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    Little Orange in the Underground
    Little Orange in the Underground
    Little Orange in the Underground
    Ebook132 pages1 hour

    Little Orange in the Underground

    By Roger Penrose

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    About this ebook

    Book one of the Little Orange Trilogy. After she falls out of Portland, Little Orange finds herself in a strange world of darkness and monsters. But where there are monsters, there are heroes. And if the heroes can't manage, then Little Orange will have to step up to the plate.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherRoger Penrose
    Release dateAug 19, 2015
    ISBN9781311548733
    Little Orange in the Underground
    Author

    Roger Penrose

    Roger Penrose is a former infantryman in the US Army, and now spends his days repairing complex industrial equipment. He lives in Tucson, Arizona, a city which provides all the horror and weirdness for which any author could reasonably ask.

    Read more from Roger Penrose

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      Book preview

      Little Orange in the Underground - Roger Penrose

      Chapter 1

      Imagine, if you will, a house in the city of Portland That Was.  It was one of those houses everyone wishes they had lived in at some point, only it would be better if that point was at some point in the past…A fond memory, you might say, instead of a constant hassle of old wiring and drywall that seemed more like plaster made out of Cheese Whiz.  It wasn’t badly laid out, but rather it seemed to ramble, with one room blending into another, with nooks and crannies that would never fail to deliver up some oddity or other.

      In fact, if you sat right down and thought about it, there was really no end to the place.  This is why Little Orange never thought about it.  The house just was.  Well, except for the basement.  The basement was strange, in a way that could be very hard to describe.  The corners never seemed to be at right angles, and the basement always smelled a little bit damp, even in dry weather.  In fact, it would be just like any basement in any temperate climate…Except for the pipe.

      The pipe was a bit of a mystery.  It wasn’t connected to anything, and didn’t seem to go anywhere…Or at least you couldn’t see where it went.  It just kept going down.  It was a little bit creepy…And, if you were  downstairs alone, perhaps doing laundry, it was perhaps more than a little creepy.  Little Orange called it The Top of the Bottom, and considered it one of the little mysteries of her life, not terribly important or anything, but still…

      Her mother had told her not to mess with it, which of course added just a little extra attraction to it.  Mother had mentioned something about tetanus, which meant lock jaw.  This had been a very real danger to people when her mother was a child, but Little Orange filed it away alongside polio and measles, and other things that scared her mother, but didn’t seem to actually exist.  Parents can be that way, at times…Children may worry about the bogeyman in the closet, even though they know there is no such thing, but adults have worries about their children that make their hair stand up on end, even if most of those worries aren’t real.   But you can’t tell parents that.

      But I digress.  Let us return to the subject at hand. 

      One spring morning, Little Orange was fetching the laundry, when she heard a small voice.  Voices, to be precise, and they seemed to be arguing, though she couldn’t make out the words.  How very puzzling!  Little Orange then realized that the voices were coming out of the Top of the Bottom.

      She went to the pipe, and looked down inside.  Just like always, she could see nothing…However, she could hear what sounded like two men having an argument.  Not a fight, mind you, more of a amiable disagreement.

      What are you doing? said someone in a voice that called to mind a man that was possibly a little too overweight, with just a hint of a wheeze.  Little Orange almost answered, before she realized that the voice wasn’t talking to her.

      Another voice, this one sounding like a man with a bad cold, replied What do you mean, what am I doing?  I’m sugaring my tea.  What does it look like I’m doing.

      That was two sugar cubes you put in.  You only ever put ONE cube in., said the first voice. 

      And I can’t have two cubes if I want two?  What does it matter to you?  You don’t put any sugar in your tea, so it’s not as if I’m taking your share.

      I have known you for years, Remorse.  You have been my bedrock of stability.  This sudden radical behavior troubles me greatly.  It is as if someone else entirely has taken your place.

      Little Orange was, of course, fascinated.  She hurried upstairs and grabbed a flashlight, and ran back downstairs, helpless with a dread that the voices would be gone when she returned.  However, when she arrived back at the Top of the Bottom, the two were still at it, with the fellow referred to as Remorse saying, Well, perhaps I won’t put ANY sugar in my tea tomorrow.  Perhaps I will instead put honey in my tea instead.

      Now you’re just being contrary. said the first voice.

      Little Orange aimed the flashlight down the pipe, and turned it on.  Instead of the endless pipe stretching into darkness, as she was used to, she was looking down a short pipe into a small stone room.  In the center of the room was a table, with a teapot on it, and she could see two pairs of hands, each holding a cup.  The angle was such that she couldn’t see the owners of the hands.

      Here now, what’s this? asked the voice of Remorse.

      Little Orange leaned further over, trying to see more of the strange room, when suddenly she was gripped with vertigo, and had a sensation of falling.  More accurately, the sensation of falling down a pipe that logic told her was far too small for her to fit her hand in, much less her whole body.

      Nevertheless, fall she did.

      Chapter 2

      Little Orange found herself in a small room, with a corridor leading away from it.  Two men, one enormously fat, and the other rail-thin, sat at a small table in the center.  They were holding teacups to their mouths, and looking at her in surprise.

      Who are you?? all three of them asked at once.

      I am Little Orange, she responded, I live upstairs.

      I am Mr. Regret, the fat man said, And this is Mr. Remorse.

      Can you help me get back up the pipe?

      At her question, both men burst into tears.  It's so SAD! wailed Remorse.  Regret stared in his teacup and said I wish you hadn't come down.

      That isn't much of an answer.  Grownups frequently frustrated Little Orange.  They couldn't ever seem to keep their eye on the ball.  She stared at them, waiting for an answer.

      You don't go UP the pipe, Regret finally said, Pipes are for going down.

      Then what am I to do?

      Regret wiped a tear from his face.  There's nothing to be done.  I feel very badly about this.

      Well, then, I guess I had better find another way out.

      DON'T GO! Remorse almost screamed, The tunnels are very dangerous.  Strange creatures and lost people wander them, and nothing good can come of it.

      Stay, Regret said, Have some tea.

      By this point, Little Orange was certain that Mr. Regret and Mr. Remorse were that special kind of useless people that are actually worse than useless.  She spun on her heels, and walked down the corridor.  Behind her, she heard Remorse crying, and saying how sad it all was.

      The corridor seemed to go on for ages.  In fact, Little Oranges feet were getting quite sore, when she finally emerged into a large room, with corridors stretching off in all directions. 

      She wasn't alone.

      Against one wall, what appeared at first to be an old man in military kit sat slumped against the wall.  He appeared to have just woken up.  He looked at her, and said Well, Sergeant Murphy, I'm glad to see you.  I was just getting worried.

      Little Orange looked around to see who this Sergeant Murphy was.  After a moment, she realized that she and the soldier were the only two people in the room.  She also realized that the soldier wasn't old...He was just terribly dirty and looked like he needed to sleep for a year or two.

      I'm afraid I'm not Sergeant Murphy, she said, I'm Little Orange.  I'm trying to find my way out.

      He studied her for a minute.

      Well, Sergeant, I told you already, there ain't no way out.  We're at the middle of the bottom, and all roads lead down.

      Little Orange realized that the soldier was deranged, but he didn't seem immediately dangerous, so instead of fleeing, she stood in thought.

      Well, if there's no way up, then the only way to find a way out is to go down.

      We could Sergeant.  Beats waiting here for however many more years.

      How did you get here, sir?

      Haha!  I'm not a sir, Sergeant.  You know that.  I'm just the corporal.

      Well, then Corporal, how did you get here?  How long have you been here?

      Been here forever, I think.  No, wait.  Once we were fighting, and it never seemed to stop.  The world was on fire, and we turned our faces from God and the sky, and went into darkness.  Then I was here.

      Well, then, she said, you can help me find a way back out.

      May as well. he replied.  He stood, picking up a rather enormous looking gun.  At least it looked enormous to Little Orange.  In the soldier's hands, it almost seemed to

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