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This was a bad idea this was a bad idea this was a bad idea.
Holly runs as fast as she can but the demon's faster. She has no idea where Lightning's gotten to; maybe he found a tree to climb. She on the other hand has been diverted into a treeless hill and she's careening down a slope, trying very hard not to trip.
And the demon's gaining on her.
She's never seen anything like it and neither has Crystal; maybe Book knows what it is but Book's asleep. It's mostly mouth - it looks like a cross between a floorlength mirror of a mouth and a snake to propel the mouth along.
And Holly's not fast enough.
The mouth catches her.
But it doesn't hurt.
Where are we?
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inourhead
unblinkered
...so soog is "or"? Or... some other part of speech. Or they have two words for "and". How can he...
OH
"...room means soog? Or room no means soog?"
OH
"...room means soog? Or room no means soog?"
unblinkered
Good, she inferred it from context, so...
"Room means soog or room no means soog... room no means soog... soog means 'or'?"
"Room means soog or room no means soog... room no means soog... soog means 'or'?"
unblinkered
Hrm. Close enough?
He looks for chalk- he has an idea for what to do to illustrate it more specifically- when there's a knock on the door.
He looks for chalk- he has an idea for what to do to illustrate it more specifically- when there's a knock on the door.
It's Gloria, of course, and she's very surprised to see Max and Sohng and Sohng's mouse-accessorized backpack. "Wh- huh? Max, who's this?"
unblinkered
"Look, um- Gl- listen, this is going to be... it's a long story, and you won't believe- I mean, no, of course you'll believe it, we have evidence of-"
He stops, and looks her in the eyes.
"Can you... just, not panic, and I'll tell you... what I think is going on?"
He stops, and looks her in the eyes.
"Can you... just, not panic, and I'll tell you... what I think is going on?"
inourhead
Sohng looks between them, blinking.
"I... suppose? What are you doing in my classroom, Max?"
"I... suppose? What are you doing in my classroom, Max?"
unblinkered
"I... okay, so... this girl here, Song, she showed up in my classroom and doesn't speak English. That's why I'm here, specifically, not somewhere else. I thought you might be able to keep an eye on her today, and help her with that, until..."
He pauses for a moment, and takes a deep breath.
"The 'until', is where the you-might-panic thing comes in. But one thing at a time."
He pauses for a moment, and takes a deep breath.
"The 'until', is where the you-might-panic thing comes in. But one thing at a time."
inourhead
"Until what, Max?" asks Gloria. "What does she speak? ...¿Habla Español?"
Sohng blinks at her.
"...Zhongwen ma?"
Blink, blink.
Sohng blinks at her.
"...Zhongwen ma?"
Blink, blink.
unblinkered
"She doesn't speak Spanish. Or, as far as I can tell, any language on Earth. When I said she 'showed up in my classroom', I meant she showed up in my classroom. Just... appeared out of thin air. Right in front of me."
He holds up one of the drawings- of Kweengow (or Nloggy?) and Earth, with the arrows between.
He holds up one of the drawings- of Kweengow (or Nloggy?) and Earth, with the arrows between.
Gloria blinks at the drawings. She looks at Sohng's notes.
"I don't recognize that alphabet... but Max, there must have been something going on, people don't appear from other planets out of nowhere."
"I don't recognize that alphabet... but Max, there must have been something going on, people don't appear from other planets out of nowhere."
unblinkered
"That's what I thought! Obviously! I spent the first fifteen minutes trying to get her to explain what the trick was, until I realized it wasn't working. And then we tried to explain each other's languages to each other, until suddenly she..."
He turns to Sohng. "I'm going to have her show you the thing."
He hands Sohng a small piece of white blackboard chalk, and a large piece of red sidewalk chalk. He mimes the two-handed shaking gesture.
He turns to Sohng. "I'm going to have her show you the thing."
He hands Sohng a small piece of white blackboard chalk, and a large piece of red sidewalk chalk. He mimes the two-handed shaking gesture.
inourhead
Sohng looks between the two adults, then accepts the chalks, and swaps their colors, and hands them back.
Gloria yelps.
Gloria yelps.
unblinkered
"So... yeah. Sorry. She's some kind of... wizard, or something. She can switch... things, properties of things, I don't know- but it's clearly the same level of... thing, as appearing out of nowhere, so..."
"Oh my god!" exclaims Gloria. "And - Max, I've got a class of kids who speak Spanish and Chinese and Korean and - what do you expect me to do with a wizard from another planet? Why does she have mice -?"
unblinkered
"Oh, god, I don't know about the mice, I don't know enough to ask her to explain them- she- I- I thought you'd be... you'd have more experience than me teaching people languages in general, just... ignoring the magic thing, that you could do what you usually do? Until the bell rings and I can figure out what to do with her."
"Usually I have textbooks that refer to their native language, Max! I - what have you got her to pick up so far...? Anything?"
unblinkered
"I... she knows 'yes' and 'no', and 'and', and... 'Earth', 'flat', 'America'... I taught her "means", so if you can figure out her word for something, you can tell her what it is in English... and she knows 'draw', which is a big help... 'light', 'mice'... oh, and 'English'. Some other things I'm forgetting."
He gives her a look.
"Is it really all textbooks? You've... got to be better than me, at this...?"
He gives her a look.
"Is it really all textbooks? You've... got to be better than me, at this...?"
"I've usually got something to go on. And usually there's - context. I'm not sure if a wizard from another planet will even understand that she's in an ESL class. I'll try, at least for today, but is she even enrolled? I can't quite tell how old she is, I could believe anything between fourteen and twenty-two."
unblinkered
"I... seriously doubt she's enrolled, given that she teleported into my classroom less than an hour ago- she doesn't know how she got here, she says the last thing she remembers is... being eaten by a snake monster, if I read her drawing right? But... I taught her 'teach', and 'Gloria teach Sohng English', so... she knows that much."
"How sure are you she's got all these words? Kids will smile and nod - have you seen her use all of them?"
unblinkered
"She-" he pauses.
"I hadn't thought of that- I figured, if she was really trying to communicate, she wouldn't lie and say she understood something just to get me to move on..."
He thinks for a moment.
"She definitely knows yes, no, and, means, draw, and... word, she knows 'word', and English, and... her language is called Nloggy, I don't know if that's also her world, her world might be 'Kweengow'..."
"I hadn't thought of that- I figured, if she was really trying to communicate, she wouldn't lie and say she understood something just to get me to move on..."
He thinks for a moment.
"She definitely knows yes, no, and, means, draw, and... word, she knows 'word', and English, and... her language is called Nloggy, I don't know if that's also her world, her world might be 'Kweengow'..."