6th November 2023 Writings

[fardell24]

Excerpt from: The Doctor and Journey
“Well, there is something, someone that I've always wanted to meet. But I know what you'll say,” Clara said.

“Try me,” the Doctor responded.

“You'll say he's made up, that there is no such thing.”

“Go on,” the Doctor prompted.

“It’s Robin Hood,” Clara said. “Yeah. I love that story. I've always loved it, ever since I was little.”

“Robin Hood, the heroic outlaw, who robs from the rich and gives to the poor,” the Doctor clarified.

“Yeah,” Clara said.

“He's made up. There's no such thing,” Doctor answered.

“Ah, you see?” Clara said.

“Are you sure, Doctor?” Journey asked.

“I’m quite sure.”

“Old-fashioned heroes only exist in old-fashioned story books,” the Doctor said as he took a book from the bookshelf.

“And what about you?”

Words: 126


Excerpt from: Spider Quinn
“So, you come from Lawndale?” Travis asked.

“Yes,” Quinn answered. “It’s a good town, but like, crime is increasing, you know?”

“I have heard about that,” Travis said in a strange tone.

“Not as bad as the town we came from in Texas,” Daria said.

‘I’d hope not!’ Quinn thought. That was one reason she was SpiderGirl. But something about Travis’s tone bothered her. ‘He probably knows something,’ she realised. “Like it’s in the news every night,” she said in a tone that implied that she had ignored Daria.

“I heard about that SpiderGirl. I don’t know what she’s about.”

“Like I’m not sure, either,” Quinn said. There was more truth there than she liked.

Daria sighed.


As they continued along, Quinn wondered what Travis knew about the crime situation in Lawndale. They had to stop somewhere, she realised. “Oh, Daria, if you see a sign for outlet shopping, you can pull over there.”

“But we do have to get to Freemont quickly, and don’t you want to get back in time for Buffy?”

“We won’t be long,” Quinn responded.

“I hope so,” Daria commented.



Twenty minutes later, they found such an outlet mall.

“I’ll just be in the bathroom,” Quinn told Travis.

“Certainly, I’ll be at that café.”

Quinn headed to the bathroom, but after doing her business, she changed to SpiderGirl, using a costume different to the one she had usually been wearing, then headed to the café.


Travis didn’t see it coming. One second he was waiting in line, then the next there was some kind of web around him and he had flown across the room. “SpiderChick?”

“SpiderGirl,” the other said in a low voice.

“This aint Lawndale!”

“No, it isn’t, but sometimes a hero needs to travel and gather information, you know.”

“What information?” Travis asked.

“Apparently there is a crime rind operating out of Freemont, leading to break-ins in Lawndale.”

“I don’t know anything about any crime ring, miss.”

“I heard otherwise,” SpiderGirl said.

“There are rumors, girlie, but that’s all.”

“Tell me these rumors.”

“Are you sure?” Travis asked.

“Yes!”


SpiderGirl took in what Travis was saying. Some of it was contradictory, but she got the gist of it.


SpiderGirl rushed off as quickly as she had appeared, leaving Travis bewildered. He didn’t notice Quinn arriving less than a minute later.

“Travis?” she asked in concern.

“I’m fine, you still want to shop?”

“Yes.”


Daria was impatient, but it turned out that they had only wasted twenty minutes. “Are we ready to go now?” she asked.

“Yes,” Quinn answered.


An hour later, they pulled up at bar, less than 20 miles from Freemont.

“Thank you both kindly. Bye, now.”

“Good luck with your audition!” Quinn said. She got back in the front seat. “What a nice guy... and talented.”

“Yes, he's mastered the art of sticking out his thumb,” Daria said.

“And we'd never have met him if you'd had your way. I don't think you're a cowgirl at all.”

Daria noticed that the radio station hadn’t changed. “I thought you couldn't listen to country music.”

“Oh, yeah. Thanks for reminding me,” Quinn said as she changed the station back. The pop music would help her think about what she had to do in Freemont.


“We made it!” Daria said as she pulled up outside the Freemont Sherrif’s Office. “I did it. I got us here in one piece.”

“Slowly,” Quinn complained.

“But surely. Now, let's deal with the law,” Daria said. But then she found that she couldn’t find the money. “Oh, no. This is very bad. Very bad.”

“What’s wrong?”

“That cute cowboy stole our money.”

“Remember when we stopped at that outlet mall? I gave the money to Travis,” Quinn explained.

“That money was for Jane and Trent.”

“I know, but he got me a new outfit.”

“You spent all of Jane's money on clothes?” Daria asked.

“Of course not! I lent the rest to Travis for a bus ticket home. Don't worry, he's gonna repay us when he gets back.”

“You moron. How are we supposed to get Jane and Trent out of jail?”

“I told you something unexpected would happen,” Quinn responded.


They returned to the bar where they had dropped the cowboy off.

“What are you going to say to him?” Quinn asked.

“What am I going to say to him? You're going to tell him the truth. You gave him money that wasn't yours and you need it back.”

“Oh, Daria. Are we that desperate that we have to resort to the truth?”

“When this is all over, remind me to run screaming into the night,” Daria said as they came up to the bar door.


“Okay, maybe this wasn't such a great idea,” Daria said.

“It's just a bar. They're all alike,” Quinn said. She could see that there were hardly any troublemakers there.

“How would you know.”

“What do you think people do on...” Quinn began before Daria interrupted her.

“Never mind,” Daria said. She then went up to the bar.


After some questioning of the bartender and finding that all the people there were similar to Travis, Daria realised it was going to be more difficult than she expected.


Quinn was annoyed at Daria. They hadn’t gotten anywhere. Once outside of the bar again, she asked; “What was that? He didn't tell us anything.”

“I know. These cowboy guys are all alike.”

“Daria, all guys are all alike. The secret is knowing how to ask them.”

“And how am I supposed to ask them?” Daria asked.

“You can't just be all meek and respectful. You have to remember that line about how you catch more flies with money.”

“Excuse me, but if it weren't for your total recklessness, it wouldn't matter that I'm meek, because we wouldn't be in this situation.”

“Don't worry, I may be reckless but I'm also a problem-solver.”


After having changed into the outfit Travis had bought for her, Quinn and Daria re-entered the bar. There was one way to gain their attention, climb up on a table.

“Attention, guys. We're just two little city gals from Lawndale.”

“Lawndale’s a suburb,” one of the men interrupted.

“Right. And we know we shouldn't be here, but some friends of ours got pulled over by the sheriff recently. We brought the bail money to get them out, and now some mean old cowboy's stolen it. Now, I'm not saying all cowboys are mean or old or thieves, but it does make me think twice about ever considering a cowboy for a boyfriend.”

Words: 1091


Excerpt from: A New Generation
“Riker to Enterprise.”

“Report,” Picard ordered.

“We have found the shuttle,” Riker reported. “But there are no lifesigns.”

“Wait!” Data said. “There are lifesigns 100 meters north.”

“I’m reading them now,” Riker said.


As the away team moved into the forest. Riker wondered why the crewmember didn’t stay with the shuttle. It would have made things easier.

“Over here, sir,” Data said.

“Aitken?” Riker asked.

“Aye, Commander, I’m OK,” Ensign Greg Aitken said.

“Let me determine that,” Doctor Crusher said as she came up. She opened her medical tricorder.

“Only a few scrapes…” she said. “And many insect bites.”

“I’m fine. They’re hardly itchy,” Aitken said.

“Even so…” Crusher said as she opened her medkit and took out a dermal regenerator and a hypospray. The latter she pressed to his neck. “That should neutralize any toxins until we get to sickbay.” She then ran the dermal regenerator over his scrapes.

“Now, what happened?” Riker asked.

“Some of the insects escaped and distracted me,” Aitken said.

“You should have activated the autopilot!” Riker said.

“We should talk about this back on the ship,” Crusher said.

“Quite right, Doctor,” Riker acknowledged. He tapped his commbadge. “Riker to Enterprise. Four to beam up.”


After materializing in Transporter Room 3, Crusher lead Aitken to Sickbay.


“Come,” Picard said in response to the ready room door chime.

Riker entered. “Aitken is in sickbay now, sir.”

“And?”

“Apparently the crash happened when the insects escaped from their containers,” Riker explained.

Words: 244


Excerpt from: Inviting Trouble
“All of them are interesting in one way or another,” Stacy answered.

“Of course,” Quinn said as she took one of the books off of the shelf. “Red Mars?”

“It’s about the first colonists on Mars,” Stacy explained.

“Sounds interesting, although it’s quite large.”

“It did take me a while.”

Quinn put the book back and turned to see that Stacy had changed back into the clothes she was wearing earlier. “So, anything else I need to know about Brittany?”

“Not really,” Stacy admitted.

“OK.”


Words: 85

Excerpt from: A Complication of Kes’s
“No one is here,” she said.

“Where are we going?” the younger Kes asked. “Shouldn't we go to the Bridge?”

“Not yet.”

“Not yet?”

“I'm not sure how Janeway is going to react,” the older Kes admitted.

“You haven't planned it?”

“No.”


Words: 42

Total: 1534