. His dressing downs were legendary. The switch from private estate to a retreat for those who needed rest had been somewhat rocky. He had been in charge of altering the grounds from those the wealthy and carefree strolled for pleasure and used for amusing diversions to something soothing. Many of his changes had been hard for the staff to take. He had been in his element then, running a tight ship and meeting all resistance with stern authority. Edwin smiled tightly as he saw where Michaelson was leading him. Once the sight of an extremely large and complex hedge maze, this part of the grounds had been among the first areas tamed into a restful space upon his orders. The maze had been deemed one of the most complex ever created and stretched over a far larger swath of land than any other created. Many studied its design from the estate’s windows hoping to better it, very few succeeded. As it drove the average person to distraction, making even himself somewhat uncomfortable should he be pressed into admitting it, Edwin decided it would be too much for the current residents. The edges of the maze had been sheered away, the sod patched in to remove all visible reminders and many of the hedges within removed. Edwin thought such a huge expanse of lawn might disturb the residents nearly as much as the maze had, so he ordered several hedgerows to remain in precise parallel lines across the expanse of lawn. There was nothing confusing or wild about what he left. There had been much resentment as the complexity of the maze had been a point of pride for the estate prior to conversion. Edwin frowned as he saw that Michaelson was indeed leading him to the site of the former maze. He wondered what could be out of order there. As far as he knew everything was in perfect order. Just last week he had taken a ruler and measured the remaining hedges on his weekly inspection. Each individual plant making up each hedgerow was spaced the same distance from its neighbors. The lines of plants were completely straight as were their heights and widths. Each row was exactly the same distance from the others. Nothing could be out of order here. He checked. Three times each week to be exact, in addition to the official inspection. “Wait until the loonies get a look at this,” Edwin heard someone ahead of them say. Beside him Michaelson winced as Edwin’s frown deepened. Everyone knew he insisted on decorum. The residents were to be called nothing but that, if indeed they were called anything at all. Edwin discouraged the staff from both discussion and interaction. It was best to let the residents get on with their resting and recuperation and the staff to get on with their work. Each to his own forum, as he liked to think. He turned the corner as another voice speculated. “Who could have done this? That’s what I want to know.” Edwin drew himself up to his full height, prepared to address his subordinates. His reprimand died on his lips and he could do nothing more than stare dumbly at the scene before him. Someone had been hard at work. An entire row of his meticulously groomed hedges had been trimmed into a line of … elephants. The elephants were perfectly sculpted, in fact for a moment it looked to Edwin’s mind as though someone had merely glued green leaves onto actual elephants and posed the stuffed and oddly decorated creatures on his grounds. But no, here and there he could see the base of the hedge, still firmly planted in the ground as it became part of one of the sculpted feet. They had been sculpted from his neat row. The staff grew quiet as he slowly walked down the line, studying the invasion. There were two life sized bull elephants, three slightly smaller ones he thought might be females and several adolescent elephants of varying sizes, making twelve in all. Edwin was at a loss for words. Someone had carved his meticulously groomed hedge into a dozen parading elephants. How had this happened, who had done this, what would the residents think and most importantly what was he to do now? For the first time in his life, Edwin was uncertain of his next move.
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Valerie GaumontJust the record of the random flotsam and jetsam of an insomniac writer's mind Archives
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