[MaC] An Interruption

[Jvstin]

On Fri, 24 Dec 2004 10:33:07 -0500, Margaret Dean <margdean at erols.com> wrote:
> Mel Mason wrote:
> >
> > The party seemed to have settled down.  People were talking quietly now -
> > and the sound of Anton's piano was forming a soothing background to the
> > conversation.  He was playing light, popular classics, it appeared, not his
> > usual style at all (as anyone who had attended his concerts would know).
> 
> Soon after the music had started, Marion Mauberly, who had been
> standing near the bar but not mingling, looked around at the
> assembled company and said, "I wonder what's become of Vangie?
> Perhaps I'd better go see."  She set down her drink on the bar
> and headed down the stairs the way her friend had gone.
> 
> > And then everything was disrupted by a shrill whistling in the street.
> >
> > "That's the ARP," said Oswald Skeffington-Nottle.  "We must be showing a
> > light."
> >
> > Marty Fitzroy swore.  "Put the lights out," he ordered Hodges.  "Perhaps
> > that'll shut them up."
> >
> > Oswald moved to the window.  "I'll see what they say once the lights are
> > out," he said.
> >
> > Soon the room was plunged into darkness - it seemed strange not to be able
> > to see anyone else, and there were several nervous giggles, as though this
> > were a party game.
> >
> > In the next flat, Anton Barowenski could be heard continuing to play.
> >
> > Oswald moved to the window and leaned out.  He could be heard shouting an
> > enquiry - and a distant voice resonded.  Then he could be heard shuffling
> > back into the room.
> >
> > "Not good news, I'm afraid," he said.  "They've found an incendiary -
> > unexploded.  They want us to stay put while it's defused.  And we were
> > showing a light.  The warden's coming up to fix the blackout now."
> >
> > Indeed, in the odd stillness that darkness sometimes gives, the clank of the
> > lift could be heard as it started its descent.  Lucinda gave a little
> > chuckle.
> >
> > "You should have told him to take the stairs, Oswald!"
> 
"Seriously, Oswald." James put in.  "Having the poor Warden get into
that deathtrap is not going to improve his mood."