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[xenoficcingkaren]

Ficlet #6

Prompt: snore

It'd been a long day, and it wasn't until after 22:00 that Jr. had a moment to himself.  He looked forward to curling up in his big leather chair and reading until his vision went blurry.  Maybe something by Stevenson.

When he got to the little corner of the men's cabin that had been sectioned off for his use, Jr. was brought up short.  His chair was occupied: MOMO was slouched down, a book of fairytales open and facedown on her chest.  She made one of the soft wheezes that were her version of a snore.

Jr. started reaching out to shake her awake, then he thought better of it.  There was something endearing about the way she was curled up, a strand of pink hair stuck to her lips.  He placed the book back on the shelf, then slipped his jacket off and spread it across her chest and shoulders.

Quietly, Jr. set up a cot, and let the sound of MOMO's breathing lull him to sleep.

[xenoficcingkaren]

Ficlet #5

Prompt: share an excerpt in which there is a cat

"Get doun frahm therr!"

François understood not the strange howling of the human, too focused on the delicious scent of rosemary and olive oil rising from the row of warm baguettes.  She stood on her pawtips on the edge of the display table, her tail flicking sideways for balance.  Her nostrils flared, and her jaws parted in anticipation.

As her teeth sank into the crusty loaf, François saw the world go dark and felt fingers wrap around her middle.  Wretched human!  Take your unwelcome digits elsewhere!  Howl uselessly some other place!  But leave a hungry cat to the bread she deserves—

—or face the claws.

[xenoficcingkaren]

Ficlet #4

Prompt: petrichor

Shion staggered through the woods bordering the southern side of Dasgupta, and slipped in a puddle of mud. As she dropped to one knee, the mud splashing her clothes and face, she cursed the rain and the night and her own exhaustion. She felt like she was caught in a nightmare.

Beyond the trees, the city burned, the fires reflected in the stormclouds. There was no sound, however, just a hellish glow and the occasional flash of an explosion. It was the last place Shion wanted to go to, the place where circumstances demanded she be. She couldn't stay in this peaceful forest, with its rustling leaves and scent of petrichor.

No, her place was where it burned.

[xenoficcingkaren]

Ficlet #3

Prompt: motorbike

"That's quite a birthday present."  Jr. tried to downplay his excitement, but the hitch in his voice and the way his hands kept reaching for the machine in front of him gave him away.

Gaignun smiled, and clapped a hand on Jr.'s left shoulder.  "I thought you'd like it."

It was a red and black replica Ducati DesertX—a replica, because Ducati hadn't existed for more than four thousand years—lovingly recreated and now stored in their private garage.  By modern standards it was a simple machine, but just the act of looking at it transported Jr. back to a time when humanity had only one world to explore, when what existed over that ridge could be . . . anything.

The temptation was too great.  Jr. decided to screw decorum, and swung his left leg over the seat of the wonderful motorbike.

[xenoficcingkaren]

Ficlet #2

Prompt: lies

The whispers hid where only Andrew could hear them.  Monster.  Murderer.  Mutant. The surgeries and the prescriptions were unequal to the task of silencing them; all the scalpel wrought were scars on his brain.

On most days he could distract himself.  Leticia liked going out; Andrew could pretend that the noise of the street musicians and the nightly throngs his wife preferred were enough to (Abnormal.  Garbage.  "Lies!  Lies!) drown out the whispers, that the words were just garbled choruses from a hundred throats.

There was even a whole month of blessed quiet, with no whispers, and Leticia would steal glances in his direction.  Then the mail came, and Andrew discovered his wife agreed with the voices, who began to roar.

[xenoficcingkaren]

Why is titling stories easy but blog posts hard?

I made this a while ago but I couldn't decide how to use it. Now I think I'll use it to store my "one word prompt excercise" drabbles and ficlets for Xenosaga.

Here's one to start with.

Prompt: chocolate tree

Loans Street bustled with afternoon traffic, mostly pedestrian.  Up and down the street shops had their doors thrown open to the public, and the Smile Bakery was no exception.  The scent of freshly baked breads, pastries, cakes and cookies wafted through the doors.

Standing in front of the display window, MOMO inhaled.  A part of her mind broke the scents down to their individual components; the rest of her simply identified the smells as rich, warm, bready, spiced, nutty, herbaceous, fruity, chocolaty. A hunger that was more want than need gripped her, and she headed inside.

MOMO found the source of the chocolate scent on the central table: an arrangement of tree-shaped butter cookies, dipped in chocolate and flecked with green and pink sprinkles.  She plucked a half dozen of the most appealing trees from the wonderful forest, and headed for the register.

Five minutes later she was seated on a bench on Loans Street, ready to bite into a chocolate tree.

Uh, yeah. Hi. 😅❤