AUGUST 2015 75-word Writing Challenge -- VICTORY TO CASCADE!

[Teresa Edgerton]

RULES:

Write a story inspired by the chosen theme and genre in no more than 75 words, not including the title


ONE entry per person
NO links, commentary or extraneous material in the posts, please -- the stories must stand on their own


WHEN WRITING YOUR STORY, PLEASE REMEMBER THIS IS A FAMILY-FRIENDLY FORUM


All stories Copyright 2015 by their respective authors,
who grant the Chronicles Network the non-exclusive right to publish them here


The complete rules can be found at RULES FOR THE WRITING CHALLENGES


Contest ends at 11:59 pm GMT, August 23, 2015

Voting Ends at 11:59 pm GMT, August 28, 2015


You do not have to submit a story in order to vote --
in fact, we encourage all Chrons members to take part in choosing a winner


The Magnificent Prize:

The Dignified Congratulations/Grovelling Admiration of Your Peers
and the challenge of choosing the theme and genre for September


Theme:

AUTHORITY

Genre:

HISTORICAL FICTION


This thread to be used for entries only.
Please keep all comments to the DISCUSSION THREAD


We invite (and indeed hope for) lively discussion and speculation about the stories as they are posted,
so long as it doesn't involve the author explaining the plot.

** Please do not use the "Like" button in this thread! **​

 

[Ashleyne]

Hero of Chichen Itza

Babajide smiled wide, eyes shut tight. His king'd ordered him to visit the water god (Chaahk), and beg for the heavens to open up, release his people from the drought.

His fellow Mayans cheered and danced behind him.

He kept his chin high, anticipation tickling his tummy.

He jumped into the sacred sinkhole and was dragged down. Soggy soil clogged his nose and mouth.

Couldn't... move.

His heart thumped faster.., then slower.

Consciousness faded.

 

[Twistedlemon]

Bloodrights

Blood kept the gods benevolent.

He prayed he would suffice. Several have offered their services before, the stone tablet he laid upon had seen many volunteers.

The Aztecs gods always demanded blood.

His heart visibly quivered. He knew the priest held sway over when he died, the gods had power over their servant.

A thought crossed his mind as the priest yelled to the heavens.

Did the blood control the gods?

 

[Victoria Silverwolf]

Church and State

Orestes brooded in his chamber. His head still ached from the stone thrown by that insane monk Ammonius. Orestes had nearly died. Ammonius paid with his life, and now Cyril dared to declare he was a martyr! When would that arrogant cleric learn his place? Orestes was Governor of Egypt, Cyril only Patriarch. At least Orestes had the friendship of Alexandria’s finest philosopher to comfort him with her wisdom. God preserve Hypatia from fanatics!

 

[farntfar]

Playtime at pre history school.

“Ug” said Moon Watcher.
The others were down by the watering hole again, refusing to let anyone drink.

He hit Dino with his antelope jawbone. The dog died.

“Ug and double ug” he thought.
“No wait! Nuts to authoritative black monoliths. This might just work.”
The next day the waterhole was his.
In exultation he threw the jawbone high into the air, and it turned into a bloody great space station.
“Ug” he said.

 

[Kerrybuchanan]

The Importance of Emperors - or A Squaddie's Priorities


"Is he 'ere yet, Optio?"

"Dunno."

"Wish he'd hurry up. My feet're killin' me."

"Here he comes. Don't let him catch you nappin'! Hang on – what's that? Someone's got a knife!"

"I can't see. What's happening?"

"He's stabbing him!"

"Who?"

"Caesar."

"I know it's Caesar – who's stabbing him?"

"Brutus – no, wait – all of 'em. They're all stabbing him. Oh, that's nasty, that is."

"End of an era, I reckon."

"Yeah."

"Wonder what's for dinner?"

 

[Glen]

Empire's End

‘Take another port, Smythe! Your exasperation is plain!’
‘They suppose their empire to be superior to the empire I have supported in India and Afghanistan. The presumption of it, Jenkins!’
‘Hush, man! You will alarm the ladies!
‘They expect us to submit to them when they leave their flying ship at dawn.’
‘A dark day!’
‘Not at all. We will take out the horses and hounds. A hunt! History will never know.’

 

[Jo Zebedee]

MINTED



My mistake? Overstretching. Now....?

Exile to this battlefield, my bones to lie unknown.

(I who married a king's daughter, who built churches to house my bones.)

I flip my coin. It lands, showing my face, not Lackland's.

"Never," I tell my young self, "defy the authority of the king."

I stand, to battle and die. Perhaps my coin will be found and my queen will learn I died, far from the kingdom I almost held.

 

[alchemist]

Order No. 227

Zhirkov pressed his handgun against the boy's temple. "For the Motherland," he said.

The boy's father shuddered, stealing one last glance. He lifted a dead man's rifle and limped towards the Volga.

"You too," Zhirkov said to the boy.

A Stuka screamed overhead. His world exploded.

#

Zhirkov blinked awake, shivering in his underwear.

The boy seemed tiny in his stolen NKVD uniform. "To the river." He pointed Zhirkov's gun, his hand trembling. "For the Motherland."

 

[Cat's Cradle]

Manifest Destiny

Coyote Brother sat, bewildered, before the representation of the Land he’d created the morning before to honor Sky Father. A red braid of quartz chips was the great western river; pebbles were purple mountains; his tribe, muskmelon seeds; crowberries were the endless seas to the east. White fungus had consumed the crowberries and spread to ravage the melon seeds. From sea to shining river, a white wave of destruction overwhelmed the Land, and its People.

 

[Cascade]

96

Football isn’t this.

Football isn’t meant to be this.

Football is colour and life.

Football is jumpers for goalposts, not advertising hoardings for stretchers.

My police radio is a crackling mass of static and panic and incoherent shouting.

They are carrying bodies from the Leppings Lane end.

A young girl, 16 comes up to me crying.

“What is happening?” she asks

And I stand mute ‘cause I have no bloody idea.

 

[Luiglin]

So long and thanks for all the big fanged lizards

"When it closes?"

The Minion's fingers exploded out.

"Huge?"

The hand nodded.

"Excellent. We don't need any more big fanged lizards. Pity there's no intelligent life. There'll be no witnesses to my evil, no people to gloat over or cower at my power. Damn shame."

The portal disappeared with a feint pop.

~~~

Elsewhere, on a insignificant blue planet, the age of the dinosaurs ended in a cataclysmic bang; impressing the mammals and baffling their descendents.

 

[holland]

In a Single Day and Night of Misfortune

“Was it real?”

“Well of course it was not.”

“Then why did you write about it as if it had really existed?”

“My dear disciple, most of the things I write about really are real and nobody will care about them thousands of years from now. But this? They will continue searching for it forever, because that’s the human nature. This is how I become immortal.”

 

[Vaz]

Custer's Log: June 25th 1876


The Soldiers waited. Light from the stars faded. A red dawn crept over the horizon and war drums rolled within the hills like natures own heartbeat.


Men! The general barked. Today we die. Let’s take ‘em Sioux dogs with us.


The General placed a hand on his captains’ shoulder. Tears threatened.


War is god. It shall make God’s of us all.


Beneath the reddening sun the marching soldiers became the U.S Army’s bloody sacrifice.

 

[AnyaKimlin]

“What do we want?”

“Votes for Women.”

The chants sent shivers down my corseted spine. The constabulary's finest linked arms and held their wooden truncheons like swords of justice. They masked their fear with expressions carved from granite.

Papa had refused me permission to attend, but he was a pretty lackadaisical parent, so I ignored him. Sunshine gave God's blessing to the proceedings and not even my father would wrangle with The Almighty.

 

[Droflet]

LAWMAN


“Sheriff, we caught the horse thievin’ varmint.”

Pat Garrett knew the boy.

“How old you now, son?”

“Thirteen.”

“You know tis a hangin’ o’fence.”

“My feet was sore, sir.”

“That right? Hmm. Take off yur boots. Now git otta ma town."

The boy fled. The mob bristled.

Don’t fret. By da time he reaches da next town, fifty miles hence, he’ll have learned his lesson. We’ll have no more trouble with Billy, ha, da kid.

 

[ratsy]

A Friend in Need

Darkness shrouded the rock; a hilt was all he could see sticking out. He set his foot against the stone, and pulled at the handle. It slid free with ease.

His friend watched it all; curious and filthy.

“I guess this means I'm King, Arthur. With my authority, I give this to you.”

He handed the sword over to the boy, whose life would change forever.

Arthur would never go hungry again.

 

[Mr Orange]

Just Frenzied Killing


"He needs to die, Lee"

"But, umm..."

"Call me H"

"But why, H?"

"We want him dead… Everyone wants him dead"

"The people don't"

“The people don't know what they want”


##


"Congratulations, Lee, you did it. Of course, now you’ll have to take the blame. Alone"

"What? But you told me to do it! It's your fault!"

"Well, that still means you're to blame"

"What?"

"Lee, think about it"

"You're talking to yourself"

 

[Ihe]

Ignorance and Leverage.

The musket spat, offending life and all that is good. General Saraceno fell, white flag muddied by his side.

The drumboy dropped the gun and ran. He'd done everything General Bard had asked. Momma and sis would be safe now that the rebels had lost their leader.

A brand new drum awaited him on his bed back at camp, ready to palpitate in months to come. He hadn't thought this far ahead.

 

[Brian Rogers]

Mighty Warrior

A warrior 6 cubits tall, holding a shield of 8 stone and a sword of 4. A giant wreathed in metal armor, making the Hebrews’ knees quake in fear.

“Where is your God?!”

*huzzah*

The army behind him stamps the ground, shaking the trees, the air thick with their malice.

A shepherd boy of 12, unarmored and unshielded stands before them unfazed.

They laugh. He sings.

They taunt. He swings.

They charge. He slings.