Morning all. I hope you are having a splendid week. Mine is a bit rushed but that always happens with a Monday holiday. It’ll even out by Friday. So let’s jump into our Thursday prompt then. Timers set for fifteen minutes and off we go.
I am going to be thinking about this statue for the rest of the day.
Thursday, October 16th: The sculpture leaned precariously to one side.
The sculpture leaned precariously to one side. Lewis saw it, couldn’t help but see it, every time he looked out of the window. He found himself staring at it, tilting his own head to the side lining it up with the statue. It wasn’t falling. He learned that much in the week and a half he had been here.
Each morning he looked out expecting to see it toppled, but the angle was still the same. Tilted to look as though it was falling, yet somehow not actually falling. It was disconcerting.
Worse was that no one else seemed to notice or at least did not consider it worth commenting on. Students passed by the statue walking under it’s shadow without looking up. A few of the older students would even paus and occasionally sit underneath it.
And no one said a word.
There was not a single shred of caution no warning signs.
It was unfathomable to Lewis. Thus far he made certain to avoid the statue, to stay away from the area where it reigned. But today, his path would take him directly past it. He had to go to Professor Whitmore’s office and while he could take a circuitous route claiming he was enjoying the grounds he knew it would be a lie. Others may believe him, but he would not be able to convince himself.
‘So I go past it,’ he said. He wasn’t certain why this sent a shiver of fear through him He knew that no matter how pronounced the lea, how precarious looking the perch, the statue wasn’t falling. He had ample proof in his own morning observations and his observations of the students gathered round it.
Somehow it wasn’t the physical safety that had him concerned. It was …something else. He couldn’t quite name the something else. Had never been able to name the something else. But not being able to give it a name didn’t’ matter. There was still the something else.
There had been something else’s in the past of course, it was why he was at Greyfriars Academy even though he was neither student nor teacher. He had been granted a research opportunity in their vast library. He was given a small room to call his own while he conducted his research and more or less told that as long as he was quiet and stayed out of everyone’s way then he would be tolerated until he was finished.
It was said in much more polite and grandiose words of course, but that was what it boiled down to. Thus far Lewis managed admirably. He kept himself to himself and the head master looked relieved.
‘Hopefully the statue won’t ruin it.’
Lewis gathered his satchel of papers. Once again he tried to think of a reason not to need to go to Professor Whitmore’s office. Once again he failed. And so he set out across the campus. His strides were long and even, purposeful but not hurried. He hoped that the confident stride would keep him moving past the statue and over to the office.
He reached the intersection of paths where the statue reigned and found himself taking the path where the shadow would not fall on him. He strode through sunlight. Still as he passed the statue he could hear the song. An enchanting, lively melody that made him want to dance. He ignored it and kept moving. The music faded and he tried not to show his relief as he walked.
Lewis reached Professor Whitmore’s office but the man was not yet there. His class not finished. Lewis looked back down the path to the statue. To his surprise the statue appeared to be looking right at him.
Ten til Midnight 