The Malicious Monocle

    Elephant fumed as he read the Chennai Times. An article on the front page discussed the recent High Tea hosted by the Governor General. According to the Chennai Times Elephant had attended this tea. It seemed that Elephant had also done an incredible job of charming the other attendees with his wit and gracious nature.

Elephant saw this for what is was: an attempt to draw him and his followers out from hiding. He refused to take the bait, but Orangutan’s recent arrest worried him. It may be necessary to risk everything just to rescue him. Word had also reached Elephant of Zebu’s recent, grisly discovery.

 Mongoose silently watched the Governor General’s Tea from behind a rosewood screen. He watched the faces of Hedgehog’s guests as they spoke with the “Raja”.

Trotting out a look a like of the real Raja had been Mongoose’s plan. A plan he had no intention of allowing to fail. So far, none of the guests had said or done anything to make Mongoose believe they doubted the Raja’s identity.

Mongoose watched Elephant as well. The Raja looked to be enjoying himself as he nibbled daintily on a delicate cucumber sandwich.  Between nibbles he exchanged vacuous nothings with the other guests and looked well pleased with himself.

He should enjoy himself, thought Mongoose. His life would be forfeit once the true Raja had been found and disposed. It only remained to be determined how Mongoose would be allowed to kill the imposter. The Governor General was not one to allow loose ends to hang about after their usefulness had passed.

Mongoose preferred slowly bleeding useless people to death over a few days, but a quick death could sometimes be just as satisfying. Only time and the Governor General would know which lay in the future of the imposter.

  Governor General Hedgehog glanced to his right at Elephant sipped at his tea. This was the first official High Tea in which Elephant had been officially invited to by Hedgehog. Along with Elephant, a select few members of the most loyal families and functionaries had also been invited. Hedgehog had been told by his secretary the social battles were getting almost open in the attempt to secure an invitation to Elephant’s first social event after that article had appeared in the Chennai Times.

The guests were all hear to witness this new, ‘tamed’ Raja and claim they were in his, and the Governor General’s, good graces. Hedgehog wasn’t a fool. He knew better than to blindly trust any of these sycophants. If they left this tea not fully convinced that Elephant was who Hedgehog said he was, their tongues would be wagging so fiercely the news would travel the length of the Ganges quicker than Hedgehog could sign his name to an Order of Execution.

 Zebu hid behind the garden wall as he watched Bengal and his men take Orangutan away. He followed them to find out in which gaol Orangutan was going to be held. After seeing where Orangutan was going to be held, Zebu raced off to find help for his friend and to make sure everyone one of the Raja’s men were informed of what had happened.

Zebus wasn’t really sure he would actually be able to help Orangutan. Realistically the best help he might be able to arrange for Orangutan would be a vial of poison for a dignified suicide before the Governor’s tortured him. Raja was all too unlikely to support an attempt to free Orangutan. Doing so would tip his hand to the Governor General far earlier than likely planned. Zebu would simply hope against hope that his friend would soon come home.

 Orangutan had fretted over his wife’s absence when he came home from market. Now, in the custody of Bengal and his men, he was feeling blind panic. None of the soldiers uttered a word as they surrounded him and began the march through the jungle towards Patna.

Orangutan’s heart would life at every sound – real or imagined – from the jungle. Hoping deep down that Zebu or someone else was just out of sight about to enact a rescue.

There was no rescue for Orangutan. Two privates forced him into a dingy cell in Hedgehog’s gaol. The straw, moldy with rot, silently squished beneath Orangutan as he fell limply to the ground.

The lack of any sort of rescue left any hope Orangutan might have had crushed before it could even take root. Before Hedgehog’s interrogator had the chance to demonstrate his extensive skill in breaking a prisoner, Orangutan had broken himself.

I have a project due in class tomorrow. My buddy Yigg is my partner and I had expected to see him at the get together on Friday night. He didn’t make it. I tried calling him yesterday and today and didn’t get any answer. I had even started working on his part of the project so I wouldn’t be caught unprepared tomorrow night. He finally called me back. A family thing had called him out of town for the weekend.

Now I can stop stressing and I can stop doing homework for the evening. I’m going to head up to Best Buy and spend some money I probably shouldn’t spend.

I have another part for the Monocle written, but I haven’t had the time to type it up yet. I’ll get it up as soon as possible. Maybe after I get back from Best Buy.

Hanuman Langur looked up and gave Rhesus an apologetic smile as he waved her towards a door in the back of his stall. Rhesus tried to get a hint as to what awaited her on the other side of the door from Hanuman’s face. He wouldn’t meet her eyes, telling her that whatever was on the other side of the door was something or someone she didn’t want to meet.

Rhesus stopped at the door to take a deep breath. For a moment she considered knocking, but with a shake of her head she discarded that idea. Squaring her shoulders, she grabbed the doorknob and opened the door.

Today I get to teach the second of the three lessons I have to teach before student teaching starts next year. I’m teaching a combo lesson that covers both science and literacy. I have my snazzy power points ready and I’ll be printing a bunch of stuff out in just a moment. Right now my biggest concern is keeping them engaged for the class. I’ll be teaching the same lesson three times over today to get some hours in and get a bit more experience with modifying on the fly.

I ‘m sure ALL of my loyal readers, even the Orwellians, are wishing me well today.

For the first time in a while I looked up some old Sociology stuff last night. I confirmed that Isolation is one of seven methods that can be used. It doesn’t mean anything on it’s own, but if it is combined with a couple of the others it can take a very severe meaning. I like what I do and I like that I will soon be a teacher. There are still times I wish I didn’t have some of the info that exists in my head that has to be there when considered a Man. Rep.. Enough of that though.

This Friday Adverb is hosting a get together to help the class relax and kill off a brain cell or two each. It should be nice. Everyone won’t be there, but it will hopefully still be fun.

I’ve been so focused on school work I haven’t had a chance to get any scribbling done on the Monocle. That will be corrected soon.

Rhesus would have run all the way to Patna if she could have. She fought with herself to walk slowly, normally. In her heart, she raced swung from branch to branch over the road. The letter had said not to arouse any suspicion as she kept the forced appointment it had made for her. How could she keep from going mad before she reached Patna?

Reaching Patna, reaching Rhesus pulled the crumpled letter from inside her sari and triple-checked the address. The address took her through some of the poorest and most dangerous sections of Patna. Her adrenalin-spiked journey ended at the stall owned by Hanuman Langur, the Scrivener. Hanuman made his living writing letters for the poor and unlettered in Patna.

  Mongoose peered through the barred window into Orangutan’s cell. After just one night in Hedgehog’s gaol Orangutan looked broken. His shoulders looked like they were at his waist, they were so slumped. The moldy straw Orangutan had slept fitfully on had turned his gleaming orange fur into dirty clumps.