Eerie, Indiana fanfiction: Sisters
Written for the 3rd June challenge over at fffc. The prompt was "in-laws", so I decided to write about to Eerie's sister city of Normal, Illinois, and it kind of ended up being a crossover with Gortimer Gibbons
When the Normal City Chamber of Commerce announced that they would be partnering with a small Indiana town for the Festival of the Sister Cities, the people of Normal shrugged their shoulders, took a moment to be quietly grateful that their municipal funds would not be spent on sending elected officials on a jolly to the other side of the world, and began work on a parade float in the shape of a giant corn cob.
When Mayor Lee invited a delegation from their sister city to attend Normal’s annual Soy Bean picnic and tombola, she was puzzled by the response, written in reddish-brown calligraphy on thick cream-coloured paper, which informed her that Eerie’s Mayor and his cronies would be delighted to attend, and could they perhaps repay her kindness by providing the ritual sacrifice?
“I don’t understand why they would actually write ‘cronies’ on their RSVP,” she mused, tapping the unfolded letter against her lower lip. She stopped short, sniffed, and moved the paper away from her face, wrinkling her nose as she did so. Holding the two-page response by the edges, she manipulated it back into the gold-embossed envelope it had come in and nudged it to the far side of her desk with her immaculately-manicured nails.
(Later, washing her hands, she noted how very crumbly Eerie’s locally-produced ink seemed to be, and how the stains it left behind clung to her fingers.)
The ceremony to mark the traditional exchange of commemorative plaques had to be postponed after several weeks of heavy spring rain caused flash flooding in downtown Normal. The celebratory bunting lost its colour and the alabaster statue of Captain Normal outside the historic movie theatre washed away. When an aide from the Eerie city council telephoned to offer a temporary loan of their weatherman, Mayor Lee was as gracious as a person can be when taking a call while stagnant floodwater soaked through her office carpet and up into her shoes.
Still, when the WERD-TV news van pulled up near an old well that had inexplicably started to vomit jilted and vengeful frogs, and the funny little man in horn-rimmed glasses and a truly regrettable pink bowtie dismounted and began setting up a topographical map of Normal beneath a dirty white awning, the Mayor had to at least pretend to take an interest. And when, fifteen minutes later, a strong wind had cleared the cloudbanks, and the sun began beating down, and the standing water retreated back underground so fast that it was like watching a recording run in reverse, Henrietta Lee began to wonder.
The exchange eventually took place just as spring turned to summer. The polished brass plate, intricately carved with ears of corn, a howling wolf superimposed on a mountain crag, and for some reason a silhouette of Elvis crooning into a microphone, took pride of place in the rebuilt Normal Civic Gardens. On fine days the Mayor would eat her lunch there, pondering as she did so the sudden influx of ravens that had taken up residence in town, as well as exactly where they were getting their never-ending supply of grapes, as it seemed she never saw one without something round clutched in its beak.
The Weather Series
Wally by froodle, in which a certain weatherman doesn't lose his temper, but is sorely tried
Vacation by froodle, in which Weatherman Wally visits a tropical paradise without ever leaving Eerie city limits
Sick Day by froodle, in which Weatherman Wally does not go to work
Setting the Scene by froodle, in which Wally prepares for Christmas
Holidays are Coming by froodle, in which something else prepares for Christmas
Garden by froodle, in which Wally eats ice-cream
Stormfront by froodle, in which Wally takes a hands-on approach to firefighting.
Still by froodle, in which we find out there are far worse things than Old Bob
When the Normal City Chamber of Commerce announced that they would be partnering with a small Indiana town for the Festival of the Sister Cities, the people of Normal shrugged their shoulders, took a moment to be quietly grateful that their municipal funds would not be spent on sending elected officials on a jolly to the other side of the world, and began work on a parade float in the shape of a giant corn cob.
When Mayor Lee invited a delegation from their sister city to attend Normal’s annual Soy Bean picnic and tombola, she was puzzled by the response, written in reddish-brown calligraphy on thick cream-coloured paper, which informed her that Eerie’s Mayor and his cronies would be delighted to attend, and could they perhaps repay her kindness by providing the ritual sacrifice?
“I don’t understand why they would actually write ‘cronies’ on their RSVP,” she mused, tapping the unfolded letter against her lower lip. She stopped short, sniffed, and moved the paper away from her face, wrinkling her nose as she did so. Holding the two-page response by the edges, she manipulated it back into the gold-embossed envelope it had come in and nudged it to the far side of her desk with her immaculately-manicured nails.
(Later, washing her hands, she noted how very crumbly Eerie’s locally-produced ink seemed to be, and how the stains it left behind clung to her fingers.)
The ceremony to mark the traditional exchange of commemorative plaques had to be postponed after several weeks of heavy spring rain caused flash flooding in downtown Normal. The celebratory bunting lost its colour and the alabaster statue of Captain Normal outside the historic movie theatre washed away. When an aide from the Eerie city council telephoned to offer a temporary loan of their weatherman, Mayor Lee was as gracious as a person can be when taking a call while stagnant floodwater soaked through her office carpet and up into her shoes.
Still, when the WERD-TV news van pulled up near an old well that had inexplicably started to vomit jilted and vengeful frogs, and the funny little man in horn-rimmed glasses and a truly regrettable pink bowtie dismounted and began setting up a topographical map of Normal beneath a dirty white awning, the Mayor had to at least pretend to take an interest. And when, fifteen minutes later, a strong wind had cleared the cloudbanks, and the sun began beating down, and the standing water retreated back underground so fast that it was like watching a recording run in reverse, Henrietta Lee began to wonder.
The exchange eventually took place just as spring turned to summer. The polished brass plate, intricately carved with ears of corn, a howling wolf superimposed on a mountain crag, and for some reason a silhouette of Elvis crooning into a microphone, took pride of place in the rebuilt Normal Civic Gardens. On fine days the Mayor would eat her lunch there, pondering as she did so the sudden influx of ravens that had taken up residence in town, as well as exactly where they were getting their never-ending supply of grapes, as it seemed she never saw one without something round clutched in its beak.
The Weather Series
Wally by froodle, in which a certain weatherman doesn't lose his temper, but is sorely tried
Vacation by froodle, in which Weatherman Wally visits a tropical paradise without ever leaving Eerie city limits
Sick Day by froodle, in which Weatherman Wally does not go to work
Setting the Scene by froodle, in which Wally prepares for Christmas
Holidays are Coming by froodle, in which something else prepares for Christmas
Garden by froodle, in which Wally eats ice-cream
Stormfront by froodle, in which Wally takes a hands-on approach to firefighting.
Still by froodle, in which we find out there are far worse things than Old Bob