Our brief (and slightly disturbing) warm spell has ended. Earlier this week it was 63 degrees and today it is 22 and snow flurries are blowing in the wind. It makes me feel very off balance. And a bit like hibernating. But I will press on nonetheless. So writing prompt anyone? Good. Then let’s get to it.
Hmm this is one of those things I might come back to and really like or I might roll into something else later. either way it wasn’t what I expected when I sat down to write. But sometimes this brain clearing exercise gives you something good, other times it is just a mental version of throat clearing.
Thursday, January 28th: He lunged.
He lunged. His opponent dodged and his sword point not only missed the mark but missed his opponent entirely. Jimmy took the opportunity to hit his mask with his forearm, elbow jabbing briefly but painfully in the small unprotected spot where the ruff of his fencing mask and his protective suit didn’t quite meet.
To the others it just looked like Jimmy’s arm bounced harmlessly off the grate of his fencing mask, but the move left Andy momentarily struggling for breath. He swallowed and realized he lunged too far for a decent riposte as Jimmy danced behind him and slapped him casually on the backside with his foil;.
Andy felt his face heat as he straightened and once again returned to position. Jimmy had been fencing since he could walk, or at least that was what the others said. Andy had a bare two weeks under his belt and most of that time he spent trying to get out of fencing all together.
His uncle jasper signed him up for it when he came to live with him and began attending the Academy. Jasper waxed poetical about his student years and how he loved fencing and pretty much everything to do with it. Andy was pretty certain his uncle Jasper would have been much happier with someone like Jimmy for a nephew. The two of them seemed cut from the same cloth. Form everything Jimmy learned about his uncle, he was as much a bully and a braggart as Jimmy was.
The fact that he was here attending the Academy by day and living with Jasper at night was proof of that. Andy tried to put it out of his mind as he adjusted his stance. Jasper was only a problem when crossed. When He found out Andy was trying to get himself released from fencing, he became enraged and lectured Andy at top volume for twenty minutes. The threats then were very clear. It was only when he calmed own that they once again became sly subtle things meant to intimidate without actually coming right out and saying what he meant.
But Andy learned a lot from the rant. Jasper held the future of his parents and his siblings in his hand. If Andy did what was expected then Jasper would make certain that future was bright. If Andy didn’t walk the line as expected then Jasper would destroy them. The explosion was three days prior and since then Andy had been trying to at least hold his own and attempt to look as though he enjoyed himself.
He blocked and parried and as his body attempted to remember the new lessons and come to terms with the movements, he wondered why he was being paired with Jimmy. Surely as a clear novice he should have been paired with someone at least closer to his skill level. Surely the entire class couldn’t be as good or better than Jimmy. Andy knew he was officially acknowledged as top of the class. Why was Andy facing off against him instead of one of the others. It was a mystery and one he had yet to solve. Yet despite the disparity in their skill levels, Andy found that every class paired him with Jimmy. As Jimmy’s point finally landed scoring a hit and allowing Andy to finally leave the floor, he decided that perhaps he would drag his feet when leaving and finally get a chance to ask their instructor why the pairing was made and if there was any way to alter it.
Ten til Midnight 