A Mild Crust Is Forming, Part II.

 

Torrencio and Madagabla—the pair had created such an innocuous yet innovative presentation that we barely were inclined to shift in our seats—the way they had indelibly planted their feet on all fours took all of us by complete surprise. Now I know that by the first of six scheduled breaks, it was my task to reach behind a barrier and stroke a cord to initiate the slightest of breezes, the kind that we can all recall fondly from our respective formative eras. I had a word with the Captor's son, a native born Andalusian, now over five feet tall, still covered in the markings which confirm his unique lineage. I was asked by higher-ups to inform him that any penalty that we would offer to reduce could be redeemed for a pocket full of valuable ancient sand. When he began to imperceptibly caress my right shoulder with a small tufted subpar bag, and whispered a known word, I realized that I could have excised it permanently in my head within minutes of my arrival in the Dutch capital. Thankfully I had yet to register even the slightest incongruity on my aching face.

Once an agreement has been signed, there will still remain a lovable morsel to be reframed as a charming cocktail nicety and sent on its way like so many before. I will need the rivuletted tuning forge which was gifted to my Father before me in the late 1980s. He is said to have sold very precise directions to our hiding place in open defiance of words that had been exchanged prior to our picking up stakes and forgoing a novel insight into A World of Places. Some of these people think that we can be pushed past our limit with very few consequences. They could not be more wrong. But what would stop them from trying? Not anyone I've ever heard of, is all I'm trying to say. Why do you ask?

Once back on a drier spit of land, we resolved to lure Torrencio and Madagabla into a used furniture distributorship and show them a common courtesy to determine if they were easily swayed. Each was given a choice of numbers and asked to select wisely. Torrencio was asked to go into the other room and change. Madagabla stayed with us while we eyed her suspiciously. We exchanged troubled glances and realized that some disturbance was in the offing. I brought in a coffee ring and a bucket of Wisteria flavored paint. My wife made herself comfortable against all indications. As I sat and smoked in the car it occurred to me that my pet project was almost at completion. Once my ascendance into a higher level was a thing of the past, I knew that no amount of roughage would quell my bonhomie where two lacquered frontispieces would go the distance just as well. Why was I being like this? Can anyone tell? Should other methods be applied? Doesn't this go without saying? Is this all you could come up with? Say it.

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