Terry Pratchett - Hogfather

E verything starts somewhere, although many physicists disagree.

But people have always been dimly aware of the problem with the start of things. They wonder aloud how the snowplow driver gets to work, or how the makers of dictionaries look up the spellings of the words. Yet there is the constant desire to find some point in the twisting, knotting, raveling nets of space-time on which a metaphorical finger can be put to indicate that here, here , is the point where it all began

Something began when the Guild of Assassins enrolled Mister Teatime, who saw things differently from other people, and one of the ways that he saw things differently from other people was in seeing other people as things (later, Lord Downey of the Guild said, We took pity on him because hed lost both parents at an early age. I think that, on reflection, we should have wondered a bit more about that).

But it was much earlier even than that when most people forgot that the very oldest stories are, sooner or later, about blood. Later on they took the blood out to make the stories more acceptable to children, or at least to the people who had to read them to children rather than the children themselves (who, on the whole, are quite keen on blood provided its being ), and then wondered where the stories went.

And earlier still when something in the darkness of the deepest caves and gloomiest forests thought: what are they, these creatures? I will observe them

And much, much earlier than that, when the Discworld was formed, drifting onward through space atop four elephants on the shell of the giant turtle, Great ATuin.

Possibly, as it moves, it gets tangled like a blind man in a cobwebbed house in those highly specialized little space-time strands that try to breed in every history they encounter, stretching them and breaking them and tugging them into new shapes.

Or possibly not, of course. The philosopher Didactylos has summed up an alternative hypothesis as Things just happen. What the hell.

The senior wizards of Unseen University stood and looked at the door.

There was no doubt that whoever had shut it wanted it to stay shut. Dozens of nails secured it to the door frame. Planks had been nailed right across. And finally it had, up until this morning, been hidden by a bookcase that had been put in front of it.

And theres the sign, Ridcully, said the Dean. You have read it, I assume. You know? The sign which says Do not, under any circumstances, open this door?

Of course Ive read it, said Ridcully. Why dyer think I want it opened?

Erwhy? said the Lecturer in Recent Runes.

To see why they wanted it shut, of course.

He gestured to Modo, the Universitys gardener and odd-job dwarf, who was standing by with a crowbar.

Go to it, lad.

The gardener saluted. Right you are, sir.

Against a background of splintering timber, Ridcully went on: It says on the plans that this was a bathroom. Theres nothing frightening about a bathroom, for gods sake. I want a bathroom. Im fed up with sluicing down with you fellows. Its unhygienic. You can catch stuff. My father told me that. Where you get lots of people bathing together, the Verruca Gnome is running around with his little sack.

Is that like the Tooth Fairy? said the Dean sarcastically.

Im in charge here and I want a bathroom of my own, said Ridcully firmly. And thats all there is to it, all right? I want a bathroom in time for Hogswatchnight, understand?

And thats a problem with beginnings, of course. Sometimes, when youre dealing with occult realms that have quite a different attitude to time, you get the effect a little way before the cause.

From somewhere on the edge of hearing came a glingleglingleglingle noise, like little silver bells.

At about the same time as the Archchancellor was laying down the law, Susan Sto-Helit was sitting up in bed, reading by candlelight.

Frost patterns curled across the windows.

She enjoyed these early evenings. Once she had put the children to bed she was more or less left to herself. Mrs. Gaiter was pathetically scared of giving her any instructions even though she paid Susans wages.

Not that the wages were important, of course. What was important was that she was being her Own Person and holding down a Real Job. And being a governess was a real job. The only tricky bit had been the embarrassment when her employer found out that she was a duchess, because in Mrs. Gaiters book, which was a rather short book with big handwriting, the upper crust wasnt supposed to work. It was supposed to loaf around. It was all Susan could do to stop her curtseying when they met.

A flicker made her turn her head.

The candle flame was streaming out horizontally, as though in a howling wind.

She looked up. The curtains billowed away from the window, which

flung itself open with a clatter.

But there was no wind.

At least, no wind in this world.

Images formed in her mind. A red ballThe sharp smell of snowAnd then they were gone, and instead there were

Teeth? said Susan, aloud. Teeth, again ?

She blinked. When she opened her eyes the window was, as she knew it would be, firmly shut. The curtain hung demurely. The candle flame was innocently upright. Oh, no, not again. Not after all this time. Everything had been going so well

Thusan?

She looked around. Her door had been pushed open and a small figure stood there, barefoot in a nightdress.

She sighed. Yes, Twyla?

Im afwaid of the monster in the cellar, Thusan. Its going to eat me up.

Susan shut her book firmly and raised a warning finger.

What have I told you about trying to sound ingratiatingly cute, Twyla? she said.

The little girl said, You said I mustnt. You said that exaggerated lisping is a hanging offense and I only do it to get attention.

Good. Do you know what monster it is this time?

Its the big hairy one wif

Susan raised the finger. Uh? she warned.

with eight arms, Twyla corrected herself.

What, again? Oh, all right.

She got out of bed and put on her dressing gown, trying to stay quite calm while the child watched her. So they were coming back . Oh, not the monster in the cellar. That was all in a days work. But it looked as if she was going to start remembering the future again.

She shook her head. However far you ran away, you always caught yourself up.

But monsters were easy, at least. Shed learned how to deal with monsters. She picked up the poker from the nursery fender and went down the back stairs, with Twyla following her.

The Gaiters were having a dinner party. Muffled voices came from the direction of the dining room.

Then, as she crept past, a door opened and yellow light spilled out and a voice said, Ye gawds, theres a gel in a nightshirt out here with a poker !

She saw figures silhouetted in the light and made out the worried face of Mrs. Gaiter.

Susan? Erwhat are you doing?

Susan looked at the poker and then back at the woman. Twyla said shes afraid of a monster in the cellar, Mrs. Gaiter.

And yer going to attack it with a poker, eh? said one of the guests. There was a strong atmosphere of brandy and cigars.

Yes, said Susan simply.

Susans our governess, said Mrs. Gaiter. ErI told you about her.

There was a change in the expression on the faces peering out from the dining room. It became a sort of amused respect.

She beats up monsters with a poker? said someone.

Actually, thats a very clever idea, said someone else. Little gel gets it into her head theres a monster in the cellar, you go in with the poker and make a few bashing noises while the child listens, and then everythings all right. Good thinkin, that girl. Ver sensible. Ver modern.