𝗔𝗠𝗕𝗬𝗦 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟮 𝗪𝗜𝗡𝗡𝗘𝗥 · A collection of short stories of the sci-fi, fantasy and quirky kind. Take a quick spin around the clouds of Olympus to the frozen wastes of Jupiter's icy moon |
The very first story, The Goddess of Door Hinges, is...
Tired of reading stories with boring old teens, high schools, magic, parallel universes and the most cliché of all—human characters? This is a writing exercise to avoid all of that unsightly cliché-ness! Hmph!
Winner of the Just Different contest on BeyondSol and featured on their Spatium Austero anthology. I wrote over 2,500 words, but had to whittle it down to fit the 1000-word rule.
Prompt: Create a planet which is in no way (or the least way) similar to the Earth!
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It started out as just another day on Makaral. I flexed my bulked up arm and swung my massive club at the Karavil that endangered the lives of my kin.
The Karavil's humongous rotary wings whipped up a tornado of debris and flattened the vegetation. The club missed the mark by an inch, and its seventh limb swiped at my exposed thorax. I let out a bellow of pain as blue blood spurted from my wound.
"Stay away from us, you freak!" I yelled.
"I didn't catch that," the Karavil droned, hovering just out of reach.
"That's 'cause your crappy ears have the acoustic range of a panispoon!" I hurled a few curses.
With a planet-shattering scream, I launched myself into the air and swung my club again. I watched the Karavil's many optical sensors widen, flashing me a reflection of myself. I was a formidable sight—at least, the side of me that was twisted in anticipation of the colossal impact.
It came in a nanosecond.
The Karavil crashed to the ground with a sickening crunch, and its wings crumpled. Then I thudded to the ground and rolled to a stop. I surveyed the fallen form. It didn't move.
My whole body heaved with exertion as I sprawled on the ground and stared at the violet sky. This was indeed just another day at Makaral, the fifth planet of the Haal system. It wasn't like those boring spherical planets. Makaral was a cubic planet with bits sticking out to break the clean geometry.
I stretched out my gossamer filaments and unfurled my delicate sail to soak in the sunlight. While my system recharged, I watched a worm crawl out of a hole in the ground. Its filmy, purple skin stood out on the carpet of yellow needleleaf. I squashed it. Another worm arrived to inspect the mess. I squashed that one too.
I scrambled to my feet again. I shouldn't be taking breaks when my village was in danger.
Soon afterwards, I galloped down the hill to my village, where sails glinted on roofs as they soaked up the sun's rays. I spied a fellow warrior fighting off another Karavil in the distance, her battle arm heavy with bulging muscle.
The Karavils were a never-ending menace, and no one knew how they originated. The war between the Karavils and us Labu was as old as time.
Wind whipped me as I picked up speed, and I practically flew as if I were one with nature. Pink cactuses dotted the landscape, adorned with elaborate blooms.
