Today, in lieu of actually writing anything new, I decided I'd post a list of clever things my characters have said.
Why?
Because, that's why.
"Deception wears many masks. Take care to remove them all, should you undertake to see the face of truth."
-- Wistril the Wizard, from Wistril Compleat.
"The stuff of legends is nothing but trouble to the persons unfortunate enough to make them. On the whole, I’d rather have been off fishing.”
-- Tim the Horsehead, from All the Paths of Shadow
"You know you're having a bad day when vampires drop by to chat and you're pleased by the sudden distraction."
-- Markhat, from Hold the Dark
Okay, this is a not truly a quote, but an exchange between Markhat and Mama Hog in Dead Man's Rain.
Mama Hog nodded. "Cards say she's got a hard rain coming, boy," she said. "Turned up the Dead Man, and the Storm, and the Last Dancer, all in the same hand. Dead man's rain. That ain't good." Mama grabbed another morsel of sandwich, guffawed around it. "But I don't need cards to see the sun," she said. "The Widow Merlat is headed for a bad time. She knows it. I know it. You'd best know it, too."
"Dead is dead, Mama," I said. "That's what I know."
"There's other things you need to know, boy. Things about the ones that come back."
"First thing being that they don't," I said.
Mama pretended not to hear.
"Rev'nants only walk at night," she said. "It's got to be pitch dark."
"Do tell."
"You can't catch 'em coming out of the ground," said Mama. "It's no good trying. They're like haunts, that way. Solid as rock one minute, thin as fog the next."
"Sounds handy," I said. "Do their underbritches get all misty and ethereal too, or is that one of the things man was not meant to know?"
"Don't look in his eyes, boy," said Mama. "Don't look in his eyes, or breathe air he's breathed."
"I won't even ask about borrowing his toothbrush," I said.
Mama slapped my desk top with both her hands.
"You listen," she hissed. "Believe or not, but you listen."
"I've got all night," I said.
"His mouth will be open," said Mama. "Wide open. He's been saving a scream, all that time in the ground. Saving up a scream for the one that put him there." Mama lifted a stubby finger and shook it in my face. "Don't you listen when he screams. You put your hands over your ears and you yell loud as you can but don't you listen. Cause if you do, you'll hear that scream for the rest of your days and there ain't nothing nobody nowhere can do for you then."
Silence fell. Only after Curfew do we get any silence, in my neighborhood. I let it linger for a moment.
I leaned forward, put my eyes down even with Mama's, motioned her closer, spoke.
"Boo."
--Mama Hog and Markhat, from Dead Man's Rain.
Why?
Because, that's why.
"Deception wears many masks. Take care to remove them all, should you undertake to see the face of truth."
-- Wistril the Wizard, from Wistril Compleat.
"The stuff of legends is nothing but trouble to the persons unfortunate enough to make them. On the whole, I’d rather have been off fishing.”
-- Tim the Horsehead, from All the Paths of Shadow
"You know you're having a bad day when vampires drop by to chat and you're pleased by the sudden distraction."
-- Markhat, from Hold the Dark
Okay, this is a not truly a quote, but an exchange between Markhat and Mama Hog in Dead Man's Rain.
Mama Hog nodded. "Cards say she's got a hard rain coming, boy," she said. "Turned up the Dead Man, and the Storm, and the Last Dancer, all in the same hand. Dead man's rain. That ain't good." Mama grabbed another morsel of sandwich, guffawed around it. "But I don't need cards to see the sun," she said. "The Widow Merlat is headed for a bad time. She knows it. I know it. You'd best know it, too."
"Dead is dead, Mama," I said. "That's what I know."
"There's other things you need to know, boy. Things about the ones that come back."
"First thing being that they don't," I said.
Mama pretended not to hear.
"Rev'nants only walk at night," she said. "It's got to be pitch dark."
"Do tell."
"You can't catch 'em coming out of the ground," said Mama. "It's no good trying. They're like haunts, that way. Solid as rock one minute, thin as fog the next."
"Sounds handy," I said. "Do their underbritches get all misty and ethereal too, or is that one of the things man was not meant to know?"
"Don't look in his eyes, boy," said Mama. "Don't look in his eyes, or breathe air he's breathed."
"I won't even ask about borrowing his toothbrush," I said.
Mama slapped my desk top with both her hands.
"You listen," she hissed. "Believe or not, but you listen."
"I've got all night," I said.
"His mouth will be open," said Mama. "Wide open. He's been saving a scream, all that time in the ground. Saving up a scream for the one that put him there." Mama lifted a stubby finger and shook it in my face. "Don't you listen when he screams. You put your hands over your ears and you yell loud as you can but don't you listen. Cause if you do, you'll hear that scream for the rest of your days and there ain't nothing nobody nowhere can do for you then."
Silence fell. Only after Curfew do we get any silence, in my neighborhood. I let it linger for a moment.
I leaned forward, put my eyes down even with Mama's, motioned her closer, spoke.
"Boo."
--Mama Hog and Markhat, from Dead Man's Rain.
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