SteemHome Tales: The Spirit Dust Bowl - part 4 / Finale
This is part 4/4 of a Old Steemian Home story -- Part 1 -- Part 2 -- Part 3
The #freewrite prompt included is: snake (Day 124)
A source of inspiration for this story comes from the historical Dust Bowl
A strange battle is unfolding in the Old Steemians Home, a battle fought with intellect and imagination, against the grey winds of mental dryness and imagination atrophy. The Spirit Dust Bowl, enlarged by millions of surrendered and disrupted brains, rages against the cozy walls of the House, that seems on the verge of succumbing to the violence of the atmospheric phenomenon.
In the vast and cozy library, the circle of Steemians resonates feverishly with freewrites and manifestations of free fantasy, directed like an orchestra by the director @mariannewest. The bananafish light saber, in its new configuration of giant laser marker, hovers with surreal rapidity writing, in a snake of pearly white letters, all the works of the wits of the group, inciting it to be even more daring and rapid in its inventions.
Here is @metzli, who readily rush to refresh @f3nix with a vampiric fruit of the last harvest, Red Moon variety. The multifaceted artist sinks his canines into the ruby pulp and sips the sugary juice of the fruit. His state of mind, suddenly, changes and a great calm pervades him. He kneels in the seiza position of karate, closes his eyes, exhales deeply and his freewrites, from gloomy and surreal, become extremely deep and philosophical.
Without moving from her position, @brisby, who has seen everything, extracts a long telescopic straw with a gimlet tip, and manages to seize a part of the vampiric fruit, joining his undead brother and making a counterpoint to his expressions, glazing them with a salty and witty humour.
"The game gets tough!" @improv exclaims, rolling his sleeves, then rolling also the skin of his arms. Underneath, he's got a wolf's fur. Turned into a werewolf, he raises his snout to the ceiling and emits a stabbing howl. The secret knowledge of the pack pervades him, filling him with the wisdom of the animal spirits. With a dimensional shamanic leap, Improv projects himself inside the story of one of his fellow freewriters.
On the enchanted and icy surface of Lake Bled, the two cowboys of @svashta are facing, immovable, with looks more glacial than the weather around them. The werewolf jumps inside the body of one of the two, taking possession of it and improvising all the lines of the drama, changing their meanings. The alien Svashta, however, accepts the challenge and takes control of the other cowboy, engaging a verbal duel to the last speech. The words whistle like bullets and the atmosphere heats up so much that the lake becomes a volcanic caldera.
Meanwhile @simgirl is playing the piano to accompany the fairy tales of @snook. Going on in a state similar to daydreaming, she begins to compose a hymn to the magnificent aquatic animals that populate the sea of Steemit: from the fishbones, to the goldfish, to the flying fish, to the bananafish, to the fish in the face, to the dolphins, to the orcas and finally to the whales. The flying fish got out of the piano start spinning in a circle following the music, while the jet ducks shoot firecrackers with large loud and flourishes of feathers.
Metzli refreshes the freewriters with a system of slides and straws to get food and drinks to their mouths, without wasting time. Obviously, this is a @omra-sky project.
@simgirl, @snook, @mariannewest, @whatisnew, @omra-sky, @f3nix, @deaconlee, @brisby
Still, all these efforts seem useless: the storm rages more and more and the dust enters from all the crevices. The freewriters begin to slow down the rhythm, their thoughts become repetitive and devoid of color. The energies are running out. Is this the end of the Old Steemians?
Behold, however, that from the pentacle of evocation of Marco, inadvertently left open on a trans-dimensional call, an oblong and lumpy form appears. A tuft of strange hair, or perhaps leaves, crown its massive body, from which two arms and two short, crooked and stubby legs sprout. The creature makes some heavy strides out of the pentacle: now it's free!
"Carl?!?" Snook exclaims. The creature, in response, blows up some of its countless lumps. Pop! Pop! Popcorn! It's Carl!
Carl and Carl GIF, by @snook
The purple squirrels, hearing the popcorn burst, stop at half of their tasks and gaze upon the newcomer for a second. Then, they swarm down from the shelves of the bookcase and assail the creature, trying to eat it. After all, Carl is a huge cob... But a proud bark brings them back to order. It's Lilly, the dog of the second House, who rushes quickly and stands between Carl and the squirrels, sending them back on the shelves.
So Carl can start dancing like a madman…ehm, madcorn. His dance is like a rain dance, only that it’s the imagination’s rainbow dance.
The gloomy cloud of the Spirit Dust Bowl dissolves as if it had never existed and the freewriters, exhausted, can rejoice.
Then, one after the other, they indulge themselves in the chairs and armchairs of the house, while Carl's rainbow extends like a hug over the majestic building.
Snook is the last to collapse to the ground, issuing a "woot" of relief.
The End!
[versione italiana]
Le Storie della SteemHome: La Spirit Dust Bowl – parte 4 / Finale
Questa è la parte 4 su 4 di una storia sulla Casa dei Vecchi Steemiani -- Parte 1 -- Parte 2 -- Parte 3
Una strana battaglia si sta consumando nella Casa dei Vecchi Steemiani, una battaglia combattuta con l’intelletto e la fantasia, contro i venti grigi dell’aridità mentale e dell’atrofia dell’immaginazione. La Spirit Dust Bowl, ingrossata da milioni di cervelli arresi e disgregati, infuria contro le accoglienti pareti della Casa, che sembrano sul punto di cedere alla violenza del fenomeno atmosferico.
Nella vasta e accogliente biblioteca, il cerchio di Steemiani risuona febbrilmente di freewrites e manifestazioni di libera fantasia, diretto come un’orchestra dalla direttrice @mariannewest. La spada-pescebanana, nella sua nuova configurazione di pennarello laser gigante, volteggia con rapidità surreale vergando, in un serpente bianco perlaceo di parole, tutte le opere dell’ingegno del gruppo, istigandolo così ad essere ancora più ardito e celere nelle sue invenzioni.
Ecco @metzli che accorre prontamente a rifocillare @f3nix con un frutto vampirico dell’ultimo raccolto, varietà red moon. Il poliedrico artista affonda i suoi canini nella polpa vermiglia e sugge gli umori zuccherini del frutto. Il suo stato d’animo, di colpo, cambia e una grande calma lo pervade. Si inginocchia nella posizione seiza del karate, chiude gli occhi, espira profondamente e i suoi freewrites, da tenebrosi e surreali, diventano estremamente profondi e filosofici.
Senza muoversi dalla sua posizione, @brisby, che ha visto tutto, estrae una lunghissima cannuccia telescopica con punta a succhiello e riesce a impadronirsi di una parte del frutto vampirico, unendosi al suo sodale non morto per fare da contrappunto alle sue esternazioni, velandole di un umorismo salace e arguto.
“Il gioco si fa duro!” esclama @improv, rimboccandosi le maniche, poi rimboccandosi anche la pelle delle braccia. Sotto, ha la pelliccia di un lupo. Diventato un lupo mannaro, alza il muso verso il soffitto ed emette un ululato lancinante. Le conoscenze segrete del branco lo pervadono, riempiendolo della saggezza degli spiriti animali. Con un balzo sciamanico dimensionale, Improv si proietta dentro la storia di uno dei suoi compagni freewriters.
Sulla superficie incantata e ghiacciata del lago di Bled, i due cowboy di @svashta si stanno affrontando, immobili, con gli sguardi più glaciali del clima attorno a loro. Il lupo mannaro balza all’interno del corpo di uno dei due, prendendone possesso e improvvisando tutte le battute del dramma, cambiandone il significato. L’alieno Svashta, però, accetta la sfida e prende il controllo dell’altro cowboy, ingaggiando una tenzone verbale all’ultima battuta. Le parole fischiano come proiettili e l’atmosfera si scalda tanto che il lago diventa una caldera vulcanica.
@Improv, @Byn, @Metzli holding Lilly, @Marcoriccardi, @Svashta
Nel frattempo @simgirl sta suonando il pianoforte per accompagnare le fiabe di @snook. Vagheggiando in uno stato simile al sogno ad occhi aperti, comincia a compone un inno ai magnifici animali acquatici che popolano il mare di Steemit: dalle lische, ai pesci rossi, ai pesci volanti, ai pescibanana, ai pesci in faccia, ai delfini, alle orche e infine alle balene. I pesci volanti usciti dal pianoforte si mettono a girare in cerchio seguendo la musica, mentre le anatre a reazione sparano petardi con grandi schiamazzi e svolazzi di piume.
Metzli rifocilla i freewriters con un sistema di scivoli e cannucce per far arrivare il cibo e le bevande alle loro bocche, senza che debbano perdere tempo. Ovviamente, questo è un progetto di @omra-sky.
Eppure, tutti questi sforzi sembrano inutili: la tempesta infuria sempre più e la polvere entra da tutte le fessure. I freewriters cominciano a rallentare il ritmo, i loro pensieri si fanno ripetitivi e privi di colore. Le energie si stanno esaurendo. È questa la fine dei Vecchi Steemiani?
Ecco, però, che dal pentacolo di evocazione di Marco, inavvertitamente lasciato aperto su una chiamata trans-dimensionale, appare una forma oblunga e bitorzoluta. Un ciuffo di strani capelli, o forse foglie, corona il suo corpo massiccio, da cui spuntano due braccia e due corte gambe storte e tozze. La creatura compie dei passi pesanti fuori dal pentacolo: ormai è libera!
“Carl?!?” esclama Snook. La creatura, in risposta, fa esplodere alcuni dei suoi innumerevoli bitorzoli. Pop! Pop! Popcorn! È Carl!
Gli scoiattoli viola, sentendo i popcorn scoppiare, si fermano a metà delle loro mansioni e fissano il nuovo arrivato per un secondo. Poi, sciamano giù dagli scaffali della libreria e assalgono la creatura, cercando di mangiarla. In fondo, Carl è un’enorme pannocchia… ma un abbaiare fiero li riporta all’ordine. È Lilly, la cagnolina della seconda Casa, che accorre prontamente e si frappone fra Carl e gli scoiattoli, ricacciandoli sugli scaffali.
Così Carl può iniziare a ballare come un forsennato. La sua danza è come una danza della pioggia, solo che è la danza dell’arcobaleno dell’immaginazione.
La cupa nube dello Spirit Dust Bowl si dissolve come se non fosse mai esistita e i freewriters, esausti, possono esultare.
Poi, uno dopo l’altro, si abbandonano sulle sedie e sulle poltrone della Casa, mentre l’arcobaleno di Carl si estende come un abbraccio sopra il maestoso edificio.
Snook è l’ultima a crollare al suolo, emettendo un “woot” di sollievo.
Fine!
All Sims 4 screenshots are by @snook. All other images are my own.
Thanks for reading! If you liked, please let an upvote, a comment or a resteem.
![gif steemhome.gif](https://steemitimages.com/0x0/https://res.cloudinary.com/hpiynhbhq/image/upload/v1519150647/hicpoxgu65tgnt0a51ge.gif)
Marco you set so many gems in this cloth of pure phallic madness! I loved the seiza position.. be aware that my favorite for zazen is the lotus, which strangely I can keep for long time with no apparent damage. Your piece is a hymn both to azatoth and to our group of loose cannons (why I'm thinking to Carl right now?) :-P
Because Carl is the warmest gun in the House, my red fruit eater friend. :D
where have I been for 3 whole days, my friend!!!!!!!!! OMG
Thank YOU @Brsiby for never sleeping along with me or I would never have seen this until too late...I'm SO SO sorry.
Now..I have read this 3 times and OMG you sucked me in at the first line.
Carl........I LOVE THIS and have Happy tears in my eyes and I'm way too tired to write so you understand all I'm feeling right this minute.
I LOVE you and THIS so very much <3 You made my heart and soul both SING with your words.
and now with this happy bedtime story, it's time I finally sleep and dream of all of us in a HOME filled with love and happiness. <3
I'm happy you like it, Snook! You know, I wrote this story for your all and mine amusement, and your funny inventions with your videogames have been indispensable for its completion!
Carl now has a new video LOLLL
Just for you my friend <3 hugs
OOOOh! A new video? I watched the pool video, there's another?
https://steemit.com/steemhome/@snook/8bhrn31o
did you find the video?
Found, upvoted, commented and resteemed...while I was dancing with Carl! Thank you a lot!
I'm SO SO happy you liked it :D <3
A fantastic end to our battle Marco! Your descriptions of us (thanks for the lovely compliments by the way 😁) and how our characters fight the Spirit Dust Bowl shows how much attention you've given to our writing! (To have someone put in that sort of effort into learning about us feels great, thank you!)
I'll be happily using my new gimlet tip! straw to snag some delicious red fruit (and more) in the future!
And when you summoned Carl?! Bwahahahahaha!!!! 🤣 That was perfect!!! Sorry, Carl the hero, the purple squirrels can't resist freshly popped corn! 🍿
Your series was epic and truly worth reading over and over again!
Thank you Brisby, your words are so heartwarming...I was a little afraid that my humorous rendition of you fellows freewriters may sound mocking, and was hoping nobody was offended. I respect all of you a lot, you're a bunch of gifted, nice people, and I'm proud that my little demented stories make you have fun!
I keep reading this over and over. Every time I do it gets better. There are so many nuggets in your stories. Fantastic. And thank you Carl!
Nuggets are for gold diggers, just like you! My pleasure ;)
This post has received a 1.78 % upvote from @boomerang thanks to: @marcoriccardi
Hi @marcoriccardi! You have received 0.1 SBD tip + 0.02 SBD @tipU
from @brisby :)
@brisby wrote lately about: The Show - Freewrite Day 116. Feel free to follow @brisby if you like it :)
Tipuvote! - upvote any post with with 2.5 x profit :)
So love this!! And of course - Carl's popcorn dance to the rescue!!!
Thank you @mariannewest! It's so beautiful when you manage to find the time to read some of our crazy stories! You started that thing! ahahahah!
You know - I try to read them all. I saw yours and wanted to read it when I am not so tired that my brain has stopped functioning :)
OMG! Absolutely brilliant Marco! There is so much I want to say about this masterpiece, but I would have to write a book. I know we are not "ordinary people" and you have just proven that; you are in a class all of your own. Your imagination blows my mind! Thanks for recognizing me as a girl and a graceful one was a bonus. HaHa! I laughed through all 4 parts and I couldn't pick my favorite so I will just go with mine in the library, the "Steemhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" and the"Declaration of Indesteemdance." ROFLMAO! You are amazing and this will be one hard act to follow. Absolutely loved this. Hugs! Tip!
Oh, now I'm confused. Are you actually a girl like I intended, or not?
In every case, thank you for your kind words! I'm proud to be part of the freewriters! :)
Yes, I am actually a girl like you intended. Sorry for the confusion. Some think I am a boy cat. When @snook asked me which one I was, I told her that I was a girl cat, and that is when @snook put a pink hat on me. : )
Hi @marcoriccardi! You have received 0.1 SBD tip + 0.02 SBD @tipU
from @whatisnew :)
@whatisnew wrote lately about: Day 123: 5 Minute Freewrite: Monday-Prompt: Fumigate Feel free to follow @whatisnew if you like it :)
Tipuvote! - upvote any post with with 2.5 x profit :)