Fable
The Scaled Child
The child showed no fear as the shadow passed over it, cut through low hung clouds and returned to engulf this frail body in ultimate darkness. Indeed, the child merely reached out towards the leathery wings, the sharpened talons, the heat expelling from the nostrils. Sometimes the prey doesn't recognize the predator and this seemed to vex the dragon. It stood upright and beat heavy wings until the branches shuddered and the leaves fell. The child rolled backwards and came up laughing. The dragon, becoming enraged, tested it further, bringing one great golden eye within orbit of the child's face, blinking slowly until the lizard like iris revealed vague eons of a dominant species. The child merely saw itself in that domed reflection and smiled. The dragon sniffed at it to which the child let out a great sneeze, sending a gout of snot across the dragon's scales. It recoiled in disgust. It could eat this thing here and now and be done with it. It had done far worse for lesser transgressions. Yet something about this child made it appear bigger than the mere morsel it might offer the beast. It brought a claw down around the child, three talons encasing it like a prison cage. Then, careful not to tear the precious flesh of the babe, it scooped it up, clumps of earth and all and carried it through the air towards a cave in the distance. What sounds the child could be heard to make seemed almost joyous in nature.
By Kincaid Jenkins3 years ago in Fiction
Tears
Tears flowed down from swelling eyes, watering the silver grass that flooded the ancient forest like a hidden ocean. The celestial kingdom of stars gazed down from space to admire its own reflection and to observe as the fates that they wrote unfold into their grand design. All the light from heaven above and from the glassy mirror of grass below shown upon the lone child, bare of any clothes and shining as a goddess of light. One more pair of eyes looked upon the little one, first with a spell of deep dark hate, but the softness of the helpless girl and the beaming light radiating from her body broke through the dark and lit a spark in his heart. And then the tears flowed down from the dragon’s serpentine eyes. No dragon had ever cried before. And no dragon would ever shed a tear again.
By Reagan Parker3 years ago in Fiction
The Planet of Panoras
Dear Sally, I'm writing from the small village of Trok in between the Elijah River and Lake Elizabeth. The river used to flow around the bend into the neighboring town, but the beavers dammed it up and now the only way to go anywhere is to sail to the estuary where Elijah meets the long, long river called Bagulph. What a weird name right? Bagulph? Where did they come up with that? It makes me laugh. Most of these townspeople have their own little boats, but of course I haven't learned how to make my own boat and I can't affod to buy the kind that they will allow me to go on the river with. So I'm somewhat trapped in this tiny hut and the weather has been cruel also.
By Shanon Angermeyer Norman3 years ago in Fiction
Night At The Thakur Dalan
The sights and sounds surrounding your sensory nerves as you traverse into a Durga Pujo* mandap* can easily flabbergast you. So many things that go on simultaneously, and as you make your way through the happy cacophony, the cheerful hullabaloo of people, their smiles, the thread of energy that each one of them possesses at that very moment, and manages to share the same with everyone who visits Maa Durga*, is beyond anything that you'll ever feel. You'll slowly and slowly give in to the divine feeling, your brain, and your heart shall seep in everything, every single detail around and you'll enter a zone of your own, a meditative, a zen feeling, where everything else doesn't matter for some moments, it's only you, and the goddess, as you bow your heads in prayer, for a minuscule second or more, the overpowering sounds seem to fade, fade into the distant horizon, and it's only your soul, in front of the goddess, and the chants of prayer that you utter, eyes closed, pin drop silence, you feel there's a certain wave of cosmic and divine energy playing around you, your human senses aren't able to fathom what it is, where it is coming from, where shall it go after some time, nothing. You just keep praying, and after a moment, the sounds slowly return back, and things are normal.
By somsubhra banerjee3 years ago in Fiction
Snow Day Believer
The snow fell insistently, covering roads and driveways and trees. Heavy snowfall brings a quiet you can hear and it’s comforting and overwhelming all at the same time. I woke at five-thirty a.m. to the chirp of my cell phone bearing the news: Snow day. Annie and Christopher counted on staying home from school and stayed up late to check the 11 o’clock news to confirm it. It wasn’t official even then, but they were now sleeping the sound slumber of a child’s intuition, hibernating under their quilts. Not a peep from either of them.
By Cindy Eastman3 years ago in Fiction
ᴀ ᴛᴏᴅᴅʟɪɴɢ ᴍʏsᴛᴇʀʏ
ᴛʀᴀᴅɪᴛɪᴏɴᴀʟʟʏ ᴀ ᴡɪᴄᴄᴀɴ ʜᴏʟɪᴅᴀʏ ᴛʜᴀᴛ ɪs ᴏɴᴇ ᴏғ ᴇɪɢʜᴛ sᴀʙʙᴀᴛs, ᴏsᴛᴀʀᴀ ɪs ᴄᴇʟᴇʙʀᴀᴛᴇᴅ ᴀᴛ ᴛʜᴇ ᴄᴏᴍᴍᴇɴᴄᴇᴍᴇɴᴛ ᴏғ ᴛʜᴇ sᴘʀɪɴɢ ᴇǫᴜɪɴᴏx ᴀɴᴅ ʀᴇᴘʀᴇsᴇɴᴛs ʀᴇɴᴇᴡᴀʟ ᴀɴᴅ ʀᴇʙɪʀᴛʜ ᴏʀ ɴᴇᴡ ʙᴇɢɪɴɴɪɴɢs. ᴏsᴛᴀʀᴀ ʜᴀs sᴇᴠᴇʀᴀʟ ɴᴀᴍᴇs, ɪɴᴄʟᴜᴅɪɴɢ ᴛʜᴇ ᴀɴɢʟᴏ—sᴀxᴏɴ ɢᴏᴅᴅᴇss, ᴇᴏsᴛʀᴇ.
By Sai Marie Johnson3 years ago in Fiction
