“Let Us Begin the Bidding at a Million Dollars!”
called “wildlife” for a reason- not a single one of us
- legs tightly crossed
- what do our bodies sound like?
- rubbing her stomach
Tune in next time part 488 Click Here for Earlier Installments
“Let us begin the bidding at a million dollars!” Oksana proclaimed. Tatiana’s hand shot up, along with many others.
“Aren’t you supposed to be the Crystal Clown’s proxy?” I muttered.
Tatiana stood there rubbing her stomach like she was very hungry. “Let me worry about her,” she said. The rubbing intensified, and she said, “I wonder, as new life springs forth from us, what do our bodies sound like?”
She was now grasping her bulging belly in both hands, legs tightly crossed and a puddle around her feet.
“I think they sound like that,” I deadpanned. “You should probably call for your helicopter or whatever to take you to labor and delivery.” I could commandeer it and take us back to Enigma Fortress instead.
Tatiana shook her head. Her voice was strained as she said, “Oksana has made it clear that not a single one of us shall be allowed out until the auction is complete.”
The bidding was up to two million dollars, and not really slowing. I couldn’t think of a way to hurry it along, but I did have an idea for disrupting it. Even if it would probably blow my cover. I watched John, and just as he was signalling a bid on behalf of Viscount Arlo, I did my Himalayan Snowcock impression as loudly as I could.
John let out an even louder scream of panic and began running about and flailing his arms, heedless of the people around him. The closest he ever came to telling me the reason for his terror of those birds was when he whispered tremulously from the darkness as we lay in our bunks at the Academy, “It’s called ‘wildlife’ for a reason.”
bonus points for using them in reverse order