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Thursday 30 April 2015

Z is for... Zero



Blogging From A to Z is a blog challenge where participants post a new item every day (except Sundays), where every item relates to the appropriate letter of the alphabet.  You can find out more over at http://www.a-to-zchallenge.com



Story: Ground Zero
Rating: PG
Word Count: 737

His enhanced reflexes let him dodge the first flurry of fists. Shame it didn’t work on the second. Zero grunted and staggered back, instinctively wiping at his nose with the back of his hand. Blood. Of course. Considering what a pain it’d been just to find this one, it hardly came as a surprise.

Y is for... Yirien



Blogging From A to Z is a blog challenge where participants post a new item every day (except Sundays), where every item relates to the appropriate letter of the alphabet.  You can find out more over at http://www.a-to-zchallenge.com



Story: Heavy Metal Generation
Rating: PG
Word Count: 579

It was obvious Reith had set this task as some kind of team-building exercise, but it should have been equally obvious that it was never going to work. He couldn’t tell how the others were getting on, but if it was anything like him and Aralelle, it was a resounding failure.

Tuesday 28 April 2015

X is for... Xurxo



Blogging From A to Z is a blog challenge where participants post a new item every day (except Sundays), where every item relates to the appropriate letter of the alphabet.  You can find out more over at http://www.a-to-zchallenge.com



It's National Stationery Week this week, so it seemed appropriate.

Rating: G
Word Count: 401

Xurxo signed his name on the dotted line, and tried not to notice the way the cute guy behind the counter’s eyes widened. Any second now there’d be the inevitable incredulous comment, like he was so clever for noticing, like no one else had even thought to pass comment in Xurxo’s entire twenty- eight years.

Monday 27 April 2015

W is for... Wyn



Blogging From A to Z is a blog challenge where participants post a new item every day (except Sundays), where every item relates to the appropriate letter of the alphabet.  You can find out more over at http://www.a-to-zchallenge.com



Rating: PG
Word Count: 463

Wyn ducked behind a stone, both hands pressed to his groin, and wondered just why this always happened to him.  He’d only wanted a pleasant stroll but these blasted ramblers got everywhere and, worse, they made the biggest fusses over nothing.

Sunday 26 April 2015

V is for... Valdete



Blogging From A to Z is a blog challenge where participants post a new item every day (except Sundays), where every item relates to the appropriate letter of the alphabet.  You can find out more over at http://www.a-to-zchallenge.com



Rating: PG
Word Count: 561

An armoured foot slammed into Valdete’s back, crushing him into the snow.  So much pressure he thought his spine would snap in half; there’d be no use for him then, it’d be an escape.  He prayed, begged, waiting for the crunch...

Saturday 25 April 2015

U is for... Usko



Blogging From A to Z is a blog challenge where participants post a new item every day (except Sundays), where every item relates to the appropriate letter of the alphabet.  You can find out more over at http://www.a-to-zchallenge.com



Rating: 513
Word Count: PG

His foot slipped from the last rung, depositing him in the ankle- deep water with an echoing splash that made him freeze, fingers so tight on the side of the ladder he was surprised his knuckles didn’t glow in the gloom.

Thursday 23 April 2015

T is for... Tauma



Blogging From A to Z is a blog challenge where participants post a new item every day (except Sundays), where every item relates to the appropriate letter of the alphabet.  You can find out more over at http://www.a-to-zchallenge.com



Guess which idiot managed to cut their finger open on a crumpet today?

Story: The Palace
Rating: G
Word Count: 700

What he’d expected Tauma didn’t know, but the ruins in front of him certainly weren’t it.  He stared wide-eyed as Kanev’s wagon swayed through the gaping archway where once heavy wooden doors had hung and into the remains of a formerly formidable courtyard.

S is for... Simon



Blogging From A to Z is a blog challenge where participants post a new item every day (except Sundays), where every item relates to the appropriate letter of the alphabet.  You can find out more over at http://www.a-to-zchallenge.com



Story: Radial/Unravel
Rating: PG
Word Count: 911

It was only by chance I went past the coffee shop.  My boss insists we have this encyclopaedic knowledge of the city, better than any taxi driver’s—not least because we don’t take the scenic routes and, anyway, I can’t exactly get away with a sat-nav on my bike—but sometimes it fails even the best of us.

Tuesday 21 April 2015

R is for... Raven/Reid



Blogging From A to Z is a blog challenge where participants post a new item every day (except Sundays), where every item relates to the appropriate letter of the alphabet.  You can find out more over at http://www.a-to-zchallenge.com



Actually pressing 'publish' would work, wouldn't it?

Story: The Palace
Rating: G
Word Count: 548

Raven had never found gardening attractive before.  What was there that was attractive about it?  Kneeling in sludge and the gods only know what else, sinking fingers up to two knuckles deep in the filth; little more than playing around in muddy puddles.

Q is for... Querry



Blogging From A to Z is a blog challenge where participants post a new item every day (except Sundays), where every item relates to the appropriate letter of the alphabet.  You can find out more over at http://www.a-to-zchallenge.com




Rating: 15
Word Count: 489

It was hard to wait patiently, but Querry did so anyway.  What choice did he have?  He was hardly the kind of guy who took being walked away from well.  Plus, going back early would mean funny looks from co-workers who got out as often as he did.

Sunday 19 April 2015

P is for... Paradigm



Blogging From A to Z is a blog challenge where participants post a new item every day (except Sundays), where every item relates to the appropriate letter of the alphabet.  You can find out more over at http://www.a-to-zchallenge.com



Slightly delayed again.  Very sorry.

Story: Arkadian
Rating: G
Word Count: 451

If there was one thing Paradigm was a sucker for, it was a beautiful figure.  Curves in all the right places, stunning good looks, the works.  She was gorgeous.

“You’re thinking about stealing that ship, aren’t you?”

Saturday 18 April 2015

O is for... Owen



Blogging From A to Z is a blog challenge where participants post a new item every day (except Sundays), where every item relates to the appropriate letter of the alphabet.  You can find out more over at http://www.a-to-zchallenge.com



Today's entry isn't a story because I accidentally got distracted by rendering Owen in Poser (Pro 2014 - which I'm still getting used to).  Honestly, for something so simple-seeming, it would have been much quicker to actually write something, even if I am very satisfied with the result.

It's also late because I swear, if it's not one thing it's another.  My desktop PC, Echo, was busy rendering a larger version of it (that's now been lost because Windows 8 rebooted itself last night...), my laptop Sixteen was having none of anything last night and Celty, the Surface tablet, flat-out refuses to upload anything to Blogger.  Three attempts!

Story: Honour-Bound
Rating: G

Thursday 16 April 2015

N is for... Niko



Blogging From A to Z is a blog challenge where participants post a new item every day (except Sundays), where every item relates to the appropriate letter of the alphabet.  You can find out more over at http://www.a-to-zchallenge.com



This short contains spoilers for the end of The Reconstruction of Kirill.

Story: The Destruction/Reconstruction of Kirill
Rating: G
Word Count: 571

True to his word, Niko never had gotten around to placing a table in the dining room.  What was the point, when he had no intention of entertaining anyway?  All the entertaining he had in mind revolved around the figure digging flower beds in the garden, the thin sheen of sweat coating his skin catching the rays of sunlight as they filtered through the ever-shifting leaves.

Wednesday 15 April 2015

M is for... Milos



Blogging From A to Z is a blog challenge where participants post a new item every day (except Sundays), where every item relates to the appropriate letter of the alphabet.  You can find out more over at http://www.a-to-zchallenge.com



Story: Unravel
Rating: 18
Word Count: 1044

The Gillie Dhu turned out to be an administrative nightmare.  There had to be someone up in the Highlands who could take responsibility for the rabid little sod, but if there was Alex had yet to find them.

Tuesday 14 April 2015

L is for... Lirio



Blogging From A to Z is a blog challenge where participants post a new item every day (except Sundays), where every item relates to the appropriate letter of the alphabet.  You can find out more over at http://www.a-to-zchallenge.com



Rating: PG
Word Count: 438

Lirio held his breath, every muscle tense.  One false movement and the rustle of leaves wouldn’t sound natural, wouldn’t blend in with the sweet breath of wind—would alert his target to his presence.   The last thing he needed was for him to startle now.

K is for... Kirill



Blogging From A to Z is a blog challenge where participants post a new item every day (except Sundays), where every item relates to the appropriate letter of the alphabet.  You can find out more over at http://www.a-to-zchallenge.com



This short contains spoilers for the end of The Reconstruction of Kirill.

Story: The Destruction/Reconstruction of Kirill
Rating: G
Word Count: 392

The air was thick with the chirp of crickets, no doubt all desperately hopping for their lives to escape the flashing scythe’s descent.

Saturday 11 April 2015

J is for... Jonathan



Blogging From A to Z is a blog challenge where participants post a new item every day (except Sundays), where every item relates to the appropriate letter of the alphabet.  You can find out more over at http://www.a-to-zchallenge.com



Not finished yet, but I'm crying inability yet again—or at least, I would be if I didn't think I was just shedding infection into my eye.  I'm not actually joking.  I'm not sure it should burn.  (This aside is definitely going when I finish updating this story; no one beyond today needs to know the details of my gross eye infection.  I should really show a sample of my handwriting and why this is so difficult to update...)

It's only taken two months!

Story: Radial
Rating: PG
Word Count: 2,230

The problem with lorries in the summer was the heat.  Jonathan could wind down both the windows and hammer the air conditioning in full and the sweat still poured down his forehead.

Friday 10 April 2015

I is for... Iskariya



Blogging From A to Z is a blog challenge where participants post a new item every day (except Sundays), where every item relates to the appropriate letter of the alphabet.  You can find out more over at http://www.a-to-zchallenge.com



Any story involving the characters of The Rose Queen might be spoileriffic if you've been following along with the excerpts posted on WiPpet Wednesday, so that's something to watch out for.

Story: The Rose Queen
Rating: PG
Word Count: 439

This was rapidly becoming his favourite place in the whole universe—not that he’d ever tell Fayth, because no way in hell was he going to put up with his insufferable amusement and reminder that RQ didn’t exactly have a vast experience of the world outside space stations and shuttle pods.

Thursday 9 April 2015

H is for... hiatus

H is for hiatus, as well as oh hell no.

A few months ago I was shopping at our local Co-op (also our only supermarket in a reasonable distance) and was served by a member of staff who was very, very obviously ill.  Her nose was running, her eyes were streaming, she was sneezing and coughing over her hands, which she then handled all our food and change with; she said she'd had some time off work, but couldn't afford to have any more time off.

We disinfected our hands when we got home but since she touched everything we bought we inevitably caught it too.  Luckily my mother got over it very quickly.

I... didn't.  For almost three months I've coughed and sneezed my way through life waiting for this woman's cold to leave me.

A week and a half ago, my left eye turned bloodshot.  Last Saturday I went to the Boots pharmacy in Nottingham (since we're always being told we should go to the pharmacy rather than take up space at the doctor's or at A&E).  The girl behind the counter seemed generally pretty bored and told me to go to the doctor's.  I explained it can take between one to five weeks to get an appointment where I live, and she told me to go to the walk-in clinic in Nottingham and wait for a couple of hours to be seen.

I didn't.  Because funnily enough, I wasn't in Nottingham to go to the doctor's, but to see friends instead.  I did however buy an eye bath, an eye moisturiser and some sterile wipes.

Of course, if she'd actually paid attention to what I'd said to her rather than saying "well it's not conjunctivitis", she might have noticed that I have sinusitis, which seems to be a side effect of Typhoid Mary at the Co-op.  She might have even sold me a medicated eyebath and, by extension, perhaps I wouldn't be sitting here now with half my face swollen up due to my downright gross sinuses.

H  is also for hopefully, that normal service might be able to be resumed a little tomorrow.

Hopefully.

Tuesday 7 April 2015

F is for... Fayth


Blogging From A to Z is a blog challenge where participants post a new item every day (except Sundays), where every item relates to the appropriate letter of the alphabet.  You can find out more over at http://www.a-to-zchallenge.com



Any story involving the characters of The Rose Queen might be spoileriffic if you've been following along with the excerpts posted on WiPpet Wednesday, so that's something to watch out for.

Story: The Rose Queen
Rating: 18
Word Count: 338

“This—ah!—isn’t the time!”

Monday 6 April 2015

E is for... Eden



Blogging From A to Z is a blog challenge where participants post a new item every day (except Sundays), where every item relates to the appropriate letter of the alphabet.  You can find out more over at http://www.a-to-zchallenge.com



E is for evil work and ill health.  Almost all my shifts today have only had half an hour between them, and my eye, although better than it was, tires easily and dries out.  On top of all that, I have a demanding parent whose methods of 'helping' my eye health have involved making the good one just as sore.

I have a half finished story featuring Eden, a dreamer demon.  It'll be here when I'm not ready to shove my head between two pillows to make the world leave me the hell alone.  Late, but here.

So, for now...  E is for Evil.  And Eughhhh, which is what the poor girl in the shop did on seeing my eye.


Story: Dreamers
Rating: 18
Word Count: 774


In the dream world the bridge looked stunning.  Blue lights danced along the arches, twining down the suspenders to a deck that stretched impossibly wide over the black and churning depths.  In the real world it would be lacklustre.  Generic.  The way from A to B.

Saturday 4 April 2015

D is for... David


Blogging From A to Z is a blog challenge where participants post a new item every day (except Sundays), where every item relates to the appropriate letter of the alphabet.  You can find out more over at http://www.a-to-zchallenge.com



D is for David... and quite a lot of other things too.

Story: Three Graces
Rating: PG
Word Count: 219

It was hard to look at Cas in the same way.  The big, brusque man who had been sent to kill him had expressed regret.  Enough years later, he’d taken pity on him.

Friday 3 April 2015

C is for... Corliss



Blogging From A to Z is a blog challenge where participants post a new item every day (except Sundays), where every item relates to the appropriate letter of the alphabet.  You can find out more over at http://www.a-to-zchallenge.com



Any story involving the characters of The Rose Queen might be spoileriffic if you've been following along with the excerpts posted on WiPpet Wednesday, so that's something to watch out for.

Story: The Rose Queen
Rating: 18
Word Count: 850

The chill air clung to his clammy skin, a soothing counterpoint to the sweat trickling down it as he flexed his fingers on the equally damp waist beneath him.

Thursday 2 April 2015

B is for... Braith



Blogging From A to Z is a blog challenge where participants post a new item every day (except Sundays), where every item relates to the appropriate letter of the alphabet.  You can find out more over at http://www.a-to-zchallenge.com



Story: The Palace
Rating: 15
Word Count: 578

The sound of Reid’s voice filled the corridor, rich and deep, explaining with infinite patience to yet another guard that he preferred to be called Raven, that Prince Reid was just his official name.

Wednesday 1 April 2015

A is for... Alex


Blogging From A to Z is a blog challenge where participants post a new item every day (except Sundays), where every item relates to the appropriate letter of the alphabet.  You can find out more over at http://www.a-to-zchallenge.com



The twin evils of Life and Illness have conspired against me today.  You'd think having time to spare between work would help, but it really doesn't.

Don't ask about my left eye.  You'll get a far longer-winded answer than you'd ever want.


Story: Unravel
Rating: 15
Word Count: 1,476

Scottish highland evening lacked everything that gave Alex a headache: street lights, the hum of traffic and loud, drunken people that weren’t him to name but a few.