Happy Sunday! (Ignore that I say Saturday in the video - three day weekends throw me off.) I liked this bit of story, though I really need to work on my Southern accent. It probably would have helped if I had figured out exactly where Mariannick was from...
As for today's story, let me fill you in on a secret. There have been two days so far that I haven't written a new story, but on both of those days, I've used the device on the schedule and have the prompt I pulled written down. I just didn't have the spoons to write the story that day. Today, I went back to the prompt I pulled on May 22 from the Deck of Worlds, and came up with the beginnings of something.
Region - First Port
Attribute - rich in folklore
Landmark - Sanctuary Without Locks
Origin - created or given as a gift
Attributes - known for tea, unique system of timekeeping
Advent - a huge construction project is on the verge of collapse
The clock rang pure blue when the roof collapsed. We’d known it was coming, of course; anyone who had seen the cracks in the tiles knew that it was likely to go any day. It still came as a shock, of course, and we huddled together out of the field of debris, waiting for the dust to settle and for someone to tell us what to do.
“At least the store room is safe,” Marta said, her characteristic optimism strained in her voice. “We won’t have to worry about fulfilling the orders for the tea festival. It’s just the fellowship hall that’s been damaged.”
“Yes, just the place where we all come together in safety and community,” Joseph sneered. “Not anything important at all.” He pounded the end of his cane against the ground, making the rest of us jump at the sharp sound. “Why did this have to happen on our watch?”
“Joseph, it was only a matter of time,” I soothed, turning away from the rubble to face the old man. He’d been at the sanctuary for longer than any of the rest of us, and took any damage or faults to the buildings as personal failings. “That roof had been in place for what, twelve prisms? Thirteen? It was only able to hold up for so long. And Marta’s right, we’ll still be able to fulfill the tea festival orders, which means we’ll be able to put money aside to repair the damage.”
Joseph snorted and limped out of the doorway to the secondary hall where we had all huddled. “Believe what you want, I think it’s a sign,” he grumbled. “Twenty prisms this sanctuary has been standing, and nothing like this has happened before. Perhaps now it’s time to rethink whether we deserve to stand for another twenty prisms. Or even another two.” On that cheerful note, he made his way to the residence hall, carefully skirting the debris in the courtyard.
Leon sighed. “I feel like I should go after him, but he’s going to be impossible to talk to for shades now. I’ll try after dinner, around orange.” He squeezed my shoulder, and I felt a bit of my tension release. “Come on. We need to start working on cleaning all of this up. It’s going to take palettes to get everything, so we may as well start now.”
It was red-orange by the time we’d made a dent in cleaning the debris, but at least we’d made a path into the rest of the fellowship hall. I was afraid of going further into the building to see what the rest of the damage was, but I knew that it would be my responsibility to do so. I couldn’t let anyone into the hall until we had established if any part of it was safe, and as the current leader of the Sanctuary Without Locks, my job was to ensure the safety of everyone within our walls. “Let’s break for dinner,” I announced, then winced. Dinner frequently took place in the fellowship hall, which was obviously not available at the moment.
Marta saved the day, as usual. “It’s such a nice palette, why don’t we eat outside?” she asked, gesturing to the glowing air around us. The sun was starting to set, but the air remained warm and comfortable. “We can bring some of the big tables from the secondary hall out here, and the kitchen is far enough away from the collapse, we should be able to get in and out safely.” A murmur of agreement rose from the other residents, and I had to admit it was the kind of plan that would give us a comfortable break from the work. I nodded, then gestured for Leon and Marta to follow me.
“Before I send people into the kitchen, I want to make sure it’s safe,” I announced. “The rest of you can move some of the tables into the courtyard, and we’ll return with news about the kitchen.” I made my way around the fellowship hall, skirting the main doors and circling around to the back door which led to the kitchen.
We were very, very lucky - the part of the roof that had collapsed was near the front of the building, and the back of the building seemed to be sound. I gave the all-clear, and Marta summoned a couple of others to help her bring food out to the courtyard.
Joseph sat with us to eat, but he studiously ignored the remnants of the roof and refused to talk about the damage to anyone, even though that was the topic on everyone’s mind. I met Leon’s eye, and he could only give me a shrug. I sighed internally, trying to figure out what the best way to fix the roof and to fix my people.
- Tea Festival orders fulfilled
- Tea Festival happens, Sanctuary hosts fundraising dinner/formal tea service
- Community comes together, first time Sanctuary is open to the general public
- Power of tea and friendship prevails
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