Tuesday, November 3, 2015

55. Where is Alan Now?


He's in Hobart.

After Alan and Chloe (sadly) went their separate ways back in Beastey, Alan continued by train, and then on foot, to the tiny settlement of Hobart, where he stayed a night. There was absolutely not much going on in Hobart, so he walked into the Highbrow Tavern, and fell into a conversation with two locals, a young man and woman, which continued past midnight. The next morning, he vaguely remembered that they talked about Donald Trump, American consumerism, guns and shootings (in the US) and the most popular evening pastimes on New Island. The rest was a blur. The company and a few vodka tonics made the evening pleasant enough to keep his mind off of Chloe...

By noon, he felt alert enough to get out there and make a color sketch of Hobb's Wart (scenic feature no. 9 on The List). The Wart, as it was lovingly called in Hobart, loomed about a mile west of the town center. The more Alan sketched the thing, the more curious he became about what one might discover on the summit, so he thought he might try to hike up there after supper. He figures he'll stay another night in this exciting town, and then head back to his lodgings the next day.

Alan's sketch of Hobart and Hobb's Wart

At suppertime, he stopped in the Burnt Rose Cafe, ordered the meatloaf with potatoes, and then asked the server if she knew of a way up to the top of The Wart. With a look of surprise she said, "No way! You don't want to go up there -  it's haunted. We've lost too many of our lads fooling around on that rock."

Oh. 

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