July 2010 Writing Challenge — The Judge wins!!

[Precise Calibre]

Clerical Duties



The sound of many mail-shod boots approaching made the clerk look up from his ledgers. The captain of the guard regarded him with ill-masked contempt.


'Yuhlin is your master? He has crimes to answer for.'


Bowing with deference, the scribe gestured to the door leading to the magus's chamber. The captain and his squad swept past and burst into that room. The door slammed shut.


Screams of alarm, pain.


Yuhlin smiled.


He employed no clerks.

 

[onebigpotato]

A reflection

His cold eyes stare at me.
The things he’s witnessed now run riot within his mind. The remnants of his self control holding up his head.
I hate him.
“I hate you” he screams.
I hate what he stood for.
“I hate what you’ve become” another tortured cry.
Slowly, turning, I realise the trap I’ve fallen into. How easily he manipulated me.
I’ll die here, alone. Just me. Me and the man in the mirror.

 

[reiver33]

Blank Canvas

There’s a revolution in my head, and because of that I’m the most wanted man alive.

I sit here, a grey man at a grey desk in a grey job, savouring the riot of colour at my command.

You look at me, you all look at me, but none of you can see my world.

Each new dawn you gaze in wonder at my latest outrage.

Each new dawn I hide again behind my eyes.

 

[The Procrastinator]

Mother

I held the vase in my hands.

The colours, cool and complex; the shape, from elegant foot to perfectly curved body, a long, narrow throat finishing like a cry to heaven. My fingers traced where hers had once pushed, pulled, coaxed, forced, pleaded; I placed its mouth to my ear, and listened...

I would never hold my mother again; but I placed the vase back on the shelf, so she could keep watch over me.

 

[Duchessprozac]

The Dreaded Hood

Behind this mask, no one knows my identity. Plenty have ideas, but when you've just dropped a corpse onto a dining table surrounded by nobility no one really cares who you really are.

I often wondered what would happen were I caught and my real face plastered across the land, Could my people really imagine me as the dreaded Hood? Would they even care?

Stepping out of the shadows, I'm about to find out.

 

[ctg]

Turtle

As the drones had disappeared the old warrior moved. Es picked up the ballistic-hield and slowly walked forward behind it. He didn't much look ahead but down through the slid.

When he arrived to the fallen armour, the giant had already sneaked to peek into the tunnels. Then he signalled. Es strapped the shield on his back and ran.

Manson grinned. “Major really though you well, didn’t he?”

"Hai."

 

[HoopyFrood]

Big Surprise

If you go down to the woods today...

I tightened the fluffy hood over my head, touched up the black grease covering my nose. It would do. How perceptive would they be, really?

Sunlight dabbled the leafy floor. I parted the tall, springy grass. Catch them unawares...

Hundreds of hairy boulders turned their black gaze onto me. Grizzly bears. One and all.

One opened a mouth that was an eternity of yellowed teeth. “Picnic time.”

 

[Moonbat]

Hexa-Demonical

You say I’m malicious but it is you who executed me!
I’m not spiteful I just follow my instincts.
Is a mosquito evil for spreading malaria?

I am malicious, but it’s your fault, you should have more sense than to stumble blindly into the dark web unprotected.
You fools!
Never trust an internet stranger and never download from an unknown source.
But loads of you will Click Here without even thinking about protection.

 

[Mouse]

A Face Mogul

I buy and sell faces. There’s a demand for faces. Beautiful faces, that is. Nobody wants an ugly one.

I’ve seen a man with the most magnificent lips. Usually I’d sigh and move on. It’s not appropriate to take a face from someone who’s still using it.

But think of the money! I’ve got to have it. I’ll just use somebody else’s face to do the deed. Nobody will know it was me.

Bloody genius.





(There's something disguised - pretty badly - in this, if you can see it, let me know!)

 

[The Judge]

Consequences – Terrifying rape of yesteryear fuels a long, long siege


A god he comes, and male, but not a man,
Concealing brutal lust from jealous eyes.

He strikes. Cruel beak engrasps her neck,
Heedless of her pain as Leda cries.

Pale naked body laid between white wings;
Webbed feet, as black as pitch, subdue the ravished thighs.
A savage thrust, and honour dies.

Illium thrown down, great Hector slain,
Ten years of war, of death, of blood-filled lies,
For momentary pleasure in a swan’s disguise.

 

[StormFeather]

Black Sheep

I knew I was different from my earliest thoughts. Everyone around me was placid, docile. Meek.

Not me. I may look like them, but I shan’t behave like them. I’ll not follow the herd.

So, I’ve taken steps. It’s been difficult, and I nearly gave up.

They look at me now with fear and consternation. Panicked.

Everything about me has changed. My look, even my smell.

For I am the first sheep in wolf’s clothing.

 

[Devil's Advocate]

... And Into the Fire

Eyes watering, I focus all my energy on teleporting. My once-a-day abilities are a little random, but better than awaiting execution in my tiny cell.

Suddenly, I’m in a large, ostentatious room. It worked! Ha! And a military man, too. I feel something wrapped tight around my arm; looks like a black band, with some insignia.

Oh.

The door flies open, and a Lieutenant rushes inside, panicky.

“Der Führer! The Allied Forces are coming!”

Crap.

 

[Shingetsu]

This seemed like it might be fun. Thought I might take a shot at it.​

Only the Best Will Do​

Dragon Industries was the leading designer and distributor of the latest technology. Recently the International Defense Force had received a tip that they were programming robots to take over the world. It was Agent John Thomas’s mission to infiltrate and retrieve documents pertaining to that.

Security drones swirled by. Only one disguise would work. He placed them on his face; glasses with a fake nose and mustache.

“And here we go…”

He got the documents.

 

[Boneman]

Rotten to The Core​

Look, lady, this product has been field-tested since the beginning of time, and it's never failed once.​

Okay, the first protoype didn't work the way it should, and we've had to live with the consequences. But we've refined it hundreds of times, and it will do what it says on the box, guaranteed.​

Your mark will be taken in.​

But to get close you'll need to dress as an old crone. Here's your apple.​

 

[Ursa major]

Finally, an idea....



Live Long and Prosper? (Or: How to Attend a Party Looking Po-Faced)


It was not his fault. His spellbook had gone missing; the handwriting on the invitation had been atrocious.

And he too had suffered: all those eyes looking at him. Barefaced cheek!

He could not know that the Prince had had a weak heart. Or a premonition.

It was the Prince’s own fault. If he had meant party, why write masque? Showing off, he guessed. Showing off his ignorance.

His verdict: a badly-read death.

 

[ventanamist]

YOU'RE JOKING


I predicted the beads in the sky and the global shut down. Didn't I?


What do you expect me to look like? I'm a bloody spy.


No, I haven't just taken over your friends body. To truly be like you, to understand and fit in, I had to be born, go to school, fall in love; all that stuff.


No, don't think of it as an invasion. We're just going to tidy things up a bit.

 

[Droflet]

Paul

Paul stretch his tenticles wide, as he dropped into the tank.

Liam approached, his mind reaching out.

Paul, what have you done?

Wadda ya mean?

Picking Spain over Germany? What were you thinking?

Hey, I covered myself. I picked Holland over Spain didn't I?

You were showing off.

Well why not. We're smarter than them.

Idiot! Didn't you check the history texts?

Don't worry. The invasion is still on. They're not all that bright, you know?

 

[Pyar]

The Last Room

Jason opened the door and there was darkness within. He took out his flashlight pulled himself through.

He checked his suit to make sure it was secure. The room was swarming with them. Jason looked around at all the warped figures. It was the Infection. They would never attack him though, not while he looked like one of them.

A whisper emerged from his lips that no one would ever hear.

“I was too late.”

 

[paranoid marvin]

Condemned

Footsteps in the corridor.They have come for him at last; his final moments upon him. Why has She not come to him as promised ; why has She forsaken him?

Key turns,door opens , revealing blinding light that sears his eyes. Blindly he lunges forward , reveals the hidden dagger from his rags and embeds it into the heart of the one who has surely come to take his life."I came,my Love" She sighs.

 

[Sleepless]

Found

He had been lost underground for three days, but finally the surface was near. He scrambled into the thin beam of light shining down from the cavern roof, letting it bathe his face with warmth and hope.

As he collapsed he fell into darkness. The light followed, flicking over his prone body, pulling out the moisture. When only bones and dust remained, the sated creature went to sleep, plunging the cavern into its subterranean night.