The Killing Moon Will Come Too Soon

Lord Turnips sat down at his desk in the palatial cabin reserved for the impossibly rich Lord. Admiral Rossoroni had taken a smaller cabin than Lord Turnips or Lord Woodpecker-Smythe out of deference to their social rank. Admiral Rossoroni had seemed not to mind one iota.

As Lord Turnips began to ruminate over the past few days he felt a sharp pain at the back of his neck along with a burning sensation. He could not place it but he felt a pang of unease whenever he thought about certain periods when he had less than perfect recall of events. He seemed to have an image in his head of a Valkerie speaking with him while he stood at the lip of a crater. He also seemed to recall that she refererred to him as Hannon Trollslayer.

Without consciousness he scribbled the following words on the beech parchment with a diamond tipped fountain pen that Admiral Rossoroni had provided :

Under blue moon I saw you

So soon you'll take me

Up in your arms

Too late to beg you or cancel it

Though I know it must be the killing time

Unwillingly mine.

Lord Turnips wondered where his son Captain Stuart Turnips was at that moment. He'd had no memory of his son or even thinking of his son for several months. It was as if he had dropped off the face of the earth. Perhaps his storyline was inconvenient to his peers. It was also possible that Captain Stuart Turnips was a Deus Ex Machina to whatever drama was unfolding.

Lord Turnips began writing again:

A child arrived just the other day,

He came to the world in the usual way.

But there were planes to catch,

and bills to pay.

He learned to walk while I was away.

And he was talking 'fore I knew it,

and as he grew, He'd say, "I'm gonna be like you, dad.

You know I'm gonna be like you."

Suddenly it dawned on Lord Turnips that he heard music ringing in his ears at a nearly imperceptable volume. "Tis strange to have these tunes. "What could be thine cause?"

As soon as he said these words Admiral Rossoroni burst into his room with a bottle of Schnapps, two glasses and a deck of cards. "My good man Turnips. You fancy a game of solitaire?"