Morning all. This morning went a bit catawampus but i seem to have gotten it back on track. For the moment at least. So let’s dive in to see what sort of story this morning prompt brings. Ready? Good one, two, three Write!
Interesting. So not where I thought that would actually go. Not that I really had a plan, but still this was a bit unexpected.
Wednesday, November 9th, 2022: He had never seen so many taxidermy animals in his life.
He had never seen so many taxidermy animals in his life. They seemed to peer out at him from the shadows. He thought it would make him feel watched, but all of the animals seemed to be looking at something else. A set of mice in waistcoats studied the grandfather clock. The hawk perched on a high shelf eyed the trio of mice. A peacock preened looking at nothing in particular but holding his head high and almost disdainfully.
Far from feeling watched Sean felt as though he had stepped into a room where everyone was occupied while he was just passing through. It felt almost as if they stopped moving, just as he entered and were waiting for him to leave again so they could continue on with their business.
He shook the feeling off and continued on deeper into the those, reminding himself that he had been invited. He also reminded himself that this was no longer a private home, even though it was clearly still set up that way. There were still coats hanging by the door on a heavy piece of furniture. Hats were also placed there and on the marble table set into the lower part of the stand was a brass dish with business cards on them. Sean glanced at them as he walked by, the cards held only names and not business details which he thought odd. There was an umbrella stand next to the hat and coat holding table creation and it held one umbrella and one walking stick. The umbrella stand looked surprisingly like an elephant’s foot and he found himself shying away from it and keeping his jacket on his back instead of adding it to one of the free hooks.
The animals started in the hallway, hoyden in various nooks and small shelves. There were relatively few in the hallway though. To either side of the hallway were large rooms. Each had a set of furniture he supposed was designed to be used by someone, but the items faded into the backdrop of the various dramas of the animals stationed within.
“Do you like the collection?” A voice asked.
Sean started as the voice seemed to come from a stuffed ferret that looked particularly pleased with himself. Slowly Sean realized the voice came from slightly lower and he found himself looking at an older man, at least a head shorter than he was who looked just as pleased with himself as the ferret.
Sean smiled nervously somehow feeling as though one of the animals had come back to life.
“It is impressive,” Sean said. In truth he felt it was too much. That the rooms were too crowded. Each animal seemed to have a big personality and it somehow made the rooms feel very small. He kept the thought to himself and looked at the man instead. He was older and stood stiffly adding to the impression that he too was stuffed.
“I was looking for a mister Waterson?” Sean said, recalling why he entered this strange place in the first place.
“Ah,” the man said. “One of the workers. You will find him upstairs in the first door on the left.”
Sean looked at the stars and then back at the man. To his surprise, the man was gone.
Ten til Midnight 