Dry Boats – a Crimsons Creative Challenge micro fiction

Star gazed at the old boats with undisguised longing. They rested on a dry dock a stark reminder of the Water Elementals power. Oh how she missed the water, days with her family pulling in nets heavy with fish. With no natural rainfall and the cloud seeders struggling, boating was a luxury no longer even dreamed of. And so, Star brought out her small test kit and, finding the water fairly safe to drink, filled her canteens before walking on. A small smile stretched across her face at the memory of wet spray on her skin.

Word count 96

This story inspired by Crimsons Creative Challenge # 199 (wow that’s an auspicious number!)

Til next time ~May the rain fall softly on your fields ~JP

JusJoJan and SoCS – Movie Title theme

For Linda’s JusJoJan and Stream of Consciousness Saturday Your prompt for #JusJoJan and Stream of Consciousness Saturday is: “movie title.” Take the title of the last movie you watched (just the title, not the premise of the movie), and base your post on that title. Have fun!

Last movie I watched, hmmm Spiderman Far From Home (dvd)

Image by Norman Bosworth from Pixabay

Star was alone on the top of the rise. They had been traveling for days through the bleak sandstone of the Enchanted Wasteland. The first few days were spent wading through endless sand dunes. Star and her company had trudged the dunes, scarves tied so tightly around their faces they could barely breath. Even that did not prevented the constant shifting, blowing sand from working it’s way into their eyes, ears, mouths and lungs. The dunes had given way to rocky hardpack, the sun beat brutally against the skulls of Monster, Witch, Human and beasts alike. As she topped the rise, hoping to see some glimpse of green in this Goddess forsaken land, she saw … waves. Waves of colored sand, fossilized dunes of varied colors that stretched for as far as the eye could see.

JusJoJan – SoCS — A Gust of Wind

Your prompt for #JusJoJan and Stream of Consciousness Saturday is: “the first 3 words of the first full sentence.” Okay, follow me here. This is what I want you to do: 1. Grab the closest book to you when you sit down to write your post. 2. Open it to a random page. 3. Locate the first complete sentence on that page. 4. Use the first three words of that sentence to start your post, then take it from there–write whatever comes to mind. That’s it! Have fun!

Page 130 – Moontide – “A gust of wind caught it as she got her sword clear and threw it over his head.”

A Gust of Wind

A gust of wind blew through Star’s hair. As always, her mind went blank even as her body reacted. She acted as she had been trained, dancing with effortless grace wielding a slender curved sword in one hand, dagger in the other.

A Strange Pet – Crimson’s Creative Challenge

Cris over at Crimson’s Creative Challenge has provided us a fabulous image prompt and I seem to be on a bit of a raptor kick this week.

A Strange Pet

The guardian stood proud above the entrance to the sanctuary. It looked so real, every feather, talon and beak cast in perfection. Verdigris of age and winding ivy only serving to make the old monument more awe inspiring. Faelynn stood back gazing at the stone eagle ten times the size of a modern bird of prey. She began to wave her ironwood wand in an complex series of swoops and swirls while she chanted her counter spell.

With agonizing slowness color began to return to his feathers, as he stretched them out to their three meter span. Landing next to Faelynn, his head coming past her waist, he bowed gracefully.

Faelynn smiled, one dark spell undone. She turned to leave when the giant eagle nudged her with his enormous head.  “Oh great,” she thought “what am I going to do with a giant bird?” Faelynn smiled at the possibilities.

Word count 149

Fly Like an Eagle – Steve Miller Band

Til next time ~Peace ~JPP

Spirit of Light – a dVerse Quadrille

De Jackson (aka WhimsyGizmo) is hosting at dVerse Poets pub for Quadrille 93. “Pen us a poem of exactly 44 words (not counting the title), including some form of the word spirit.”

Spirit of Light

A star in the dark shall be woken
light from the shadows shall spring
spirit so strong can’t be broken
bells too long silent won’t ring
remember to listen and hear
when one star stands alone in the darkness
then every nightmare shall fear

word count 44

 

Til next time ~Peace ~JPP

Stream of Consciousness Saturday – Shades of Magic

For Stream of Consciousness Saturday

Your Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is “shade.” Use it any way you’d like. Enjoy!

Shades of Magic

The graveyard was old and dark. No bright monuments or flowers festooned a new graves, dark and dreary as the night. Star followed Meldimeriel, the tiny fairy bobbing a bit ahead casting the only light in the gloom. In a unkempt section of the cemetery, they came to their destination. A simple soldier’s grave, centuries old untended, the meager headstone crumbled and decayed beyond recognition. Naught left for a marker but an ancient sword thrust into the ground, topped by an old helmet.

Meldimeriel bobbed up and down in excitement. They had found the grave they sought. Star gently laid her bow, quiver, and staff aside, pulling smaller items from the pockets of her cloak, herbs, salt, a small silver pentacle. With a sprinkling of herbs and salt, Star cast her circle, closing it with a whisper of magic. Raising her pentacle overhead, she whispered her chant.

From the grave a sullen grey mist slowly rose, hesitantly coalescing into a vaguely human form. The shade glared balefully at Star with a booming mutter “Release me.”

“I have questions,” Star replied, respectfully nodding to the ancient shade.

“ASK!” boomed the disembodied voice.

Star scuffed the circle with her boot disbursing the protective magic. She would meet the shade on his own ground. Gathering her courage, she stepped out of the circle.

word count 220

Til next time ~Peace ~JPP

Enough – a Crimson Creative Challenge

For Crimson’s Creative Challenge 52 – I love this challenge there’s plenty of creative scope and only two criteria

• Your creative offering is indeed yours
• Your writing is kept to 150 words or less

Enough

The wolf eyed her suspiciously, his black fur matted from a dozen or more wounds. The girl fought fiercely, wielding her two small tomahawk blades with the controlled power of a master. Daerwyn watched her with burning eyes, what was she waiting for? She must know he was spent, why not finish him?

Daerwyn flinched as the girl drew back her arm and flipped the tomahawks in rapid succession. They somersaulted through the air before striking the trunk of a tree. He cocked his head in confusion. The girl sank to her knees, lifted her face to the sky and cried “NO MORE!” She knelt on the leaf strewn forest floor, head bowed. Daerwyn saw she was as weary as he.

She spoke softly “Kill me if you must Wolf, but your death will not come by my hand. I have seen enough blood spilled to last many lifetimes.”

Word count 149

Til next time ~Peace ~JPP

What Do You See? — Encounter with Air

Sadje of “Keep it Alive” is resurrecting the What Do You See Prompt, here’s what she has to say:

Dear friends, as some of you know that our dear Hélène used to do this Prompt and after her sad departure, I have felt that this gap needs to be filled. I have decided to take this challenge up and as a trial, I will post 4 challenges for the next 4 Mondays at 12:00 am PST, every Monday morning. And we shall see where to go from there. I hope that you will respond to your posts.

Rules;

You can write a post on your blog and create a ping back to link to the original post.
Write an original story, poem or a caption.
You have six days to respond to the Prompt.
I will try to reblog your response on my blog.
There is no limit to words or format but keep it family friendly.
I will do a round up next Sunday before the next Prompt is posted.
Please tag your responses with #Whatdoyousee

Encounter with Air

She gazed upward, straining her neck and bending her back to see the top of him. He stood in magnificence, Guardian of Air, powerful, frightening, and beautiful. Star smiled, just slightly, and summoned her Voice.

Myths of the Mirror November writing challenge – Sorrow

Diana over at mythsofthemirror has a new challenge out for November:
Write from the point of view of a creature that doesn’t exist in the “real” world.

The Rules:
Don’t tell us what the creature is. Let us “experience” it through its thoughts and actions.
Write a killer opening line and first paragraph. Hook readers so they’ll click over to your site to finish reading.
Images are fine, but don’t include “the creature” in the image. The point is to “show” with your words.
Aim for under 500 words, but honor your muse.
Be creative. Keep it family-friendly.
And most of all, have fun.

Here is my offering

Sorrow

Her hand on my neck is warm as she bows her head. The battle was difficult for one so young, so fragile. Her helmet falls to the ground as she buries her face in her hands. I listen to her silent weeping as fat teardrops plop to the ground. The other humans do not know, they cannot see.  It is just us here in this glade, quite and obscenely beautiful in the aftermath.

The Rescue – a Wordle Story

The Rescue – a Wordle Story

They crept on silent feet, Star’s veil shielding them from evil eyes. The trip had been long and tiring for Star’s little company, but sleep would have to wait. They made their stealthy way along the border of the enemy camp.

In the prisoner cells, Faelinn lay curled on the floor, her ragged wings tucked tightly to her back in a protective ball. Theo was chained nearby spread eagle fashion. The techno components of his arm and chest glowed through the thin overlay of flesh with an eerie luminescence.

Between the Company and their friends lay cages filled with Peantyth. The vicious beasts resembled a cross between wyvern and jackal with dark emaciated bodies and bat-like wings. The stench from the Peantyth was overwhelming and Star wondered if soap would ever wash it away.

Her friends looked to her, she could not deny their faith nor pause to ponder why they had it. As Gwren and Noemei took up flanking positions, Star dropped the veil, planted her staff and shouted “STELLA MORTANTIUM,” as the beam of starlight exploded from the crystal end of her staff.

word count 187

Written for the Sunday Whirl’s Wordle

Til next time ~Peace ~JPP