Once upon a time one cloudy night . . .
Day 6 (Oct. 24 for me, though strangely not according to WordPress) has dawned and almost passed by. Here’s to crepuscular creative writing!
I had the good luck to rescue a huge turtle from the middle of the road today (safely, yay for us both!), as well as accomplish some Samhain shopping with ninja kid #1.
If only I could have invited those of you who enjoy breakfast for dinner to our dinner of homemade banana pancakes, crescent rolls stuffed with either spinach, cheese, tomato, and pepperoni or some variation on that theme, and pomegranate arils. Too bad the bread’s hidey-hole didn’t fool ninja #2 into eating his vegetables.
As to writing, I knew I wanted to do a story featuring neither the “real world” nor science fiction, but rather either something inanimate or something Other, probably in the “monster” realm. So, here you have it: very short and not so creepy today. Oh well. This microfiction story was based on a prompt I did a year or two ago, I think with me needing to use the words flammable, heroic, and caring.
Enjoy the respite from a longer story!
Her Mutant Mate
Caring. Heroic. The words circled three times and flopped down in Zia’s mind.
It was nothing of the sort. Instinctual, yes. Stoic, probably. Possibly even as cold as she imagined the moon’s surface to be.
Nevertheless, it was just what she did. Her chosen lot, for her love and her light: Nils.
He whimpered from his wheelchair. The slobber slid down the stubble-bordered crevices around his mouth, and she moved to blot them, knowing he’d probably twist his neck away—and yet, never be able to articulate exactly why.
She noticed that he wasn’t nearly as alert today. Each day leached more energy from him while also lashing her closer to his side.
Life is both flammable and fickle, she thought as she stroked him to sleep.
Especially when you’re mated—and as good as married—to an aging werewolf.
####THE END####
Love the imagination in this. You surprised me!
Thank you, T.N. That’s great to hear; I know you’ve given me tons of unpredictable fiction (my favorite kind!) just from reading your blog. 🙂
By the way, I just re-read my comment and I want to make clear that it was the ending that surprised me. Not the imagination. Your imagination is always first rate!
No worries whatsoever on my part, T.N. I appreciate it either way, honestly! 🙂
Nice twist at the end. Even monsters grow old. I wonder; would you take him to the gerontologist or the vet?
Good question. I figured, with werewolves being human and other, yeah, maybe they experience infirmities as we do. Good question. … Maybe take him to Professor X for advice or something?
There, the last line is a revelation into the lives of (some) werewolves. Unlike the Hollywood movies, these creatures do get a calling from old age.;) Loved your imagination and really liked the 6.66 series that you have started Leigh. Great going! 🙂
Thank you so much, sweet Norma. I’ve got to pop over and see your pictures and blog; I’m terribly behind on some of my reading . . . the kids had two ‘teacher workdays’ last week, so I got almost zilch done on my reading. Hope you are well!
Thanks for asking Leigh. I hope you are fine too. I have been very slow on blogging myself – not done too many posts lately – but a lot to read for myself.
Loved the turtle event. I’ve been skipping the thriller/horror posts, as they are not my bag.
No worries. I went a very long time without reading them (since teen years, really), insofar as I could, and had not really attempted straight horror stories much in my writing. Glad you enjoyed the turtle story. I’ve been injecting a real-world observation/event into each story lead-in now, usually animal-related of late. This time, though, predatory animals (vultures) were spotted, as well as a rabbit hole (not sure if a warren, technically) that I didn’t write about.
“Each day leached more energy from him…” I really do love this line. I’m not sure why, but it is so great. Thanks for sharing your imagination!
I didn’t expect the werewolf part…. nice twist. Some aspects of aging really suck 🙂