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31_days2016-08-08 10:33 pm
insaneladybug.livejournal.com) wrote in 31_days2016-08-08 10:33 pm
[August 8th] [The Wild Wild West] Midnight Intruder
Title: Midnight Intruder
Day/Theme: August 8th - we slept with the windows wide open
Series: The Wild Wild West (specifically, The Poisonous Posey episode)
Character/Pairing: Snakes Tolliver/Chita McCarthy (she's an OC; he's in my icon)
Rating: K/G
Part of the same writing challenge, but more of a stand-alone humorous piece today.
By Lucky_Ladybug
It's funny for a Southerner, I guess, but I've always hated the heat. I'm really happy that where I'm living now, they have ways of dealing with it to keep everybody cool. But that wasn't the case back in 1865. Most people slept with the windows open to let in the night air . . . and every kind of insect known to humanity. I was used to it and dealt with it, but Chita hated it.
"AUUUUUGH!"
I must've jumped a mile in the bed when that scream pierced my senses. "What the heck's wrong?!" I exclaimed.
"There's something flying around the room!" Chita wailed. "I don't know what it is!"
I flopped face-first into the pillow. "The whole street probably knows you don't know what it is," I groaned.
She pouted. "I hate insects!"
"It might be a bird," I mumbled.
"I hate them too, when they're loose in the house," she snapped. "Have you seen the messes they make?!"
"Yeah. It's no picnic." I sighed, sitting up. "Okay, where is it?"
"I don't know!" She gestured wildly. "Here, there, everywhere!"
I groped for the oil lamp on the table and got it going. "I don't see anything."
"There it is!" she shrieked. "It's up on the drapes!"
I held the lamp up to see, squinting through the hair falling in my eyes and the sleep that was still clinging to them. "It's a miller."
"A what?!"
"A really big moth."
That didn't comfort her any. "It's gonna eat the drapes! You've gotta get it down!"
"Technically, it's the kids that eat the drapes," I said tiredly as I threw back the covers and shuffled out of bed. "The mother lays the eggs and they hatch and the kids have a ball."
"That's even worse!" she wailed.
"Okay, okay. I'll get it down." I shook the drapes and the thing came loose, flying all around my head. Chita screamed again and threw the covers over hers.
I finally got the thing to leave by setting the lamp on the outside part of the windowsill. As soon as it was attracted out there, I jerked the lamp back inside and slammed the window.
Only then did Chita emerge from the covers. "Did you get it?" she asked hopefully.
"Yeah, I got it." I frowned at the closed window. "But how are we gonna stand it in here with the window shut?"
"We're gonna get screen," Chita insisted. "We are not opening that window again until we have some of that new window screen stuff!"
I was too tired to argue. "Is that what you did back in Queens the last several years?"
"I wanted to," she sighed, "but my aunt was stubborn and stupid about it and said No. Before they invented screen, I grew up with all kinds of things coming in and I hated it. I was hoping it would be different here."
"In the swamplands?" I shook my head. "Oh Chita."
It was kind of funny in retrospect. And I can't really blame her for hating it when unwelcome things came inside. I hated the heat more, so I put up with it, but she just couldn't.
She'd love where I'm living now.
Day/Theme: August 8th - we slept with the windows wide open
Series: The Wild Wild West (specifically, The Poisonous Posey episode)
Character/Pairing: Snakes Tolliver/Chita McCarthy (she's an OC; he's in my icon)
Rating: K/G
Part of the same writing challenge, but more of a stand-alone humorous piece today.
It's funny for a Southerner, I guess, but I've always hated the heat. I'm really happy that where I'm living now, they have ways of dealing with it to keep everybody cool. But that wasn't the case back in 1865. Most people slept with the windows open to let in the night air . . . and every kind of insect known to humanity. I was used to it and dealt with it, but Chita hated it.
"AUUUUUGH!"
I must've jumped a mile in the bed when that scream pierced my senses. "What the heck's wrong?!" I exclaimed.
"There's something flying around the room!" Chita wailed. "I don't know what it is!"
I flopped face-first into the pillow. "The whole street probably knows you don't know what it is," I groaned.
She pouted. "I hate insects!"
"It might be a bird," I mumbled.
"I hate them too, when they're loose in the house," she snapped. "Have you seen the messes they make?!"
"Yeah. It's no picnic." I sighed, sitting up. "Okay, where is it?"
"I don't know!" She gestured wildly. "Here, there, everywhere!"
I groped for the oil lamp on the table and got it going. "I don't see anything."
"There it is!" she shrieked. "It's up on the drapes!"
I held the lamp up to see, squinting through the hair falling in my eyes and the sleep that was still clinging to them. "It's a miller."
"A what?!"
"A really big moth."
That didn't comfort her any. "It's gonna eat the drapes! You've gotta get it down!"
"Technically, it's the kids that eat the drapes," I said tiredly as I threw back the covers and shuffled out of bed. "The mother lays the eggs and they hatch and the kids have a ball."
"That's even worse!" she wailed.
"Okay, okay. I'll get it down." I shook the drapes and the thing came loose, flying all around my head. Chita screamed again and threw the covers over hers.
I finally got the thing to leave by setting the lamp on the outside part of the windowsill. As soon as it was attracted out there, I jerked the lamp back inside and slammed the window.
Only then did Chita emerge from the covers. "Did you get it?" she asked hopefully.
"Yeah, I got it." I frowned at the closed window. "But how are we gonna stand it in here with the window shut?"
"We're gonna get screen," Chita insisted. "We are not opening that window again until we have some of that new window screen stuff!"
I was too tired to argue. "Is that what you did back in Queens the last several years?"
"I wanted to," she sighed, "but my aunt was stubborn and stupid about it and said No. Before they invented screen, I grew up with all kinds of things coming in and I hated it. I was hoping it would be different here."
"In the swamplands?" I shook my head. "Oh Chita."
It was kind of funny in retrospect. And I can't really blame her for hating it when unwelcome things came inside. I hated the heat more, so I put up with it, but she just couldn't.
She'd love where I'm living now.