Jedi Dreams (in total thus far): I posted, I swear 12/30/01!

Up!

 

UPzers!!!

 

Just popping this up so I can find it later tonight (Force-willing.) Sorry to keep you all waiting so long, but it's been a long, busy summer. Will see you all later if all goes well. --AWK

 

Great post! It was a little confusing, but still great!

 

Well, I've certainly kept you waiting long enough. (Sorry, grad students don't get a summer vacation like normal students. On the plus side, I don't have to TA until next semester, so I have lots of time to think up corny jokes for my first batch of students. Heh heh heh. Poor souls.) But I digress.

Sorry it took me so long. I was so wound up last night I couldn't write, and when I came back to the lab this afternoon, there was a person here who had a little, shall we say, personal hygeine problem, which as you can imagine, in the always stuffy computer lab, made quality writing difficult. Especially since I kept coughing. Not that you really needed to know any of that, but if you were wondering why this post might not be up to the usual standards, that would be why.

I put it down to stress and . . . air pollution.

Okay, enough about my life. This post is dedicated to my mother's eyebrow (you will understand) and my fruit fly friend (who studies fruit flies) for her story about her brother taking certain safety lessons a bit too literally. Thank you fruit fly friend! Enjoy! --AWK

* * *

Today had started normal, but since then it had gotten weird. Really weird. Axin sighed in frustration. He just didn?t understand what was going on. He didn?t understand why Ev was here. He didn?t understand why everyone was acting backwards. He didn?t understand why they were listening to this boring airwave program. And he didn?t understand why Queen Bauble was listening to Obee-one and doing everything he said. He never got to boss his mother around. Not that he wanted to. (Well, maybe sometimes he was upset when he didn?t get his way, or when she was a little too busy for him, but that wasn?t the same thing.) If he ever acted that way and kept ordering her around, . . . he would get spanked! (Well, Queen Bauble had never actually spanked him before; she only gave him THE EYEBROW, but it still could happen.) At least she would scold him for being fresh. She would have even scolded Ev for being fresh, and he wasn?t even hers, like Axin was. So why didn?t she scold Obee-one? Maybe it was bad to scold a droid that wasn?t hers.

But that didn?t make sense either. If it was wrong to scold Obee-one, why did she hit Widow Nellis? comm terminal when the signal went out last summer? That comm terminal wasn?t hers, and she had hit it and yelled at it. (Well, she talked at it loudly.) And it wasn?t hers! It had misbehaved and acted up, and she punished it. (Apparently comm terminals didn?t understand THE EYEBROW.) Widow Nellis didn?t seem to mind. She even told Queen Bauble which side to hit it on. Then it worked. But she didn?t hit Obee-one. She didn?t even give him THE EYEBROW. He was a pretty smart droid; he should be able to understand it a lot better than a comm terminal. Maybe it was because Mr. Master wasn?t here to tell her which side to hit him on.

That must be it! Mr. Master wasn?t here. He must have made a mistake programming Obee-one or something and Queen Bauble didn?t know how to fix him! He wasn?t covered in big buttons like Widow Nellis? comm terminal, and he didn?t have an instruction book with him. (At least Axin didn?t think he did. He hadn?t actually checked under Obee-one?s tunic to see if he had any buttons because that would be rude, and he didn?t see any instructions on Obee-one?s belt. Maybe that?s what his canteen thing was. It had buttons and knobs on it. Maybe it was his ?clicker,? like the one Widow Nellis used to change the frequency on her entertainment screen. . . But Mr. Master had one too. If his clicker controlled Obee-one, what did Obee-one need his for? Maybe it was like his talker-thingy and you had to have two to make it work. No wonder Obee-one wouldn?t tell him what it was! If Axin had touched it he might have accidentally reprogrammed him! What if he had deleted him by mistake? Would Obee-one disappear? Would he be Obee-one anymore? Would Mr. Master have to reprogram him and rename him Obee-two because he was no longer Obee-o

 

Poor Axin...everything is confusing and now being asked to behave when curiosity is running rampant. And it took me a few minutes before working out what Obi was saying *grin*

 

Another great post. I love the way Axin's thoughts flow from problem to solution with his own unique logic. I had to laugh at his concern over his father's drinking and driving; it reminded me of the time I made Xmas cookies for my son's kindergarten class. As we made the cookies he wanted to taste the vanilla and I told him he wouldn't like it because it had alcohol in it. He took the cookies to class and after they were eaten told everyone they were filled with alcohol, prompting a frantic call from his teacher. Kids. Gotta love 'em. (cuz otherwise we'd kill 'em) ;-)

 

That was excellent Alli-Wan, well worth the wait...you've definitely set up a sense of foreboding with this one. I'll be waiting patiently for more.

 

Wonderful Alli-Wan! Thank you soo much for giving me an Axin fix. Eagerly awaiting the next post. PLEASE let it be soon!

 

Post soon!

 

Uppity up up uppity up!!

 

and up again

 

Sorry All, this isn't a story post.

1. I'm up past my eyeballs in work. I should emerge in a few weeks . . . maybe. However, I should be done with a large part of it in another day or two, so maybe I can post something small then. (I haven't forgotten you, I promise.)

2. Sorry about there being no post this weekend (see #1.)

3. There will be no post the weekend after next, regardless of how much work I have because that is the departmental retreat and I have to heat frozen cocktail franks and listen to presentations and play board games and collect beer bottles, (even though I don't drink.)

4. Thank you very much Mouse2 for the nomination on the Golden Keyboard thread. Would have thanked you earlier, but I have all this darn work and all.

Gotta go read. Not out of the woods yet, but I think I see a highway.

--AWK

 

"not out of the woods yet, but I think I see a highway"

. . .

. . .

. . .

. . . didn't the people on "Blair Witch Project" say the exact same thing?

 

just keeping this up...

 

Gee, about darn time. Sorry it took so long, I was out of practice. I'm so terrible! I make you wait this long, and then I leave you with an iffy post. You have my apologies. In the meantime, let me know. This one just went weird on me.

Enjoy! --AWK

* * *

"Why are we wearing this stuff Reese?" Reese shrugged.

"Because Master Jinn told us to." He struggled not to laugh, despite the tension, (or more likely due to the tension). "Maybe it is some sort of ?Force-blocking? sunscreen. Maybe we?re just supposed to throw the empty bottle at the enemy when we run out of blaster charges."

"Maybe it?s so our corpses won?t get sunburned."

"Maybe." Slowly the stifling silence filtered back into the passenger cabin. Both boys shifted uncomfortably, still at a loss as for words. Evel eyed the road ahead; Reese swept his gaze across the fields, then closed his eyes and tried to reach out with the Force.

"Weird. What is that?" Evel continued to stare straight ahead.

"What?" Reese unconciously shook his head, unsure how to describe what he was sensing.

"Do you feel it? That , . . . that thing in the Force?"

"What thing?" Evel asked in alarm. (He said we might be able to feel them coming! I don?t feel them! Please don?t tell me you?re feeling them! We?re not even to the spacedock yet!) Reese pressed his lips together in concentration, still trying to describe the strange sensation.

"That weird, almost-there . . . Force-thing." Evel rolled his eyes. Reese had been away from the Temple WAY too long.

"You?re just noticing that now? That?s been there since before Master Jinn?s meditation." Reese turned to glare at him.

"I didn?t notice before, Evel. I was a little busy helping Ield. I didn?t have time to meditate and feel the Force because I had my head stuck in the sequencer! You were having a fine old time sitting on your backside with the master!"

"S-sorry." Evel conceded the point. "You just freaked me out for a second there. I thought there was something new I should be worrying about besides that."

"That worries you? Why? I mean it?s big and everything, but we can?t even tell what it is yet." Evel clenched his jaw. That was the problem with Reese; he never worried. Not that worrying was good for a Jedi, but like Master Yoda taught them over and over again, one should be mindful of the future. And Reese tended to forget that sometimes. . . . Just like Ield. (Maybe that?s how he got himself into this mess.)

"That?s what worries me." Reese rolled his eyes. Sometimes Evel worried too much. And he had been like that for YEARS! He worried he wouldn?t be chosen as a padawan. He worried he would get his backside cooked by Bruck Chun. He worried that they would both get sent to the Agricultural Corp. He worried that would end up hauling manure. (Hmm.) Actually, now that he thought about it, all those things Evel worried about had come to pass. (Maybe he is stronger in the Force than he thinks he is.)

"Uh, . . why does that worry you Evel? What do you think it is?" Evel gulped. He could feel it up ahead, growing stronger. Thicker. Still murky, still hidden and unclear, but undeniably there. Ahead of them. At the spacedock.

"Essence of Jedi." Reese froze. Essence of Jedi. The plasmid. And that weird feeling in the Force was ahead of them. Straight ahead. A glance in the rear-view mirror revealed Ield, that farmer and Master Jinn, far down the road behind them. And the strange feeling was ahead of them. Whatever it was, it couldn?t be coming from the master.

"Like a bunch of hidden Jedi."

"Yeah."

"Do you think that?s it?s the plasmid?"

"He said we might feel them." Evel swallowed a cold lump of panic and Reese began to squirm, resisting the urge to check the blaster?s power supply again. "Hah. We don?t even know who they are!"

"Maybe we?re better off not knowing. Do we really want to know what kind of people would want that plasmid? Do we really want to know who would be willing to kill someone like

 

Out of practice, my foot! *snorts*

Wonderful post, Alli-Wan

 

I have to agree with Eryce!

Excellent post Alli-Wan!! Now post again for us soon!

P.S. You are most definately welcome. It was well deserved!

 

AWK,

No 'iffyness' in that post! I like how suspense builds thorugh the minor characters.
You are doing a great job! Thank you for the extra work, on top of a busy schedule, to post more !

Now, maybe some Axin (?) and Obee-One soon? Just a bit of selfish pleading. *grin*

Emma3Jane

 

*Gryph Grin jumps around the room like a maniac shouting at the top of his lungs*

"Alli-Wan, Alli-Wan, Alli-Wan, Alli-Wan, Alli-Wan, Alli-Wan, Alli-Wan, Alli-Wan, Alli-Wan, Alli-Wan, Alli-Wan, Alli-Wan, Alli-Wan!"

*Gryph collapses to the floor in exhaustion* THUD!! "owwwww"

Great post Alli!! Not iffy at all! I'm looking forward to more soon!

In the meantime, I think I'll go check on carpal tunnel syndrome therapy after typing Alli-Wan over and over again.

 

Hehe. Funny as always. Post soon.

 

Evel and Reese balance each other well and their bantering keeps them from panicking (and us amused). Nice touch.

 

Had alousy day and got inspired. Hope this keeps you all occupied for awhile! Enjoy another semi-iffy post, brought to you by the Queen of Iffy!

--AWK, Q of I

* * *

Tebla struggled both to calm her breathing, and look as if she weren?t trying to control her breathing. Despite the contradictory goals the effect served her purpose well. She ended up releasing her breath in a huff, as if annoyed by the sudden inconvenience.

"Not that I?m aware of sir. Are you in any difficulty?" A small part of her was astounded by her calm façade. (But then again, I have a Jedi in the backseat. Maybe that?s why.) The large man in the burgundy uniform fingered at his blaster holster and stared down at her.

"We are having a bit of difficulty out here, ma?am. We?re looking for some wanted men. Maybe you?ve seen them?" Axin stiffened. He was a smart boy. He paid attention and read a lot. He may not have known what a protocol droid was when he woke up this morning, but he certainly knew what it meant when someone was a ?wanted man?. That meant that the wanted person had done something bad, like robbed at least twenty credits from the bank or had been kelp rustling. When the constable found out about it, he would put up posters of the wanted person?s face (probably because it was embarrassing to see your face everywhere) and then the person would be arrested and had to go to see the justice. And sometimes they went to jail. But Axin had never actually seen a wanted man. He hadn?t seen any posters. There was nothing about it on the newsholos. He would know if there had been. He always hoped he would hear about it, because sometimes if a person did something very bad, like . . . rustling kelp and then eating them, . . . sometimes the Senate sent a Jedi after them. So Axin always paid close attention to newsholos about wanted men, but so far none had been bad enough around here for a Jedi to come get them.

"I wouldn?t know, sir." Tebla stiffened, but managed to look unconcerned and much put upon. (I?ll be haughty. He won?t know I know anything if I pretend I know everything.) "Do I look as if I keep company with wanted men?" (Oh, wonderful comment. When you?ve got two of them in the car right next to you.) The man gave her a chilling grin.

"I can?t say you do ma?am. But you never can tell." He moved toward the back of the groundcar to note the registration numbers. Tebla?s foot slowly came off the brake pedal and began sliding toward the accelerator.

"Stuudy," came the warning hiss. "Hez blister ez fuster tun yur foo." Unable to acknowledge him without the danger of drawing attention to the fact that she was taking instruction from an ?inanimate? scare-bird, Tebla silently returned her foot to the brake. The man interrogating them came around to the passenger side and looked in through Zelle?s window. Another man took his post at Tebla?s window, lazily holding a blaster rifle, seemingly unconcerned.

"So what?s this, Lady? Your better half?" Tebla whipped her head around and glared at the man. "You could do better." (Stars and Stones! He could already kill me! Does he have to hit on me too?) Ev began to sweat. They had noticed Mrs. Gantos. It was only a matter of time. Until they noticed the Jedi boy. Until they got back the registration numbers. Until they found out Axin?s name. Until they recognized him.

"Hardly." (Yes, show contempt. That you are not afraid because you have no reason to be afraid.) "Those are scare-birds for the festival tomorrow." (My better half?) He stared at her suspiciously. (No fear. Don?t make him suspicious.) "They?re for sale if you want them." (For sale? Oh, great maneuver Queen Bauble.) He looked up at her, grinning.

"Really? How much for a scare-bug, and just would I do with one anyway?"

Axin did not like this at all. What was Queen Bauble saying? It didn?t make any sense! Why was she scared of this man? Why did they keep asking questions that weren?t about the tea he drank? Why did she just say Mrs. Gant

 

He's not the droid you're looking for! Ha! I laughed so hard at that! No, it's not deja vu. Foreshadowing is the word, I think. Anyway, I loved it. Now stomp on the accelerator of your story, Alli-Wan, and give us some more soon! We can never get enough of this excellent stuff!