Archive | May 31, 2014

Artist Wanted, a short story for the Giraffe Call

May31

I asked for prompts regarding Circles here for The MicroPrompt Giraffe Call. This is written to Kelkyag’s Prompt here and is set in the pre-apoc of my Planners ‘verse.
“The Alma J. Morton Center is auditioning artists.” On the other end of the phone, Tabitha’s voice sounded both tinny and ridiculously high-pitched. “Marsh, Marsh, you have to do this.”

“Auditioning?” Marsha kept her voice low and quiet, the way she always did when talking to Tabitha. “Why is this so cool, Tabitha?”

“…auditioning artists to design and implement a large mural on the theme of ‘life, decay, life.'” Tabitha dropped her voice into a dramatic croon. “Marsh…”

“All right, all right.” Marsha flipped through her sketchbook until she found a corner bare. “Give me the information.”

~

“The Alma J. Morton Center has been, for many years, considered a bit of an enigma in downtown Rochester.” The woman on the other side of the desk leaned forward, putting her weight on her forearms. Her smile invited Marsha to share in the humor. “We’re aware of this. If the Center had a nickle for the times we’ve heard people ask ‘what do they do there, anyway?’ well, then we could launch a multi-media adverting campaign telling people what we do. Since that is not the case…”

“You’re hiring muralists?”

“A muralist, and then assistants as needed for grunt work, yes. “

“To…” Marsha glanced again at the job description. “To create a large mural on the life cycle?” A lightbulb went on in her brain. “That north wall, the one facing the Bausch and Lomb building? The one that’s four floors up before it gets to the window?” She swallowed. “That’s a big mural.”

“It is. Now, I see you brought your portfolio.” The woman held out a sketch book and a 20-pencil box. “While I peruse that, could you please draw at least one concept sketch on the theme of ‘life, decay, life?'”

Tip Circle 😉

This entry was originally posted at http://aldersprig.dreamwidth.org/722645.html. You can comment here or there.

Like Wolves, a story for the Giraffe Call

May31

I asked for prompts regarding Circles here for The MicroPrompt Giraffe Call. This is written to Clare’s Prompt here and is set in the post-apoc of my Fae Apoc ‘verse.

They were circling like wolves.

Jenna had gotten her back to a tree, but that wasn’t going to do her much good at all if they attacked. She glanced up: no branches within easy reach. She looked around – they were circling, still. They would get sick of that, soon, and close in for the kill.

The kill. Funny how the word galvanized one. The lowest branch wasn’t all that high up… or maybe she could make a dash for that pine tree there.

No. They might be circling, but they weren’t actually wolves. Wolves would have been more reasonable. Wolves would have backed off when she’d shot one of them, maybe. Maybe they could have been spooked off. These weren’t wolves.

“I don’t have anything.” Her voice was shaky. That wasn’t good; nobody was intimidating by shaky. “I barely have enough to keep myself going.”

“It’ll keep us going a bit longer.” The leader snapped forward, showing his teeth. Pointed teeth, of course. They were all such creps.

And they were circling, closer and closer. She opened her mouth – and the leader snapped his teeth at her again. “Try it pretty thing. You know we eat magic.”

“Of course you do.” Of course the wild dogs would…

…wild dogs would…

…wild dogs…

They were circling like wolves, only a few feet from Jenna and her tree non-safety. Circling like wolves, but if you looked at them, really, really Looked, what you saw…

…wasn’t lupine, it was canine.

Jenna whistled, sharp and high. “Bad dogs.”

The predators stopped circling. One of the smaller ones whined.

“Bad dogs. Sit.” She put every bit of authority behind the word. “Sit. Now.”

To a man, they sat. The leader whined, low and deep in his throat.

“Good boys.” Suddenly, Janna wondered if she had enough treats in her pack – and if jerkey counted as treats.

Tip Circle 😉

This entry was originally posted at http://aldersprig.dreamwidth.org/722218.html. You can comment here or there.