Drabble 211

 Finished 6:47.

 

Dear Author,

I am your creature. I have done all that I can to make you happy, to make you proud. I have been beaten, spat on, surrendered everything I've loved, yet still I remain in the shadow of your other creations. I do not know what more you want from me. It seems like nothing I do is ever good enough, that I won't ever be worthy of my on plots, my own story. I don't know how much longer I can stand just being a side character in this story before I break. Why don't you love me?

Drabble 210

Finished 4:22.

 

Dear Author,

Consider this my notice. So far, while in you employ, I have been shot, stabbed, nearly hanged and have even spent time trapped in an alternate dimension filled with horrors the likes of which you couldn't possibly imagine. I am done. Even setting aside your blatant lack of regards for any health and safety protocol, in all of the years I have been working for you there have been no opportunities for advancement; I have spent years working in the same dead-end role, and this is not something I wish to continue any longer.

Yours sincerely, Your Creation.

Drabbles 208 and 209

Okay, so I missed one day. I got about twenty words written and then fell asleep. Day 208 was a long day for me. That makes this strike... *searched through past entries to find out which strike we're on* ... strike six. Yesterday's entry actually was finished on time, at 6:57 (gave myself an extra hour, remember, because nocturnal), I just forgot to post it, and so does not constitute a strike. And now, without further ado, here's your belated drabble 208:

 

The puny human was hiding behind some dustbins, desperately hoping that the werewolf wouldn't notice them there or would find something more interesting to do and leave. This wasn't to be, however, as when the werewolf couldn't find any suitable prey it decided to curl up and go to sleep, right in that very alleyway. That left the human with only two options: stay where they were and hope that the werewolf didn't wake, or try to sneak past the sleeping monster and hope that it didn't wake. Either way, the odds didn't look very good from the human perspective.

 

And drabble 209, on finished on time at 6:57 but posted much, much later:

 

“Okay, s/he's definitely dead this time,” said Blue, poking the now rotting corpse of the Author with a stick. He turned away and asked, “So now what do we do?”

“Don't ask me,” replied Raven; “I wasn't even sure we'd continue to exist after this. I have no idea what happens next.”

“Maybe we have free-will now,” suggested Blue.

“I think we might have had that from the start,” said Raven.

“Are we really about to start a philosophical debate over the rotting corpse of our creator?” asked Blue.

Raven shrugged. “There doesn't seem to be anything else going on.”

Drabble 207

Finished 3:43. Okay, I know I said that this one would be during the day, but I started it before midnight and that's still daytime as far as I'm concerned - it was barely dark. And okay, by started it I mean I typed two words and dicked about on tumblr for three hours. That's about the best you can really expect from me, I'm afraid.

 

The werewolf prowled the streets, searching for the unfortunate human that it knew was out there somewhere. It could smell it, fear and despair and a small amount of urine, but it was mixed in with the smell of the streets and the werewolf couldn't quite pinpoint a location. This worked out better than the otherwise unfortunate human had been expecting, as werewolves actually have surprisingly short attention spans and are easily distracted. All it took was a cat knocking over some dustbins down the road and, with no human in sight anyway, the werewolf bounded off to chase it.

Drabble 206

Finished 6:54. I promise the next will be written during the daytime. 

This ones a bit clumsy in places, since it didn't seem to want to sit at 100 words.

 

The werewolf had its target cornered, pinned against the wall of an old manor house. There was nowhere left for them to run, and now the werewolf was closing in, savouring every second. The werewolf coiled its muscles, pulled back it lips, revealing yellowed fangs dripping with saliva, getting ready to spring. The werewolf was sailing through the air towards its prey when the screech of a cat in the distance drew its attention. The werewolf twisted in the air, bouncing off the wall of the house, and bounded into the distance, yapping excitedly, leaving the human confused but relieved.

Drabble 205

 Finished 6:57. Hey, I said I was amending it to 7am deadline, so not technically late.

 

Back in the stables, Blue's pony was getting irritable. She stamped her hooves and gnawed on the woodwork. She had been sitting around in the stables, with absolutely nothing to do, while Raven's mare had been out and about getting kidnapped by the leprechaun, and it was beginning to frustrate her. When Blue came running into the stables she lamented that she did not have thumbs with which to drag him outside to find something to do. Unfortunately, the best she could do was continue to paw the ground, gnaw on the woodwork and hope Blue would get the message.

Drabble 204

Finished 6:00.

 

Blue went straight into the stables when they got back, since Raven had headed straight for the liquor cabinet, and nearly died on the spot when he found that Raven's horse was missing. He made sure to check absolutely everywhere, the stables and the field and even a good portion of the woods before going back into the cottage and sitting tentatively next to Raven. “I have some bad news,” he said, and Raven replied, “Is it something you really want to tell me in this mood?” Blue thought about it and, deciding that Raven did have a point, left.

Drabble 203

 Finished 6:14.

 

After hours of arguing round in circles with the townspeople as to whether or not Raven was in any way responsible for their recent suffering, Raven finally gave up and set off home, Blue trailing behind him. “I think it might be time to start looking at properties elsewhere,” Blue suggested. Raven clenched his fists, but said nothing. “We could move further south,” Blue continued; “it'll be warmer there, and I'm sure that it'll rain less.”

“We are not moving anywhere!” snapped Raven. “You somehow managed to cause this mess, and you're going to either fix it or get out!”

Drabble 202

Finished 6:22. I may need to change the day changeover for this thing to 7am. Nocturnal and all.

 

A group of survivors were moving through the woods, the zombie horde shuffling along after them. It was hardly the most appropriate time for one to stop and answer the call of nature, but apparently it had been too much effort to use the bathroom before leaving the shelter. He probably should have done, though, since just as soon as he had his trousers around his ankles a zombie shambled out of the trees. Attempting to run with your trousers down never ends well, and the survivor immediately found himself face-first in the dirt, with a zombie on his back.

Drabble 201

Finished 6:06.

Raven and Blue returned to the town-square to find dozens of angry townspeople waiting for them. Judging by the lack of chatter the town meeting had already finished, and that so many were still there couldn't be a good sign. A man that Raven thought might have been the mayor, but he wasn't entirely certain, stomped over to them and said to Raven, accusingly, “You know, we've only started having all of this trouble since you moved into the area.”

“Actually,” Blue cut in,”Raven was here longer than that. You've only been having trouble since I moved into the area.”

Drabble 200

Finished 4:24. This is number 200, and damn I didn't actually think I could hold it up this long. I am long past the halfway point here, and... just... damn...

 

Of all the things to survive a fire, it was the café that was still standing. Raven had dragged Blue inside and left the townspeople in the square to wonder what on Acellevin a leprechaun was and why it would set their town on fire. Blue was carefully laying out napkins on his lap, making sure to cover every last bit of skin since if he didn't he could guarantee he'd spill something on himself. Raven was sat quietly drinking tea across from him, probably wondering just what had he done with his life that had gotten him sat there.

Drabble 199

Finished 6:09. Yeah, yeah, ten minutes late. And I swear this leprechaun is becoming my go-to for when I have no ideas.

 

Blue was investigating the ruins of one of Raven's preferred taverns when he was shoved from behind, sending him sprawling into the dirt and rubble. He got up just in time to see a little green-suited man disappearing around a corner, brushed the dust and ash from himself and, doing his best to look intimidating, chased after the leprechaun.

About half an hour later Blue stumbled into the town meeting, entirely naked and barely covering himself with his hands, situated himself next to Raven and said, “This might sound crazy, but I think the leprechaun may have started the fire.”

Drabble 198

Finished 3:53.

 

After they had finally gotten the fire under control, the townspeople gathered for an impromptu meeting in the town-square. Though not technically a member of the town, Raven decided to sit in, though for obvious reasons he let Blue waiting at the outskirts of town. It didn't take long for everybody to come into agreement that they had absolutely no idea what to do. Raven might have found it funny how lost and pitiful the townspeople seemed, but the swordsmith's, the grocer’s and his favourite pub had all been damaged in the fire, and he didn't have any ideas, either.

Drabble 197

 Finished 4:16.

Raven and Blue arrived in town to find that everything was on fire. “What did you do?” demanded Raven.

“Me?” asked Blue. “Don't look at me, I found it like this.”

“Well how else is the town on fire?” asked Raven.

“I don't know; maybe somebody forgot to put a lantern out or something. Most of the houses are made out of wood and thatch, it's hardly difficult to believe a small fire could spread.” Raven couldn't deny it was a reasonable theory, but he wasn't about to just accept that Blue wasn't somehow involved in any carnage they encountered.

Drabble 196

Finished 5:58.

 

There was nothing that the young monster was more afraid of than the children it was certain lived above the bed. Though it often peaked out from under the bed during the night, when it knew it would be safe in the darkness, during the day it was sure it saw feet and legs moving across the floor. Though it had been told repeatedly that humans were not real, and there certainly weren't any living above the bed, that didn't help it to sleep any better in the day when it was sure every creak and thump was human footsteps.

Drabble 195

Finished 1:44.

 

The first people who died in the zombie apocalypse were the survivalists. That may sound unusual, but it in fact made perfect sense. Nobody acted quite so foolishly as those who thought they knew exactly what they were doing, and worst of all were the survivalists with rigid, unchangeable plans who, certain the they were already guaranteed survival, were unable to adapt when there plans weren't nearly as effective as they'd expected. The most common cause of death amongst survivalists, however, was related to guns failing to fire, often due to poor maintenance prior to the end of the world.

Drabble 194

Finished 3:32.

“Get up,” snapped Raven, attempting to shove Blue off of the bed.

“No,” replied Blue.

“Get up,” Raven repeated.

“I don't want too,” said Blue.

“I will go and get a bucket of cold water to pour on you if you don't get up right now.”

“Good. It's far too hot,” said Blue. Raven would have happily called his bluff and fetched a bucket of water to tip on him, except it really was far too hot out and he didn't want to carry it back from the well, so instead he dragged Blue off the bed by his ankles.

Drabble 193

Finished 6:00.

“Why do I have to do this?” whined Blue, throwing the duster at Raven's head and missing significantly. “Because I don't want to,” said Raven from his chair.

“That's it? Because you don't want to? You're not going to try and find a way to take the moral high ground on this, paint yourself as the victim somehow?” asked Blue, incredulous.

“I don't need to,” said Raven. “I have a sword, years of combat training, and most importantly I have the key for the pantry, so unless you want to feed yourself, you'll just have to do as I say.”

Drabble 192

Finished 5:28. See if you can spot the reference.

 

The first port of call for any supposedly savvy survivor when the zombie apocalypse finally hit was anywhere one might hope to acquire a gun. This was all well and good for those in the West Country, where everybody and there mum is packing, but for the rest of the country it meant hundreds of people scrambling to nearby military bases and police stations, as though expecting them to just hand out guns to civilians. Obviously this wasn't the case, and all that they accomplished was providing an easily located, practically all you can eat buffet for the shambling hordes.

Drabble 191

Finished 5:59.

 

The zombie hoard shuffled through the streets, not so much searching for fresh food as kind of hoping that they would stumble upon it or, as was far more likely in these situations, that fresh food would do something pathetically stupid to gain their attention. And in true human fashion, the instant two survivors came into contact with one another the stupid reached critical mass and within five minutes several car alarms had been set off, though nobody knew or particularly cared how; they were only interested in chasing down the survivors, and the survivors were only interested in fleeing.

Drabble 190

Finished 5:55.

 

As the hoards of zombies shambled about outside, what few survivors had not yet manages to get themselves killed were hiding in an office building. It was multi-storey, with big heavy doors that the zombies would never be able to get through. In the unlikely occurrence that the zombies did get into the building then they would need to shuffle up multiple flights of stairs to get the survivors, giving them chance to barricade themselves in. Unfortunately, that's as far as their planning had gone and they hadn't gathered any supplies. Within a month they had all starved to death.

Drabble 189

Finished 5:44. These zombie shorts are way too much fun, but I'm quickly running out of ways for everybody to die.

 

A group of survivors, hiding out in the woods, had lit a small fire in order to keep themselves warm. This might not have been a bad idea if any of them had any idea about maintaining a fire, but small fires don't tend to remain small, especially not in the middle of the woods, surrounded by potential fuel. The fire had only been left unattended for half of an hour at most while the survivors slept before the grass caught, and then the trees caught, and quicker than anyone could realise and escape the whole forest was on fire.

Drabble 188

Finished 5:07.

 

As the zombie apocalypse was getting into full swing, the rapidly shrinking number of survivors were taking refuge in any building they could get into. One particular survivor was hiding in one of the screens at a cinema, trying desperately not to draw the attention of the zombie manager. The zombie had just shuffled past that screen and was slowly moving towards the door and away from the survivor when, of all things, the survivor's mobile rang. They didn't have time to question how they still had service when the world was ending before the zombie charged into the screen.

Drabble 187

Finished 5:49. I have no idea if I've already done one like this. I may have done. I've painted over a hundred horses in my lifetime so I'm pretty sure that I can live with two similar drabbles.

 

After losing many men to the flames and jaws of the dragon, the knight finally agreed to lead his men around through the woods, and to attack the dragon from behind. It was dishonourable, and certainly wouldn't make for a good ballad that would impress many a maiden, but at least it would get the job done. It would have gotten the job done, anyway, but as the knight sneaked up to the dragon, ready to slip his sword between its ribs, the dragon lay down, crushing the knight without even realising it, and sending his now leaderless men fleeing.

Drabble 186

Finished 6:00 exactly.

 

As the weather was getting warmer, the number of insects about was rapidly increasing. This included a surprising number of mosquitoes, and it wasn't that much of a surprise when Blue finally came out of his room one morning, once again wearing clothes. “Let me guess?” said Raven; “nudity and mosquitoes didn't mix well.”

“I can hurt you, Raven. Don't test me right now because I am not in the mood,” spat Blue. Raven just smiled and said, “It might help you to invest in some shirts.” Blue moved to slap him, but Raven was already fleeing to his office.

Drabble 185

Finished 5:22. Tired, and completely out of ideas.

 

In the week following their hunting trip and the apparent reappearance of the leprechaun, Blue had refused to wear so much as underwear, and whatever excuses he'd made throughout the week Raven knew it was only to make him uncomfortable. He'd been trying to think of a way to take revenge, but had been coming up blank. Stealing Blue's clothes would hardly do anything when he wasn't wearing them, and even if he had been comfortable walking around undressed, he doubted that would bother Blue much. It didn't help that Raven really wasn't nearly as creative as Blue would be.

Drabble 184

Finished 5:57. Just so you know, I'm currently sleeping about 8am until mid-afternoon. Hence these coming as late as they are.

 

After they had passed their third villager on the way back home, and not one of them had felt any need to comment on Blue's state of undress, Raven finally had to turn to Blue and ask, “Why is nobody bothered that you're naked?”

“Maybe they're not just as sexually repressed as you?” suggested Blue. Raven gave Blue his absolute best glare, something that had long since stopped bothering Blue, and Blue shrugged his shoulders and said, “Raven, I literally do not even own a shirt. They see me topless daily, they must've known the trousers coming off was inevitable.”

Drabble 183

Finished 3:48.

 

After searching the area around the lake twice, and rather thoroughly too, Raven had to concede that the leprechaun having stolen Blue's clothes was in fact plausible. It was most definitely not the result that he'd been hoping for, because that meant that Blue would be walking back through the woods naked, and Raven hadn't an idea how he'd explain it if they ran into anybody on the way. “Does a little bit of human flesh really offend you that much?” asked Blue when Raven returned with his eyes closed, barely avoiding walking into several trees; “Wow, you are repressed.”

Drabble 182

Finished 5:31. The worst thing is when you have one absolutely perfect, except it's just one word over and you can't find a word to take out :(

 

Raven was packing deer meat ready to return home when Blue came running back from wherever he'd gone, soaking wet and, much to Raven's disgust, entirely naked. He did his best to cover his eyes, since Blue was making no effort to cover anything, and said, “For heaven’s sake put some clothes on; please!”

“The lake was much colder than I was expecting,” said Blue. “Why do they always have to look like the water's warm when it's freezing?”

“That's wonderful but would you please put some clothes on?” asked Raven.

“I think the leprechaun stole my clothes,” said Blue.