Tag: #shortTuesday

#ShortTuesday – Divigate

~ Russell ~ Leave a comment

Lost in the Woods

A lock of auburn hair fell across Annie’s pale, round face as she blew into the small clump of damp, dead grass she held in her hands trying to coax the spark into flame.  It sputtered, let loose a thin wisp of smoke and then, nothing.

Annie muttered quietly beneath her breath the words she could not say aloud around her younger siblings, but realizing they were not there she stopped muttering, threw the latest failed attempt of fire-making to the ground, and began yelling.  She cursed the trees surrounding her, the leaves littering the forest floor, the forest itself for trapping her, and most of all the sky for holding the sun back while releasing day after day of rain.

It was an effort to calm herself, but it was necessary.  She had no energy to waste on tantrums.  She had little to no energy at all after eating nothing but acorns the past 3 days.  Folding herself into what was left of her poncho, she leaned against a large gray trunk and hung her head to cry.

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#ShortTuesday – Aegis

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This short is a continuation of a previous #ShortTuesday.  If you would like to read it, click here.  If not, I think this short stands on its own.  Either way, thanks for stopping by!

Rannal made his way down the busy Canal Street, stumbling left and right as he went.  He would stumble into one person or another as they hurried to get home before the sun fell below the horizon, endure the cursing that followed, and carry on.  Canal Street was a main corridor of the city and notorious for thieves, especially after dark, and no one wanted to waste time on a drunk like him.  They just wanted to get home before dark, before the thieves appeared.

Good thieves did not need the cover of dark to rob a person though.  A good thief just needed to make contact with the person they were robbing.  A stinking cloak covered in grime accompanied by the smell of wine on the breath didn’t hurt either.

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#ShortTuesday – Cantankerous

~ Russell ~ 1 Comment

Malia punched her mattress and cursed.

“Please Miss, calm down,” her maid Talees said.  Talees stood by the thick wooden door, ready to bolt from the room if Malia took to another fit.

The girl was far too aggressive and angry for a princess. Talees had learned over the years to always have an escape route at the ready when Malia was upset.

“Can you believe what that old, cantankerous fool said to me!  That he will never train a girl.  That it’s not proper for a woman to touch a blade.  Women can’t handle a sword.  Really!?”  She stomped around her room, from one wall to another and back again.  “I’ll show him!  I will become a Blademaster. The first woman Blademaster.”

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#ShortTuesday – Slumberous

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“Won’t you come in for a drink?”  Linnel pursed pouty lips and batted long dark lashes at Rin as they stood beneath a flickering street lamp just outside her home.

Rin looked away from her, choosing to gaze down the dark street rather than into those dark, seductive eyes.  “I should go.  I probably shouldn’t have come in the first place.”  

She placed a light hand on his chest to turn him back and felt the muscle beneath.  “Surely one drink wouldn’t hurt.  For old time sake?”

The question hung in the air between them as he considered the proposition. 

Consideration turned to rationalization in short order and they made their way inside.

“Make yourself comfortable.  I’ll be back with the drinks.”  Linnel disappeared into the kitchen.

What was Rin doing back in this house.  He knew better than this.  This was not a situation he needed to be in, and yet, here he was.

“No need to get comfortable.  I won’t be here that long.  One drink and I’m out,” he replied, hoping to convince himself of the statement more than her. 

“Oh, I know,” came the melodic response from the kitchen.

She pulled two glasses from the cupboard, placed three cubes of ice in each and filled them with just the right amount of Jack and Coke.  She left just enough room in his to add the most slumberous potion she had ever brewed to his drink and made her way out of the kitchen. 

“Your favorite,” Linnel purred, joining Rin where he stood looking decidedly less than comfortable by the couch.

He accepted the drink with a grunt that sounded of “thanks” and took a step back.  One drink and he would be out, and he would make sure this didn’t happen again.  He had agreed to a drink though, so he turned it up.  A drink was hard to resist after the day he had had anyway. 

Linnel smiled as Rin began to sway, reached out her hand and plucked the glass from his hand as his body melted to the floor.  

Linnel fiegned surprise.  “Oh.  That’s what you meant by one drink and your out.”  

Short Tuesday is a little something I try to do… on Tuesdays!  Sorry, couldn’t help it.  Anyway, I take a word, a word like slumberous and try my best to write a short story or scene with it.  The words typically come from Dictionary.com’s word of the day e-mails that show up in my inbox every morning around 8:12am, but aren’t limited to them.

I hope you enjoyed reading my Short!  Feel free to come back anytime.

#ShortTuesday – Rosarian

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Ronald woke as he had done for years, before the roosters, walked the short distance to the basin and washed the sleep from his eyes with the cold water there.  Fully awake, he shrugged his hunched frame into the long robes of his station, made his way through the dark, back to the bed to kiss his still sleeping wife goodbye before quietly exiting through the front door.

The cobblestone streets were dark, the torches lining the roads burned low or not at all providing more shadow than light, but it was a short walk to the gardens, and one that he did not need light to make.  The path was burned into his mind so that his navigation did not require conscious thought, and his feet did not fail him.  Just minutes after leaving home, the service entrance of the castle gardens came into view.

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#ShortTuesday – Floriferous

~ Russell ~ 2 Comments

The King’s garden was grand in both size and beauty.  The fact that they were brought indoors was nothing short of amazing. The feat itself could only be dwarfed by the beauty on display.

Princess Zara knelt near the casket that held her father, trying unsuccessfully to hold back the tears that streamed down her pale face to splatter the marble below.

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#ShortTuesday – Jammy

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“Would you look at that,” Ailsa exclaimed wheeling her car wide and sweeping into the front most space at the market.  Her long dark auburn pony tail bobbed at the sudden stop of the car and she flung the door open, triumphant smile on her slender face.

The market wasn’t big, but it was busy.  Men and women carrying bags and baskets full of groceries on the way out passing others on the way in.

“No doubt, that’s a jammy spot right there.”  Libby popped her door open and swung her long pale legs out.  The girls walked the short way through the lot beneath gray skies into the market.

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#ShortTuesday – Kerfuffle

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Johnny sat in a bare gray cubicle, hunched over a dull black keyboard, fingers whipping the keys filling in one form after another.  It was a bore, but it was a bore that he was good at.  Most of the time.  But most of the time, the office was quiet.  He could think in the quiet.  The office was not quiet today.

He cursed under his breath at yet another mistake, backspaced to fix the error, and moved on to the next blank where an i appeared in the space that should have had an o.   Continue reading “#ShortTuesday – Kerfuffle” →

Short Tuesday – Ort

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Lucy let out a sharp “yip yip,” causing Mum to turn around and smile at the scene that was playing out at the kitchen table.

Max was done eating, distracted by the small dog balancing on its hind legs, expectant eyes raised up, waiting for the next ort to be tossed from the high chair.  He wasn’t inclined to keep her waiting, tossing yet another morsel down.

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Short Tuesday – Oscitant

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Jamie tugged at the collar of his best suit as the baby blue tie that brought out his eyes squeezed tight against his throat.  It was the most hated clothing he owned, but that was what you wore when you worked at Burke & Co.  He held back a yawn, trying to stay awake, and thought that surely, the cure for insomnia had been found right here in the conference room.

The other 20 men, all impeccably dressed and seemingly wide awake sat on either side of the long mahogany table of the meeting room.  The 22nd man, Mr. Stephens was also dressed perfectly, but he stood while pointing at and droning on about the slideshow being projected just behind him.  A boring, colorless, text ridden, slideshow that was made no better by the mono toned Mr. Stephens.  It was a recipe for sleep.

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