Sunday, March 17, 2013

Prompt: Jane rescues Alladin on her motorcycle



 Thanks again to writingprompts.tumblr.com for such a great visual prompt!

Jane balanced on her feet while the Dreissig Swei rumbled beneath her. She pulled water from her canteen and stowed it, then rubbed her fingers lightly over the handlebars, ready to ride at a moment’s notice. She looked around the crowded market, not sure what she should be looking for.

A commotion caught her eye. Her quick glance turned to a stare of disbelief. It was him! The scoundrel! And he was surrounded by five very angry men wielding large, wickedly curved scimitars.  She sighed. What had he done now? She pulled down her goggles against the blowing sand and gripped Dreissig Swei’s handles.

“Great. Let’s go be heroes.” She muttered as the Dreissig Swei roared to life. Jane leaned forward and careened through the crowded streets. Among the people, she couldn’t see her target, but in a few seconds, she burst into the square where he had been cornered. Two of the swordsmen turned toward her. She roared past the, felling one with a swift kick of her steel-toed boots and the other with a punch of her brass knuckles. They both dropped like sacks of rice. She shook her head in disgust. She was tiny, and even on the Dreissig Swei, big men always discounted her.

The three remaining men still faced the boy, who now had his back to the long-dried fountain. He clutched some shiny thing in his hand, and she rolled her eyes in disbelief. He really couldn’t help himself. The largest of his attackers lifted his sword, and Jane rammed him from behind. The impact knocked the sword out of his hand, flying into the fountain, and he fell face down into the sand. She swerved in front of the boy, shielding him from the remaining two men.

“Come on, kid! Hop on!”

He shook his head, and she grimaced in irritation. Her hand shot out to grab his tunic collar. He kicked her boot with his bare foot and winced. She would have laughed if there were time.

“I’m trying to rescue you, kid! We don’t have time for this!”

“No! Get out of here! You don’t”—

Jane didn’t wait for his feeble excuse, or story, or whatever. She just dragged him next to her as she pushed past the onlookers who had gathered around, with the two men running behind, yelling and waving their swords. The boy stumbled and she almost lost her grip on his shirt.

“This would be a lot easier if you’d get on the damn bike!”

He surprised her by jumping closer and throwing a leg behind her, sliding his left hand around her waist, his right still clutching his prize.

“I hope it’s worth it, kid,” she muttered, as they raced away.

Jane turned the Dreissig Swei into an abandoned courtyard and pushed the boy from behind her. As he stumbled off, she grabbed his precious object, stolen from a camel’s back or merchant’s cart, no doubt. He reached for it, and she held it away from him, studying it quizzically. It sure didn’t look like much, an old brass oil lamp, the old-fashioned kind with a long neck, squat body and curved handle. She brought it close and carelessly rubbed it against her shirt. He cried out, and she dropped it in alarm as black smoke roiled out of the lamp.

Alladin dropped to his knees in dismay as the smoke rose into the air. How could she? Now how would he save his father? The smoke billowed out and took form, a giant man, growing more solid by the second. Jane stared, slack-jawed. Alladin dropped his head in his hands. She would never give up one of her wishes for him.

The giant bowed to Jane. “Mistress, you have freed me from the lamp. Three wishes I will grant to you. What is your command?”

Jane stared from the giant to Alladin and back again. Suddenly, she threw the Dreissig Swei in a full swing and roared away. The giant stared after her, perplexed. He looked down at Alladin, who was still staring after her in disbelief.

“That has never happened before. I don’t know what to do,” the giant said in a surprisingly lost voice. Alladin looked up at him with a glimmer of hope in his eye.

“Maybe we can help each other?” he said as he stood.

The giant regarded him thoughtfully. “Perhaps, young one. Perhaps. What do you have in mind?”

Dogs in house:
Houdini


Music:
Donohov, Great Movie Soundtracks Mixed 2012


Time writing:
 ~30 minutes


March word count:
 11447

2 comments:

  1. Prompt: Jane rescues Alladin on her motorcycle

    Jane hooked the two helmets over her arm left arm and hid them behind her back, then knocked with her right hand. A nine-year old boy in a pirate costume opened the door.

    "I'm here for Billy," she said.

    Billy, in billowing trousers and a tiny turban, peered from behind the pirate. "It's not Billy," he said with a pout. "It's Alladin."

    Jane sighed. "Okay, I'm here for Alladin."

    "Billy, your sister's here," the pirate said.

    "Alladin!"

    "Get your coat," Jane said, letting the little pirate handle Billy's interjection.

    "Do I have ta'?"

    She put on her best big-sister scowl. "Ten-pm was the deal."

    "But everyone else stays longer."

    "Ten-pm," Jane repeated. Why couldn't Mom have come to get him?

    "It's embarrassing to be taken home by my big sister," Billy said.

    "Even a big sister with a motorcycle?" Jane asked, handing him the smaller of the two helmets, then settling on her own on her head.

    Billy grinned and dashed away.

    "Can I have a ride?" asked the pirate.

    "Sorry. Billy--Alladin--has to come home," Jane said. Billy returned with his coat, and she steered her brother from the house.

    "Can we go on the freeway?" asked Billy, trotting ahead to the bike.

    "We're just going home," Jane said. It was just like Billy--never satisfied with the treat he had, he wanted just a bit more. She mounted the bike. "Come on."

    But Billy was fiddling with something, a tiny teapot. "Look what I got! It's a lamp with a genie."

    "That's not a lamp. It's a teapot."

    "Is too a lamp." Billy blew on it. "Look, see, I'll make a wish. Open sesame."

    "And that's not Alladin," Jane said. "That's Ali Baba and the--" She cut off as smoke billowed from the spout of the teapot. It formed into--well, a genie. But a good twenty feet tall, and wielding a scimitar.

    Jane's blood rushed in her ears. She blinked, and the genie was still there, growing as the smoke continued to billow. She fought to disbelieve her eyes, but all she could think was that this genie did not look particularly grateful nor obedient. The smoky monstrosity swung the scimitar at Billy. Jane grabbed Billy by the collar and swung him up behind her with one hand, while she revved the bike to life with another. "Hang on!"

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  2. LOL Love it! Nice sibling interplay, and the "Ali Baba" reference! Thanks, Anne!

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