October 2016 75-word Writing Challenge -- VICTORY TO HEX!

[TheDustyZebra]

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 2016 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, October 23, 2016​

Voting Ends at 11:59 pm GMT, October 28, 2016


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 next month's theme and genre


Theme:

Dry

Genre:

SCIENCE FICTION or FANTASY


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, as long as it doesn't involve the author explaining the plot.


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

 

[Ashleyne]

The Dryness of My Bosom

"Oh, my children, do stop your suckling. My poor tentacles tire of removing you from my many teeted bosom.

"They couldn't temper mummy's rage, so they locked her in a cage.

"It is all in vain, you know, your insatiable suckling. Bodies that should squelch are nought but husks. And your jagged teeth fail to draw even a drop of blood from the lacerated teets of my bosom.

"Die please, children. Sleep. Let me be."

 

[Perpetual Man]

Dry

Our greatest success, an abject failure.

Billions spent changing me on a genetic level so I could survive the harsh Martian atmosphere. To the Earth I was now alien; on Mars – I could have been born a native.

Clawed hands grasp at dry dirt. Skin shrivelled prune-like. Mummified alive I claw for life where there is none.

As desiccated skin splits and I scream, the fatal realisation bites again: there is no water.

 

[Elventine]

The Hero's Hero and the Sphinx
​

The Sphinx sat and asked, past his mighty shnoze, "What is dry then wet, then dry again?" The hero did snivel and swivel then smirked a smirk,

"The answer my dear, is your own derrière! You sit in the bay and the water goes where it may!"

The Sphinx looked down it's nose, at the awful prose. Then let the hero past, to meet the Wise Wens of Whenhenry upon the Nightly Shore.

 

[Mith]

The wine ran dry.

The door to the inn crashed open and in she sprang a whirling dervish of ferocity, a vicious warrior woman.

Elves and dwarves jumped in her way, swords and axes a blur. They all failed, they all fell, the path to the bar was clear.

“Give me wine,” she said, slamming her fist down.

“I’m sorry love,” the barman said, “but the wine has just run dry.”

She wept at the loss.

 

[Luiglin]

It’s the way I tell ‘em!

“Is that it?”

Ham, the Dark Lord’s halfling fool, nodded glumly.

“But you didn’t caper or wave your bladder stick.”

“It’s very popular amongst elves, my Lord. They call it Anfaug Lalaith.”

The Dark Lord leaned forward. “Say it again.”

“Recent research has shown that six out of seven dwarves aren’t happy,” said Ham.

“Well the elves have got their research wrong. All dwarves are miserable bleeders.”

Ham’s bladder stick silently deflated. Typical, he thought.

 

[Victoria Silverwolf]

The Ocean

In all the domes on Mars the Teachers appeared, thousands of ghosts with hundreds of different bodies speaking dozens of languages.

“Today we will remember the ocean,” they said.

The people scoffed. They knew that Mars had no ocean. They knew that Earth’s ocean had boiled away with the final bombs.

“Place your fingers on your ears and hold them shut,” the Teachers said.

The people listened to the oceans they had been born with.

 

[Wruter]

No Solemn Quest

This is the moment they never tell you about in the fantasy stories. After the great battle, when the heroes are gone and only the dead and dying remain. The common soldiers, the men and women who gave their lives in the fight against evil, names unremembered by history.

Here, there is nothing but agony and grief; no grand adventure, no solemn quest.

The heroes cry for a moment but their tears dry away.

 

[AmberEyes]

Even after silence fell, she waited. Waited for the sound of the soldiers, the sound of her people. In the afternoon heat, her thirst finally drove her out. The bodies of her people lay throughout the village, blood already dried on the baked soil. She wiped her eyes. To waste water with tears meant death in her land. She turned and walked away, desert dust already drifting over the bodies as she headed towards vengeance.

 

[reiver33]

Spoilers

I propelled myself from the airlock into the derelict savage hunter Titan Foil. Main power was back on but artificial gravity was still playing up. The air was hazy, suspect, so I could understand why Foley and advised using a breather unit.

I gestured around me. “What’s with the atmosphere?”

Foley laughed, bitterly. “That’s the former crew. Dust to dust and all that. Don’t know why.”

She raised a desiccated hand. “But it’s happening again.”

 

[Calliopenjo]

THE ENDLESS RAIN

The surrounding villages had been flooded. The roads unusable. The past storms had made life difficult.


Everyone gathered their belongings to head to the mountain tops above the water level. No room for anyone or anything. Too many people crowded any place that seemed habitable.


The rain needed to stop, to allow the lands to absorb the water, to dry. Everyone speculated the levels would continue to rise. Would there be an end?

 

[Shyrka]

Off the Wagon

“My name’s Vic and I’ve been sober for six weeks now.”

Weeks? Please. As if you know suffering.

I don’t know why I come here. Searching for kindred spirits? Maybe.

‘Vic’ looks nervous. The vein in his throat keeps throbbing, hot with it.

Thick.

Luscious.

“Who’s next?”

All eyes on me. Wasn’t paying attention. My turn at the confessional.

“My name is Lucretia and I haven’t had a drink in three days...”

 

[Cory Swanson]

Secco

"One part dry vermouth. Six parts gin. One green olive."

I don't want water. I don't want food. If I ever make it back to the ship, there is only one thing that will scratch the itch.

"One part dry vermouth. Six parts gin. One green olive."

I collapse. The sun beats down. The vision rises like a mirage out of the sand. A bar. A well dressed man.

I smile.

"Shaken, please."

 

[Starbeast]

Miskatonic University's Ancient Alien Exhibit 1926​

"Mr Kissengroper."

"Yeeeeess, Smegly?"

"There's two important things I need to say."

"Well?"

"My cigar smoke set off the fire sprinklers, drenching Ramaspama Tut with water, resurrecting him. The mummy escaped, grew ninety feet tall, and is now rampaging through the city."

"You IDIOT!!!"

"There's, one, other thing....."

"What?"

"Can I have tomorrow off?"

"NO!!! Only a virgin sacrifice, can stop that creature.................................."

"...."

***************************​

"Klaatulu, Verboten, NICOTINE!" (BANG!! thud) "Heh heh. Two birds, with one stone."

 

[ErikB]

Deserted in the desert.


"What is that?"
"The computer says 'German geological survey scientist. Lost in the sandstorm."
"Looks human."
"It is human. Let it in."
Jorgen staggered in as the andrethon studied him.
"Danke für ihre hilfe!"
"What did it say?"
"Nothing English. Some other language."
"Verstehst du mich?"
They shrugged offering Jorgen water.
"Relax human. You're dehydrated and dry."
"Drei?" He held up three fingers smiling hopefully.
"He's a bit slow..."
They all nodded smiling at Jorgen.

 

[Droflet]

Fallen Idol

“He was a hero’s hero. One of a kind. And now, sadly, my friend is gone.”

“Beloved of all on this world, he died to protect us. His sacrifice shall not be in vain. We will avenge him.”

Love, respect and intense grief distorted every pained face.

“Let us take strength from his life, his heroic accomplishments, yet grieve his passing in our own time.”

The mourner’s tears fell like raindrops onto the dusty floor.

 

[Cat's Cradle]

Feardrop – the Weeper of Nightmares vs Dry

Captain Earthquake shakes with laughter, sloshing martini across his costume.
“You gotta watch this, Tigress. It’s Dry, fighting Feardrop. He actually uses a catchphrase!”
On his computer screen a man engages a monster.
“May your tears ... DRY!”
“That loser! Feardrop never blinked.”
“You sent Dry alone? His power’s minuscule, you jerk! The whole team can barely oppose Feardrop.”
“He survived … kinda. Hey, don’t leave!”
Earthquake sips his drink, and grimaces. “I will miss Dry’s martinis.”

 

[Cathbad]

Why is this happening to me?

Luck? Got plenty of it; all bad.

Crashed on this newly discovered planet. In the only desert it has. Ship’s beacon wouldn’t work. Then bison-like creatures attack! Grab my survival kit, flee. Watch them destroy ship from a distance. Awakened during that night to see some small critter scurrying off with my kit! Three days nursing my canteen follows.

Then finding an oasis! Naked females galore!

Rescued. Bugger my luck.

 

[Stable]

Safe and Dry

The trees all had thick wax coating their leaves, letting the acid run off without damaging their precious insides. Big droplets pattered into the leaf litter, soaked everything in a dangerous wet. But not me. It was powerful stuff, one of the pegs holding up my little shelter already tarnished and corroding. Like the tarp above keeping me safe from the unfriendly environment, this acid rain was a shroud that kept me safe and hidden.

 

[Heijan Xavier]

If He Only Knew, but Husbands Never do.

If you knew

my bitter secrets,

that I’ve figured out your secrets,

why my sweet love had to run dry,

how safely I can pilot your skiff,

and balance it on the edge of a cliff,

then we could,

hop out together,

make it look like an accident together,

and for life or watery death,

disappear together,

but you don’t,

so your bittersweet secrets are safe and dry,

and I jump alone.