The Lake Washington Current
I found myself on an innertube (a actual black innertube, like for a truck tire) floating in Lake Washington. But everything looked a bit like Minecraft's landscape, with random hills and cliffs and cliffy hilly islands. But lots of trees. And not as blocky. But definitely narrower than the real Lake Washington. Anyway.
Floating along I find myself pulled south by a current, a strong current that I can fight but not wholly successfully. It feels okay though, I was concerned but not scared. Kind of like a lazy river. It was strong and smooth and kind of nice. I was only worried about possible undertow, because the landscape above the water was really varied.
I floated past islands and cliffs, trying to get my bearings. I saw Bill Gates's house, and then I realized that must be Mercer Island. Which meant I was reallllly south. And I had no way to get back, because the cliffs were high and I couldn't fight the current. Not that far. I got a little worried then, and paddled back to shore. I tried to figure out where I started... I figured around Bellevue. Suddenly Dubois, Caroline, and Nothard were with me, and we'd left Hammerstein and Sarah in Bellevue! And it was going to be two days' trek at least on foot. We found a pile of flashlights outside a house at the foot of a large hill (it was getting to be dusk) and took two- one maglight for Caroline, a small and dim incandescent box flashlight for me, and a laser pointer for Nothard (who refused it). We circled around and actually found the owner, an army guy, who said it was totally cool and we could have them.
We waded through shallow tidepools and cold streams, up over hill after hill, finally coming to a bar with a patio and a small beach. Next door was a camping supply store, we picked up a tent and some sleeping bags. The tide was going out(?) and the lake was retreating from the beach, giving us space to camp which the proprietor said was totally cool. But the tide was going to come back in at 7:25 AM, so we'd need to get up before the sun and pack up. We didn't find this likely so we kept trekking.
At some point here I called Dubois "Hammerstein" by mistake, and then Hammerstein showed up. I was like "WTF", but he was very cryptic and basically said he was here for a reason, and we'd find out in good time.
Eventually we came across a community center homeless shelter type place. I remember several signs telling viewers that prostitution wasn't the way, and a few homeless black people. We stepped out the back and it was snowing outside... I was confused until someone tried to catch a snowflake on their tongue and it was bitter and gritty. Hammerstein hinted that this was why he was here, then spilled the beans with some prompting- a volcano was erupting, and this was the ash fall. We stood on what was now a hill, overlooking the ash dropping and a dim glow in the distance. It was slightly post-apocalyptically romantic.
We returned to the community center at one point. We still wanted to camp out back but we got there there was suddenly steps down to a walkway to the street. On the two or three concrete steps were a number of laptops alarmed with pins and wires that led back inside. Only minimal ash fall now, and we needed the laptops. We had to steal them. So I looked at the alarms. There was a pin holding the wires in so I pulled it; an alarm sounded and a guy came out. He looked at us and said "You be stealin' anythin'? Or you seen anybody?" We replied in the negative, and he popped back inside. So I examined the alarm circuitry and realized it was just a high-low alarm- pulling the pin cut the circuit, dropping the line voltage to zero, triggering the alarm. So I spliced power directly to the alarm output, and we grabbed some laptops.
Then I woke up. I guess I never made it to Bellevue, but I guess it was for the better.
Floating along I find myself pulled south by a current, a strong current that I can fight but not wholly successfully. It feels okay though, I was concerned but not scared. Kind of like a lazy river. It was strong and smooth and kind of nice. I was only worried about possible undertow, because the landscape above the water was really varied.
I floated past islands and cliffs, trying to get my bearings. I saw Bill Gates's house, and then I realized that must be Mercer Island. Which meant I was reallllly south. And I had no way to get back, because the cliffs were high and I couldn't fight the current. Not that far. I got a little worried then, and paddled back to shore. I tried to figure out where I started... I figured around Bellevue. Suddenly Dubois, Caroline, and Nothard were with me, and we'd left Hammerstein and Sarah in Bellevue! And it was going to be two days' trek at least on foot. We found a pile of flashlights outside a house at the foot of a large hill (it was getting to be dusk) and took two- one maglight for Caroline, a small and dim incandescent box flashlight for me, and a laser pointer for Nothard (who refused it). We circled around and actually found the owner, an army guy, who said it was totally cool and we could have them.
We waded through shallow tidepools and cold streams, up over hill after hill, finally coming to a bar with a patio and a small beach. Next door was a camping supply store, we picked up a tent and some sleeping bags. The tide was going out(?) and the lake was retreating from the beach, giving us space to camp which the proprietor said was totally cool. But the tide was going to come back in at 7:25 AM, so we'd need to get up before the sun and pack up. We didn't find this likely so we kept trekking.
At some point here I called Dubois "Hammerstein" by mistake, and then Hammerstein showed up. I was like "WTF", but he was very cryptic and basically said he was here for a reason, and we'd find out in good time.
Eventually we came across a community center homeless shelter type place. I remember several signs telling viewers that prostitution wasn't the way, and a few homeless black people. We stepped out the back and it was snowing outside... I was confused until someone tried to catch a snowflake on their tongue and it was bitter and gritty. Hammerstein hinted that this was why he was here, then spilled the beans with some prompting- a volcano was erupting, and this was the ash fall. We stood on what was now a hill, overlooking the ash dropping and a dim glow in the distance. It was slightly post-apocalyptically romantic.
We returned to the community center at one point. We still wanted to camp out back but we got there there was suddenly steps down to a walkway to the street. On the two or three concrete steps were a number of laptops alarmed with pins and wires that led back inside. Only minimal ash fall now, and we needed the laptops. We had to steal them. So I looked at the alarms. There was a pin holding the wires in so I pulled it; an alarm sounded and a guy came out. He looked at us and said "You be stealin' anythin'? Or you seen anybody?" We replied in the negative, and he popped back inside. So I examined the alarm circuitry and realized it was just a high-low alarm- pulling the pin cut the circuit, dropping the line voltage to zero, triggering the alarm. So I spliced power directly to the alarm output, and we grabbed some laptops.
Then I woke up. I guess I never made it to Bellevue, but I guess it was for the better.
posted by Aux at 12:32 PM
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