Jeremy Covello was getting annoyed. His client, Alexandra, had had an audition a few hours ago. Normally the shy girl would check in with him immediately afterwards so they could go over how she felt about it and what she thought she could have done better. Alexandra was a good kid, but he didn't know how she'd ever make it in Hollywood. Realistically he wouldn't have bothered representing her except that her daddy was a big shot producer and director. Jeremy figured it was a small price to pay to get a bit more of the insider scoop around her father's movies.
He glanced out the window in time to see her car pulling up. Why didn't she just phone him like normal? He sighed. Whatever. She was here now. Might as well get this over with so he could go back to his more lucrative clients.
Expecting her usual timid knock at his door, Jeremy was taken aback by the brazen young woman who barged into his office ahead of his secretary. She still looked like Alexandra, at least as far as he could tell under the professionally applied makeup (something Alexandra never wore) and in the beautifully fitting dress (again, something she never wore). Her hair, normally curly, was ramrod straight, suiting her beautifully. She walked with the easy confidence that demanded attention, rather than the mousy demeanor he was used to. She stood in front of his desk for a moment, hands on her hips.
"A...Alexandra. I was expecting a call." He managed to recover himself quickly enough. "How did the audition go?"
"Well, the part was beneath me. But I understand how these things work. I have to start somewhere, right?"
Even her words took him aback. "Right."
"I expect you'll be getting a call at any moment, telling you I killed it."
Ring! Jeremy's eyes widened as he slowly reached for the receiver. "Hello? Yes. That's fantastic news! I'll tell her right away!" He slowly replaced the receiver in the cradle. "How did you know?"
"I told you, I killed it. But that's not why I'm here today."
"It's not?"
"No, I think we need to do something more about my branding."
"Branding?"
"For one thing, I don't think 'Alexandra' has the right ring to it. And as much as using daddy's name comes with it's own set of advantages, I don't think I'll be needing those. I'm going to build my star power on my own merit."
"What..." He was very thankful to already be sitting. "What were you thinking?"
"Something along the lines of 'Lexy' has a better ring to it. You can help me with a better-sounding last name since that won't go so well with 'Lawrence.'"
Her phone beeped. She looked down at the incoming text. "Oh, that's daddy wanting to meet me for lunch. I simply have to go tell him the good news. Now be a dear and try to find me a better part than the bookstore clerk who only has one line?" And she breezed out of Jeremy's office, acting for all the world like she already was a world-famous movie star.
Saturday, December 26, 2015
Monday, November 30, 2015
No Quote for December
There's no quote for December. Like in June, you have
free reign to write a story inspired by any of the previous
quotes. So if you missed one, want to write for one of the five that have no stories (March-August 2009), needed to finish an extended story, or
just want to revisit one you liked, now's your chance!
Merry Christmas!
Merry Christmas!
Saturday, November 28, 2015
Scourge of the Seas
“Sir, we’re running out of wood!” Antoine, the shipwright of the Liberator,
gestured to the three pieces of wood he carried under his arm. “This is all we have left.”
Captain Erol’s eyes widened. “All?
Antoine shrugged. “We could always dismantle the lifeboats.”
The captain shook his head sadly. “No Antoine, I think we’re going to need
those intact.”
“But sir, they were nailed together,
too.”
Of course they were. Everything on the ship was made with
iron. It was the only way the humans had
been able to combat the fae. Iron
stopped their magic from working, which was why
every free human was loaded with the stuff.
And when the humans had decided to pursue the fae across the sea to the
islands, their ships had been heavily reinforced with iron, just like their
strongholds back on land.
And it had worked, too. The fleet had launched, and pushed the fae back, until something in the water started
to eat all the iron. The Liberator had
sprung a leak two days back. Erol had
thought nothing of it, sending Antoine to go and patch the leak. But then more and more leaks were
discovered. They started appearing
faster than the shipwright could fix them.
And then the crew realized that the leaks were springing up in places
that had been fixed already. Whatever
was causing this seemed to be eating the iron holding the ship together.
Erol closed his eyes in dismay, his
hand trying to massage away the headache pounding at his temple. “I don’t see what other choice we have.”
"What if we took the iron out?" Antoine asked thoughtfully. He put the timbers down gently
then rummaged in the pouch on his belt.
After a moment he triumphantly held up a piece of twine. “What if we lashed them together instead?”
Erol considered, mentally calculating
how long it would take. And how long
they had before the ship started sinking in earnest. “If we did this, do you think we could get to
land?”
“Sure,” the
shipwright said without hesitation. But
then his features paled. “But we wouldn’t be able to take any iron
with us.”
“What?” Erol's face reddened. “You would have us go down in history as the ones who
lost Fae Striker? And Dragon Piercer?”
“And all the others." Antoine's face was grim. "The way I see it, we’ll be
losing them either way. It’s just a
matter of whether or not we die, too.”
Dismayed, Erol realized Antoine was right. Iron was the most precious resource they had,
being the only thing to keep the fae at bay.
Each piece, whether tool, armor, or weapon, had its detailed history
recorded. Its owners were able to recite
that history from memory. Being the ship
that was scouring the seas for the fae, Liberator was not only carrying tons of iron, but was made of its own fair share. That made Liberator itself one of those precious pieces. And she was going to be lost on Erol’s watch.
But they would all grieve later if they survived. Erol turned to the shipwright. “Alright, hurry and make us
that raft. I'll round up the crew and get them to leave every piece of iron here. It'll buy us some time to get away from whatever this is. Hopefully we'll be able to make it to land to warn the others."
Antoine released the breath he'd been unconsciously holding. "Thank you, sir."
Tuesday, November 3, 2015
Voodoo
“Sir? What are you doing here?”
“Why isn’t
it obvious, Tad (not Ted)?” Mr. Decker perched
onto a bar stool. “I am in need of a
stiff drink.”
Tad (not
Ted) gestured at the puddle of water on the floor. “But sir, shouldn’t you be somewhere dry?”
“That is
entirely the problem, Tad (not Ted). I daresay I am entirely too dry.” Mr. Decker pointed at the bottle of Macallan
whiskey. “I intend to remedy that
problem presently.”
Tad (not
Ted) brought a shot glass up to the bar.
“But sir, shouldn’t you be on one of the lifeboats?”
“Plenty of
time for that, my boy,” Mr. Decker said, waving away Tad (not Ted)’s protest. “Now I’ll tell you what. I intend to engage in some record breaking
drinking. And you may watch so long as every
time I set my glass down empty there is a full one ready to take its place.”
Shaking his
head, Tad (not Ted) grabbed the bottle Mr. Decker was still pointing at and poured
the first glass. “Mrs. Decker may not
approve of your record breaking.”
“My
self-styled ‘better half’ disembarked long before this present mess.” Mr.
Decker gestured at the water, which was now up to Tad (not Ted)’s ankles. “She has decided a trip to Haiti was
preferable to spending another moment in my company.” Mr. Decker slammed the dark liquid back. As requested, Tad (not Ted) had another glass
at the ready for him.
“Perhaps
some time apart will do you both good?”
“I believe
you’re wrong there, Tad (not Ted). I
daresay Mildred is going to divorce me.
She’ll go after at least half of my fortune.”
“You can’t
know that, sir.”
Mr. Decker
slammed back another drink. “You haven’t
known that woman as long as I have, Tad (not Ted).” He picked up the drink that was waiting for
him on the bar and slammed that back, too.
“Knowing her I’ll be lucky if she only goes after half.”
Mr. Decker slammed
back the fourth drink. “Perhaps I need
to find some other way out of this mess.
One that can avoid me being financially ruined.”
Tad (not
Ted) already had the fifth shot poured. “Well
sir, what if she were caught in some unsavoury company?”
Mr. Decker
snorted as he downed the shot in his hand.
“My dear Tad (not Ted), clearly you do not know my Millie. She would never associate near anyone ‘unsavoury.’ No, the only way I could easily get her to
leave is if I no longer had any money.”
Tad (not
Ted) laughed, pouring a sixth shot while Mr. Decker grabbed the fifth. “I know how to get you started with that,
sir. Just buy this sinking vessel!”
Mr. Decker paused
before the drink made it up to his lips.
“Why I do believe you’re onto something Tad (not Ted). If I could buy a few bad investments like
this, maybe I can convince her I’m financially ruined!”
Tad (not
Ted) frowned. “I don’t think-”
He put the
drink down hurriedly. “Now you mustn’t
tell anyone at all about this, Tad (not Ted).
It’ll be our little secret.” He
jumped to his feet, ignoring the water that was now up to his knees as he dug
through his pocket for his wallet. Throwing
down some bills, he turned to leave, then turned back and downed the final
shot.
“Of course
not, sir.” Grabbing the bill, Tad (not
Ted) turned to stow the whiskey back into its place on the shelf. “Mrs. Decker does seem rather clever though,
sir. Do you really think this will work?”
“Of course
it will, Tad (not Ted). I daresay, the
only way she’ll be able to stop me is if she learns voodoo while she’s in
Haiti!” Mr. Decker turned and started
wading once again towards the doorway. “Now
come, Tad (not Ted). Let’s get off this
boat before we sink with my fortunes.”
Saturday, October 31, 2015
Friday, October 30, 2015
The Death of Ayvlin
My horse
screamed as it slammed into the tree trunk.
That’s what I get for galloping
through the forest in the middle of the night I thought as we struck. Then I was floating above the mangled heap
that was my body, my horse and the tree.
The trunk was snapped in half, with shards of wood embedded through both
me and the poor horse. There were about
a dozen armed men milling about, trying to decide what to do. Finally the Count galloped back on his
stallion, a slight frown marring his features.
He dropped the reigns from his left hand and used it to gracefully swing
off his horse, counterbalancing with his legs to make up for his missing right
limb. He regarded my body coldly for a
moment before barking orders. My body
was moved into a make-shift stretcher, which the count directed everyone to
take back to his mansion. Before turning
to follow them, he looked directly at my floating self, giving me a cold smile
and a nod before swinging back into his saddle and galloping off.
“Tis a fine
mess you’ve made, daughter,” a voice wafted up from behind me, distracting me
from the Count. I turned and found a
raven sitting in a tree above me. It had
pale blue eyes; eyes that were the splitting image of my own. It was always so disconcerting to see those
eyes staring out of a feathered face.
“This tree was young, and not yet ready to die.”
My hands
were on my hips. “At least that tree has
peace. What of me?”
The bird
dropped from the branch, transforming into a beautiful raven-haired woman. I always found it disconcerting when she did
that, mainly because in human form she looked so much like me; it was odd to
see yourself transforming from a bird.
Whenever I saw her, my mind always made note of the little differences
between us. She was slightly shorter
than me, but seemed much more imposing. Her
hair was somehow blacker than my own. And
her eyes were hardened from the millennia she had seen. “What of you?”
“What do
you call this?” I held up my hand, looking at her through it. “Am I to be damned to some purgatory for
killing the poor, defenceless tree?”
My hand
flew to my mouth as the words hung in the air between us. “I am
sorry, mother.” I knelt before her. “I deserve
to be damned. I have failed you and our
people.”
She touched
my cheek, drawing my gaze upwards to meet her smile. “Nay, daughter, you are not damned. I brought you here for a quick word. Tis all.”
The
mournful shriek of a hawk directed our gaze skyward. Tam O’Shanter was circling, frantically
searching the ground. “AYVLIN!” he screamed
before winging towards the mansion.
“He must be
mighty vexed to lose you thus,” my mother smiled. “Did you know, daughter, that his gift is to
see spirits?”
“The Count
saw me. What am I if not a spirit?”
“What are
you?” She drew closer and raised her
hand, running it gently down my cheek. “Oh
my daughter. Would that I had seen how
special you are sooner.”
“Special? I am but a lowly half breed! You yourself have told me this my whole
life! What possibly could have changed?”
“This.” She held out her hand, palm upwards, cradling
a small house sparrow. “Do you know what
this is?”
I studied
the little bird, which was shaking in her hand.
Its colouring was dull and brown, much like you would expect. But its feathers had a slight blue shine to
it. “I assume some sort of magical bird?”
Her
laughter was a raven’s caw. “No
daughter. Tis a piece of your mortal
self.” She threw the bird into the air
where it flew upwards and vanished. “It
seems that when you die, you lose only a piece of your mortal self, leaving the
Tuatha Dé to grow and strengthen.”
My mouth
hung open at this pronouncement. Here, after
all the ridicule I had suffered growing up, was the answer to all my
prayers. “So if I die a few more times,
I will no longer be human?”
“Yes.” She frowned.
“And that’s why you must remain alive at all costs.”
“But mother,
you know I -”
She waved
away my protest. “Tis your human blood
that we need now.”
I scrunched
closed my eyes in an attempt to avoid spilling any of the tears I knew were there. “You still want me to complete my mission.”
“Of course,
Ayvlin. Only you can kill the
demon. But if your humanity dies, then
like us you will be unable to touch him.”
A tear
escaped. All this time, I could have
burned the mortal blight from my soul and been fully accepted by my mother’s
people. More importantly, I could have
been whole. There was nothing stopping
me from killing my humanity and becoming Tuatha Dé as I had always wanted. But what would be the point? Doing so now would mean the death of everything
I held dear.
I drew a
deep, shuddering breath and opened my eyes to face her. “Very well, mother. I will do what you ask.”
*
Ayvlin drew
a deep breath and gasped as pain wracked her entire body. Her nose inhaled the sweet smell of incense
wafting from nearby. A stout little
woman covered in blood was sitting next to her, bandage in hand. Ayvlin recognized the woman as one of the
Count’s nurses.
“She’ll
live,” the nurse said over her shoulder, prompting several faces to materialize
around Ayvlin, who couldn’t identify them.
The world was swimming back out of view.
“Ayvlin,”
she heard one of the faces say to her. “Thank
God, we thought you were dead!”
“Now boys,
she needs to rest,” the nurse ushered them back. “That tree knocked the daylights out of her. It’s a miracle she’s awake at all! Come and visit her later!”
Ayvlin
heard their footsteps withdraw as she sank back into unconsciousness, dreading
what she would have to do when she woke back up.
Monday, October 19, 2015
Never shall you see them...
"Observation is important, the unobserved remains uncertain."
Never shall you see them, never shall you know.
They dance in the meadows, leave angels in the snow.
Blink and you shall miss her, as she capers to and fro
Never shall you see them, never shall you know
"Since the beginning of man we have sought to order and understand out world. And until today this process could not be completed because of the nature of the universe. The smallest of particles cannot be seen without affecting them, awareness of their state changes it, but makes it known."
Never shall you see them, the twinkle in an eye,
A reflection seen apon the lake, a flickered sunbeam from the sky
Deep below the ocean, when man will never pry
Never shall you see them, the twinkle in the eye
"There is a school of thought that holds that human thought and conciseness is a quantum state that is like the smallest of particles, uncertain and in flux. A mechanism that allow us to understand and contemplate a cat that is neither alive or dead - with all of the implicit ramifications, they have endeavoured to stop our final push to harness probability this way, for irrational reasons"
Never shall you see them, they run among the stars
Once they were so far away, the moon, venus and Mars!
Running in the darkness, they loose their place to hide
Never shall you see them, they run among the stars
"As we embark on this final frontier, we shall observe first hand the minute detail of uncertain events, we shall stop the long dice game with the universe and finally know everything, for certain. God help us."
Never shall you see them, the light and fire of mind
It blazes though the cosmos and catalogues all time
And in the rush for knowledge, we leave it all behind
Never shall you see them.
Never shall you see them, never shall you know.
They dance in the meadows, leave angels in the snow.
Blink and you shall miss her, as she capers to and fro
Never shall you see them, never shall you know
"Since the beginning of man we have sought to order and understand out world. And until today this process could not be completed because of the nature of the universe. The smallest of particles cannot be seen without affecting them, awareness of their state changes it, but makes it known."
Never shall you see them, the twinkle in an eye,
A reflection seen apon the lake, a flickered sunbeam from the sky
Deep below the ocean, when man will never pry
Never shall you see them, the twinkle in the eye
"There is a school of thought that holds that human thought and conciseness is a quantum state that is like the smallest of particles, uncertain and in flux. A mechanism that allow us to understand and contemplate a cat that is neither alive or dead - with all of the implicit ramifications, they have endeavoured to stop our final push to harness probability this way, for irrational reasons"
Never shall you see them, they run among the stars
Once they were so far away, the moon, venus and Mars!
Running in the darkness, they loose their place to hide
Never shall you see them, they run among the stars
"As we embark on this final frontier, we shall observe first hand the minute detail of uncertain events, we shall stop the long dice game with the universe and finally know everything, for certain. God help us."
Never shall you see them, the light and fire of mind
It blazes though the cosmos and catalogues all time
And in the rush for knowledge, we leave it all behind
Never shall you see them.
Wednesday, September 30, 2015
Just One More Level
"Hello!" I called out as I walked into the house. All I got was a vague grunt in reply. I followed the sounds of laser gun battles to my girlfriend's room. Sure enough, she was on her computer playing Star Guilds, the hot new MMORPG. Her eyes never left the screen as I walked in.
"How's it going?" I asked, taking in the stack of dirty dishes beside her. I was pretty sure the bottom few plates had been there last time I'd visited.
I walked up and put my arms around her, giving her a kiss on the cheek. This also afforded me the best view of her progress. "You ready to go to the show?"
"Just one more level," she replied. It was the only thing I'd heard from her over the last two weeks. My eyes darted to her experience meter. She had just leveled up; it would easily be several hours before she reached level 89.
I checked my watch. "If we leave now, we'll still be able to make it before the movie starts."
No reaction beyond the now familiar furious clicking of mouse and keyboard.
Coming to a decision, I sadly gave her one more kiss and let her go. "Good bye, Jen."
All I got was another grunt as I walked out the door.
"How's it going?" I asked, taking in the stack of dirty dishes beside her. I was pretty sure the bottom few plates had been there last time I'd visited.
I walked up and put my arms around her, giving her a kiss on the cheek. This also afforded me the best view of her progress. "You ready to go to the show?"
"Just one more level," she replied. It was the only thing I'd heard from her over the last two weeks. My eyes darted to her experience meter. She had just leveled up; it would easily be several hours before she reached level 89.
I checked my watch. "If we leave now, we'll still be able to make it before the movie starts."
No reaction beyond the now familiar furious clicking of mouse and keyboard.
Coming to a decision, I sadly gave her one more kiss and let her go. "Good bye, Jen."
All I got was another grunt as I walked out the door.
Monday, August 31, 2015
Sunday, August 23, 2015
She Shot Me!
“Wait here,”
Daniel said, jumping out of their 4x4. Drew
watched his brother stalk up to the camp.
Daniel’s hand moved to the knife at his belt, a kind of nervous gesture Drew
had seen since they’d moved to the camp permanently thanks to the zombies in
town.
Somehow
Daniel had known before almost everyone else had that zombies were appearing in
Thunder Bay. Daniel had picked Drew up
from school that day, their truck loaded with gear and supplies. He’d already alerted their friends about what
was happening; if he hadn’t, most of them wouldn’t have made it out of the city
alive.
It was his
forethought that brought them out to this camp further down the road. A girl Drew knew from school named Amber had had
the same idea, making it out to her uncle’s camp when the zombies had appeared;
her uncle had already been out here. Drew
wasn’t sure what had happened to the rest of her family, but he was guessing
they hadn’t made it. That’s why Daniel
brought them here today: he wanted to ask the pair of them to move to their
camp instead. Everyone would be a lot
safer in a group. Plus then they could
pool their resources together, giving everyone a better shot at survival.
Drew knew he
was incredibly lucky to have his older brother looking out for him and the rest
of their group. Daniel had always been
that ‘take charge’ sort of person, even before their parents had died. If anyone would see them through a zombie
apocalypse alive, it was definitely him.
Drew’s
thoughts were interrupted by a gun shot.
He looked at the camp and saw his older brother staggering towards the
truck, his knee a bloody ruin. Drew
jumped out of the truck and ran to help him.
“That bitch
shot me!”
Daniel’s
words made Drew pause. He didn’t know
Amber all that well. But she’d struck
him as an art nerd, always having her camera in hand. Sure, the whole zombie thing had made
everyone a bit crazy. But he couldn’t
believe she would shoot someone. Especially someone who had come with an offer
of help.
Before he
knew it, he was heading towards the camp.
“Do you want
to get yourself killed?” Daniel’s voice was a hiss. “We can come back and get her once we take
care of my knee!”
“Just a second,”
Drew said. He was at the door to the
camp now. He took a deep breath, then
called out “I’m coming in, don’t shoot!”
He poked his
head around the corner, expecting to see a gun levelled at his face. Instead he saw Amber. Tears streamed down her face. She was sitting in a pool of blood. Her uncle was down on the floor. He had a knife protruding from his
chest. Daniel’s knife. The shotgun was seemingly forgotten beside them.
“Don’t make
her shoot you, too, son.”
Drew
crouched beside the dying man. “What
happened?”
It was Amber
who answered him. “Your brother said we
were coming with him. Uncle declined.”
Her uncle
gave a laugh which came out as more of a wheeze. “He was going to take Amber anyway.”
Drew rocked
back on his heels. “I’m so sorry.”
“It’s not
your fault.”
*
A little
while later, Drew made his way back to the truck. He tossed his brother’s knife lightly onto
the dashboard. “Here’s your knife back.”
“Did you get
her?”
“What do you
think?”
Drew backed
the truck out of the camp’s driveway, knowing nothing would ever be the same.
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