Karellen

[raven]

Tonight has excelled in utter surreal-ness. It was exactly eight o'clock, Pedar and I were watching the tail end of M*A*S*H whilst waiting for my mother to decide whether or not she wanted to go food shopping or stay home and watch Astitva (it's reaching crisis point). At that point, the phone rang. Pedar picked it up. He immediately said, "We're on our way!" and dropped the phone and ran out with me trailing in his wake. Guess who forgot she was babysitting tonight, and guess who was reminded at the hospital today and forgot to remind me?

Helen was really very nice about it, though. I arrived in a flurry of confusion, but she was all friendliness as always, and she left the emergency numbers in the right place, and off she went. I was left alone and disorientated. Maybe that's not the word, but at eight o'clock I'd planned to do nothing, start reading (and gawping at) all the crossover fic that apestaartje recommended. Within five minutes I was on the other side of Formby facing an evening quite different from what I'd planned, and I've never been one for sudden transitions. So I wandered vaguely around for a while, which was decidedly odd. And then I sat down, and tried to do Physics, which wasn't remotely successful. So I finally succumbed to the inevitable and started reading Childhood's End, by Arthur C. Clarke.

I read for twenty minutes before I heard the howling.

Rebecca was really not happy. She screeched for a while, and all the time I was sitting there, next to her, looking and feeling like something citrus. Every time I thought she was settling down, she started up again. Finally, she seemed to calm a little and attempt to go back to sleep, so I told her to come downstairs if she wanted anything. I went down, read five more pages, and there she was. "Will you ring up my mummy, please?"

I would have called my own parents, or maybe Becca, but what can you say to an appeal like that? I made the call.
Happily, Helen was only in Formby, and she said she'd come back just to settle Rebecca down. Helen really is lovely; she found the whole affair amusing to say the least. She caught sight of some of my Physics books, and remarked on the fact that Merchants' still stamp their exercise books with their crest. She was a Merchants' brat, too, so she knew all about it. After about fifteen minutes spent soothing Rebecca - the baby never made a sound - off she went again.

I returned to Childhood's End. I'd read the short story it was based on, Guardian Angel, as that was in one of the short story collections I read when in the States the last time, and I rather think I liked the short story better. It features an Earth much like this one, except for the fact an alien race named the Overlords have come down from the stars, and silver ships now hang over every major city. The Supervisor of Earth is an Overlord named Karellen, and every week, he arranges a private meeting between himself and the Secretary-General of the United Nations. I liked the short story because of its inventiveness, the wish-fulfillment in it, but mainly because of the real and honest affection Karellen has for the Secretary-General. The longer version of the story has this in, but doesn't focus on it, so I don't think it works as well. Anyway.

I was on the last page when Helen (and her husband - what the hell is his name?!) got back. They paid me and sent me merrily on my way, so despite the weirdness, not a bad evening all round. Pedar seemed pleased to see me when I turned up on the doorstep. According to him, Helen is pregnant; I really didn't notice, but then again she's not very far gone. That's neither here nor there. I'm a little richer, but I'm glad to be home. Tonight was too tiring, considering how little I actually did.

Sleepiness.