Liz and the Mumble Clump - Short fairy tale

in #fiction7 years ago

Liz fussed and fidgeted with her hairpin, unable to bring her mind to focus on the task at hand. The wind swept great gusts of letters chattering by her, as she struggled to keep them from interfering with her place in the book. She was working with the English alphabet today, a task that always gave her a headache.

A particularly noisy group of vowels came chanting up beneath her, their low "aaaa" and "oooooo" sounds providing a temporary moment of focus. Today her cloud was floating over the continent of North America, a very opinionated country, and here she was, charged with the task of rounding up all the unintelligible words spoken, texted or otherwise communicated by the populace below. Even with new words and phrases like "Romphim" and "vape" being constantly added to her dictionary, there were still so many stray words. The worst part was that once they made it above the clouds, they disbanded into individual letters.

She kicked off her shoes, watching them drop...down...doown...until she could see them no longer. She sighed. She'd fetch them later. As she brought her attention back to her work, she became suddenly aware of a distinctly negative presence in the vicinity. It was a clump of mumbles! They rarely got this high in the sky. It was the Enunciators who were charged with hunting them down, after all, and she was entirely unequipped to handle the mumbles, especially having just dropped her shoes!

The mumble clump drew ominously nearer, sensing Liz's ability to clearly communicate. To be absorbed by a mumble clump was a serious matter. You lost all focus and resolve for weeks on end, losing even your ability to speak clearly. Liz frantically turned her desk lamp towards the clump to buy her some time while she rifled below her desk, searching for anything that could help her. The dull murmur grew closer, though was still entirely unintelligible.

Liz pulled out her favorite quotation from under her desk; thank goodness she hadn't forgotten it at home! The desk lamp was now entangled in a sluggish mire of "Mmmohnghh" and the occasional "Hyiighess". Just as the the mind numbing grip of the clump surrounded her, Liz cracked open her favorite quote and began speaking it as clearly as possible, letting the words flow from her mouth crisply and cleanly. Yet it was still not enough! Her letters began to lose their polish, the bright tanginess of the words were turning to mush.

Suddenly a flash of clarity tore through the mumble clump, severing it's grip on Liz. Wordless meaning swept through her mind, reminding her of times long past and understanding of why she did the job she did. As the mumble clump started to move away, a sprightly fellow with a green cap dangling several meters into the sky below landed on her cloud.

"Good afternoon!" He said with a meaning twinkle in his eye. "West Wind, at y'service!"
Liz gasped. One of the great four, the West Wind was responsible for sowing meaning and imagination in the world. The West Wind winked and then said, "I'd love to stay and chat, but I'm afraid the Enunciators are close behind after that mumble clump. You know how they love to be the heroes." With that he gave a tremendous leap and soared off, his green hat trailing behind.

Soon after came several loud voices, followed by sounds of "There it is!" and "Close it in!". Several men in bright silver uniforms with megaphones surrounded the now dazed mumble clump and began blasting it to bits with shouts of
"I THINK YOU MEANT TO SAY..." and other such necessary corrections. Once the mumbles were all sorted and clarified, the Enunciators (for that is who they were,) gathered around Liz.

"You are definitively safe now, miss." "Yes, we have properly categorized those mumbles for you." "No need to thank us!"
"I am quite obliged," said Liz, laughing quietly. "YOU HEAR THAT, MEN?!" roared the Head Enunciator. "SHE SAID SHE'S VERY MUCH OBLIGED AND LAUGHED QUIETLY!" They all exchanged pleasantries about the weather, but the then Enunciators had to leave.
"I don't know how you can stand all these unspelled words up here, Liz!" Said one. "Pure letters? Why they can barely be spoken and they don't mean a thing!" Spoke another. "I cannot take this any longer, I fear." "We are leaving. Goodbye!"

Liz waved them goodbye and proceeded to categorize the letters blustering about her, her head clear again. As the sun set she had just finished clearing the cluttered words from North America, the words broken down into letters and ready to be used the next day. She retrieved her shoes and steered her cloud towards home as the sun set, thankful that she could help provide such a gift as communication.

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