Archive | May 1, 2013

Z is for Zoology Sparks, a story of the Aunt Family for the Giraffe Call

May1

To Ellenmillion‘s prompt, with a side of stryck‘s prompt.

Zenobia is an Aunt from the Aunt Family; her stories are here. Prompting her was [personal profile] kelkyag
Zenobia was taking an interest in zoology.

She hadn’t done this solely, or even primarily, to irritate her family, although it served this purpose admirably.

It entertained her to speak to the relatives about other species that might exhibit the spark. “And what about octopuses? They have so many hands, can you imagine them reading a tarot? It would have to be a waterproof tarot, of course…”

That hadn’t been the one that had really irritated them. Zonkey, Zonkey had really gotten to her nieces and nephews. They already thought that she was more than a little zany, and, of course, she was stubborn in her refusal to die or otherwise give up her position, but zonkies? Really? Worse was when she added two to the family stables.

But there was, as there always was, a method to her madness. First, she did wish to know if there were other animals that would show what her family called the spark. There was, of course, The Damn Cat, who was clearly a cat above the rest. Were there others?

For some reason, despite his reluctance to have her look into his own past, the Damn Cat was more than willing to help Zenobia in her studies into zoology. “Stick with mammals,” he advised. “Fish are food. So are birds. And frogs…” He shuddered at the idea of frogs. “And probably stick with the females of the species.”

“Why females?”

“There is a reason your Aunties have the spark. And never mind that your Unclies have it too. Trust me.” The cat sat down on her zoology text. “The zonkies were a good start.”

This entry was originally posted at http://aldersprig.dreamwidth.org/525440.html. You can comment here or there.

Giraffe Call Still Open! Need a new prompter/donator/someone with a Z!

May1

My Giraffe Call is still open!

At the moment, I’ve written
A – B – C – D – E – F – G – H – I – J – K – L – M – N – O – P – Q – R – S – T – U – V – W – X – Y

My counts so far:
Prompter Count: 24
Extra Prompt count: 1
Donator Count: 6
Total letters to be written: 37/26

Which means I have open for prompts: – A – B – C – D – E – F – G – H – I – J – k
(and, for every new prompter/donation, another letter)

I’ve been combining a lot of prompts, and counting the prompt for either the primary theme or, if it’s a shared theme, splitting it 50/50 between prompters and counting it as half a story for each, but I’m really short on Z’s, only one of my donators left me a Z and I’ve already written 1000 stories to his prompts. And I have a Z, folks!

So please signal boost! (I need to update the poem with current-count 6 couplets) Or, if you haven’t prompted yet, go prompt.

Or there’s always

Buy an Extension
500 words $5.00 USD
750 words $7.50 USD
1000 words $10.00 USD
1250 words $12.50 USD
1500 words $15.00 USD
1750 words $17.50 USD
2000 words $20.00 USD
100 words $1.00 USD

(and leave a Z prompt)

We’re $10 from being able to afford the accessories for the foyer, and $15 from two extra continuations. If we get to $80, and/or if the letters get up to M again, I’ll do a second (or third!) non-English letter once I get all those done!

This entry was originally posted at http://aldersprig.dreamwidth.org/524988.html. You can comment here or there.

Y is for Yoshi, a story of Boom for the Giraffe Call

May1

2011, just as the war began. Fae Apoc, for [personal profile] lilfluff‘s prompt

They had a Ranch.

At the moment, they were a bit crowded on said Ranch. It had one old farmhouse and a small cabin, and they had all of Mom’s crew, and-then-some.

Yoshi and Viddie were sharing a tent, sometimes with Ruki, while Mom and Uncle Howard worked on building new houses – cabins, Uncle Howard called them. Yoshi thought they were awesome.

He knew, in a fuzzy way, that something bad was going on with the world. Sometimes he’d catch the grown-ups taking about it – Uncle Leo, usually, but sometimes the others. They’d talk about the gods that had come back.

He’d asked his mother, when he caught her attention between moving-supplies-around and building-buildings. “Gods? I thought we didn’t believe in gods.” She coughed and changed the subject, thus indicating to Yoshi that he was going to have to try harder.

He tried Uncle Howard next, only to get not only a brush-off but a half-hour lesson in house-building.

He knew better than to ask Uncle Leo, at least if he wanted an answer based in reality. Uncle Leo told the best stories, but they were still stories.

So he cornered The Refugee, Mom’s latest Kept. He was still new, and didn’t know, yet, how to avoid being cornered.

“So. Gods.”

“Um.” The Refugee – Gaheris, that was his name – blinked at Yoshi. “The ones in Vegas?”

“Yes. I thought gods were a myth.”

“Oh.” This one had also not yet learned to tell Yoshi to ask his mum. “Well. That’s what they’re called, because they’re old. But they’re a lot like your mom’s crew, really. Just bigger and more powerful.”

“Bigger and more powerful than Uncles Leo and Howard?”

“And smarter than your mom, and more clever than your Aunt Zita.” Gaheris nodded solemnly. “They’re very old.”

“Wow.” Yoshi wasn’t sure he believed him. He wasn’t sure that such creatures could exist. But it was something to think about, at least.

This entry was originally posted at http://aldersprig.dreamwidth.org/524749.html. You can comment here or there.