The Hidden Mall 31: Stay Alive 🏹

May2

First: The Hidden Mall – a beginning of something
Previous: Aberrant!

“What do you mean?”  Liv-1 stared at her. “Wait.”

“No.  No…” Liv-2 sounded horrified.  Nauseous. “That means all the moving around, all of the trying to find a door home.  It was useless?”

“Not useless.” Liv-old put a hand on each young Liv’s back and pushed gently. “Look.  All that running around means sometimes you can move more than you think you can. The younger ones, they can’t do it without a partner.  But it’s good. The more you move around the more you know this place.”

“But you’re… how do we get out?  How do we get home?” Continue reading →

Rainclouds in the Bear Empire

May1

First: Running in the Bear Empire
Previous: Magic in the Bear Empire
Next: Weather in the Bear Empire

🐻

That night, they camped under the dubious shelter of a quick lean-to in the middle of a dense stand of pine trees.  The weather cooperated in precipitation, if not in temperature, and Deline woke to find herself pressed against Carrone for warmth.

They were quiet as they walked, working out all of the kinks and sore spots from sleeping on the ground, and when a trader passed them, he left them well alone.  Deline imagined they must look like they were in a horribly foul mood, dangerous people you didn’t want to get too close to.

The gendarme who came upon them several hours later clearly wasn’t worried about that. He glowered at them and asked them questions about a recent robbery nearby and several other issues – thankfully, none of which they’d been involved in. Continue reading →

Haunted House 13: Waking

Apr30

First: A story featuring a male keeper and a female Kept.
Previous: The House That Eats People

🌳🏚🌳

There was always the moment on waking when Mélanie forgot she’d been captured.

It was a moment where she would think she was in her own bed, that she should get up soon to take care of chores, and then she could have a nice breakfast.  Sometimes she’d start planning out what she could have – eggs from the chickens, had she bought bread from Mrs. Bittner across the street yet? Maybe some honey from the hives.  

Inevitably, she’d notice that something about the bed was wrong, that it was too hard or too cold or she’d shift and a chain would clink, or the sun would be in her eyes in the wrong direction. Continue reading →

Tootplanet: Explorers’ Log Planet 7-20-1-β

Apr29

Explorer Log 7-20-1-β

Planetary Day 152

The strangest thing of anything on this weird moon is the base six plants.

No, I lie: the animals with six of everything are the strangest, but the plants (grown on roofs in deep six–sided beds, of course) are pretty weird.

While our researchers piece together the Hexagonal language and history, we’ve been farming rooftops with some six-sided fruits and nuts and a weird crystal-like grain.

We don’t go down to the surface more than we absolutely have to, and even that is too much.

A New World: Dinner, and Things to Chew On

Apr28

First: A New World
Previous: The People

⚗

The lay-out of food was almost exactly as Kael remembered it, with the addition of what had to be a couple modern foods.  Everything was set up on one long table, with three tables for eating at – Joaon had built one of those tables by hand, she remembered.  She could still see the adze marks.

There were several people sitting at the tables – the gift-shop man and a woman in a smock and loose pants, another girl in the same outfit as the gift-shop man, and one person who caught Kael’s eye immediately.

They were not wearing clothing that marked them as part of the staff, but they were so utterly the epitome of Hoeraijen handsomeness that they – he, had to be male – took Kael’s breath away.  He was wearing what she thought were modern clothes, sitting by himself at the end of a table, and he was reading while he ate. Continue reading →