Drabble 304

Finished 4:06.

They found Blue cowering behind a tree, muttering to himself about elves and giant hounds, and Araziel thought they might actually have broken him. “Blue, would you please attempt to regain some coherency, just for one moment?” asked Araziel.

“Nope,” chimed Blue, smiling a little to widely for it not to be at least a little uncomfortable for him. Aengus crouched down in front of him, getting right up against his face, and said softly, almost singing, “Blue...” And then he slapped Blue across the face hard enough that the grin dropped from his face and he stopped his muttering.

Drabble 303

Finished 5:53.

Araziel and Aengus, whoever he was, followed the path along where Blue had run off. Somehow Aengus seemed to know where they were going, which with all Araziel had seen there was actually a little unnerving. “You still haven't told me what exactly you are,” said Araziel, when they had been walking long enough for her to relax. “Oh, haven't I?” replied Aengus, cheerily. “I have a great many shapes. This one's nearly a human but isn't quite. And I've another that's almost a dog, but it isn't quite. I don't suppose that answers your question, though, now does it?”

Drabble 302

Finished 6:45.

Araziel was still standing there frozen when the man approached her, holding out a hand for her to shake. When she did come back to her senses she was barely able to mumble out, “Who are you? What are you?” The man cocked his head to the side, looking far too dog-like to not make Araziel uncomfortable, and studied her carefully. “I go by many names,” he said after a moment, “but I suppose you can call me Aengus.” He was still holding out his hand for Araziel to shake, and she took it tentatively, never meeting his eyes.

Drabble 301

Finished 6:32.

When the giant dog that had seen fit to sit itself in their path got up and moved towards them, Blue's first instinct had been to hide behind Araziel. Of course, this would have been far easier if she hadn't already been hiding behind him. When the dog began to contort itself and shift its form into that of a man, that was when Blue had finally had enough. He turned on his heel, loudly proclaiming, “Nope, not happening,” and ran back the way they had come as quickly as he possibly could, leaving Araziel standing frozen in the path.

Drabble 300

 Finished 6:56. There are now 30,000 words of this. I have no idea how it happened.

“Seriously? Three hundred of these and we're still sitting around the woods? What is the Author doing?” asked Blue.

“I'd rather not know,” replied Araziel; “But at least they sent wine.” She held up the bottle for Blue to see, shaking it so he could tell how much was gone. “Oh, well that makes everything better,” spat Blue. He snatched the bottle away from Araziel but didn't drink any, and refused to give it her back when she asked. “And why,” said Blue, holding the bottle away from Araziel's reach, “am I the only one here without a drinking problem?”

Drabble 299

Finished 7:08. Yeah, yeah, I know, super late. I basically don't sleep which really doesn't help with this.

Raven was searching through Anansi's maps, looking for any point before General Mary-Tzu's camp where he could slip away from Anansi and get to Tzu in time to warn her. Anansi was stood behind him, a little too close, and playing with his hair. “What are you up to?” he asked, fiddling with the twine that held Raven's hair back. He untied the knot, allowing Raven's hair to fall over his face, much to the other man's annoyance. “What makes you think I'm up to something?” snapped Raven, pushing back his hair.

“Because you're always up to something,” replied Anansi.

Drabble 298

Finished 6:59.

It didn't take too long for Araziel to tire of waiting and demand they set off again. Blue grumbled the whole time, arguing they would be safer staying where they were until Raven finally got off his haunches and came looking for them, since he knew the woods so much better than they did. They continued like this, Blue grumbling and Araziel ignoring him, until a small detour around a tightly packed group of trees brought them face-to-face with a very large dog. Blue might even have said 'I told you so' of he hadn't been so terrified.

Drabble 297

Finished 6:36.

Out by the lake very little lived. Few birds would land there, and dogs that were walked past would refuse to approach the water's edge. However, when the local children walked past, a snout and a pair of eyes would pop out of the water, watching them go past. Once a young boy had approached the lake, when he'd been walking past alone, and was surprised when a sleek, beautiful horse slipped out of the water. He wouldn't tell anyone what he'd seen, though, for when he reached out to stroke the horse's nose he was pulled into the lake.

Drabble 296

Finished 5:59. The mouse pad on my laptop has almost completely gone and it's becoming a real pain.

Raven did his best to look around Anansi's office while he bustled about getting all of his maps and files out, but there really was nothing in there. It occurred to him that there had been a time not long ago when his cottage had looked very much the same, with bare walls and empty sides, and that thought made him uncomfortable. In a way he felt sorry for Anansi; he remembered what it had been like when he had nothing in his life but his work, and no matter what happened he wasn't willing to go back to that.

Drabble 295

Finished 6:30.

Anansi seemed to be in a better mood than he had been the night before, and far more relaxed. He was chatting away happily, completely unaware that Raven was paying little attention to him and a lot of attention to potential avenues of escape. “It'll be such a relief when that woman is finally dead and I can go back home,” said Anansi, and Raven nodded quietly and tried to estimate the distance between an open window and the ground. He was 50/50 on whether or not it would be worth the risk of a broken leg to jump out.

Drabble 294

 Finished 3:58.

In an old, decrepit house which had lain abandoned for many years their lived a brownie. Each day the brownie attempted to clean the house, or as much of the house as it could, but it was fighting a losing battle. With nobody in the house the dust gathered quickly, dirt built up over the floors and dead bugs would lie for days where they had dropped before the brownie would get to them. Despite this the house was home, and when the demolition team came in to tear the old house down the brownie couldn't bear to leave it.

Drabble 293

Finished 6:02.

After what felt to them like an eternity, though the sun still hadn't set and nothing had changed within the woods, not even a stirring of the wind, sitting around with nothing to do, Araziel finally turned to Blue and asked, “What gives? Usually we can't yet you to sit still long enough to get you dressed; you should be burning the whole forest down by now.”

“Honestly?” replied Blue; “I'm in actual, physical pain right now. I really should be burning the whole forest down. I really want to”

“Then why aren't you?” asked Araziel.

“No matches,” replied Blue.

Drabble 292

Finished 2:02. And now I need to go sleep so I can actually be functional in the morning.

Araziel had been doing her best to get a proper look around the woods, while Blue had been doing his best to stop her from wondering too far off. “This is ridiculous. Where is the Author?” she snapped.

“I don't know,” snapped Blue, guiding Araziel back to where they were supposed to be resting. “I think they have something on in the morning. They're probably actually sleeping for once.”

“Blue, what are you talking about? The Author can't have something on; they have no life.”

“Maybe they found one somewhere?” suggested Blue. “There must be lives going spare some place.”

Drabble 291

Finished 6:11.

It was something of a relief when Anansi finally came to let Raven out of the dungeon, even if he was the absolute last person Raven wanted to see right then. He took a moment to inspect Raven's wrists, tutting when he saw the bruises that had already formed. “You just don't learn, do you?” he said, running a thumb over the grazed skin of one wrist. “I am beginning to see that personal development may not be one of my strengths,” Raven acknowledged, and it was taking all of his restraint not to punch Anansi right in the face.

Drabble 290

Finished 5:23.

Araziel was sitting impatiently, tapping her foot on the ground and drumming her fingers on her knee. “Blue, can we please get moving again now? You've had plenty long enough to rest,” she said. Blue, who was sat against a tree rubbing his feet, argued, “I still haven't gotten all of the feeling back. And besides, I'm not sure that the Author even remembers that we're out here. We aren't exactly going to get very far if that's the case – what even happens if the Author forgets about us? Will we just have to sit here waiting until they remember?”

Drabble 289

Finished 4:08.

Blue and Araziel had been walking for longer than either of them cared to measure when Blue finally exclaimed, “That's it! We're sitting down and taking a break right now. If we walk any further I think my feet are going to drop off.”

“We aren't stopping now,” snapped Araziel. “These woods aren't that big; we should be out of here soon enough.”

“Araziel, I don't think time and space are working like they normally do right now, and I'm not sure we've even been walking in a straight line. We're sitting down to take a rest, and that's final.”

Drabble 288

Finished 6:26.

The selkie had been living on land for many years, in a beautiful cottage by the sea with a man whom she adored. As happy as she was there, though, still she longed for the sea. Each day she would awake and gaze out across the waves as her husband dressed for work. Eventually it would get the better of her, and one day the husband would come home to find his wife gone and her sealskin no longer where she had kept it, and he would know there was one more seal playing is the sea beside their cottage.

Drabble 287

This was finished on-time at 3:36 but couldn't be uploaded due to lack of internet connection.

It took a while for Blue to pull himself up out of the ditch, and during all that time Araziel was stood watching him from the path, not even bothering to help. “If you're going to keep pushing me into ditches, you could at least help get me out of the afterwards,” Blue snapped.

“Alternatively you could stop being so irritating and then I wouldn't need to push you into ditches, now would I?” suggested Araziel.

“Or, better yet, I continue to be irritating but you stop pushing me into ditches anyway because it isn't a nice thing to do.

Drabble 286

Finished 5:05.

At some point whilst they were walking through the woods Blue had began singing, and Araziel was becoming increasingly tempted to hit him. She had told him multiple times to shut up, but anybody who thought that might actually work clearly hadn't known Blue very long at all, and the problem with the woods being so quiet is it made Blue sound all the louder. After what felt like hours, but couldn't possibly have been nearly so long with so little change in the light, Araziel finally snapped and shoved Blue into a ditch at the side of the road.

Drabble 285

 Finished 4:19.

It took only a couple of hours in the dungeon for Raven to remember why they were used as a form of punishment. There was no way he could get comfortable enough to sleep while chained to the wall, even without the cold and the damp keeping him up, and there was absolutely nothing with which he could occupy himself throughout the night. He ended up spending half the night trying to get out of the chains, and spent the rest of the night trying desperately not to move so that he wouldn't aggravate the wounds he'd caused himself struggling.

Drabble 284

Finished 4:06.

Raven hated to give Anansi any sort of credit, but he'd done a pretty good job of setting up an actual dungeon in the basement of the manor house. He'd even gone so far as to have several chains attached to one of the walls, presumably so he couldn't just strangle a guard sent to check on him and escape. “You know, it still stands,” said Anansi as he fastened a chain around Raven's wrist; “you're more than welcome to spend the night with me.”

“And it still stands that I would rather choke on my own intestines,” spat Raven.

Drabble 283

Finished 3:27.

“Okay, that's it,” snapped Araziel; “if we sit here any longer I'll actually go mad. We can't get any more lost than we already are.” She stood up, gathered up her skirts and started walking before Blue had even had chance to move. “Don't leave me!” he whined, jogging to catch up with Araziel. “We don't even know where we're going,” Blue told her. He looked back to the small clearing where they'd been sitting but it had already disappeared from sight. “I don't care where we're going so long as it's away from here,” snapped Araziel, increasing her pace.

Drabble 282

Finished 3:25.

The barghest lay at the roadside, awaiting any cars that would pass through the narrow country roads. In times gone passed, when carriages had been pulled by horses, it had been far easier to stop them. All the barghest had needed to do was lay there and the horses would spook as they passed, but now the barghest often needed to run into the road just so the drivers would stop. So few even bothered to step out of their car where the barghest could get to them, and each year fewer and fewer people would disappear along those roads.

Drabble 281

Finished 3:38.

At the ruins of an an old castle far off in the Scottish countryside there lived a Boggart. Many years ago, when the castle had been vibrant and alive, the boggart had knocked on the doors and castle walls at night. It had soured the milk, hidden Her Ladyship's jewels, and chased away dozens of fine horses. But now the castle was empty and had fallen into disrepair, and there was no more mischief for the boggart to wreak. With no one left to torment and no more animals to frighten away, the boggart would gradually fade away to nothing.

Drabble 280

 Finished 3:43.

After Anansi had packed everything away and they'd both sat down to a late supper, Raven asked, as he picked at his food, “So now what?”

“Well,” replied Anansi, “now we get some sleep. We can finalise plans and start putting things into action in the morning. I hope you don't take this personally, by the way, but you'll be spending the night in the dungeons.”

“And what if I don't want to?”

“I'm not having you left unattended. If it bothers you that much you can always spend the night with me.”

“But those dungeons suddenly sound so inviting.”

Drabble 279

 Finished 3:58.

Around the cauldron stood the witches, watching as it boiled and bubbled. Eye of newt, toe of toad and a dozen or so other strange and fantastic ingredients floated in the cauldron, slowly melting into the murky water. One of the witches dipped a ladle into the cauldron, brought it to her lips and tasted the contents. She coughed and spluttered, spitting the hot liquid onto the cave floor. “What? What is it? What's wrong?” asked a second witch, as the first continued to spit onto the cave floor. The witch stopped spitting just long enough to reply; “Needs salt.”

Drabble 277 and 278

 Missed yesterday. That's... strike 9? I think? The aim is basically to keep it below 12 for the year (an average of one per month). Here's yesterday's, finished at 3:17 a day late.

“Do you have any idea what our Author is doing?” asked Araziel.

“No, why?” replied Blue. He had been drawing in the mud with a stick but was quickly finding that he couldn't get nearly the amount of detail he wanted on the entrails, so he was glad of something else to do; even if that something was talking to Araziel. “Well, it seems like we've been sat here an awfully long time... Just what are they doing?”

“If I knew that do you really think we'd still be sitting here?” asked Blue. “They've probably fallen asleep on the job.” 

And now tonight's, finished at 3:39.

It was getting late and Raven was pretty sure Anansi would need to retire soon – he never had been good with late nights – and Raven hoped to make his move soon. Anansi had sent for a servant to bring something to eat and was busy packing away all of his maps and files, giving Raven a chance to scout out what he could of the manor grounds from the window. “Whatever you're scheming, I wouldn't try it if I were you,” said Anansi, walking up behind him.

“What makes you thing I'm scheming?” asked Raven.

“You're always scheming,” replied Anansi.

  

Drabble 276

Finished 6:09.

Once every month or so, on the full moon, all of the monsters in town got together, in a graveyard near an old, seldom used church just on the outskirts. Each of them would be sure to bring something, either a leg or some fingers or a few ounces of blood, whatever little to could, to be shared out between them. No monster would ever be left hungry. It was through these meetings that the local monster population was sustain even in times of famine and poor hunting season, and the local human level was kept at a manageable level.

Drabble 275

Finished 7:05. Late, sorry, I know. My word processor is playing up, so this ended up needing an online word count tool.

"I feel a disturbance in the force..." Araziel said, sitting on the ground in the woods.
"Wait, we're making Starwars references now?" asked Blue. "I didn't think the Author likes Starwars."
"All the same, something feels off," said Araziel.
"I think the Author might be having computer problems again. That's usually what it is."
"What problems?" asked Araziel.
"It's something The Author gets; don't worry about it," said Blue. He was secretly revelling in knowing something that Araziel didn't, but he was pretty sure that if he said so Araziel would find something to smack him over the head with.

Drabble 274

Finished 1:39. It is now the first day of Halloween!!1! (Well, okay, technically the second, but remember the day doesn't change over until I've gone to sleep). I can't promise that EVERY entry this month will be Halloween themed, but there'll be a few. Also, this on was a pain. I had to find somewhere to cut out one word. Just the one :P

In a small, quiet town in a dark and rainy part of the country there was a hill. That hill was steep, without any proper path by which to get up. On top of that hill was a house; an old, rickety thing with creaking doors and walls that groaned and leaked whatever the weather. In that house lived a ghost. When people walked past the house on the hill the ghost would slam doors and rattle windows, loud enough to be heard at the bottom. People were afraid to go near there, but really the ghost was just lonely.