The Random Book Story Game

Alright, this game is played by grabbing the nearest book, opening up to a random page, and posting a sentence or short passage that seems to continue from the last post.

So, here goes:

From the porch upon the top of the high terrace they could see beyond the stream the green fields of Rohan fading into distant grey.

Then we have to hurry to the south and then we hurry north,
and we’re talking every minute as we hurry back and forth,
and we have to hurry to the east and then we hurry west,
and we’re talking every minute and we don’t have time to rest.

She looked at me skeptically, and I realized it was my fault. I’d made water shoot out of the bathroom fixtures. I didn’t understand how. But the toilets had responded to me. I had become one with the plumbing.

– Rick Riordan, Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief
[It’s probably advisable to include the source for each quote; otherwise, googling will be a nightmare.]

When he looked over the fence he saw lines of vegetables and soft fruit, and there was an orchard and what was probably a pigsty and, over there, a proper outdoor privy, very professionally done, with the very-nearly compulsory crescent moon shape fret-sawed into the door, and the log pile close at hand so that the most efficient use could be made of every trip down the path.

–Terry Pratchett, Snuff
My prior quote was from Sandra Boynton’s Philadelphia Chickens,

To ensure that the pressure is the vapour pressure, we have to add enough liquid for some to remain after the vapour forms, for only then are the liquid and vapour phases in equilibrium.
–The Elements of Physical Chemistry, second edition, by Peter Atkins

Well, you did say “the nearest book.” And you do add liquid to an outdoor privy and vapours come out.

The thought pierced and pounded Rinaldo, left him pale and determined, and when the visual Rinaldo cast his lot he had two scents mixed in his mind, his wife and the Chesapeake shore.

– Hannibal by Thomas Harris

(First one was Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien)

Green Fluorite grounds excess energy, dissipates emotional trauma, and clears infections. It is particularly effective at absorbing negative energies within the environment. It brings information up from the subconscious mind and accesses intuition. It is an effective auric, chakra, and mental cleanser, dissipating obsolete conditioning. It relieves stomach disorders and cramps in the intestines.

– Judy Hall, The Crystal Bible: A Definitive Guide to Crystals

I whistled. Then I heard a cry in the grasses up near the white birches.

Jean Craighead George, My Side of the Mountain

But for once in my life, I’m getting the attention which is my due.

Diana Wynne Jones, Archer’s Goon.

A feeling, for which I have no name, has taken possession of my soul - a sensation which will admit of no analysis, to which the lessons of by-gone time are inadequate, and for which I fear futurity itself will offer me no key. To a mind constituted like my own, the latter consideration is an evil.

–Edgar Allan Poe, MS. Found in a Bottle

Though the Park’s days were seemingly dwindling, its propensity for the spotlight did not go away.

Ken Krsolovic and Bryan Fritz,* League Park*

Miriam was not the only person who came into prominence over the forces matinee.

Noel Streatfeild, Theatre Shoes.

“Michael?” the President asked.
"Sorry, sir. We’ve already given it a code name. The Archangel Michael cast Satan out of Heaven.

Footfall, Niven and Pournelle

A dead thing was lying on a beach, rotting on indigo sands.

Tuf Voyaging, George R.R. Martin

ROT GRUB

FREQUENCY: Rare
NO. APPEARING: 5-20
ARMOR CLASS: 9
MOVE: 1"
HIT DICE: 1 hit point
% IN LAIR: 0%
TREASURE TYPE: Nil
NO. OF ATTACKS: 0
DAMAGE/ATTACK: Nil
SPECIAL ATTACKS: See below
SPECIAL DEFENSES: Nil
MAGIC RESISTANCE: Standard
INTELLIGENCE: Non-
ALIGNMENT: Neutral
SIZE: S
PSIONIC ABILITY: Nil
Attack/Defense Modes: Nil

Rot grubs are occasionally found in heaps of offal or dung. They are rarely found in ceilings, walls, or floors. These small creatures will viciously burrow into any living flesh which touches them, for they greatly enjoy such fare to dine upon. The victim must immediately apply flame to the wound (1-6 hit points damage per application) or have a cure disease spell cast upon him. Otherwise, the rot grubs will burrow to the heart and kill their host in 1-3 turns.

– Advanced D&D Monster Manual, 1st Edition.

Coinciding with the Prescott Trail, it descends west from Mount Livermore along a stone wall, then turns left on an old carriage road and descends by switchbacks.

–White Mountain Guide, 26th edition, Appalachian Mountain Club

They were in orbit, black space topside, but the amorphous boiling cloud of diffuse colors, shot with brilliant lights, loomed below.

The Ship Who Sang, by Anne McCaffrey

Appearances count; demonstrations convince; nationality inspires; politics gets things done.

War, Technology and Experience Aboard the USS Monitor, David A. Mindell

*“Along the way he proved himself to be astute, farsighted, shrewd, and unscrupulous, so his enemies would claim, but also a man of indomitable courage, irresistible drive, and ruthless determination.” *

Description of Ben Holladay from Long Day’s Journey: The Steamboat and Stagecoach Era in the Northern West

Your father went soft. I would have let you starve.

The Rolling Stones by Robert A. Heinlein