75 WORD WRITING CHALLENGE -- March 2012 -- Culhwch Wins!!

[Glen]

Academic Face Off

‘It is clear, sir’ said the Uncannyman, ‘the uncanny should take precedence in this story.’
‘Tish, tosh,’ said the Magical Realist, ‘modern readers want to experience the cognitive dissonance that only our Academy can provide.’
‘Nonsense! We have been doing this for millennia! Your are but pups!’
‘Modern! Not this age-old coincidence and fear which appeals only to the amygdala!’
‘A moment, sir! Have we left any time for the author?’
‘None! Cognitive Dissonance indeed!’

 

[nixie]

The Soup Kitchen​

Monday:

“If we don’t get funding we’ll have to close at end of week”.

“We did our best”



Friday:

“ Sorry sir, there’s nothing left”

The old man, handed over a bag “Use this”.

I pulled out a small battered pot, opening the lid it was full of stew.

“Thank you” Thinking it’s the thought that counts.



Three months later:

Who was he? I thought, as I served another bowl of the endless stew.

 

[HoopyFrood]

And I Will Try To Fix You

Seven years after, I put the final pieces of her together. Skin like old china, but she's whole again.

No, wait. One last sliver missing.

It must be in our lab.

----​

But she isn't the same. Perhaps when I was fixing the brain – parts looked so alike...

----​

Knees bruised, hands torn, I see the piece. Far under a counter.

Her slow feet scuff behind me. I don't look.

Just keep reaching.

 

[Aun Doorback]

The Summoners

Although numb I staggered to the door. Behind me they were working on my body, the doctors operating in a kind of controlled panic.

‘Anaphylactic shock.’ I heard one nurse say.

Between them though, tall figures stood. Necromancers and demons chanting words that tore at my chest. Yanking me backward, like a puppet on a string. Back, to before life.

‘We’re losing him!’

But whose voice? I crossed my fingers and woke in darkness…

 

[juelz4sure]

Lone Slayer

Death was his only comrade…
Watching soldiers fall at his feet like the countless others.
Millenniums have passed but all die with the same expressions,
Pain, agony, and confusion.

This is the mark he leaves upon this world,
Removing undesirables.

Ancient Elves, Dragons, even his new current mark,
Fall like rotten trees in a dense forest.
Before the lone mercenary stands familiar figures,
“Hello Brother.”
POP POP
Leaving nothing but,
Pain, agony and confusion!

 

[stormcrow]

Das Unheimliche

August 16th: summer hangs heavy in the air. Olive skinned, she lies facing seaward in the afternoon sun; belly-down against the chalky soil, amongst the downland scrub. Wounded by exalted angels, proud wings broken; blood and fire in her belly.

As beetles might, they gather cautiously around her in the grim glamour of such occasions: she is dying, and soon they shall dismember her.

Stricken griffin. Heinkel 111P. GI+FR. Kampfgeschwader 55; “Greif”. Sussex, 1940.

 

[Vertigo]

Parallel Universe

“Preposterous! Such a universe couldn’t exist; all the atoms would fly apart.”


“Not at all, they’d be held together by science.”


“Science! That’s just children’s fantasies.”


“No, just the laws of nature working differently.”


“A universe with no magic, where science actually works? Get your head out of the clouds and get on with some real work.”


Reluctantly he returned to his alchemy. I’ll show them! One day I’ll find the spell to prove it!

 

[hopewrites]

What Food Had to Say​

“I hereby call this meeting to order.” Meatloaf impatiently intoned.
“Not until we address the shameless state of some of the fruits in here!” Pickle Relish interjected.
“NO CANS ALLOWED!” The chant began.
“They make us taste all tinny” someone unseen and mold-covered called from the far back corner.
“The smell!” Onion complained.

*****​

By next morning there was a sign, in ketchup, on the fridge door.

“No Open Containers Admitted”​

 

[r_j_dando]

The Price
What you take has to have equal value to what’s being given.

The young woman sat on the bench outside the hospital, tears dripping erratically onto the paving slabs between her knees, knows this.

Finally, she lifts her head in acceptance. “You can take it.”

The Old Man lifts the memory of her wedding day. “You have one hour.”

She turns to face him. “Thank you.” Then she stands, and runs back into the hospital.

 

[MemoryTale]

Bob

Bob was the strangest guy I’d ever met. I couldn’t resist showing him off to my friends.

‘Go on, fly!’ we’d implore him, but Bob ignored us.

‘Here’s some paper, set it on fire!’

‘Take this iron bar, and break it in two!’

But Bob ignored us.

Each day we would come back and pester him, until finally he ran at us and screamed to be left alone. We laughed, and flew off.

 

[Phoenixthewriter]

Look Me in the Eyes

Maribeth admired the artwork before her; five foot, four inches, and glowing with the magic aura of a master sculptor. It was almost lifelike in appearance, save for the blue glow of the eyes, and the over pronounced cheekbones.

Looking closer, she could almost see herself through those glowing pupils.

And then she was.

She watched herself smile, and slowly disappear into the crowd. Her soul now trapped within the eyes of the sculpture.

 

[Aaron Stone]

Forsooth, Foretold

'Eaten by pigeons as the sun blinds you,' she'd said. A fake - I really hated wasting my money.

I entered another sparsely lit tent, letting my eyes adjust. A withered man gestured, and I sat. "Devoured by pigeons wi' the sun in yer eyes," he croaked.

I stumbled outside. A prank; it must be. I held up a hand to shade my eyes from the evening sun. Something poked my ankle. I heard a coo.

 

[Esfires]

Waking To Forever


“What is this place?” I asked the thing,
“This dark and dreary lair?
’Tis not my bed or parlor room,
Adorned with fixtures fair.”
“And yet,” she spake with curling lips,
“It is your home, indeed.
The harvest of your merry life,
The reaping of your seed.”
“Good God!” I cried with all my strength,
“Oh, take me from this place!”
“He knows you not,” she cackled cruel,
“So hid ye from His face.”

 

[Starbeast]

CLUNKO the World's Greatest Clown​

Clunko had retired after 50 years, and I wanted to meet him, I felt like a kid again. He made the world laugh and dazzled everyone with his amazing magic tricks. I snuck into his tent after his last show to obtain an autograph from this hysterical sad faced clown. My heart sank when I saw a blood written document, Clunko had sold his soul for magical entertainment, and the devil was collecting it tonight.​

 

[johnnyjet]

Halls of Slime

Drake Howland stood in Chamber and howled, “In this time of crisis, we must vote now.”

“Your proposition, Congressman,” said the Speaker, “pre-supposes that evil exists in the world.”

Deathly silence filled Chamber.

“Dark spirits have invaded Congress. They wring their hands in anticipation of influencing new mandates of evil.”

“Then we vote.”

The Speaker slammed the gavel home. Green slime splashed his face; he ran from Chamber screaming. Unseen creatures scurried.

“Next Speaker, please.”

 

[Christopher Lee]

Long Arm of the Disturbed Law
​

Sheets of rain descend as the convict splashes through mud, the warden gaining on him. He trips and falls flat. The warden is on top of him in an instant.

The punishment for attempting to escape Alcatraz is death. The warden stands up, covered in blood.

Black wings fold out of his back, like skeletal fingers protruding out of the ground. A tongue slithers from his mouth, licking blood from his face.

He flies away.

 

[AlcubierreWarp]

Demon's Revenge

The young girl glared at the warlock. “You shouldn’t have done that.”


The wizened mage gave her a smug glance, and turned away. She was not a worthy foe. He felt a tap on his shoulder.


“What now?”


He turned to face her and instead gazed upon his own image; familiar and yet altogether alien. His heart skipped, his breathing stopped. His skin became stone.


“Thanks for the new body. Next time you’ll know.”
​

 

[Tisiphone]

The Tree Nymph


I waited.
Knowing he’d be back; first day of spring,
First his family, latterly a woman,
Different each year,
Frolicking amongst the bluebells,
In my woods!

I followed.
Flitting between the trees
Morphing into them.
He knows I’m here,
He’s caught a glimpse of my nakedness.

With her long, dark, flowing locks, this girl was perfect,
Just like me.
And as he entered her body,
I morphed into her,
And finally, he was mine, forever!

 

[TacticalLoco]

The Show!


Ladies and Gentlefolk of all kinds...

Welcome to the greatest show in all the Realms!

The Wonders of Technology Extravaganza uses no magic of any kind!

See objects lifted without levitation. Moved without teleportation!

Clockwork gears that mesh! Belts that convey!

Lightening captured without spells illuminates the stage!

Impossible, you say? Technology, I say!

See the Technology Weapons Demonstration.

A hippogriffless carriage!

Manaless, unconjoured fireballs!

Explosions without incantations!

A non-Fantastic cornucopia of Wonders awaits!

 

[choccoweeble]

Weavers

“May I have this dance, my Lady?” Sparks crackled off his fingertips as he extended his hand and bowed deeply.

She giggled lightly as she accepted his offer, the sound like sweetest music to his ears.

The song began and slowly they began to move across the floor, weaving colourful patterns to the melody, their eyes locked together.

Neither of them noticed a silver robed watcher with narrowed eyes.