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16:10, 28th March 2024 (GMT+0)

Closed: Delilah: Sea, Sand and Surf!

Posted by Delilah's Sister - Susan GrayFor group 0
Delilah's Sister - Susan Gray
NPC, 62 posts
Sat 20 Jan 2018
at 23:00
  • msg #83

Delilah: Sea, Sand and Surf!

Susan turned around as if speaking to some imaginary crew. "You heard the Captain you land lubbers! Get your sorry selves moving or its ten lashes!" She cried.

But it wasn't very convincing of a threat. Instead, Delilah saw Susan's feet shuffle quickly away from the ship, as if happy that they weren't going to go inside.

Delilah watched as Bradford swallowed, his magnified eyes staring at the large hole in the old ship like it was a great whale, ready to swallow all three of them. Bradford took a step back and then turned his body, quickly following Susan.
Delilah Gray
player, 266 posts
WP: 3/3
Health: O O O O O O
Sun 21 Jan 2018
at 01:25
  • msg #84

Delilah: Sea, Sand and Surf!

The brave seadog, Cap'n Deadeye folded her arms across her chest and watched her crew turn an about face. As soon as they were no longer looking, Delilah let all her breath out in a rush. After quietly counting from three, she put on her pirate face and followed her crew back up the trail.

She had felt very small next to the vast, rotting hull. Her heart pounding inside her chest reminded her that she was alive. And free. Better to keep enjoying that feeling and ride it out as far as it could go.

"Arrr! First Mate Maulin' Molly! Let's have a song!

Fifteen men on a dead man's cheast
Yo ho no and a bottle of rum!"

Delilah's Sister - Susan Gray
NPC, 63 posts
Sun 21 Jan 2018
at 03:05
  • msg #85

Delilah: Sea, Sand and Surf!

"Aye Aye!" Susan said. Her mouth mumbled what sounded like syllables that might have been related to the lyrics of the pirates' song. The sound would have harmonized with what Delilah was singing, but she came in too late and it was clear that Susan didn't know the words.
Bradford Stork
NPC, 107 posts
Sun 21 Jan 2018
at 03:17
  • msg #86

Delilah: Sea, Sand and Surf!

"Whew!" Bradford said. "Thank God." He said, breaking character. "I mean, aye!" He corrected himself. And then "Argggh. Now we can follow STEP 15: “th' dummy be a trifle”

"It’s best not t' think about what must come next. Simply listen t' this voice guidin' ye on and let go. Without effort, completely let go."

Bradford jumped in the air and clicked his heels, walking along the beach further away from the scary ship. He turned back around and said to Delilah.

"Captian! Permission to speak!"
He asked, magnified eyes blinking.
Delilah Gray
player, 268 posts
WP: 3/3
Health: O O O O O O
Sun 21 Jan 2018
at 03:51
  • msg #87

Delilah: Sea, Sand and Surf!

Delilah didn't mind that Susan didn't know the words. And it didn't matter that Bradford had gone back to talking to himself. It covered for the fact that she didn't know the lyrics, either. She hummed the tune and belted out the chorus while whacking a stick against overhanging plants to keep time.

Then Bradford had something to say. Something for real.

"Hm hm hmm hm-hm hm hm hmmm! Yo ho ho and a bottle-- Um, yeah. Go ahead, matey."
Bradford Stork
NPC, 108 posts
Sun 21 Jan 2018
at 23:47
  • msg #88

Delilah: Sea, Sand and Surf!

Bradford cleared his throat.

"I suggest that we go back home Cap'n, by Davy Jones' locker! Remember, we need t' follow Step 16: “So long, my pupils!” 


Then slowly, as Bradford seemed to follow the pattern of reciting things, his Pirate accent went way.

"Ventriloquists talk to themselves. It’s a fact — an inescapable side effect of all those thousands of practice sessions staring at yourself in a mirror; all those thousands of hours spent manufacturing a pretend-relationship with a doll. In the words of Mr. Clayton himself, it is a trifle. And it’s high time to dispense with these trifles and sentimental trappings, and get down to real work."

Delilah Gray
player, 269 posts
WP: 3/3
Health: O O O O O O
Mon 22 Jan 2018
at 00:57
  • msg #89

Delilah: Sea, Sand and Surf!

Delilah agreed to dropping the game. They didn't loot the scary pirate ship. And the less said about that place, the better.

"Yeah, we can go. But we'll come back to Mermaid Cove soon." She chucked the piece of wood over her shoulder.

Bradford explained why he spoke to himself so much. She nodded absent-mindedly. "Well, Goggles, talking to yourself does make you a spaz. But you're not the worst spaz I ever met. So..."

She risked a peek at Susan and pretended she was only stretching her arms over her head. "So you should come over some time. We can talk? About Mr. Clayton and stuff? Besides, I've probably got the coolest house in this whole city. It's got everything ever. You should come see it."

She laced her fingers behind her neck and waited.
Delilah's Sister - Susan Gray
NPC, 64 posts
Mon 22 Jan 2018
at 05:05
  • msg #90

Delilah: Sea, Sand and Surf!

Susan was marching ahead this time, completely oblivious to the side conversation that had developed between Bradford and Delilah.

"Aye! Aye!"

"Aye! Aye!"
She said, keeping with the game, probably about fifteen or so feet ahead.
Bradford Stork
NPC, 109 posts
Mon 22 Jan 2018
at 05:09
  • msg #91

Delilah: Sea, Sand and Surf!

"Oh yeah!" Bradford said, all happy and optimistic. "It's like, wow! We could be friends and and...I could tell you all about Ventriloquism!" he said, happily.

"And I could also talk about the Mid-West. Oh, and about the farm."
He said.

Then on a sadder tone

"And my friend Ron."

Delilah Gray
player, 270 posts
WP: 3/3
Health: O O O O O O
Mon 22 Jan 2018
at 14:18
  • msg #92

Delilah: Sea, Sand and Surf!

"Yeah, sure. We could be like friends." Delilah did not sound completely sure of herself. Making friends. Not just teammates, but friend friends. Dweebs like Sammy did it all the time. Couldn't be that hard. She looked at the ground, then the plant leaves, as if the right words were written there.

"So...you were from Kansas? Before. And Ron from before, too?"

Bradford did not sound happy, but he did bring it up first. She fiddled with her soggy scarf.
Bradford Stork
NPC, 110 posts
Tue 23 Jan 2018
at 10:54
  • msg #93

Delilah: Sea, Sand and Surf!

"From Kansas!" Bradford said. "Like the Land of Oz." He reaffirmed. "But, we're not in Kansas anymore!" He joked.

Then with a more serious note. "My friend Ron died." he said in a mousey voice.

"Actually. Someone killed him." That sentence fell between the two kids, pitting the absence of words against the lapping of the waves, and Susan's distant singing.
Delilah Gray
player, 271 posts
WP: 3/3
Health: O O O O O O
Tue 23 Jan 2018
at 13:07
  • msg #94

Delilah: Sea, Sand and Surf!

Delilah giggled a bit at Bradford's impression. It was sorta funny. "Ha ha, yeah. Kansas. I'm from Minnesota," she added when she got the chance.

Then Bradford said something very sad in a low voice. She didn't say anything for a moment. Susan and her happiness felt a world away. She crossed her arms and rubbed at the goosebumps.

"It was a clown, wasn't it? All evil and ugly?"
Bradford Stork
NPC, 111 posts
Wed 24 Jan 2018
at 13:00
  • msg #95

Delilah: Sea, Sand and Surf!

Bradford swallowed, his Adam's apple bobbing up and then down. "Ye...yes." He croaked.

"You know about it too, then?" He asked. "You know about the secret, bad world?" he was fidgeting with his hands now, fingers moving round and round and tangling together.
Delilah Gray
player, 272 posts
WP: 3/3
Health: O O O O O O
Wed 24 Jan 2018
at 13:17
  • msg #96

Delilah: Sea, Sand and Surf!

"You know I know!" Delilah shouted. She winced and looked ahead to Susan, hoping she hadn't heard. She continued in a hiss, leaning in. "You saved me. You fixed my eye and everything. You left me that note."

She seemed a little confused. She scratched the back of her head. Her hair, nearly dry now in some places, tangled on her fingers.

"But she doesn't know. About the clowns or the pigman or nothing. She doesn't even remember Minnesota and all those other kids... who were..." From a distance, Susan looked like a dancing doll, like she could be picked up with one hand. "You better not tell her. Ever."
Bradford Stork
NPC, 112 posts
Wed 24 Jan 2018
at 16:14
  • msg #97

Delilah: Sea, Sand and Surf!


"nuh uh." Bradford explained, shaking his head in refusal of Delilah's notion that he did what she claimed he had done. "It's true, I heard about it. But I didn't do any of those things. I would love to say that I did. But honesty is the best policy, truly it is." He proclaimed.

"I have to tell you secret: It wasn't me who saved  your eye. It was Mr. Clayton. He knows all sorts of things. He's showing me things that I never knew were possible. I followed all of the steps on these cassette tapes. You know?" He sighed, continuing in a whisper so Susan wouldn't hear.

"Look, there's this Order in the Circus. It's against Mr. Cherrywinks. I joined it. And after some other kid passed on the opportunity to be Ventriloquist, I took the job. I started learning about Ventriloquism and practicing all the steps I've been telling you about. But then, my Dummy started teaching me. It turns out I was the Dummy!" He finished, a bit too loud.
Delilah Gray
player, 273 posts
WP: 3/3
Health: O O O O O O
Wed 24 Jan 2018
at 19:55
  • msg #98

Delilah: Sea, Sand and Surf!

"But you work the puppet." She really wanted that to be true, but she remembered seeing the dummy's face change. She was going to press the issue, but Bradford said the name.

Cherrywinks

Delilah flinched and hugged herself tightly. She remembered seeing it scrawled on the ceiling of the ice fort that night. Then the spiders came. And the clown. It must be the clown's name, but she was too afraid to ask. The name might be cursed. If they said it too many times, Cherrywinks would appear, like Bloody Mary.

She counted down from three in her head. She couldn't remember if Hogwash said anything about the circus as a whole. Bradford made it sound like a bigger affair than she'd imagined with positions to fill. There were a lot of kids in the sweatshop. So it could all be true.

"Pipe down!" Delilah waved her hands, palms down, as if she could push Bradford's volume lower. "There was a pig-man that made us make toys. And a girl gave me a smoke pipe. And then there was the dummy. But how do you know that it's a good magic dummy? He's got mean cat eyes."
Bradford Stork
NPC, 113 posts
Thu 25 Jan 2018
at 16:58
  • msg #99

Delilah: Sea, Sand and Surf!

"I...." Bradford said just when Delilah said that he 'controlled' the puppet. "I know." He admitted, piping down, just as she had asked.

"But it isn't exactly like that. It's like...ya know? It's like when you where a mask or, or, or when you dress up for Halloween."

"You feel different. You feel different just a little bit. You feel somewhat the same. But different. So I don't really know so much if its me."


"Every time I feel like I'm with Mr. Clayton, I learn a lot. Not just about him. But about me. I'm starting to think that there are things that Mr. Clayton knows that I don't know. You could call it Ventriloquism or the art of Ventriloquism.  But sometimes I don't even remember playing with Mr. Clayton. It's like I go to sleep, I think."

"I know about the pig-man. I know about the pig-man. But tell me more about him. And then I'll tell Mr. Clayton. And then we can see if he can do anything about it." Bradford offered.
Delilah Gray
player, 274 posts
WP: 3/3
Health: O O O O O O
Fri 26 Jan 2018
at 01:50
  • msg #100

Delilah: Sea, Sand and Surf!

Delilah shifted her weight from side to side. Then she began kicking at the sand and the small scrubby plants peeking through. She understood what Bradford had meant about being in two places, awake and asleep, at once. She balled her fists and crossed her arms tightly.

"I only know some, okay? And I was with the Pig-Man, but I'm notta pig, alright? I'm a person," she mumbled.

She wiggled her toes to get the sand out, but it didn't do much good.

"The clown was gonna get us. And the Pig came and said he would help us. But he put these heavy chains on my neck." She bent forward a little, to indicate the weight of the iron collar. "And I had to work all the time. When I was awake, I was okay. But when I went to sleep it was like being awake again. But in this nasty, hot tent. And everyone was all chained up making toys. Me too. So we broke the chain and ran away. But it didn't work."

She looked at her feet. She scrubbed one foot against the other, but the grains never all fell away. She thought about Mark and whether or not she was ready to explain ditching him. Maybe later.

"The Pig looks big and fat, but it's really fast. And strong. It got me. It got my eye like that!" She snapped her hand closed right in front of Bradford's face, fingers pursed together the way Hogwash had when his tinged talons sank into her eye socket. Before, she would have taken an impish glee in telling a good ghost story and the jump scare at the end. But her eyes felt so tired and her mouth couldn't smile.
This message was last edited by the player at 01:51, Fri 26 Jan 2018.
Bradford Stork
NPC, 114 posts
Fri 26 Jan 2018
at 02:51
  • msg #101

Delilah: Sea, Sand and Surf!

Bradford stared intently at Delilah as she spoke, those magnified eyes shifting from side to side as she told the harrowing tale. They occasionally blinked. When the hand came up in front of his face, Bradford flinched slightly and then swallowed.  His hand pawed at one side of his face, when she spoke of her eye.

"I...I can tell Mr. Clayton about that." Bradford offered. "I think..he said, I mean...I don't know if he said this, but I can guess that he would say that he doesn't like bullies like that. He doesn't like bullies or liars. Or people that hurt other people's eyes." He affirmed.

"...or the side of their face."
He added.


"Listen." Bradford leaned in, to a conspiratorial tone. "Can I tell you something?"
Delilah Gray
player, 276 posts
WP: 3/3
Health: O O O O O O
Fri 26 Jan 2018
at 03:18
  • msg #102

Delilah: Sea, Sand and Surf!

Delilah nodded. Her throat was dry, but she was all ears.
Bradford Stork
NPC, 115 posts
Fri 26 Jan 2018
at 10:47
  • msg #103

Delilah: Sea, Sand and Surf!

"I just wanted to tell you what happened to me, so you understand." Bradford explained, his voice now serious, a hint of pain in his voice.

"I wanted to tell you that..."

This message was last edited by the player at 10:47, Fri 26 Jan 2018.
Delilah's Sister - Susan Gray
NPC, 66 posts
Fri 26 Jan 2018
at 10:48
  • msg #104

Delilah: Sea, Sand and Surf!

"Guys! The tide is coming in!" Susan interrupted, making Bradford and Delilah's head turn.

They kids were approaching the swimming hole and Susan seemed a little nervous, urgent.
Bradford Stork
NPC, 116 posts
Fri 26 Jan 2018
at 10:50
  • msg #105

Delilah: Sea, Sand and Surf!

Bradford looked at Susan and then back at Delilah. He gave the impression of someone who was deciding whether or not to do what needed to be done, or what he wanted to to do.

Finally, he shrugged and let out a sigh.

"You'r right Susan." He said, wandering over to the the location where they had come up.

"If we don't get back soon, we'll have to spend all night here. And that won't be fun for anyone. Especially our parents. Heck, our friends will wonder where we are."

Delilah Gray
player, 278 posts
WP: 3/3
Health: O O O O O O
Fri 26 Jan 2018
at 11:16
  • msg #106

Delilah: Sea, Sand and Surf!

Delilah was struck dumb, horrified to hear what Bradford would say next. It had to be something really terrible. Really important. When Susan called out, it was like breaking a trance.

Then Bradford said something about spending the night. Delilah froze in place for a moment. Her mind went back to that other night.

"We're leaving! Let's go!"

She jogged down to the beach. And splashed into the water.
Storyteller
GM, 562 posts
Sun 28 Jan 2018
at 02:03
  • msg #107

Delilah: Sea, Sand and Surf!

OOC: End thread


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