Episode Details

The Story Teller's ApprenticeWritten by StalkerShrikeOnce upon a time, there was a building. Deep in the dark woods it was nestled, far away from prying eyes and eyes that would rather see other things. Old and imposing it was, a gothic monument of cold grey stone, huddled there between the looming pines. Its hallways were narrow, and lined with locked doors of thick, ribbed metal. And behind each of those doors was a little room, and in each room was a bed and a toilet and a single beating heart.She was curled up on that bed, leaned back against the wall, not moving. Her hands twitched like spiders in her lap as she whispered a poem to herself, again and again. “Bright, bright, shines the moon…”The door came open, with a skreel of hinges and a sound of shoes on stone.She snapped her head up, tilted it from side to side like a bird. Who was it? To judge by the heavy, wheezing breath, it was Dr. Lars, and with him a guest. What sort of a guest? Male, she thought. Heavy shoes, a rustling coat. Dr. Lars muttered something to him, something he thought she couldn’t hear.“Now, I warn you, she is a bit…odd.”The man didn’t reply, and Dr. Lars cleared his throat. “Um, Morwen? There’s someone here to see you.”She recognized something about the way he smelled, but she couldn’t quite place it. People, and earth, and animals of some type, but there was something else. Something…strange. “What’s his name?”“Mr. Ferguson. He’s here to –”“Mr. Andy Ferguson?”He spoke now, and his voice was so instantly recognizable that she wished he’d spoken sooner. “The same.”“How is your youngest son doing?”“He’s doing better, thank God. The chemo really seemed to…help…” He trailed off, murmuring to Dr. Lars. “Why did you tell her about that?”“I didn’t. As I say, a bit odd.”She turned her bandaged face from one to the other. She loved listening to people talk. Or anything, really. Anything that could communicate, she could just sit and listen, for hours and hours. She remembered one story, a Deep Epic, in which there was a trialogue which lasted for days…“Morwen!” Dr. Lars said, quite sharply, and she snapped herself back to what she presumed was the present. “Mr. Ferguson would like to ask you a few questions.”“Please don’t call me Morwen. I don’t know where you’ve picked up that silly name, but it is not mine. As for the questions,” she said, turning to Mr. Ferguson, “Three, Tau Ceti, and the spring equinox. That help?”Mr. Ferguson was quiet for a moment, and she could hear Dr. Lars’ beard scratch as he smiled. Or maybe frowned. It was difficult to tell with him, sometimes.“Why…yes, it does, actually. Thank you.”“Of course. Do you need anything else?”He hesitated, and she sensed he had gotten to the real reason for his visit. “There is one thing. Have you heard of something called an Ulos?”At last, the point. She’d been wondering if he had found that yet. “An Ulos? Yes, I have. Do you want to hear that story?”“If you don’t mind.”She stood up from her mantis-like crouch, breathed in, breathed out. Turned to them. And began to speak.“Once upon a time, there was a man. This man had a strange shape, wore strange clothes, said strange things. He had been called from his home, a dark place, far, far away, to a little town, and when he arrived, he asked the people why they had called to him. They told him that they required something from him, a small service, and that in return they would offer food and lodging. He accepted, and performed the service they required. Gradually, though, they became sickened by him. Who, they asked, would have such a shape, wear such clothes, say such things? They decided that they had made a mistake, and so they drove him out, into a house far outside of town, and there they left him.”She was in the rh