 Book 2: Angleworm
|
Page 78: Purging the Psycholith |
|
website
The background is white.
- Panel 1
Angstrom and Zane stand side-by-side, looking at the Bottlefly Sawmill. The reader sees them, and the sawmill, as if we're standing behind them. Angstrom says "Your journal mentions time spent on night wanderings with the *graveyard shift* up at the Bottlefly Sawmill..." Zane answers, "*Late shift*, Doc. Please call it the *late shift*." Although his face is not visible, one eyebrow is, indicating that his expression is anxious. The sawmill is a large, L-shaped building with a wide, large garage near which logs are piled up, and three tall, thin smokestacks on the opposite side of the building. The sky is getting darker, and the snow continues to fall, piling up on the building's roof and on the ground and pressing up against the walls in large drifts. The tall pine trees of the Stillwood Forest are seen in the distance, colored in a ghostly greyish-purple and light against the dark sky.
- Panel 2.
Angstrom turns to Zane, saying "I always questioned safety of *forestry after twilight*! It seems they've come to their *senses* following the unfortunate incident." He is standing in front of a large wooden sign reading "Bottlefly Lumber Co." in bold, plain letters. A note has been tacked to the sign, coming loose and blowing to the side on one corner. The note is handwritten in red ink on yellow paper and reads "No third shift. Ask foreman if you have questions. Take care out there." The "No" of the first sentence and the "Take care" of the third sentence are underlined, and it's signed in an illegible cursive that may read Charles.
- Panel 3.
The two men walk away from the sawmill, and Angstrom looks worried as he turns to Zane and asks "Maybe the Bottlefly Boys would remember something of value?" Zane, walking next to him but looking away, a shifty, anxious expression on his face, answers "Believe me, Doc, I... think they'd have told me if they did."
- Panel 4.
Zane, walking a few feet behind Angstrom, looks to the side as he says "I'm not sure what they're up to without their shift at the mill. They... weren't doing too *hot* last time I saw them." Angstrom, closing his eyes and putting his hand to his chest, answers "We all deal with grief in different ways."
- Panel 5.
Angstrom, looking up, says "Indeed, the town will have a *good measure* of it at tomorrow's services. *Grief* purges the psycholith of exigent emotion." His large, square glasses hide his expression, and light reflects off of them. Zane stands behind Angstrom, looking at him uncomfortably.
- Panel 6.
Zane continues to walk behind Angstrom, his expression nervous as he asks "Any idea what *my* psycholith'll throw at me tonight when I close my eyes?" Angstrom closes his eyes and points up with his index finger, saying "For you I wish grief, Mr. Zane! In *great quantity*!"
|
Return to Book 2: Angleworm |
|