Dragon Scales and Comfortable Jails

The latest Ink Slingers Guild meeting was excellent as always. We were able to fit in four writing exercises which I LOVE! During each exercise three words are chosen randomly and we have 5 minutes to write a quick story. Here are mine! Hope you enjoy! 🙂

• dance
• flutter
• circus

The dance was still hours away but Malie had already been in the bathroom for half an hour with her seemingly endless grooming. As a circus performer myself, I was comfortable in my skin and confident in my step. It took me all of 15 minutes to get ready even in the most glamorous of occasions and the flutters of nervousness from the past was long gone. I woke up with drool running down my chin and was annoyed to have to fix my thick make up before leaving. Malie took that moment to walk in the room.

“Gah!” she hollered when our eyes met. “Your scales are showing, Stace. Go fix it. We have to leave.”

I got up wearily and went into the bathroom. Sure enough, the drool had taken its toll. I caked on more make-up, successfully, covering my scales, made sure my tail was still strapped down and hidden and went to meet Malie at the front door.

 

• bottle
• paisley
• gift card

My black and gray paisley silk dress fit this dance party like a blue sky at a rally against happiness. All around me were half dressed girls including my dear friend Malie and the boys, well, they were wearing clothes almost tighter than the girls. I hadn’t gotten out much but I couldn’t help be appalled that the men should wear clothes such as this. What happened to lace lined shirts and coats with tails. I was not in my element. I hoisted my bottle of ale, can’t even get a proper mug here, and went toward a table in the corner. As I passed a table a lady called out offering “gift cards” for sale. My glance at the brochures on the table told me she was promoting the restaurant portion of the club and I quickly shook my head. This place was awful.

 

• peppers
• rushed
• persnickety

The strong smell of roasted red peppers filled the car. It caught me so off guard I almost hit the breaks in alarm. But the realization infiltrated my mind before I could cause a five car pile up and I glanced to the back seat. A small gnome like creature sat in the center seat. The green cap sat side-ways like it was rushed on and I would have thought it should fall off but in all the times I’ve seen him, it never had. “Bob,” I said. He nodded. I was always afraid of saying much more. He was such a persnickety little fellow and truthfully, he scared the hell out of me. Beneath that, I coughed in my head, cute exterior was a vicious and calculating, sharp toothed little fae. And the fae never had anything but their own interests in mind. The only reason they even gave me the time of day was because I was part fae, part were-wolf. Whenever they needed to tell the Alpha something, they came to me. Oh boy.

 

• chain
• sweater
• tissue

The chain dragged along the stone floor. At least I thought it was the floor. I supposed he, or she, could have been pulling it along the wall but that seemed like a lot more work and I didn’t see the prison guards as being particularly industrious. I sat in the corner of my cell wearing my ragged brown sweater and a pair of leggings with a large hole in one knee. At least it was spring, the cell wasn’t too hot or cold. Last time I was here, I was so hot I thought I would sweat all the water out of my body and just be a husk when someone finally realized who I was and let me out. I waited patiently for the box of delicate tissues, a bag of sugar and a note from my father to be delivered. I had been missing for, oh, four days now. Despite my drunken rampage into the knight’s lap, it was a pub after all, it wasn’t that big a deal, I was surprised they didn’t rough me up a bit more.

 

More Writing Exercise Fun

I thought I would share a few more of my favorite writing exercises from meetings with my writers group, the Ink Slinger Guild.

The Ink Slingers Guild meet roughly every two weeks and one of the fun things we do is an exercise where  three or four members each pick one word. Those words are shared with the group and a timer is set for five – eight minutes. Laying pen to paper or tapping with fervor on their keyboards each person writes as much as they can in that time, but it must include those words. The best part is the sharing of these compositions, often hilarious and always inspiring!

We share them every week here: www.InkSlingersGuild.com

Today I decided that I wanted to share some personal favorites of mine. Below I will list three words and right below the blurb I threw together. I hope you enjoy them!

• Music
• Earring
• Current

Blue watched the river flow into her village from the tall oak. The current had swept away the only life she had ever known. Seelie, her brother was cradled asleep in her arms. Hours had passed since the flooding had started. Wondering what magic had gone so wrong, Blue glanced one branch above and met the eyes of her animal bond. The young leopard raised a sleepy eye and winked before dosing again. Tears were dried and forgotten on her face when she heard the music. A taunting melody that came in softly and tried to curl your heart. Fear touched her. She felt her pocket and was relieved to find the earring still safely tucked away. The other was long lost but this piece of magic was hers and hers alone to call on.

As the music came closer, her skin started to crawl. Her leopard jumped up and growled. Death was coming.

• Rooster
• Office
• Reset

Skim stared at the broken mug on the floor, the terror crawling up his back as he made out the picture of the rooster on the smooth porcelain. His legs started to shake as he glanced up to the closet on the office wall. He had only 45 minutes before her return. Forty-five minutes to sure death. Numb, he walked out into the dimly corridor and made his way outside. The bright sun scorched his eyes but he barely squinted as he he turned down the street.

She would find him, of that he was certain. He had tried to reset life once before leaving him with a scar down his back the size of his arm. Something banged into him and he stumbled, almost falling into the busy street. An arm grabbed him, pulled him into the shade. Skim looked up into the pale eyes of a Fallen.

• Historical
• Map
• Teeth

Grayson analyzed the teeth under his paraviewer. The soft glow confirmed his suspicion. They were definitely not from this planet, at least not natively. Quivering at the historical find, he grabbed his comm. To pull up the area map. A perimeter would have to be ordered immediately. The coorindates were key. He had just finished plotting the last line when a familiar hand brushed the back of hisneck. He leaned into Sammi and sighed.

“Well?” she asked.

“I was right.” He whispered. Her hands gripped his shoulders, a silent jump for joy. Grayson grinned, knowing her mind had probably already plotted the entire escavation.

“What do you think it is?”

Grayson leaned down to look at the teeth again. He shrugged. “They resemble dragon in shape but not in size. I really don’t know, babe.”

• Milk
• Blood
• Eyeglass

The only evidence of Sal’s visit was the eyeglass on the counter. Abbey picked it up and placed it gently in her cabinet next to a lovely silver pocket watch and an old antique cufflink set. She blew a particle of dust from the shelf before closing the glass door. As she pulled her hand away she caught the remnant of blood beneath one of her nails. Frowning, she swept over to the sink to remove the foul stuff of man. After inspecting her hands closely, she went to the fridge and pulled out the milk and a package of Girl Scout cookies. Settling down on the couch she smiled and took her first bite. She sent a thought of happiness to the cute little girl next door, the seller of these delicious morsels and hoped she wouldn’t miss her father too much.

© 2014 Lisa Barry