The Great Escape
Chapter One
Rincewind opened one eye after the other and looked around. What he thought to be his bedroom in one of the top floors in Unseen University, was, in fact, a room much smaller than he remembered since last night of drinking. It was three by five meters wide, and the ceiling was apparently ten meters above his head. The room had very little light in it and it seemed a bit ominous. Instead of his beloved bed (which he won at the world's-worst wizard on one of those silly game-shows) he found himself sitting on an ellipse-shaped sofa, with bizarre-looking yellow dragons painted all over the mattress. His eyes landed on the window, with its curtains carelessly folded.
'Perhaps my host kindly made sure that I get a nice good sleep' pondered Rincewind. Now he wondered about his doings last night, while trying to stand up, tumbling back to the sofa after a light dizziness, repeating the process a couple of times till his head and body surrounded to his mind. 'I didn't do anything out of the ordinary' he assured himself. 'Though I do remember something about flying dragons of some sort.' He scratched his beard for some more reminisces.
He finally reached the window at the far end of the room, with the hope he'll better understand where he is, what happened to him, or even on what time of day his Consciousness decided to wake him up after a courageous battle with Alcohol the Brave. To his Surprise and Bewilderment (which popped up in his self almost every week in the past few years, sadly), the view from behind the glass window was a dull sight of a redbrick wall.
'Oh I know what happened,' he talked to himself, 'I was strolling along from the pub, when a nice-looking man suggested I'll spend the night at his house, so I won't have to walk all the way home. Hmmm' his face lightened. 'Darn it,' his face stiffened, 'he'll probably want me to pay him for this hospitality!' Rincewind became upset by his stupidity that once again proved itself strongly while being drunk. 'This is the last time I'm going without my good old, trustworthy monk-' a mental paw hit his head, 'orangutan.' By this, he meant, of course to the head librarian, his drinking-buddy.
After this, he quickly turned to the door, only to find it was locked. 'Now, this is strange. Why would he lock the door?' said Rincewind with an anxious smile. He returned his gaze to the empty dim room. 'Probably went to the market,' he relaxed himself, 'and wanted to me wait here, so that I could pay him.'
For those of you who know Rincewind, this last notion should sound a bit strange for our failed wizard. For this was, as he will understand before long, an unlikely and truly unrealistically optimistic thought.
Only then did he notice the figure sitting on the rocking chair at the shadowy corner.
Chapter One
Rincewind opened one eye after the other and looked around. What he thought to be his bedroom in one of the top floors in Unseen University, was, in fact, a room much smaller than he remembered since last night of drinking. It was three by five meters wide, and the ceiling was apparently ten meters above his head. The room had very little light in it and it seemed a bit ominous. Instead of his beloved bed (which he won at the world's-worst wizard on one of those silly game-shows) he found himself sitting on an ellipse-shaped sofa, with bizarre-looking yellow dragons painted all over the mattress. His eyes landed on the window, with its curtains carelessly folded.
'Perhaps my host kindly made sure that I get a nice good sleep' pondered Rincewind. Now he wondered about his doings last night, while trying to stand up, tumbling back to the sofa after a light dizziness, repeating the process a couple of times till his head and body surrounded to his mind. 'I didn't do anything out of the ordinary' he assured himself. 'Though I do remember something about flying dragons of some sort.' He scratched his beard for some more reminisces.
He finally reached the window at the far end of the room, with the hope he'll better understand where he is, what happened to him, or even on what time of day his Consciousness decided to wake him up after a courageous battle with Alcohol the Brave. To his Surprise and Bewilderment (which popped up in his self almost every week in the past few years, sadly), the view from behind the glass window was a dull sight of a redbrick wall.
'Oh I know what happened,' he talked to himself, 'I was strolling along from the pub, when a nice-looking man suggested I'll spend the night at his house, so I won't have to walk all the way home. Hmmm' his face lightened. 'Darn it,' his face stiffened, 'he'll probably want me to pay him for this hospitality!' Rincewind became upset by his stupidity that once again proved itself strongly while being drunk. 'This is the last time I'm going without my good old, trustworthy monk-' a mental paw hit his head, 'orangutan.' By this, he meant, of course to the head librarian, his drinking-buddy.
After this, he quickly turned to the door, only to find it was locked. 'Now, this is strange. Why would he lock the door?' said Rincewind with an anxious smile. He returned his gaze to the empty dim room. 'Probably went to the market,' he relaxed himself, 'and wanted to me wait here, so that I could pay him.'
For those of you who know Rincewind, this last notion should sound a bit strange for our failed wizard. For this was, as he will understand before long, an unlikely and truly unrealistically optimistic thought.
Only then did he notice the figure sitting on the rocking chair at the shadowy corner.