Finding Old Friends (C. Svenna)

[Alfred Worthington]

Alfred frowned in surprise when Svenna clicked a button on a strange looking device and it made the black box like contraption come to life and there were small moving pictures of people speaking English. "Oh, they speak English," he said smiling. "I am quite delighted." He paused and glanced at Svenna. "So they tell you what the whether shall be in the next few days?" This brought another puzzling thought. "How do they know that?"

Then he said, "And is this what the television box does, then? It predicts the weather? That would be quite useful. Is it always correct? I would imagine that if you are planning to go to your job in the village, it would be most useful to know if you need to take an umbrella against the rain or a parasol against the sun."

The he remembered that she said you could watch "stuff" on it. "So besides weather, what does "stuff" include?"

[Christine Svenna Daaé]

Christine chuckled a little at Alfred’s reaction to the television. “Uh-huh! She replied when he commented on how they spoke in English. Most of the time it does, though I have been able to find a few shows in French and in some strange almost Swedish-like language I’m not quite sure what to call… Yeah, there’s one show that tells you about the weather and what’s going on in the world and what not. It’s like a newspaper, almost. The News I think is what they call it.”

She giggled again. “No, it’s not the television that predicts the weather, but the people in the television… It’s right most of the time, but sometimes there are little unexpected rainstorms and whatnot, usually after a hotter day…”

“Oh, you can watch all sorts of stuff, really. There’s some shows that look like moving drawings, and some with sports, or with dancing, or with music… It’s all quite wonderful, really! It’s like an endless source of entertainment!”

[Alfred Worthington]

When Svenna mentioned that the people in the television were the ones who predicted the weather, he gave her a strange look. "You're not going to tell me that there are actually tiny people in that box....I know you have amazing things here, but really, that's quite humorous! It must have somethng to do with electricity then. Mr Edison's marvel. Is there a light in that box? Perhaps so. But what I don't understand is all the things that you say it does. Entertainment? Moving drawings? Sports, music? How very .... strange. But thank you for showing me. I am quite endlessly amazed by it. And the weather feature shall be quite a boon to all of us in the mansion."

"So, I expect I shall be walking out to the village in the next day or so, to look for some employment. I am quite bored, as I mentioned before, with the fact that there is little to keep me occupied here. I am sure there will be something interesting for me in the village. Tell me, is this village modern? Do they have things like we do here at the mansion? Television and electric lights? I am very much fascinated with that."

[Christine Svenna Daaé]

Christine couldn’t help but to giggle at Alfred’s remark. “No, of course there aren’t actual people… Well, no, err—hmmm... it’s sort of like this: They take pictures of real people beforehand, and then get them to play back on the screen as the little people that we see… if that makes any sort of sense.”

She nodded when he said that it must have to deal with electricity. “From what I understand, yes. There’s a cord in the back of it that plugs into the wall. All the walls in this place have electricity running through them—it’s kind of cool, really. Most of the things here run on electricity. It lights up when the room is dark, so…. Yes? I think? I couldn’t really tell you whether or not there’s a light inside—I haven’t actually looked before, though that is an interesting though. Hmmm…. I wonder how it could open up…”

Christine’s gaze drifted a bit as her mind did the same. After a few moments of contemplation about the peculiarities of all of these fascinating new modern devices, she shook her head a little and smiled, returning her attention to Alfred.

“You’re welcome! And yeah, it is quite useful. Yes, it’s a modern village. In fact, there are even more modern things there that I haven’t found here…. Good luck with your job searching, though I should probably get going soon before I end up losing mine. I’ll see you again some other time then, perhaps?”

[Alfred Worthington]

Alfred smiled at Christine's explanation of the television. "I can see that you don't understand the technical aspects of the device much better than I do. Perhaps it would be interesting to look at it for a while some time." He continued to smile. Svenna was a beautiful, perky,and articulate girl Just perfect for Master Raoul. She would make him a lovely wife.

"Electricity...an amazing thing.... I have heard about Mr Edison and Mr Tesla's splendid inventions.

Then his eyes lit up when Svenna mentioned that it was a modern village. A village with all the modern strangenesses. But they were oddly fascinating to Alfred. And finding a job in the village... that would be an excellent endeavour. He had no idea what he would be qualified for, as he didn't know what anyone hired for these days, but he had much experience and surely even an old dog could learn new tricks. He could learn someting new if need be.

"I am quite excited about the prospect of a position in the village. I think I shall go straightaway, or as soon as possible. I will let you know as soon as I have found a position.

He bowed to her as befitted a servant and then took his leave.

[Christine Svenna Daaé]

“Good luck!” Christine called as she waved after Alfred when he left her to go to the village. She certainly did hope that he would be able to find some sort of work. After all, it must be dreadfully boring having absolutely nothing to do around here, though Christine couldn’t really imagine how that could happen either. It seemed to her that she was never running out of things to do in this place…

It was then that she realized that she should really be heading out into the village as well. After all, she was going to be late for work if she did not leave soon. She certainly didn’t wish to be late (the boss man scolded her thoroughly whenever she was). And so with this in mind, she skipped out of the library in order to head down to the village. Perhaps she would even run into Alfred again along the way.