Newsgroups: alt.pub.dragons-inn From: penny@agora.rain.com (Penny Hutchison) Subject: [Rat-tales] Errol's Story Message-ID: Date: Tue, 27 Jul 1993 07:34:34 GMT [ADMIN] This is the second in a series of bedtime stories being told to Little Rat and Kev by ar'Elya. "You did have to let them watch you practice this close to their bedtime, didn't you?" sighed ar'Eyla. 'Raelf shrugged defensively. "We were late getting started." As they walked towards the open bedroom door thumps, giggles and cries of "Hai-KEEBA!" grew louder and the floor shook slightly. "I should make you go in there and settle them down but knowing you, you'd only encourage them!" 'Raelf tried one of his more engaging grins on his mate and gave her earlobe an apologetic nibble, "Hey, babe, this dude can't help bein' a primo role-model." ar'Elya snorted and pushed him aside. "Just for that, Uncle Errol is coming to visit." "Aw, no, Raye," he moaned miserably, "not him." "Yes, him. They've got to meet everybody, and he does get tired of coming in last." "What kind of story is he going to tell them?" muttered 'Raelf as they went into the kitchen. "How to stay oh-so-sewer fresh? Daggers are a boy's best friend?" ar'Elya grinned as she poured the cocoa. "I do love you, y'know." She cocked her head as an especially loud crash came from Kev's bedroom. "Yes, that was definitely furniture that time. I'd better make it decaf." --0-- "This," ar'Elya announced as she looked at the wreckage, "is a total loss. Looks like you'll have to spend the night in another bedroom, Kev, but both of you get to clean this place up tomorrow." "Yes Reelya, we're sorry Reelya" replied the duo as they picked up blankets (and a scruffy dragon) and went down the hall. "But Mister Raf sez we gotta practice alla times to be fokus," Little Rat pointed out. "Focussed, I think he meant," ar'Elya replied as she settled them in to the new rooms. A fire had already been started in Kev's room, and was the new room's only light. "But you're not ready to practice without your sensei yet. You could accidentally hurt yourselves." "But Mister Raf sez that we won't get hurt no more," replied Kev. "That's only after you _and_Little_Rat_ have taken more than a few lessons. Now do you think you're ready for cocoa and another story?" "Izzit a prinsess again?" asked Little Rat. "Alla time prinsesseses" scowled Kev. "No, this time you'll meet my friend Errol. He's..oh, there he is," She turned and indicated a figure seated in the dim corner. Little Rat squinted suspiciously. She KNEW the room had been empty when they comed in! "Magics agin?" "No, child, not this time. Blame it on skill, if you like," the figure replied softly and came into the light. If Little Rat had been homesick at all, this man would have cured it. He was small and slight, wearing a rumpled coat that looked none-too-clean. His hat was shoved low on his head, hiding his features. "Dear Errol, you know it's polite to take your hat off inside, especially in front of ladies," chided ar'Elya, smiling at Little Rat and clearly including her in that term. Little Rat was shocked. She'd _never_ been called _that_ before. "So right, ar'Elya, as always," the little man sighed, removing the hat to reveal a round pale face and half-lidded, gentle eyes. "How do you do," he shook hands with the children. To Little Rat's surprise, his hand was cool, but not damp. "Errol, this is Little Rat and Kev. Little Rat and Kev, this is my friend Errol. Why don't you visit with him while you finish your cocoa?" She wished them all goodnight and left. Kev looked _very_ much as if he would have followed her out if he'd dared, but Little Rat was coolly studying Errol over her cup. He returned her gaze with a small smile. "You don' scares me, ya don't." "Should I?" Errol asked. Little Rat squirmed with thought. "S'not that ya _wanna_, or that yer _tryin'_ to, but like..." "Like I look as if I should?" Both the children nodded. "Don't you think that it's a pretty valuable weapon for me?" Puzzled frowns at this. "Lookin' scary a weapon? Like a knife or sumpin'?" "Yes, in a way, very much like that. But it's more like what 'Raf has been teaching both of you about self-defence. Appearances can be very useful." "Oh, yeah?" Kev doubted. "Did either of you see me come in? That was using appearance in another way, to have you _not_ notice that there was anything different about this room." "Ohhhh" breathed Little Rat. "Teach me, Errol, teach _me_ ta do dat!" demanded Kev. He quietly chuckled. "You'll have to asked ar'Elya and 'Raelf if this is something they want you to know. I promise you if they agree, I will. But tonight I'm supposed to tell you a story. What sort would you prefer? A magical one, a fairy tale, a true story? How about a true magic story?" The Rat shrugged, and Kev asked, "Izzit sad?" "Oh, you'll see," Errol replied. "Listen. When I was your age, I...appeared differently than I do now." "Well, duh," smirked Kev. "Big folks don't look like kids." "Such an intelligent boy," Errol purred. He reached into a pocket and pulled out a sweet-smelling cigarette and started to tap it on his leg. "I do believe that was...almost...a clever remark. Now, you don't want me to use this, do you?", and he waved the cigarette in Kev's direction, very gently. Kev's face wrinkled up, "Nossir, please." Little Rat punched Kev in the side while Errol put away the offending object with an absent air. "Husshup 'n' lissen!" she hissed. "No, I looked different because I was sickly", he continued. "It will be easier for you to think of it as being struck with a curse, or possessed by a demon with a strange sense of humor. Imagine that your body won't move the way you tell it to, and that you can't speak very well, but your mind isn't sick." "I seen kids like dat, but not too much 'cause I heard dat sometime dey get taken to da woods an' tied to a tree sose da big dogs an' flyin' t-crocks can gettim." Little Rat was going to continue, but felt like she had said too much already. "Yes, indeed, little one. Such things would happen where I lived. It was a surprise to many that I survived as long as I did. You see, far too many thought that since I looked the way I did, then I must be stupid, too." Errol's eyes flashed silver suddenly in the dim room. "But that I never was!" Kev got a firmer grip on his dragon and shivered a little. "Yes, it could be...quite amusing where I grew up," Errol rubbed his shoulder reminicently, as if it ached. "Both of you would feel very much at home there. Rather rough-and-tumble, with many little people involved in little schemes. I had some ideas of my own. Even though my body was clumsy, I could use my mind well, indeed. How I would laugh when I would see others fail, where I knew I could succeed! Unfortunately, others could understand my laughter, if not my speech." Here he gave another little chuckle, and shrugged. "So lacking in a sense of humor, my old neighbors. There was one place I could go, though, where I didn't feel so trapped. Do you remember the moving pictures that both of you have seen here?" The children both nodded. "I would go see something quite similar. Everyone in them was beautiful. Even the ugly people were beautiful. Everyone could dance and sing, only bad people would get hurt, and good always won." The little man's mouth twitched into a grimace or a grin. "Such a ...refreshing change from real life." "It became easier to spend more and more time there, in the dark," he continued. "I was usually too involved in the picture to notice what was going on around me, but I eventually noticed that someone had started sitting in the seat to my right, not every time at first, but more and more often, as time went on. This was very strange, because I thought no one would ever sit next to me, willingly." "We soon started talking, at first about what was on the screen, and then about ourselves. She never had trouble understanding me as others did. She even found me...amusing. One day, after a little liquid courage, I decided to wait until the houselights came up to see what this paragon could look like, instead of scuttling out as the credits rolled." Errol leaned back in the chair, shoved his hands deep into both pockets and whistled long and low. "Fortuna's empty sockets! She was beyond all hope or expectation." For the first time that evening, a truly happy smile played about his lips. Kev poked Little Rat in the side. "Betcha she was pretty're den Lady Ale." Little Rat looked scandalized. "Nuh _uh_!" Errol half-grinned. "And she didn't even run away as the lights came up. That night we went out to dinner, or rather, she took me. What service, what attention, what a difference her company made! We even went out walking, me! In broad daylight yet. You should have seen the looks on their faces, children, as we walked, with her arm around me, adjusting herself to my gait. My old...friends had never been so surprised." He leaned forward and looked intently at both of the children. "What surprised them most was that she wasn't making game of me, or had some ulterior motive for being with me. It just killed them that she actually enjoyed being seen with me, spending time with me, talking with me for hours. And the richness of it when they tried to... divert her from me. So unsuccessfully, in fact, that they eventually tried to use more forceful means to pursuade her." He shook his head and waved a finger almost chidingly at the memory. "But she had ways and means of defending herself, she did. They then thought to go back to their old methods of persuasion with me. But my friend had showed me how to take some of my ideas of self-protection and implement them. After a few encounters, I never had much trouble walking down the streets myself, unmolested. It began to dawn on the brighter of my neighbors that they may actually have something to learn from me. Amazing how easy it is to be understood when you're not speaking through a bloody mouth." Errol fell silent, looking into the fire. He then rose and turned to go. "Wait" cried Kev. "You said this would be a magic true story. Where's the magic?" Errol turned back quickly, a glint in his eye. "The magic, boy? For all my...friend had done for me, yes, and has always done, she made me feel as if she were in MY debt! There's magic, if you like." The fire roared as if in answer, making the children jump. When they turned back, the room was empty.