Low Rudge

Here's the skinny:

I've decided to write a book...




Trilogy. It's called "Adventures in Low Rudge" (working title), book 1 is so far untitled, book two is 'Sons of Low Rudge' and Book 3 is 'The Giant of Man'. I also had kind of a crazy idea for a fourth sequel, but we'll get to that.

The Book centers around Three sets of Characters, Cris Laimon and Daniel Chimera Jesfort are the first. They were both born in Low Rudge and currently work for the city (Cris to pay off his comatose father's Hospitable bills and Daniel because it's an easy lifestyle). They serve as the protagonists in the first book. The second group is composed of Demigods in human form, Hank Trucker (who is the same Hank Trucker I've previously wrote about) god of The Interstate and road-based Asphalt and Cement, Radigan Tallspider, a 'trainee' god who's still very new to it. He can bend Radio towers to his will, but only if they're in sight and for a very limited area around their placement. He is being showed how to work on Earth by Hank... and Jackie Chan, a senior Demigod of grease and oil. He looks like a bald older Asian man and is initially mistaken to be an 'Out of Makeup' Jackie Chan (actor). Set 3 is Richard Kookwire and Marshall Haynut. They're both in their mid 20's and moved to Low Rudge from different cities. They operate a scrapping, welding, and amateur engineering business in the woods of Low Rudge. They are a secondary plot in the first book.

Cris Laimon is permanently tied to Low Rudge, his father having been severely injured in a Landscaping accident when Cris was 15, and being in such delicate condition that the equipment required to keep him alive (On floor 3, top) at Low Rudge General Hospital put his mother into severe debt . He was forced to work for the city from then on, assisting his mother in paying for the Hospital bills and rent often in order to avoid homelessness. The first book starts with a flashback to Cris having a cutesy, fun childhood, finding friendly dogs (Ban, Do, Leer and Iceman) all the time, to a laketrip where he witnesses his father injuring himself and put into the coma, to Cris waking up at 19 years old, lying on his bathroom floor amid a puddle of toilet water and the smashed remains of his toilet. Cris was very stupid until his father's death, and couldn't even pronounce the letter 'G' until the emotional trauma shook it out of him. His happy-go-lucky attitude has been drained and he's extremely cynical of Low Rudge. He lives on his own in a City-owned home that has a Trailer integrated into it, his mother having moved to the Big City (POSSIBLY Big Rudge?) when Cris was offered the townhome. Cris drives an 18 wheeler Tow-Truck , modified to carry a modular truck bed/container/utility storage locker, and painted a faded, organic golden color. It belonged to his father when he tried to start a towing business (which failed) but he managed to keep the truck, which Cris' had refitted and repainted, dubbing it 'The Wax' for its color.

Daniel Chimera Jesfort is Cris' best friend, having met soon before Cris' dad died. The two of them are well-known among the community, as Cris works for the city's privately-owned Landscaping and repair service and Daniel works for the Parks and Recreation department maintaining Playground equipment at Low Rudge's three elementary schools and two high-schools. Daniel could leave Low Rudge at any time, but prefers to live cheaply and save his money, planning on buying and reopening the Cinema in Low Rudge and adding smell-o-vision and other tricks to modern movies. Daniel lives on the edge of town on a large plot of land. Nobody is quite sure where his house is as usually he goes to other people, and most of the land is covered by trees. Daniel is introduced to Cris in High School and revisited when they start their last year of High School, he joins the story shortly after Cris wakes up, having gone over to Cris' house and fallen asleep sometime early in the morning, well after whatever happened to Cris transpired. Daniel is a crack shot and owns a rifle with "Justin Wins!" engraved on it.

Low Rudge is nestled in a deep valley surrounded by hilly woods; a midwestern slice of stereotyped scenery. The summers are a dry, dusty hot that seems to bring in great sandy clouds from the hills. Not uncomfortably so, but just enough to keep the fan on and some water close. Winters are just as adequate; big, fat flakes of snow tumble from the sky and pile around town, cold enough for a jacket and some hot chocolate. To put it quite simply: Nice. The weather in Low Rudge is Nice. It doesn't swing too far from day to day but still varies enough for people to appreciate the occasional overcast Spring afternoon or sunny Autumn morning. Nice.

The people of Low Rudge are a simple, anxious folk. Friendly, pleased to meet you, and somewhat melancholy at your departure. They don't take tourism for granted, but try to keep the growth of the nearby cottage country well away from the city limits. They share the lake with foreign strangers, drink from the same glasses at restaurants and rent the same boats, but the people of Low Rudge are different. For one thing, few if any will ever permanantly leave the town. They are raised to run Low Rudge as best they can, and with each generation, they get better at it. More refined.

And Here's an early sample:
Richard and Marshall stumbled along the cave looking for some kind of treasure or the exit. They had been looking where Hank and Radigan had indicated, but no matter how deep they went, it seemed like they get turned around somehow. Richard sat down heavily all of a sudden, sighing. Marshall shone a flashlight his way and leaned against the cave wall, a thinking look on his face. Richard absentmindedly drew in the sand, his brain churning out simple blueprints.
"What did they say this thing looked like, again?" Asked Marshall.
"About eight feet tall, like a refrigerator, with a hard aluminum shell and shaped like a garbage bin with love handles." Richard replied tiredly.
"How in the name of awful-fuck could we have missed that?" Marshall elbowed the wall and a light 'booong' noise reverberated through the narrow cavern. Richard pointed his flashlight at the wall and saw two bright, green eyes two heads above Marshall. "What?" Marshall said.
"IT'S RIGHT THERE! HOW COULD YOU NOT HAVE FIGURED THAT OUT?"
Richard yelled. Marshall screamed and tripped over his own feet. "ESCAPE IS IMPOSSIBLE!" Marshall yelled.
A groaning noise shook out of the wall behind them, followed by the scraping of rusted limbs that would climb into the deepest, horriblest nightmare hearts of their imaginations for all time.

The enormous steel monstrosity limped into sight of their fallen flashlights. It was indeed, eight feet tall, and stood with enormous, rusted royalty. Marshall scrambled away in horror. Richard spun around on his ass and looked up at the illuminated beast. From here, he could see that it was made of a tall, flattened graduated tube for a body with short, thick legs. It's arms hung almost to the ground, shaped like enormous tear drops. Its head was rectangular and flat, and seemed to precariously sat on the edge of its rusted torso, no mouth, just two big, fist-sized green eyes. It loomed calmly, and Richard climbed to his feet. He could see it was following the position of his face with benign curiosity, stepping out of the way to let Richard stand. Marshall slithered into view, curious of the lack of action. "It's rusted to hell, damn." He said, pointing to the flaky crust of the robot's torso. Richard extended an arm and scratched at its chest at what would be "display a rank/name on this robot here on its chest" level. A dusty shower cascaded off and revealed the peeled lettering of its name in dull industrial yellow. "ORNAGE." Marshall said the name with curious distaste like a burp of a food you like unexpectedly tasting bad. Richard looked the figure up and down and concluded it was probably a robot. A real-life robot. With a stupid name. Marshall picked up his flashlight and gave it a look, not trusting that it would stay in his hands any more. He'd struck a wall during his scramble to safety and was silently loathing the flashlight's poor grip. Still glaring at it, he said. "That's probably what we're looking for." Richard turned to him and nodded. "Let's go."

Hank had left Radigan to watch the mouth of the cave while he went back to watch the cars. Cris and Daniel were scrounging through their bags looking for something, speaking in hushed voices. Marshall wandered out of the cave, turning to pull Richard over the small ridge hanging over the entrance. The robot stomped into view and gave the scrambling lower body of Richard a shove out of the way. Marshall yelped and fell out into the sun, spilling his ass on the bleached concrete. Daniel skittered to his feet and kicked his backpack behind him. "Well?" Cris said irritatedly. "Did you find anythi-...Oh." ORNAGE climbed into view, its oddly shaped arms seamlessly bending to raise it into the air.
The thick, rectangular panel of its face taking in the open sky. "I wonder how long it's been down there." Cris said, examining the caked-on rust. Marshall heaved himself to his feet and tenderly scratched his ass, giving ORNAGE the eye.