Once washed, Kid's hair proved to be the promised white-blond and almost seemed to glow in the low light of the cottage fires. What also now showed were the bruises and scars on his too-thin arms and legs. Nora had come up with a men's shirt, supplemented with a blanket Alec somehow managed to wrap …
It was a chilled out Saturday afternoon and Ally and Cesca were enjoying the back garden. Tea and reading, life in the slow lane at its best. Ally had already been fully grilled on the latest Chris developments, with Cesca suitably impressed and amused by a description of his home and the revelation of his …
They moved into the gloom of the forest and onto a little-used path. Alec looked down at a nudge from his new charge. "The lady story please." "You want to know why she's scared and sad, yes?" "Yes." "The Lady Mellisande is the valued and indulged only child of Lord Humphrey of Wolfgrove." "Interesting choice …
Following the directions, Ally found herself driving along a quiet back road, winding up the largest hill in the area. She found the turnoff and followed the curve of the hill around to a white and slate tile farmhouse that, while clearly improved and extended, kept its original charm and she found it hard to …
They made it to the Deity's clearing with minimal excitement, at least in Sophia's view. Connor probably felt differently. He hadn't been expecting the sudden appearance of Sophia's friendly Djinn, Heal, a regular morning occurrence since she'd helped him and his cousins with their fears of both wide open spaces and tight, enclosed spots, one …
I completed a vignette entirely in dialogue in Not a Ghost, and somehow managed to tug the string of a story that is demanding to be told. The two men tensed at a soft sound from behind them. Alec turned with a carefully studied relaxation. "Not so good at following orders kid. Hope you enjoyed …
Okay, this puts us back on track chronologically with The Wooden Chest, which is where this story started, but then decided it needed prologue. Pushing on the trick panel, Ally pushed up the lid to show Chris the inside of the chest he'd never been able to open. Looking in, she stared, confused, the packages …
Sophia jumped away from the door, just in time to get out of sight of the yard before Imelda swung it open. Thankfully she didn't react to Sophia's presence, lurking off to one side. Sophia supposed she'd known of her eavesdropping the whole time but there were more important things to discuss. "You think I …
This came out of a four line prompt (the first four lines of dialogue you see below) and turned into a personal challenge to write an entire vignette in dialogue, no descriptions. "I'm pretty sure it was a ghost." "I'm pretty sure it wasn't." "Oh really?" "Ghosts don't bleed." "But it was floating, and moaning." …
Connor strode out to the stable and hunted for something physical to do. There was a pile of wood and an axe nearby but he wasn’t a great woodcutter and he didn’t want to risk a sharp blade with his current mood. He settled for hunting down some leather polish and a cloth and attacking …
The DNA of Stories 