Morning all. We have returned to a more typical (for me anyway) schedule. I for one am very glad. So let’s jump into the first prompt of the week and see where it takes us. Timers set for fifteen minutes and off we go.
I have to say, it did take me a while to jump into this one. I fumbled a bit in the beginning but I think I know where this is going. Could be fun to write a mad scientist story. Just need to figure out the time period before I jump in.
Monday, May 19th: The yellow liquid was oily and viscus.
The yellow liquid was oily and viscus. When Sam tilted the jar to the side he could see it trying to cling to the sides of the smooth glass. It was strange and unusual, at least unusual for him. He was certain others were more familiar with the substance. Yet something about it seemed oddly familiar. It was a memory he couldn’t quite catch. It darted through his mind and then was gone. He shook his head.
Sam set the jar back down. He wasn’t here to look at the doctor’s strange substances. He was here for the doctor. Sam moved away from the jars containing various substances. Some were liquid like the one he just set down, others were dried bits of stuff, some plant based, others of more dubious origins. He tried not to think about them and took another step away. His eyes scanned the room. The doctor was no where to be seen.
“Doctor,” he called out knowing that he didn’t care for others wandering through his work room. Sam heard no response. He backed away from the tables even further making certain not to jostle any lab equipment.
He could see the door in the back of the laboratory open. It had always been closed when he visited and he didn’t know where it went. Eyeing the tables full of delicate glassware and softly bubbling liquids simmering on burners, Sam decided the perimeter of the workshop area was where he should stay. He case a glance to a blue liquid simmering away. It sent up plumes of steam into the glass tubes. The steam condensed as it cooled and plinked out as a clear liquid one drop at a time. Sam didn’t know what that was any more than he knew what anything else was, but he didn’t imagine breathing in the fumes would be good for him.
That more than the doctor’s dislike of visitors kept him edging along the perimeter towards the open door. He thought he heard a footstep and he decided to call out again. “Doctor?” Sam called. He used a louder voice than before, hoping it would carry.
This time there was a response. Sam blinked as he heard the normally calm and urbane doctor let out a string of profanity. It slipped through the open doorway. Sam was confident he heard footsteps now as it sounded like someone was running. He stopped, halfway between the main door and that mysteriously opened one. He didn’t have long to wait. The doctor appeared in the frame. He was sweating slightly and out of breath. His tie was slightly askew and there was mud on his shoes.
As the doctor was normally extremely fastidious with his appearance, the small changes seemed magnified.
“Yes,” the doctor said. He sounded irritated. This too was a change as whenever Sam spoke with him he sounded bored. The doctor pulled the door shut behind him as he looked around. He spotted Sam by the wall and frowned.
“I didn’t want to get too near,” Sam made a circling gesture with his hand in the direction of the equipment.
“Quite right,” the doctor replied sounding more like his usual self. “So what is it you wanted?”
“You have a visitor.”
The doctor’s eyebrows shot up to his hair line in surprise. “A visitor?” he repeated. Sam nodded. “For me? That seems unlikely.”
“He asked for you by name,” Sam said and Catherine sent me to bring you to the parlor.
“A visitor for me who Catherine has deemed worthy of the parlor. My, my,” he said. The doctor frowned. “And he asked for me by name?” Sam nodded and wondered why the doctor looked so troubled by the news.
Ten til Midnight 