From time to time, an idea will pop into my head in the form of a passage — or even just a line of dialogue — that I really like, and I stick these ideas into a document for future use as the basis of longer stories. I had one such idea this morning, and it made me chuckle.
I like the potential of this particular idea a lot, and I sincerely hope to expand on it in the future. Unfortunately, the proximity of that future to now is indeterminate; I have a lot of projects to finish before I even think about letting myself start a new one. Still, I really liked this idea and, with Halloween just around the corner, I thought I’d share it;
***
‘I’m sorry,’ Gerald said, waving a hand to halt proceedings, ‘but who are you?’
The man looked at Gerald with an appraising eye. When he spoke, his words were solemn.
‘I have been known by many names. Forseti. Van Helsing. Buffy. Meyers. In my present incarnation, I am known as Lord Trent, though you may simply call me Lord.’
‘You don’t look like a lord.’
‘I am not,’ Lord Trent admitted, ‘”Lord” is my first name.’
‘Wait a minute,’ Gerald said, ‘Van Helsing? As in the monster hunter?’
‘Exactly!’ Lord said gleefully, as though his favourite student had correctly answered a particularly difficult question. Something seemed to occur to Gerald.
‘When you say “Buffy”,’ he said slowly, ‘would you be talking about the vampire hunter?’
‘One in the same!’ Lord said, delighted.
‘The sexy vampire killing girl from the TV show?’
Lord’s face fell. ‘That TV show,’ he said, spitting the words, ‘was based on my exploits without, I might add, my consent. And they changed things.’
‘Your gender, for one,’ Gerald pointed out. ‘Who’s Meyers? I’ve never heard of that one.’
Lord let out a harsh laugh, ‘I did more for the destruction of vampires during my time as Meyers than in all my prior incarnations combined!’
***