No editing, no proofreading and mostly written on my cracked phone... What could possibly go wrong...
#entry
Drawers (1000 words)
Hunching over the huge wooden table that takes up the entirety of the far wall, the Archivist places three coat buttons on a small tablet. Even though his back is bent with aeons of existence his eyes, dark and speckled with the lights of countless tiny galaxies, still sparkle with wisdom and it was with these that he watches intently as the creature before him slowly crawls towards the left button, ivory with mother of pearl decorations. Not taking his eyes of the specimen, his right hand ferociously scribbles on a notepad, documenting every twitch of the purple whiskers, every blink of the large two-irised eyes, the way the bristly black fur rises and falls and the changes in pitch of the critters constant humming.
Once the Archivist seems satisfied he replaces the buttons with three different lotus petals he had fished out of a tank on the far left of the table. Again he meticulously takes notes of even the smallest of reactions. Once done with the petals he places the creature inside a large bulbous glass container and madly twist and turns on levers and valves until the container is filled with a gas that changes color in rapid succession, all the while not taking his eyes of the creature and endlessly taking notes.
The process continues for quite some time as the Archivist goes on and on, using apparently every single one of the many peculiar instruments that litter the massive table. Every now and then he steps away from it and takes his notepad over to a gigantic book that is propped open in one corner of the room. Using a ladder to reach the section of the page that interests him, he scans the various graphs and charts on the page that has a small picture of the creature in the top corner. When he finds what he has been looking for he returns to the table, continuing his work with fresh determination.
When finally the last page of the notepad is filled he walks over to the book one last time. Cross-referencing his notes with a chart at the very bottom of the page he starts encircling certain information on his notepad which then in turn get cross-referenced again with the chart until finally he taps his finger victoriously on a single combination of numbers and letters.
G123B39C24, he mumbles as he picks up the creature and walks over to the cabinet covering the wall opposite the table. He pushes a button on a panel and in the next moment the rows and rows of drawers start to slide sideways, slowly at first but quickly picking up speed until they are nothing more than brownish blur. Millions of drawers flicker by in mere seconds before the Archivist releases the button and abruptly the cabinet becomes still again.
He lets his eyes wander over the wall of drawers, passing over G122M to Z until he finally finds the row G123A to L. He pushes the button once more and this time only the particular row moves vertically. One more time he searches, constantly repeating the file number to himself when he finally finds the drawer he uses a small key around his neck to open it. Once opened the drawer reveals on its inside a space much larger than seems possible from the outside in which a number of black-furred and purple-whiskered creatures is already frolicking in a strange and surreal landscape of plants and furniture. For a little while the Archivist watches the behavior of the creatures before he lowers the one that he is holding to join his companions.
He has just turned away from the cabinet, when a sudden rattling noise draws his attention. He turns around again and eyes the wall of drawers with a puzzled frown. Almost tentatively he presses the button again and starts flicking through the drawers. Every few seconds he stops, listening intently but for a while the noise does not return. He is about to give up when he hears it again, even louder this time. He immediately stops the drawers and still frowning scans each drawer. When he can't find the source of the noise he begins to open up the drawers and check on the specimen inside.
The first drawer he opens has a number of large many-legged insects that happily crawl over a desert of blue sand. Everything seemed normal. He opens the next drawer. Inside it the same creatures enjoy their time only this time the sand is a decisively different shade of blue. He finds nothing out of the ordinary, not here nor in the next five drawers all containing identical deserts in varying shades of blue with the same insects crawling in them.
It is only when the Archivist comes to the sixth drawer that he finds the source of the sound. Instead of doing what the rest of his companions is doing, one of the insects desperately tries to climb the drawers walls. The Archivist shakes his head in amused confusion as he picks up the creature and carries it over to the table, absentmindedly flicking a hand at the book that immediately springs open to a site with a picture of the creature on top.
Going through a similar process as he had with the previous specimen, the Archivist goes about taking notes of every little detail of the creatures behavior, checking the book frequently.
After hours of work he once more takes up the wriggling insects and, mumbling the filing number, walks to the cabinet. He stops, goes back to the book and checks the code again, then returns, shakes his head again and checks one more time. The result doesn't change. The open drawer clearly shows the numbers and letters he had just repeated. Confused he puts the struggling insect inside which immediately starts climbing out again.
The Archivist forcefully slams the drawer shut and before his hand has even left the smooth wood a faint rattling sounds in his ear.
#entry
Drawers (1000 words)
Hunching over the huge wooden table that takes up the entirety of the far wall, the Archivist places three coat buttons on a small tablet. Even though his back is bent with aeons of existence his eyes, dark and speckled with the lights of countless tiny galaxies, still sparkle with wisdom and it was with these that he watches intently as the creature before him slowly crawls towards the left button, ivory with mother of pearl decorations. Not taking his eyes of the specimen, his right hand ferociously scribbles on a notepad, documenting every twitch of the purple whiskers, every blink of the large two-irised eyes, the way the bristly black fur rises and falls and the changes in pitch of the critters constant humming.
Once the Archivist seems satisfied he replaces the buttons with three different lotus petals he had fished out of a tank on the far left of the table. Again he meticulously takes notes of even the smallest of reactions. Once done with the petals he places the creature inside a large bulbous glass container and madly twist and turns on levers and valves until the container is filled with a gas that changes color in rapid succession, all the while not taking his eyes of the creature and endlessly taking notes.
The process continues for quite some time as the Archivist goes on and on, using apparently every single one of the many peculiar instruments that litter the massive table. Every now and then he steps away from it and takes his notepad over to a gigantic book that is propped open in one corner of the room. Using a ladder to reach the section of the page that interests him, he scans the various graphs and charts on the page that has a small picture of the creature in the top corner. When he finds what he has been looking for he returns to the table, continuing his work with fresh determination.
When finally the last page of the notepad is filled he walks over to the book one last time. Cross-referencing his notes with a chart at the very bottom of the page he starts encircling certain information on his notepad which then in turn get cross-referenced again with the chart until finally he taps his finger victoriously on a single combination of numbers and letters.
G123B39C24, he mumbles as he picks up the creature and walks over to the cabinet covering the wall opposite the table. He pushes a button on a panel and in the next moment the rows and rows of drawers start to slide sideways, slowly at first but quickly picking up speed until they are nothing more than brownish blur. Millions of drawers flicker by in mere seconds before the Archivist releases the button and abruptly the cabinet becomes still again.
He lets his eyes wander over the wall of drawers, passing over G122M to Z until he finally finds the row G123A to L. He pushes the button once more and this time only the particular row moves vertically. One more time he searches, constantly repeating the file number to himself when he finally finds the drawer he uses a small key around his neck to open it. Once opened the drawer reveals on its inside a space much larger than seems possible from the outside in which a number of black-furred and purple-whiskered creatures is already frolicking in a strange and surreal landscape of plants and furniture. For a little while the Archivist watches the behavior of the creatures before he lowers the one that he is holding to join his companions.
He has just turned away from the cabinet, when a sudden rattling noise draws his attention. He turns around again and eyes the wall of drawers with a puzzled frown. Almost tentatively he presses the button again and starts flicking through the drawers. Every few seconds he stops, listening intently but for a while the noise does not return. He is about to give up when he hears it again, even louder this time. He immediately stops the drawers and still frowning scans each drawer. When he can't find the source of the noise he begins to open up the drawers and check on the specimen inside.
The first drawer he opens has a number of large many-legged insects that happily crawl over a desert of blue sand. Everything seemed normal. He opens the next drawer. Inside it the same creatures enjoy their time only this time the sand is a decisively different shade of blue. He finds nothing out of the ordinary, not here nor in the next five drawers all containing identical deserts in varying shades of blue with the same insects crawling in them.
It is only when the Archivist comes to the sixth drawer that he finds the source of the sound. Instead of doing what the rest of his companions is doing, one of the insects desperately tries to climb the drawers walls. The Archivist shakes his head in amused confusion as he picks up the creature and carries it over to the table, absentmindedly flicking a hand at the book that immediately springs open to a site with a picture of the creature on top.
Going through a similar process as he had with the previous specimen, the Archivist goes about taking notes of every little detail of the creatures behavior, checking the book frequently.
After hours of work he once more takes up the wriggling insects and, mumbling the filing number, walks to the cabinet. He stops, goes back to the book and checks the code again, then returns, shakes his head again and checks one more time. The result doesn't change. The open drawer clearly shows the numbers and letters he had just repeated. Confused he puts the struggling insect inside which immediately starts climbing out again.
The Archivist forcefully slams the drawer shut and before his hand has even left the smooth wood a faint rattling sounds in his ear.
