Stop for the Night
Follow the link for previous chapters in the Great Goblin Road Trip!
They had finally gotten past the enormous crowd of Elves flocking to see EntCon, although it had taken hours. Khorlax alone had made four visits to separate roadside bushes, all of which had promptly died. Now they were once again cruising on the interstate, although it was dark by then and all three of them were desperately in need of a rest. Charles, at the wheel, had his eyes peeled for anything in the way of a hotel. “An elf-free hotel, mind!” Khorlax roared from behind him. “Otherwise Lurgy here’ll throw a fit again.”
“I don’t like elves, I told you,” Lurgis Forks said irritably. “We would’ve probably found a place anyway if you hadn’t kept popping out so much so you could sh-”
“I think we should see what’s on the radio, what say?” Charles said in a frantic attempt to keep the peace. Before the other two could object he reached over and hit the power button. By chance the dial was on the local classical music station, which was playing Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture. They all listened for a moment.
“Huh,” Khorlax said. “I liked that.”
'“I thought I heard cannons,” Lurgis observed. “I didn’t know the humans used field artillery in their music.” He sounded impressed, Charles wasn’t entirely sure why, and that unnerved him. Fortunately, just at that moment he spotted a hotel.
They pulled in and parked, and Charles went in to ask about rooms. “Hi,” the human woman at the front desk said, eyeing him cynically. “Welcome to the Hummingbird Haven, how can I help you?”
“Er, I need accomodations for three goblins, myself and two others, and I hate to ask, but do you have any, ah, elves staying here?” Charles said, trembling. The hotel didn’t particularly look like a hummingbird haven at all, but it looked like a hotel at any rate, and Charles really wanted a night’s sleep, and he especially didn’t want another fight with Lurgis.
“Nope, no elves,” the woman said. “Just us and you guys. I got a room with two queens, so two of you’ll have t’ bunk up. Cool?”
“Yes, yes, excellent,” Charles said, almost falling over in relief. He didn’t fully think about the ramifications of what she’d said until he’d paid and gone back outside to the van and all three of them had gone upstairs to their room and inside.
Khorlax just grunted. “Right,” he said. “I’ll take this, Florg’ll take that, you two have the floor-”
“No,” Lurgis Forks cut in sharply, “I would rather sleep with a bloody shark than yield my bed to anyone, least of all some stupid-”
“First of all,” Khorlax growled, “I like sharks and secondly Florg always gets her own bed and I thought everyone knew that-”
“Well, she can have it but if you think I’m sharing a bed with you-” Lurgis retorted.
Charles padded downstairs to see if he could get a second room. He had to pay extra, but it was worth it. Khorlax had his own room with Florg in her bed, and Charles and Lurgis took the other. Charles collapsed into his bed and thought everything would at last be all right.
And then Lurgis Forks began to snore.
Inspired by
’s Friday flash fiction prompt: