hatchingphoenix
Hatching Phoenix
Hugh J. O'Donnell's tumblr: Writing, Podcasting, and Mad Science!
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Halloween Drabbles #15: Tasting Room
Sheâd never heard of an urban tasting room, much less one that kept nocturnal hours, but she figured a winery trying to get in on the bar scene. Drawing in the crowd of trend-seeking wine snobs where they lived made some sense.
The owner, a pale man with a slight European accent, confirmed as much as he led her downstairs for the interview. She wasnât sure about him, but he seemed charming enough, and being a sommelier sounded a hell of a lot better than bartending.
âVery well,â the vampire said when they were alone. âLetâs see how you taste.â
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Halloween Drabbles #14: Frost
A black frost, a killing frost, lay heavy on the ground when he awoke that morning. Most of the nearby crops had yet to be harvested, and this disaster would mean a lean winter for the village.
He ventured outside, bracing against the sudden cold, and put his hand to the earth.
As he suspected, the early frost which had defied his predictions wasnât a natural occurrence.
He looked out at the fields, and saw one was already cleared. He would start there. Dark magic hung over the village, and he would root it out before it did more harm.
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Halloween Drabbles #13: The Super Market
The Super Market has everything you could every want, if you can pay. Laser eyes, for the price of control. The power of flight at the cost of a fear of closed spaces. Lightning speed in exchange for a motherâs love. Everything must balance.
But these are all trinkets, compared to the real bargain: The power to never die and never grow old. As long as they love you, you will live forever. But this demands the highest price of all. You become a story with no end: Never changing, never growing. To stay yourself for good or ill forever.
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Halloween Drabbles #12: Dangerous
We decided to take a shortcut home through the graveyard. Weâd been warned it was dangerous, of course, but what better night than Halloween?
The path was lit by the light of the full moon through the skeletal branches, and leaves crunched under our feet as we held hands. We felt a thrill, but no fear as we passed the stone markers of our antecedents.
We didnât even know about the escaped killer until the next day, when they found his body hidden in the bushes, trampled to death and surrounded by skeletal footprints.
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Halloween Drabbles #11: Dagger
They found the dagger resting in a pile of treasure, itâs ruby-studded cap glinting in the torchlight. The thief, captivated, reached out to take it but the mage stopped his hand.
âDonât you think itâs a bit too easy?â
âDonât be such so paranoid,â he said. âIt ainât trapped, I checked.â
After that, the thief always carried it with him, and the rest of the party noticed a dramatic shift in his personality. The cleric was certain he was cursed, but he was so deadly with the new blade that they let the matter rest.
Until it was too late.
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Halloween Drabbles #10: Demon
They had worked on the original creation, and were immensely proud of it. For millions of years, the divine forces of light, heat and gravity interacted in a vast cosmic dance predictable down to the second. It was good.
Until suddenly, the universe wasnât quite spinning properly. Something had been added.
That was how they found out about life.
The work hadnât been enough. The Creator had to go and add to it, infesting the universe with teeming objects that behaved unpredictably and upset the clockwork perfection of their universe.
Theyâd expunged it from three planets before they were caught.
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Halloween Drabbles #9: Chains
We found the chains in the back corner of the basement behind the broken tables, the crushed instruments, and the bloody mess of the body. They were two inches thick, nearly impossible to lift, and shattered in three places.
âYou figure he was doing some kind of weird experiments down here?â My partner asked, gingerly avoiding the minefield of broken glass. He was staring at the victim, if the word could be applied.
âLooks that way,â I said. âBut whereâs whoever, or whatever he was experimenting on?â
I felt hot breath on the back of my neck. I turned around.
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Halloween Drabbles #7: Castle
The castle was his lifeâs work. Heâd been an apprentice mason when the baron had ordered itâs construction, and they began by building the keep from the existing stones of an old Roman ruin, incorporating the mound beneath into a defensive hill.
The initial construction had taken ten years, through which he had risen from apprentice to master. The rest of his life had been dedicated to expanding the site, adding walls, gatehouses, moats and outbuildings.
Finally, he was finished. He passed his tools down to his sons and retired.
He heard the cannons attack the walls the next day.
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Halloween Drabbles #7: Rise
âPlease,â the baker said. âYou have to help me. She died in the nightâŚâ
The necromancer frowned and looked down at the jar in his hands. It was an interesting case, and he had brought back smaller creatures before, but yeast?
âI will try, but necromancy isnât a miracle. I can bring it back, but it wonât be unchanged.â
âThe taste shouldnât be effected. I just need it to last long enough to make a new sourdough starter. A few days.â
The necromancer coaxed the dead yeast into rising again, but all the baker could create with it was unbread.
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Halloween Drabbles #6: Molting Season
He looked forward to this time of year, even though he hated it.
When the weather changed, he was always itchy and uncomfortable, and his skin no longer felt like his own. He felt trapped within it, like a sausage with too much filling.
But it was always a relief when he finally burst out and felt the cool air again. And he was always a little bit different. His limbs were longer, or bent differently, or heâd grown a new appendage. He was still a growing boy.
The other children in his school always made such a fuss, though.
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Halloween Drabbles #5: Dream
Every night, she dreamt the same dream. But when she woke up in the morning, the memory of it vanished, leaving only a recurring sense of unease.
She tried to explain to her therapist how certain she was that every night she was experiencing the same nightmare. But she could never remember a single thing about when she woke up, coloring her days with dread and frustration.
That night, she found herself again trying to explain her dream, and realized, just like every night, that this was the nightmare.
She was unable to tell if she was asleep or awake.
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Halloween Drabbles #4: Angel
âI know that sheâs an angel,â I whispered into the phone. âI donât think she knows I know.â
My rabbi made a non-committal noise. âIn some ways, anyone who does Godâs work is an angel,â she offered.
âI just hoped youâd have some advice.â
âIf you love this woman, you should tell her how you feel and trust in God.â
âThanks,â I said, not really meaning it.
My girlfriend poked her head out of the kitchen. She was enveloped in holy radiance and ringed by burning eyes.
âI donât feel like cooking tonight. How does pizza sound?â
âGood,â I sad.
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Halloween Drabbles #3: Spiders
When his kitchen was infested with fruit flies, he was glad for the spiders. They resolved the issue in a matter of days, and he just had to sweep up the webs.
But afterwards, the spiders seemed to be everywhere. They spread from the kitchen to every room in his house. He tried to catch and release them at first, but there were too many, and he just started squashing them.
One morning, he woke up covered in spider silk. The room was full webs. The spiders had even spun a message into a web above the bedposts.
âUnion Now.â
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Halloween Drabbles #2: Frank
Frank was a regular. The mean, ugly, bastard always sat in the corner and grumbled into his beer. I didnât really like him, but he was seven feet tall, built like a linebacker and never caused any trouble.
The other patrons avoided him, and he did the same. I tried to get him to open up, but he wouldnât have it. He wanted to drink alone and be miserable, and who was I to judge?
He did tell me once that he hated his father. When I asked him why, he just shrugged. âYou think Iâm a monster? Heâs worse.â
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Halloween Drabbles #1: Seance
The medium sat in her parlor and waited. All her tricks and tools were ready, from the tilting table to the hidden âectoplasm.â But those were just icing, it was her patter that put her in demand.
She gave the rubes a fright, or reassured them that their loved ones were in a better place. All this ghost malarkey was hogwash to her, but playing a psychic was a safe grift, and she was good at it.
The kids stood outside, working up the courage to enter the abandoned house. They said a famous mediumâs ghost still haunted the place.
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Hunting
Everyday Drabbles #1015
The cat sprinted across the savanna, a remnant of her kill clamped tightly in her jaws. She just had to get to the tree line. Her kits were always hungry, but it wasnât safe for them out in the open.
The sun faded as it passed behind one of the floating islands that hung over the plains. They were home to the biggest, strongest predators, who werenât particular about their diets.
She heard the roar, and the sound of giant wings as the dragon pulled into a dive.
It couldnât follow her into the the forest.
She was almost there.
[artist: Ilse Gort - https://www.instagram.com/gortilse/]
The Mountainâs Shadow is now available from Amazon and Smashwords!
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