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fandomweekly2026-01-24 02:02 pm
badly_knitted) wrote in fandomweekly2026-01-24 02:02 pm
Entry tags:
[#288] Drowning In Problems (The Fantastic Journey)
Theme Prompt: #288 – Inconveniences
Title: Drowning In Problems
Fandom: The Fantastic Journey
Rating/Warnings: PG
Bonus: Yes.
Word Count: 1000
Summary: Why are the small things so much harder to deal with than the big, life-threatening disasters?
Making camp for the night, in a small clearing among the ever-present trees of this zone, trees that had been hampering their progress for most of the day, Fred made his way over to where Varian was crouched, digging through their meagre supplies, hoping to conjure up a meal for the small band of travellers.
“Hate to tell you this, partner, but we got problems.”
In a rare moment of borderline pessimism, Varian abandoned his efforts to feed everyone and looked up, sighing heavily. “When don’t we?”
“Yeah, I hear that.” The longer the journey continued, the more problems seemed to mount up. If they solved one, before long two more would rear their ugly heads, and even when they did successfully sort out one issue, it never seemed to stay sorted for long. There was always more trouble ahead, just waiting for them.
“So, what is it this time? Aside from a noticeable shortage of food supplies and the fact that we have yet to find fresh water in this zone.”
“The sole’s come off one of Scott’s shoes, and my sneakers aren’t gonna hold together much longer.”
Varian sat down heavily, his tall, slim frame seeming to sag under the weight of leadership. “It was bound to happen with all the walking we’ve been doing. Your footwear really isn’t designed for hiking hundreds of miles. Could hardly have picked a more inconvenient moment though. This is not the kind of place anyone should be going barefoot.”
Fred dropped into a crouch, forearms resting on his thighs. “Tell me about it.” The ground beneath the ever-present trees was littered with twigs, spiky seedcases, and sharp rocks amidst the leaf litter. They’d spent nearly an hour clearing the worst of the debris away before building a firepit and spreading out their bedrolls.
Deep in thought, Varian clasped his fingers together. “We have to keep going, we can’t stay here indefinitely. We need to find water, and re-stock our supplies. So far, we haven’t found any signs of civilisation in this zone, nowhere that might be capable of carrying out shoe repairs.”
“Yeah, and even if we DO find some kind of settlement in the next zone, how’re we gonna pay for repairs, or new shoes? We don’t have any idea what people use for money around here. Pretty sure they wouldn’t accept American dollars.”
“We might be able to trade work for whatever we need, but first we have to find somewhere with people.”
“Preferably the friendly, helpful sort.”
“That goes without saying.” Varian stared into the flickering flames of the campfire, looking as defeated as Fred had ever seen him. He’d got them through countless major disasters, but now, in the face of what should have been little more than a minor inconvenience, his usual optimism seemed to have deserted him. “What are we going to do?”
“Willaway’s got his tools out to see if there’s any possibility of makin’ a temporary repair with what we’ve got available. Which isn’t a lot.”
“I know. We can’t carry everything we might need with us. The further we travel, the more things are going to need repairs, and we can’t even count on being able to replace things that wear out. I knew this journey was going to be difficult, but…” Varian shook his head. “I never imagined we’d have to travel so far. I’m sorry.”
“Hey, you got nothin’ to apologise for, partner. This isn’t your fault; there’s no way you could’a known. None of us did.”
As if sensing Varian’s uncharacteristic despondency, the cat, Sil-El, padded over and rubbed against him. Varian reached to stroke the soft fur, running his hand the length of the cat’s body. He sighed again, even as Sil-El settled beside him and started to purr, enjoying the attention.
“I know, but I can’t help feeling responsible. We should have made better preparations before setting out. Then maybe we wouldn’t keep finding out we don’t have the things we need.”
“Look, we’ll figure it out. I just thought you should know, in case you had any ideas.” Fred was feeling bad now about mentioning the problem, even though there was no way he could have hidden it from their leader; Varian was too perceptive to let things slip past him. Still, all Fred had done was dump another load of stress onto a man already overburdened with responsibility.
“We don’t have much of a choice.”
“Is there anything your magic wand could do?” It had to be asked, although Fred was pretty sure he already knew the answer.
“The sonic energiser is designed to heal people, not shoes. Even if it were possible, I wouldn’t know where to start. Working on living tissue is one thing, that can be… encouraged to repair itself, but the inanimate…” Varian shook his head. “It’s a lot easier figuring out how to destroy something. Repairing is another matter entirely, and even if I knew how, I don’t think I have the strength.”
“It was just a thought.” Fred rested his hand on Varian’s shoulder, feeling the tension there, and gave a reassuring squeeze. “Don’t worry about it.”
“Now you tell me.” With a wry, tired smile, Varian levered himself to his feet and offered Fred a hand up.
“Where’re you goin’?”
“To see if I can find anything for dinner before it gets too dark.”
“Want some company? An extra pair of hands might come in useful.”
“Yes, thank you. That would be good.” Varian set off among the trees, Fred falling into step alongside him. “Why is it the big problems are easier to deal with than the small inconveniences?”
“Wish I knew, partner. Must be some kind of universal law. Maybe it’s ‘cause there’re so many small inconveniences they just keep pilin’ up until we feel like we’re drownin’ in them. The big problems we usually get to leave behind, but the small things, they’re always there, we carry ‘em with us. You okay?”
“I will be.”
The End
“Hate to tell you this, partner, but we got problems.”
In a rare moment of borderline pessimism, Varian abandoned his efforts to feed everyone and looked up, sighing heavily. “When don’t we?”
“Yeah, I hear that.” The longer the journey continued, the more problems seemed to mount up. If they solved one, before long two more would rear their ugly heads, and even when they did successfully sort out one issue, it never seemed to stay sorted for long. There was always more trouble ahead, just waiting for them.
“So, what is it this time? Aside from a noticeable shortage of food supplies and the fact that we have yet to find fresh water in this zone.”
“The sole’s come off one of Scott’s shoes, and my sneakers aren’t gonna hold together much longer.”
Varian sat down heavily, his tall, slim frame seeming to sag under the weight of leadership. “It was bound to happen with all the walking we’ve been doing. Your footwear really isn’t designed for hiking hundreds of miles. Could hardly have picked a more inconvenient moment though. This is not the kind of place anyone should be going barefoot.”
Fred dropped into a crouch, forearms resting on his thighs. “Tell me about it.” The ground beneath the ever-present trees was littered with twigs, spiky seedcases, and sharp rocks amidst the leaf litter. They’d spent nearly an hour clearing the worst of the debris away before building a firepit and spreading out their bedrolls.
Deep in thought, Varian clasped his fingers together. “We have to keep going, we can’t stay here indefinitely. We need to find water, and re-stock our supplies. So far, we haven’t found any signs of civilisation in this zone, nowhere that might be capable of carrying out shoe repairs.”
“Yeah, and even if we DO find some kind of settlement in the next zone, how’re we gonna pay for repairs, or new shoes? We don’t have any idea what people use for money around here. Pretty sure they wouldn’t accept American dollars.”
“We might be able to trade work for whatever we need, but first we have to find somewhere with people.”
“Preferably the friendly, helpful sort.”
“That goes without saying.” Varian stared into the flickering flames of the campfire, looking as defeated as Fred had ever seen him. He’d got them through countless major disasters, but now, in the face of what should have been little more than a minor inconvenience, his usual optimism seemed to have deserted him. “What are we going to do?”
“Willaway’s got his tools out to see if there’s any possibility of makin’ a temporary repair with what we’ve got available. Which isn’t a lot.”
“I know. We can’t carry everything we might need with us. The further we travel, the more things are going to need repairs, and we can’t even count on being able to replace things that wear out. I knew this journey was going to be difficult, but…” Varian shook his head. “I never imagined we’d have to travel so far. I’m sorry.”
“Hey, you got nothin’ to apologise for, partner. This isn’t your fault; there’s no way you could’a known. None of us did.”
As if sensing Varian’s uncharacteristic despondency, the cat, Sil-El, padded over and rubbed against him. Varian reached to stroke the soft fur, running his hand the length of the cat’s body. He sighed again, even as Sil-El settled beside him and started to purr, enjoying the attention.
“I know, but I can’t help feeling responsible. We should have made better preparations before setting out. Then maybe we wouldn’t keep finding out we don’t have the things we need.”
“Look, we’ll figure it out. I just thought you should know, in case you had any ideas.” Fred was feeling bad now about mentioning the problem, even though there was no way he could have hidden it from their leader; Varian was too perceptive to let things slip past him. Still, all Fred had done was dump another load of stress onto a man already overburdened with responsibility.
“We don’t have much of a choice.”
“Is there anything your magic wand could do?” It had to be asked, although Fred was pretty sure he already knew the answer.
“The sonic energiser is designed to heal people, not shoes. Even if it were possible, I wouldn’t know where to start. Working on living tissue is one thing, that can be… encouraged to repair itself, but the inanimate…” Varian shook his head. “It’s a lot easier figuring out how to destroy something. Repairing is another matter entirely, and even if I knew how, I don’t think I have the strength.”
“It was just a thought.” Fred rested his hand on Varian’s shoulder, feeling the tension there, and gave a reassuring squeeze. “Don’t worry about it.”
“Now you tell me.” With a wry, tired smile, Varian levered himself to his feet and offered Fred a hand up.
“Where’re you goin’?”
“To see if I can find anything for dinner before it gets too dark.”
“Want some company? An extra pair of hands might come in useful.”
“Yes, thank you. That would be good.” Varian set off among the trees, Fred falling into step alongside him. “Why is it the big problems are easier to deal with than the small inconveniences?”
“Wish I knew, partner. Must be some kind of universal law. Maybe it’s ‘cause there’re so many small inconveniences they just keep pilin’ up until we feel like we’re drownin’ in them. The big problems we usually get to leave behind, but the small things, they’re always there, we carry ‘em with us. You okay?”
“I will be.”
The End