Behind her she heard pops and gurgles and the bubbling of liquids.
She moved away from the door and stepped further into the room. Before her, past a gauzey curtain, was a cluttered corner of tables and random flat spaces holding up boxes of things and glass containers atop small fires and parchment and quill and ink... and shelves of containers of things...
And digruntled grumbling from a rather old woman.
The woman was hunched over the middle of the table, scrabbling something on blotched parchment, her fingers tips stained with ink and... the Princess couldn't even begin to wonder what else.
"It's not right, damnation!" muttered the woman irritably. "Why can't I get it right?" Her slightly graying brown hair was held loosely in a bun on top of her head with what looked like small twigs. The Princess found the woman incredibly interesting and forgot all else around her... until she bumped into a small table and knocked over several thick volumes of books.
The woman's head darted up from her writing, spotting the Princess immediately. Frozen in the woman's glare, she stared a moment longer at the blue haired lady, and then in a moment went back to her writing and said, "Out the door, to the right, and up the stairs."
Awoken from some strange trance she might've been in, she shook her head and said, "Pardon?"
"You're obviously lost," said the woman, still concentrating on the parchment. "Out the door," she repeated with a wave of her arm, "to the right, and up the stairs."
"And that will take me where, exactly?"
The woman's hand stopped scrabbling random notes. There was a brief silence which made the Princess's heart beat just a little faster in fear. Then the woman looked up at the Princess and answered, "Away from here."
*originally written on January 15, 2008
She moved away from the door and stepped further into the room. Before her, past a gauzey curtain, was a cluttered corner of tables and random flat spaces holding up boxes of things and glass containers atop small fires and parchment and quill and ink... and shelves of containers of things...
And digruntled grumbling from a rather old woman.
The woman was hunched over the middle of the table, scrabbling something on blotched parchment, her fingers tips stained with ink and... the Princess couldn't even begin to wonder what else.
"It's not right, damnation!" muttered the woman irritably. "Why can't I get it right?" Her slightly graying brown hair was held loosely in a bun on top of her head with what looked like small twigs. The Princess found the woman incredibly interesting and forgot all else around her... until she bumped into a small table and knocked over several thick volumes of books.
The woman's head darted up from her writing, spotting the Princess immediately. Frozen in the woman's glare, she stared a moment longer at the blue haired lady, and then in a moment went back to her writing and said, "Out the door, to the right, and up the stairs."
Awoken from some strange trance she might've been in, she shook her head and said, "Pardon?"
"You're obviously lost," said the woman, still concentrating on the parchment. "Out the door," she repeated with a wave of her arm, "to the right, and up the stairs."
"And that will take me where, exactly?"
The woman's hand stopped scrabbling random notes. There was a brief silence which made the Princess's heart beat just a little faster in fear. Then the woman looked up at the Princess and answered, "Away from here."
*originally written on January 15, 2008
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