h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

...walks up the beach one night, fighting against the prevalent wind. she(or he, it is difficult to tell, as seen in the next bit of the sentence) is wearing a long dark blue cloak with a deep hood, and what appear to be black hiking boots are barely visible under the hem. the visitor carries a tall wooden staff in their left hand and a bulky black bag slung over their right shoulder. the visiter regards the lighthouse through the pouring rain. lightning lights up the sky for a brief moment and a second later thunder rolls.(it rolls a six.) the lighthouse is still fairly visible from the dark red light shooting out from it, eerily staining the sand blood-red. the visitor turns, strides towards an overhang in the cliff. the visitor leans the staff against the rock wall and rummages throught the bag, finally pulling out a roll of something, which unfurls to reveal itself as a large dark blue towel with constellations matching the unseen stars above adorning it. the visitor settles on the towel and gets out a large blank canvas, five small clay pots with tight-sealed lids, a large round peice of wood, stained many different colours, with three rectangular indentations in the far end and six round ones at the sides, an empty clay cup, quickly filled with water by being held outside in the rain, a bewildering assortment of brushes, and a stand for the canvas. they place the wood on the towel in front of them, unfolds the stand and places the legs of it in the rectangular depressions, then places the canvas on it. they carefully set each of the small clay pots in the round indents and thumb the lids open, then place the brushes off to the side. the visitor takse a long hard look at the lighthouse, then selects one of the brushes and starts to mix a colour, looking up every few moments to compare it. finally it is blended to their satisfaction, and they start painting, working all though the night and eventually, at some late hour, carefully washing off the (non-toxic, biodegradable) paint from the brushes, rinsing out the water-pot and putting the lids back on the paint-pots, putting them back in the bag but leaving the painting out to dry. at last the traveler lies down on the towel and goes to sleep, eventually waking up to a sunny beach with no sign of the night's storm.

"That's funny. Wasn't it different last night? With a steep, menacing cliff, and the lighthouse was rather taller and darker, more imposing."

I wouldn't be suprised if The Lighthouse had changed overnight. I've still got the builders in and the H2G2 world has always seemed to operate on a non-Euclidian geometry.

By the way, you needn't have slept outside - I'm sure my guestrooms would been more comfortable.

Any chance of seeing what you painted?

i think it's the same now, being daytime and no longer a "dark and stormy night"(which i tried to convey w/o actually using that cliched(spelling?) phrase). just a little drama on my part.

yes, but that was just for dramatic effect. i like doing that occasionally, showing off my "literary skills". not very much

sure, it should be dry by now. *takes it off stand and packs away stand and circle of wood* here, have a look...

*Walks along in time to hear the conversation*
*Peeks round to see what is being shown*

<BB<

I got the point - I just chose to ignore it!

Have you had anything published? I know everybody's meant to have a book in them. In my case my creative energies are directed more towards RPGs.

[Looks at painting] Wow! Could I keep it to hang in my gallery? I haven't got much to offer in return. Once I get the kiln working I'll throw a pot for you!

nope, never had aything published. i have several books in me*urp*. RPGs.... sounds familier but i keep thinking of missles for some reason. what are they?

of course you can have it! so glad you like it. don't throw the pot, it would get all shattered!

Role Playing Games - never got into them myself.
The time taken to read the rule book normally puts me off

<BB<

so how did *that* come up?

Eh?

How did *what* come about?

oh... never mind... just got it. the reference to RPGs....