--donation bonus (day #15, post 2/5)--
Hector’s creations had always been underachieved approximations. Unless he stopped and concentrated hard for several minutes, he could never make anything more than a crude outline of what was in his head. But this was evidence of a change, evidence that his power had grown stronger than perhaps he thought. A frightening thought, in a way... but honestly, he found it more exciting than anything, as if his iron was now stronger than he was. And if that were true, then he only need catch up to it.
He wanted to try again. More elaborate still. Once they’d returned to the warehouse, he set to work. The rear sandlot provided ample space for just about anything he wanted to try, and the tall fences, weathered as they were, would ensure privacy.
His imagination ran wild with the possibilities. “What should I try to make?”
‘I’m not even sure how powerful you’ve become,’ said Garovel. ‘Why not try for something really outrageous? Something you don’t even think you can do, that is. Establish an upper limit, then work backwards to find where your ability caps out.’
“Hmm... uhh... Oh, how about a catapult? You think?”
‘I was gonna suggest an orbital satellite, but whatever.’
He took a deep breath. He imagined a catapult in his head--or at least something that seemed like a catapult--and then pressed his gloves to the sand.
A slew of metal pillars shot up together. They clanged together, trying to connect with one another and failing, and then fell over in a noisy heap.
‘Huh. Well, that was underwhelming.’
“I don’t... think that was my power’s fault...”
‘Hmm?’
“I just... umm... I thought it was simple, but... I don’t really know how a catapult works, to be honest...”
Garovel stared at him a moment. And then burst out laughing. ‘Great! Real smart, Hector!’
He flushed with embarrassment but couldn’t help smiling a little. “I thought if I just imagined a catapult-shaped... thing, then it’d just kind of appear, but--agh, stop laughing!”
A dark serial novel. Set in a modern fantasy world called Eleg. Mature language. Updates every night at midnight PST by ~400 words.
something like -a- catapult
ReplyDeleteGot it. Thanks.
ReplyDelete:)
ReplyDeleteI laughed as much as Garovel did...
ReplyDeleteIt is good to see Garovel teasing Hector a bit. Hopefully it will help with what he's just gone through.
ReplyDeleteSimple to understand, yet still detailed things? Chainmail.
Little unsure about English here, so enlighten me...
ReplyDelete"And if that were true, then he only need catch up to it."
Is "need" the proper tense in this context? I would have expected "only needed to catch up" there. Or maybe "would only need to catch up" (Conditional sentences are a pain for non-native speakers.) Or maybe English is just weird this way.
I was wondering if this would confuse anyone, actually.
ReplyDeleteAs you say, "he only needed to catch up" is a more normal phrasing, but "he only need catch up" is also acceptable, though it has a slightly more "archaic" ring to it. It's not the sort of phrasing you would hear in typical conversation in English, but yeah.