Wednesday, August 26, 2015

Tongue Tied Episode 11



“That’s Drake,” Grant said. “He’s going to the columns.”
“Why’s he in Bessie’s mouth?”
“You want to trade places with him?” Grant said. “There’s only room for two in the saddle.”
“I’m good here,” Aria said. “It’s not like I’m in your old saddle anyways. I’m sitting on this here itchy blanket.”
“It’s a sight better than Bessie’s teeth. Besides, Drake’s not a nice man. We’re safer up here whilst he’s down there.” Grant leaned forward to get a clear view of Drake, and, loud enough for Drake to hear, said, “Besides, where he is, if he causes any problem, all Bessie gots to do is clamp down a might, and problem solved.”
“Remind me not to be no problem to you,” Aria said.
Grant sat up and leaned back against Aria’s chest so her head was right next to his. “It’s a little late for that, don’t you think?” And kissed her on the cheek.
The kiss befuddled Aria. She tingled, and became intensely aware of her body. She felt the dragon’s muscles ripple under its skin. The air growing colder as they glided higher and began drifting through wispy clouds. She felt Bessie’s spine gently undulate as its head bobbed with each flap of her wings. Aria’s dress bunched at her thighs, flapping in the wind. Tiny hairs on the back edges of the dragon’s scales tickled Aria’s bare legs where they rested against Bessie’s flanks each time the dragon thrust forward.
Aria shivered.
“Down a bit, Bessie,” Grant said. Bessie’s head dipped down and the rest of her followed in slow rhythm.
 Under Aria, Bessie’s spine arched downward - vertebrae by vertebrae - to follow after her dipped head. “Unhh,” Aria cried out.
“What’s wrong?” Grant said.
Aria blushed, and buried her face in Grant’s jacket. She sucked in a deep intoxicating breath rich with leather and Grant. “Nothing,” she said trembling. “Nothing at all.”
Half the sun had already dipped below the horizon and the air began to take on an evening chill when, “Look,” Grant said. “It’s the Columns.”
In the distance Aria could see white pillars rising out of the deepening shadows of the desert floor. Dusk had robbed the distant city of other colors, but the whiteness of the pillars seemed to glow in the dimming light. “It’s beautiful,” Aria said. “I’ve never seen anything like it before.”
“Maybe from here,” Grant said. “Up close, it’s not the kind of place I want to spend any more time than I have to.”
“How can you say that?” Aria said. “Why, if I could live there, I don’t think I would ever want to leave. Look at those.” She pointed to smaller white pillars that formed a circle around a dome. “How can you say you don’t want to stick around that?”
Grant sighed. “It ain’t the architecture I object to, it’s the people.” He nudged Bessie down.
Aria shivered again, and bit her lip, as the dragon dipped.
 “Those what ain’t crooks in the Columns, is worse.”

(Uh oh. Are you really confused as to why Grant and Aria are riding atop a dragon? If so, and you wandered into Episode 11 at random, you might want to start out at Episode 1 of Tongue Tied)

Wednesday, August 19, 2015

Tongue Tied Episode 10



Aria’s knuckles whitened on the grip of Grant’s blaster. Bessie’s head swayed closer, and the heat from her mouth made Aria feel like a roast on a spit.
“Now what?” Aria said. “It seems you got the upper hand with this here overgrown lizard, but I sure as shootin’ don’t want to go back to them saloonies.”
“How about you lower my blaster first off. Me and Bessie would feel a whole heap better if it wasn’t pointed at me.”
Aria relaxed her grip on the weapon and lowered it to her side. She noticed a light whiff of smoke coming off her dress, and patted at its glowing embers. She glared at Bessie and said, “Do you mind?”
Bessie moved her head farther away and the heat subsided. She continued to keep a wary eye on Aria.
“Okay, blaster down,” Aria said. The rumble of pounding hooves rolling across the red desert were growing steadily louder. “Now can we get out of here?”
“Blaster,” Grant said.
Aria hesitated.
“Now, unless you’d rather deal with them.” Grant pointed in the direction of a small cloud of dust moving toward them.
She threw the blaster to Grant.
In one fluid movement, he snatched it out of the air, twisted the setting to mid-range, and dropped it into his holster. “Anything you need out of that carriage, you get quick.”
The dust cloud danced over the last escarpment, coming fast. “They’ll be here any minute,” Aria said. The saloonies were close enough Aria could hear the cadence of individual horses in the thunder of the hooves pounding the desert floor. She grabbed her bag and a blanket from the carriage and ran to the edge of the thurium dig. All she could see in the pit was dust. “Grant! Don’t you leave me here, you son of a sidewinder.
“That ain’t no way for a lady to talk,” Grant said. Aria shielded her eyes against the glare of the sun and looked up to where his voice came just as Bessie landed next to her.
“Maybe I ain’t no lady.”
“Sad to hear that,” Grant said. And it sounded as if he really meant it. “I’m headed out of here. You coming?” He reached out his hand.
Aria grabbed his hand and he pulled her onto Bessie’s back. Bessie rose into the air just as the saloonies rounded the hill and stormed into the arroyo. She could hear them shouting and shooting as Bessie’s wings caught the wind and Aria felt herself rushing through the air. She looked back and the men on the ground looked about the size of rabbits, then chipmunks, then they were lost in the dust from the pit settling over them.
Aria leaned forward and said into Grant’s ear, “Thanks for not leaving me.”
He turned toward her. “I should have come back for you sooner.”
She snuggled her head onto his shoulder and surveyed the sky in front of them. “Grant. There’s somebody in Bessie’s mouth.”



(I’ll bet if you found this by accident you're a might confused by all this ruckus. If you want to get the whole story, and find out how this all makes sense, click for Episode 1)

(Ready to ride the dragon on the next episode? Here is Episode 11)