Download - A Steampunk Christmas
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A Steampunk Christmas
@2011 Lowe Runo Productions LLC/So Nice Productions
The Adventures of Bel & Soni
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It was midnight in the Village of Odds and Ends.
The Christmas Bells rang at midnight, and Santa had
arrived at the home of two little girls.
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One had yellow locks of hair, as pretty and as
smart as could be for a little girl of her age. The
other was not like the first.
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She ran when the first walked. She shouted,
when the other talked. She leaped when the
other cautiously considered consequences.
She was more curious than her cat…
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and even her cat thought the second little girl
was daft.
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The first little girl was named Soni.
The second was called Bel.
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Both little girls were excited to see
what Santa had brought them. The
presents rested patiently under the
tree. That was something that Bel
could not do. Wait!
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She did try, oh she tried. She waited and waited, holding
her breath, clenching her fists, and about to burst.
Blue in the face, she could not wait any longer.
She just had to know.
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The black cat was curious, and remained close by the tree.
Bel looked at Soni. “You gotta see this!” she said.
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And so it began. Bel had unwrapped the largest gift,
and was pleased at its contents - a strange robot mouse,
and it barely fit the box. A curious item to say the least.
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It began to walk around the tree.
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Soni could not resist, and opened the
second gift, a calculator. All seemed
to be in order.
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Well, almost…
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Bel was delighted. Even Soni was at first amused. But it
was an unruly beast, with a short fuse and a long tail.
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For Bel, it was a dream come true. The robotic mouse
leaped upon the dining table, decorated for the evening
feast. “I love it,” she exclaimed, in awe of the toy!
“Oh, this is so terrible, terrible,” said Soni, under her breath.
Soni knew what was about to happen next. Bel, looking at
her sister - maybe once, twice, thrice - and she DID IT!
She opened the front door.
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The cat chased the mouse, with the two little girls in pursuit.
The mouse raced out the door through the streets.
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And the story begins. The three were on their way!
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Bel, such a hoot, was
up for any adventure.
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Soni, usually the smarter of the two, refrained
barely a second. Nonetheless, being young
and slightly curious, for an ounce of wonder
is enough for such matters, she tagged along,
joining in the madness, as they ran through the
village on Christmas in the early morning
hours of darkness.
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The cat followed closely behind the mouse, thinking
perhaps it was edible. But Bel, as always, was more
curious than the cat.
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The girls soon became aware they
were no longer in their Village…
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rather in a large factory city of rotating gears and gadgets,
and towers, curvy pipes and hollowed ramps that
connected building to building.
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The mouse slipped away in the night to play,
as the girls were bewitched with the sights
of the city.
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Bel began testing this and that, exploring here
and there. Soni watched on with awe, careful
not to fall.
Then, as in cases, like this, when things go awry,
apart from one’s guardians with no supervisor
to spy, when little girls misbehave in the midst
of the night, now with a breathtaking view of
mortality in sight.
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On the edge of a ramp, and the moon as the lamp -
questions need to be asked, and problems must be solved, a
solution that might even require thinking to be involved.
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Two little girls, gears
spinning through
their heads, thinking
this, and then that,
even what if, what if,
they went splat.
Soni thought to
herself, “How awful it
would be for a pretty
girl like me - to end
Christmas like that.”
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The tower bell proclaimed the arrival of Christmas
morn, with authority, six tolls of the bell rang loudly
and clearly. The winter sky still dark. The girls grew
weary, and truthfully it was kind of scary even for Bel,
being so far in the air, and so so far from home.
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Moreover, they had to get back before their Uncle and
Aunt awoke. Oh, Bel was desperate for ideas, and so she
inquired of the cat. Now that was a stretch.
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But all was fair game, and
the cat might actually
know, a twitch of the tail
might give them a sign.
And it is more than some
legend, cats land on their
feet.
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They are masterful explorers, all know that, and all
possibilities had to be explored, none left undone.
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The girls watched as the cat scratched its head,
thinking of this and then that, but mostly
cheese, milk and fish frying in a vat.
And Bel thought, "This cat is of
no use."
Soni muttered "We are
certainly in trouble, certainly
in trouble now."
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Just then, out of nowhere, the mouse ran past the cat. Teasing
the cat to chase it, like this and like that. The cat lunged toward
the mouse, and caused quite a scene. Its paws were no match
for its metal back plate.
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The force thrust the cat forward, knocking poor Bel off to
her fate. The cat tumbled too, with Soni soon after, all
falling down from the ledge toward the ground.
One girl fell with eyes wide-opened, the other had them
shut tight. Both were in flight. Bel grasped a limb and
reached for the cat, and Soni grabbed for this and for that,
and finally the cat, catching its tail as she sailed by.
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The robot on its way down bounced
off a cog or two to slow down its fall.
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Bel’s fingers grew
tired, and the cat
was in pain with its
tail being pulled,
being stretched.
Soni’s hand began
to slip off.
The girls had to let go, and thought this was it.
And they fell to the ground. And they heard a
big splat.
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It was a vat of sweet pudding in which they
found comfort, not hitting the ground. But the
cat, where was that? The mouse, it was gone.
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The girls were too tired to move, and they
noticed they were home. How could that be?
And furthermore, they were sleeping, with their heads
upon the dining table near their eggnog pudding, having
not finished their dessert on this night, passed out in
slumber.
And the cat nearby watching, having found its way home.
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The aunt and uncle smiled to themselves. With the little
ones sleeping quite deeply, they could put out all the toys
around the tree, and maybe enjoy some tea, quietly, without
noise or mischief. It was still Christmas night, and the
girls never left the house, or did they?
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Sometimes curiosity makes us ponder;
sometimes it is only our mind that wanders.
What makes a story real, a place real, is if you
believe. Now that is not the morale of this tale.
Alas, this story has one more beginning...
It was midnight, Christmas Day, in the Village of
Odds and Ends.
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And so the story goes, two little
girls on Christmas Day. One had
lovely locks of yellow. She was
not like the other. She slept
through the night.
The other little girl, she was not
like the first.
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She was wild, crazy, and
free and she wondered,
“It’s Christmas! Where’s
the mouse?”
So off went two, the
second little girl with
the cat by its side. The
first little girl remained
snug inside.
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Epilogue
If curiosity doesn’t
kill you, technology
might. Or it might
add some spice into
your life. It’s all
how you think of
this, and then that.
The cat returned
home, after she
conquered the night.
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The mouse never made it
home. It was discovered at
the city square, with various
parts strewn here and there.
An odd sight for even the
Village of Odds and Ends.
Who did this dastardly deed?
All I can offer up as a hint is,
Bel was more curious than
the cat.
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Merry Christmas 2011. Happy New Year 2012, from
Sonicity Fitzroy, Belinda Barnes, and Kara Trapdoor.
Thank you to Lowe Runo for special effects and
animations and this and that.
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Special Thanks to Kara Trapdoor, featured as the “cat.”
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