This month’s theme is
Libraries and Librarians
Things marked with a * are free for everyone to read.
The Expectant Wood: Chapter 21: Worlds of Differences
Portal Bound – a beginning
A Last Conlang Word going in to April *
Cloverleaf’s Library *
Reminds me of… Dragons Next Door *
The Weather, it is a-changin’ *
“But it’s in the catalog! See, right here. I can show you.”
“Just because it’s… all right, show me.”
“See?” He pointed at the computer screen. “Right there under ‘other resources’.” He had such a cute puppy-dog expression that had he been looking for – asking for – anything else, Monica probably would have bent over backwards to find it for, him whether or not it was in regulations.
“I… you’re correct. There it is.”
When the Neufield-Mason Library had been bought out by Outlanders, many of the library staff had quit in an indignant show protest – either over the Library being for sale, it being sold, or it being sold to Outlanders. Continue reading
First: Running in the Bear Empire
Previous: Sneaking Through the Bear Empire
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“Shhh,” he murmured, and sat down next to her. He moved his hands for a moment in military sign she didn’t recognize, and then, with a frustrated expression, drew in the dust on the ground.
She could read Deklegi script just fine: one man, hunter or farmer.
Not a threat – but right now they wanted nobody to know they had been there, much less to be able to give a reasonable description of their appearance. She nodded and lay flat on the ground, concentrating on being as quiet as she could be. Next to her, Carrone did the same.
In the silence, she could hear the occasional twig snap as the man below them moved along. He had the quiet step of someone used to the terrain, but she had the ears of someone who was being hunted and had been many times before. From Carrone’s expression, his ears were nearly as good.
The man was tracking something – she hadn’t left tracks, had she? It was too late to fix that, if she had. If he came up here… Continue reading
First: A New World
Previous: An Arrangement
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Caron and Hallsey had left, leaving Kael alone in her tower again but with far more to think about.
She had, she realized, spoken more words to other people today than she probably had in a week back in her old life.
And she knew nothing about the world outside. She was only managing as well as she did because of the translation potion, and when that failed her, she was going to be left looking blankly at people while they talked about matters that were ancient history to them and still far in the future for her.
She inventoried her ingredients slowly and began a list. Some of these things were incorrectly labelled; she added a tiny notation to the bottom of each label in her own script. Some of them were getting stale. A few were missing altogether. Continue reading
First – Previous – Landing Page – Next
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Morning found him curled against Timaios and not wanting to move, to open his eyes, or to think.
He nuzzled closer to his Owner, breathing in the sandy scent of him. “Like a Riesling,” he muttered, and then froze, blushing.
There was a hand in his hair and the chest under him was shaking lightly in laughter. “Sandy, mmm? That’s a nice way to put that. Thank you, Ctirad.”
“Sir?” He didn’t move, didn’t peek up at his Owner, but the urge was there. Continue reading
This is a description I wrote up for the Cloverleaf MUX Cal & I are working on, although it’s, uh, a little long and doesn’t even get you very far into the library. But here it is!
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Hummingbird and Roosevelt (the intersection of its address)
Sitting just off of Main street in Tinco Circle, the library is a monument to Greek Revival architecture.
The stairs go up an entire story, and are flanked on either side by leisurely, carefully designed ramps that take their time getting to the top.
Once there, large pillars make the building look even bigger and taller, stomping across an open front area where six-foot tall versions of a few books – Sherlock Holmes tales, Oh The Places You’ll Go, (something else) stand ready to be read one inch-thick page at a time.
To the left side, down a much more sedate little walkway, complete with yellow bricks and poppy flowers to either side, leads through a emerald gate (but not a real green dress that’s cruel… wait.
(but not real emeralds that’d be dumb)
to a bright green door. Inside there is the children’s library. Continue reading
First: A story featuring a male keeper and a female Kept.
Previous: Be Our Guest
🌳🏚🌳
The back stairs took up half of the space between the dining room and the kitchen. “There’s also the grand stairs in front, but those are not safe to walk on. This place has an excess of staircases – not that there’s anything wrong with that,” he added hastily, as the stairs seemed to creak and shift under their feet. “This isn’t the full tour, not by far, but it’s enough for the time being, I think. You’ve had a long day, after all.” He brushed his hand over her sleeve. “Do you want to sleep in my bed tonight, Mélanie?”
She looked at his face. “What happens if I say no?”
“If you say no, then you sleep in your own bedroom, and both of us have slightly cold and lonely beds.” His smile took of the slight sting of his words. “That is to say, nothing bad happens. I’d rather you be honest with me and take your time about coming to my bed then do it just because you think I want you there.” Continue reading