About my writing currently

Interesting what one can find when looking for something else in my WIP folder. Stories and more that I had forgotten about. A while back I set out to Indie publish some story sets. I was reminded of one set I decided to publish and found today.

This one is 12 stories each inspired by the same picture. A while back one guy would post a picture of the day. A speculative drawing-painting-composite-that he found. A couple of his followers had started writing mini stories to go with the pic. I decide to join them, but in a few weeks my stories got longer. Still very short but longer than mini. Anyway one day he posted this pic of a dark old looking castle set on a short hill in what could be a desert. A large full moon shone behind and right above it. I posted a comment that said that could be inspirational for a number of genre. Something clicked and I decided to do those genre. I did 10. First SF, Fantasy, Urban Fantasy, Weird Western, Altiernite universe, Historical Fiction, Romance, steampunk, thriller, what might be Christian Fantasy. I stopped thinking that was enough but a couple of months later I decided the SF tale wasn't really the one I wanted so I did it over while keeping the original and finally an action tale kinda of based on the old radio Serial tales. Oh just remembered another one I had placed in another folder. A YA-or younger- general fiction story. So 13 all together.

From 670 words to 6540 words. Some around 1200, some around 4400. A total of somewhere around 40,000 to 42500 words.

I thought that might make an interesting story set for those who like short stories. Some have been revised once or twice others not at all. I will go over all of them though. Starting today.

And while looking for that one YA tale I found another story set idea. I call it Foibles and it will have five stories.

While I am working on two other stories, and will be revising two more for contests soon.

Two Western tales from me. July 13

#saturdayscene July 13  

Last week I didn’t post a SaturdayScene for I was busy again with the new house. But this week I can do one. This one is a bit different for it has two short Western stories. One is part of a story set I will be Indie publishing whenever I can get the cover done. Set titled Deputy Marshal Gray Dobson. I finally found one that isn’t bad even not quite what I wanted. But I have spent hours on it and decided to take this one. Anyway, I will also be doing a second Western set once I find them all. I thought I had a file with they all in it but so fat nothing. So Here are two Western tales. One with Marshall Dobson showing he uses his brains not just his sixgun. The other is the first Western I wrote many years ago. Revised half a dozen times as I learned more about how to write. 

       Deputy Marshall Dobson finds a Burnt out building.

      Gray Dobson looked the burnt building over. Small tendrils of smoke still drifted toward from two placed. It sat by itself a number of yards from the end of the town. From what he could see of the unburnt wood, no one had painted it which meant some of it looked while a good percentage had a blacken charcoal color.

        He liked the angle better from higher than ground level, so he stayed on his horse to study it. His legs though were tired from the long ride to this town.

       It looked like the building had two storefronts. This half of the roof of this section had collapsed. The air still had a strong scent of burning wood, so he wouldn’t be surprised if something still smoldered in there. 

        A wagon rolled by behind him. He heard the horse hoofs, and wheels turn. The townspeople would be up by now with their daily routines. Someone walked on the wooden walkway. That would make it twenty feet away from the burnt building in front of him.

     Another breath and he almost coughed, ash still drifted in the air. Water would be good. 

     After the drink from his canteen, he looked at the building again. The town’s people had done a good job in saving the part in the back that was a different store. He figured that some of them must have had some training. At least a couple of lectures. This section would have to be completely rebuilt though, possibly the whole thing, but he thought they could save the rear store. The rest of the town hadn’t been touched by the fire since this building sat so far away from the others. 

      Dobson looked to his left. The main part of Freshwell consisted of eleven stores on one side of the street with ten on the other. Each block appeared to be one long building but he could make out newer wood on the end store. They must have added to this one to the original construction when the population grew. Now they had two general stores, one much smaller than the other. It could be new, he thought. A fairly large saloon took up space in the middle of one side. He could make out three other buildings that sat by themselves not connected to either side. From their spacing the town planners might have wanted a street there to go east eventually.

     The blacksmith had been built far down the road in the other direction. He could still see it and hear the pounding of the blacksmith, smell the hot metal when he rode by it. But this building may have been the border of the town in this end. 

      Gray looked down at the dirt. One bad thing was that the town’s people had cluttered up the dirt of the street with their wagons, horses and feet: covering and marking out any tracks left by those who had done this. But it couldn’t be helped, the fire had to have been put out. He rode around the building and studied the dirt back of it then came back around from the opposite end.  

      The building didn’t look like a smithy or a saloon, which left a store of some type, a church or even a school house. The town looked large enough for one. He had ridden through Freshwell three times the last year but knew nothing about it even though he had met with the Sheriff as a common curtasy. He was a Marshal passing though his area after all. They had a nice size jail, larger than he thought they needed, but he may make use of it this trip.

      He looked around again. The Inn was actually larger than the saloon. It had rooms on a second story and a kitchen plus storage, he assumed, in the back, and four rooms on the street level. They were bigger and more expensive or so he had been told when he stopped for lunch one of those three times. 

     As he recalled from when he rode by, there had been nothing in this building to start a fire except for a wood burning stove. He didn’t recall ever seeing the pipe that exhausted it sticking out of the roof. Now, however, one lay bent, twisted and black with soot, on top of a pile of smoldering wood. Part of the pipe looked darker than another part. In fact this whole section of the building looked in worse shape than the other sections.

     He shook his head and wondered if someone had really started the blaze. With that thought, he looked closer. Why would anyone burn this building especially if it had been a school? Than again maybe he was just buying trouble. He shrugged, that was his job. He wouldn’t be a US Marshal if he didn’t like trouble: creating and finishing it for those who started it. Now though he he hadn’t smelled any kerosene or alcohol when he rode around the building. 

     Fires could be caused by accidents, acts of carelessness, or drunks, as well as on purpose. However it started this one was a shame especially with the loose of books and supplies inside, if this was a school. It could take months to get new supplies and the cost for shipping them out here would make it much harder to get them. 

      He swung his horse around and headed for the Sheriff’s office. This fire pricked his curiosity. 

      It didn’t take him long to pass the other end of the block and to approach the jail. It sat by itself about ten feet from the end of the walkway, which supported his idea of this being a street corner. He looked round him to see if anyone carried a gun near him. The three people he saw with any weapon of any type, looked like upstanding citizens which probably meant that the town was fairly safe, but he would stay on his toes. All it took was one person who didn’t like US Marshals, or was drunk. 

     The street had its share of road apples, some of which smelled and looked fresh, which meant it about average horses here. It looked like Freshwell needed someone to clean the street once a day though. He shrugged that really wasn’t his concern though. Once he got to the jail he tied his horse to the railing and stepped up to the wood sidewalk it also had. 

     He glanced in the other direction and noticed that the larger general store rested at this end of the line of stores. That could be to help farmers and ranchers with wagons load better.   

    Dobson nodded to the  two men who stood outside of the Sheriff's. They didn’t look like trouble, just as if they waited for someone. He opened the door and closed it fast for a wind followed him in. Inside, he saw a wide room with two desks each with a new looking, comfortable, padded chair behind it and two half way comfortable chairs on the other side. A portrait hung on the wall of the President of the United States and one of an older lady. She was dressed in a very nice, blue dress. A local person he thought. Maybe she had been a rich widow who had paid for the building of the office. 

    Two doorways led to the back. He thought he could see bars through one doorway. The other might lead to the outhouse and/or to a kitchen near by. Or to another cell for certain types  of prisoners. 

    The sheriff, Tony, a tall skinny, older, weather beaten fellow with shoulder length brown hair, stood talking to a nicely dressed man. The man smelled of cigar smoke, an expensive brand the Marshal thought. He must have paid a pretty penny to have some shipped here. He knew from experience not to get too close to the man when he blew smoke out, it could be strong enough to taste.

    The Sheriff said, “We will catch the person who set the fire.”

     The man said, “Why would anyone set fire to a school house?”

    “I don’t know maybe they didn’t like that their children have to go—we have a couple of those type people in this town—or maybe they had an argument about what should be taught. Could even that they got the wrong end of that building and it was meant for that new bookstore.  It’s hard to see the burr under a man’s blanket at times. But I want to speak to the new teacher and see what she has to say. Miss Sanderson has been upset over certain details and ”

     The man said, “I know that there are citizens that disagree with store just to sell books half of which would be penny dreadfuls, I am not all that excited about it myself but to burn it? That is crazy.”

    The Marshal thought, good I was right. 

    Sheriff Tony said, “Some people are that crazy. Isn’t that right Marshal?”

      The two turned to him and even as his eyes widen. He thought he would had wait until they were done with their business, but this opened the door.

     The Sheriff said, “This is Marshall Dobson. He has been in these parts for a few years. Marshall this is John Whitmore.”

     Dobson nodded to John and said, “Yes, there are crazy people out there. I wouldn’t have as much of a job if there weren’t. I was sent here to go after a train robber. However, sometimes it isn’t a person that causes the problem. It is also my job to make sure we know the difference.”

     Whitmore raised his eyebrows and the Sheriff looked puzzled and a touch irritated. 

    “I looked at the remains of the school. I believe it was just an accident.”

    “What?” The sheriff said.

    The man said, “We looked it over ourselves.”

   “I thought you had. But was it before sunrise?” 

    “Just after the sun started up.”

   “After a night of fighting the fire?”

   Whitmore nodded. He still had bits of ash on his pants, so he may have really helped.

     The Sheriff said, “Where are you going with this?”

    “I saw that part of the chimney for the stove looked blocked. I think that is where the fire started.”

     The man spoke before the Sheriff could even he open his mouth, “Someone could have blocked that on purpose hoping that would happen.”

    Dobson nodded, “Yes, someone could have, but by the looks I still go with my theory that some animal, or other built a nest in there. I know of a few times when that has happened. It has been warm the last few months and the weather just started to turn. I suspect that it was just carelessness. No one thought to inspect the stovepipe.” 

     The man nodded with a thoughtful look on his face. The Sheriff didn’t look convinced though.

    “I can explain what took my thoughts down that road. The stovepipe has a deeper burn in one section about halfway. You might even find some cooked little ones; rats or squirrels in the pipe.”

    The Sheriff and the man had a disgusted look on their faces but the other Lawman said, “Come to think of it I thought I smelled meat cooking. Maybe you are right after all.”

     They went outside to the burned building and the Marshal showed them where  he thought the fire started and the pipe. They both looked convinced when he finished.

     The man said, “I believe you’re right. You are one smart Marshal. No wonder you have a good repetition in these parts.”

    “Thank you. As I said it is my job to figure out when it was a person and when it wasn’t and to protect people that are innocent.”

     Whitmore said, “That is a good way to see your job, Marshall.”

    Sheriff Tony said, “I’m glad we will not be bothering someone who is innocent. And I will declare that every business inspect their stovepipes to make sure that doesn’t happen again.”

     Dobson nodded and after some more talking he said, “I will take my leave now. I need to get a room for the night so I can get an early start to go after one who is bad.” He thought, even if the rooms are costly it should be worth it for one night.

    They each nodded and shook his hand and he left. He got his horse and on the way to the town’s corral past the blacksmith shop he gave himself a small smile. It felt good to think through something like that and to know that an innocent person would not be questioned for something they did not do. 

  

The end

              

Now for Not All Good Deeds Are Punished.

     Bill strode over to his horse, with long, quick steps. He looked in his late thirties, and wore a light yellow long sleeved shirt and gray trousers. No gun weighed down his hip, he didn’t need one here-most days. 

    He stopped near the railing in front of the town’s hardware store, his eyes narrowed. Voices from a commotion had attracted his attention. It looked just like the same situation as in the last town he had lived in. He breathed in, snorted. The air was filled with, dust, road apples, spilt grain and the flowers that grew near each store front. A cold beer would be good right now to wash the dust out of his mouth, and the horse dropping smell out of his nose. A quick glance showed him the town, he liked Wardsville. However it looked like he may have to move on. 

     With a sigh, Bill pulled a rifle out of its holster, which rested on the side of his horse, and turned. He hoped he wouldn’t get into trouble again, but he knew it wouldn’t stop him. He cocked the weapon while still in the turn.   

     After two long steps with the rifle aimed from his hip, he said, “Back off.”

     A young man, dressed in an undershirt and denim pants, with his hands on a woman, looked up. That man’s brown hair was very short and his eyes were bloodshot. Even though her yellow dress looked very proper he still pawed her like he thought she wore a low cut barmaid’s outfit. Bill knew her husband was out of town for a couple of months. 

     Everyone froze for a moment. He felt a breeze on his face and could smell the man from here. He must smell like a wagon load of broken whisky bottles to her. 

     The young man said, “You must not know who I am.”

     The first man rolled his eyes, “That is my comment. I’ve been here a week, but obviously you don’t know who I am. I don’t care who you are. I know what you are. A snake in the grass. Now act like a gentleman, a true man, and get your hands off of her. Her husband won’t be back for another month and he won’t be happy if you mess with his wife.”

     “I am a man, you horse droppings, more than you.”

     “Not the way you are acting now. You’re acting like a spoiled snake. Now remove your hands!”

      He pressed his finger on the trigger. The other man let go of the woman.

     Bill said, “Now miss, give him what he deserves-slap him.”

     She looked surprised, but at the same time like she wanted to carry out the order. The younger man looked shocked. When the woman moved he stepped back from her-out of arm’s length.

      The brown haired man looked at the man with the rifle again, swallowed and said, “Hey, I didn’t mean anything. Just being friendly. I just thought she might be missing her man.”

     The man with the gun cocked his head to the side, for the other man mumbled and slurred his words. It took him a second to figure out what he had said.

     Bill said, “She probably is, but she sure ain’t missing you, now leave!”

     The drunk glared at Bill, but after a moment walked away. Bill watched him until he went around a building. Three moments later he came back out on a horse. After another glare at Bill, he rode away. 

     The woman half-ran to the man with the gun, but stopped a few feet away.

     “Thank you... I don’t know you but I’ve seen you around the past week but Dan, my husband, will want to shake your hand and have you over for dinner when he gets back.”

     Bill tipped his hat and said, “I am called Bill-no, not Wild, that’s another Bill. I could always use a home cooked meal, fresh cornbread is mighty tasty, but I didn’t do this for thanks.”

     The store owner came up, wiped his hands on the white apron he wore. Bill tensed and waited for an angry tone like the last time he chased a rich man’s son away from a woman. The man, however, reached out his hand.

     “I want to shake your hand, Bill and add my thanks. She’s a good costumer and a good citizen of the town. Toby shouldn’t have done that to her.”

     He paused for a moment than said, “If you need anything come on in to my store, I will give you half off for the next couple of days. We don’t want that type of thing happening in our town, or to be known for being a town afraid of wealthy citizens.”

     Other townspeople came by to say how much they appreciated his actions. Even Jim, the sheriff came by, probably when he saw the citizens hanging around. It turned out he had been getting a shave during the incident.

     After his explanation he said, “Thanks, Bill for taking care of young Toby. He isn’t usually that bad. If I had seen he was drunk earlier, I would have put him in a cell to sleep it off. He’s dad will deal with him. He doesn’t like his sons behaving that way in public. He may make him apologize to Mrs.  Tanner.”

     Bill felt his mouth drop and his eyes go wide surprise, but he said, “Is that all?”

     The expression on the sheriffs face changed to businesslike; oh oh, here it comes, thought Bill.

     Jim said, “Yeah, there is one more thing. I could use a deputy, this town is growing like a weed. I’ve watched you around town. I saw how you act around other people and after today I believe you would make a good deputy. I think I can convince the town council to spring for the pay for one. Probably only half of what I get, but your bullets will be free. On top of that if the townspeople like you they might just give you a free meal, or a cut rate on hardware, just don’t expect it all the time.”

      Bill nodded, even as awe filled his heart. He stood there

to let his heart adjust to what he had just heard, then with an effort he nodded, smiled, and said, “Yeah, that sounds good.”

      They shook hands and the sheriff said, “Good, I’ll make the rounds and talk to everyone. Come by tomorrow morning and I will give you a badge.”

      Bill nodded again still in a good shock. As the sheriff walked away Bill felt the breeze again, smelled the street-even the fresh road apples didn’t smell so bad-and smiled. He thought, yeah, this is a good town.

                         The end

#westerns #freestory #indie #funread #freestuff #fires #shortstories #action #drunks 

SaturdayScene for June 29 two cyberpunk mini tales

     #saturdayscene    June 29th. After my birthday and two days before the end of my E-book sale-which is Sunday the 30th. Great adventures with a twist-fun reads. Urban Fantasy and Steampunk action adventures. 

       Someone one a writers’ group on FaceBook wanted to see my cyberpunk story about two “sisters”. Here are two very short tales about them. The first one is more an introduction than a story and I may have a third tale someone but I have to find it. Both were inspired from a picture.

      For quite a few months I wrote short stories from pictures. One set was a weekly challenge: writing a story less than 600 words based on a pic of the week. Another set were inspired by Charlie Hoover’s Geekscape daily picture. I seem to have lost touch with the web site so I have not done any for a while. Others did the same but my tales ended up being the longest usually. A couple did some very good 125 to 250 word mini stories. Mine usually began with 250 to 400 words but than later I expanded on them to make stories 500 words to 3,500 words or so. 

So these two I believe came from the Geekscapes pics. I describe the scene in the pic in every story which is one reason, but not the only one, they were so long. 

Both of these two together have  908 words. I might expand on the second one later. Or if I find that third one. 

I am a pryotech and my metal friend can make holograms appear, some are very solid and can hurt if they hit you. Sometimes they explode with the same energy that makes the hologram. 

      She is from a Western City-perhaps on another earth-while I grew up, as a half breed, in an Eastern city. The poor section of that city. 

      I do not have almond eyes but I still have an Asian cast to my skin and face. My hair would be good for a lion's mane even though I am fully female. My braids go down past my bosom almost to my hips. I have the forehead cut high to look alien. 

      My companion has no hair, even though her measurements might be the same as mine. She even likes to show off her belly and her bare arms as I do. They are blue, though, and show the metal panels and joints her limbs are made of. She likes to tie a sweater around her waist though while I like a belt with pouches. Powders, food and weapons fill the pouches. She doesn't need those. She does have a couple of hidden panels with weapons-two of the same type I carry.  

     We met by accident. Some type of rift opened between our two cities. They happen at times and no one knows if they are natural, the result of an accident, or if someone does them on purpose. When this one opened we stood there and stared at each other. Ready for a fight but somehow we each knew we would not need to. We talked and later reveled to the other our childhoods, struggles and powers. Now we get together to go on missions; sometimes to help someone, sometimes to smuggle or do a two story job. Of course that last is more like a ten to fifty story jobs, but everyone still calls that type or work a two story job.  

     We take turns in the other person's home-if you can call them that. Mine has many buildings two to ten stories high, even though few past five, and those in the richer areas. There are staircases and tents plus awnings on each level for most of the levels are open or have very large and long balconies. Hers buildings are taller, even though they have short ones too, with holographic and 3D signs that show what you can get on any level. Hers city has laser cars and holographic neon signs everywhere. It does have a few markets like mine does but most are on the street level with a couple on second and third level what was once parks. 

     My city gets much of its water from a small lake they built it next to.  Hers does to even though they have other sources too for it is a larger city. We are both wanted, and unwanted, we have each other's backs though. We could be sisters.

Second mini story

We were in town together again, we like to visit other cities even other earths to do our work. My sister from another city and me, who has a power not like mine. She has no hair though, even though she can use illusions to make it look like she does. 

     This time we had gone to a big city in my Eastern World. The market in this city was lighted with glow sticks, energy bubbles, battery torches, and whatever light floats down here from the tall buildings that surround this area. It smelled strongly of herbs and spices with apothecary added on. Strangely an odor of Rosemary was strong here. There is an added scent of the pollution of the city here but that wasn't what I smelled. That could be why the one booth owner we saw had an air mask on. I burnt the air in front of me to make sure. I tasted when I breathed in. My sister could stop her breathing when needed.

     Maybe the odor came from the man in the white robe who stood there as if he waited for us.

     A warlord who lived here had something we wanted. A very small, basketball size, fusion reactor. He uses it for emergency energy. We know someone who seems to have their own continual emergency, and so would pay for it a lot for it

     Evidently one of his guards found out that we take what we need, especially from the likes of him. I think this guard does not know us that well, which isn’t surprising. This will be tricky but we can outclass him. Once he is out, or worse, we will head directly for the Warlord's place, high in the building ahead of us. That building has a bridge high up to another highrise. We can use the bridge to escape but not the usual way. 

    My sister looks at me, I nod she produces the ball of blue light between her hands I prepare a concussion out of my powders, and filings. I wait to activate my heat power until he is distracted. 

   At my nod we come out of the shadows and head his way as if we were just out here to buy something. He may suspect us but his stance shows arrogance therefore overconfidence. He has won too many battles but that is good for us.

     We near him ready for whatever unfolds for we make a good team.    

#indie #freestories #shortstories #fun #reading #cyberpunk #femaleleads 

New Free Fantasy Tale on my Birthday and sale

            #saturdayscene   June 22  my birthday and a reminder that I will be having a late birthday sale on my e-books. Some good reading there, worth the price of even the paper books.  So look for L. E. Doggett at the online sites that sale books, but ignore the calendar guy and the bedbugs, for some fun summer reads. If you like paper or e-books. 

    I skipped last week because of a ton of new house work.

    This tale is around six years old and is still one I like. I have revised it two or three times since I first wrote it as I learned more about writing and I just revised the opening 13, or so, lines. 

   It is a fun story and maybe a bit serious. 2,458 words. 

 Hoodwinker In The Wilderness

                      By L. E. Doggett

     Jordan C. Calhoon made his way through the narrow rock strewn ravine. He watched every step for it would not do to either twist an ankle, or get eaten. Rumors had spread that a dragon lived in this wasteland. He considered the chance worth it, for he had needed to get out of the village in a hurry; for his health. 

     This track smelled of dirt and animal spoors. Yet he still felt the need to travel through it instead of taking the easier, longer way to the next county. A dragon made noise but at the moment the sounds came from snakes and small animals. 

      A slight rattle sounded, and so he added in his thoughts, and from possible scorpions. Dragon or not he needed to be careful and attentive.  

    He cursed, took a drink of water from one of his two skins, the place smelled of dust and dirt. The warm water still refreshed him thought. He looked at the sides of the rough ravine, not even though. 

    Another curse and he said to the rocks, “Damn, its my misfortune to have allowed myself to be chased out of that village I was working in. I almost had them too.”

    The beast’s hunting grounds was supposed to be a mile, or two east of here, but one never knew how much of a rumor was true, or not. True or not, he had to go this way to avoid the irate villagers, who wanted to hang him.

     He stumbled on a loose rock and said, “People just won’t understand that I have a talent I need to use. It was the gift I was given after all, and I only take money from people who don’t know what to do with it. That village is growing, in  spite of the dragon rumors, therefore I thought it would be a good place to practice my gift. The village leaders would have more gold to spend for the village and many of the long time residents would have more gold and sliver then they were used to spending. It was more silver then gold, but it was still worth working for.”

     Jordan used one hand to steady himself against the side of the ravine as he made his way around a boulder, then continued with his compliments with a sigh, “It was my fault for allowing myself to be run out of the village like that. I’ve been in this business long enough to know how fickle the emotions of the masses can be. I should have stepped in when Joshua first started speaking against me, but I thought I had a better hold on the villagers. I saw the warning signs and ignored them. Somehow he managed to convince two or three of the citizens that I was up to no good. It took them a few days, but he was able to show more and more of the others the logic gaps in my promises. Most people want to believe what I say. I can sound convincing, friendly and authoritative at the same time while I play on their fantasies and hidden wishes. They don’t allow themselves to see the flaws in my statements, unless somebody they trust gets their attention. Its happened before. I’ve learned how to deal with it when it does, but this time I got lazy and overconfident.” 

     He shook his head as he spoke to himself, “now I have to make my way through this wilderness to escape those who want to hang me. I have to keep one eye on the rocks, and scrub brushes and the other watching for snakes, and the dragon. If I keep close to the mountain I can stay clear of where the dragon is supposed to be hunting, while at the same time taking less time to make my way into the next country. On top of that, the villagers won’t expect me to take this route.

     “There is no talking to people that angry, and I didn’t even take that much money yet”, here he jingled his half filled money pouch, “only a few gold and silver coins.” 

     Six minutes later he came out of the ravine and into a wide gully. The slope of the mountain made up one side of the gully while the other side was made of dirt cliffs ten feet high. There were bigger boulders near the far side, including one very large one.

     Jordan stopped a few steps into the gully. Something wasn’t right. He looked around. Everything looked normal. The floor was covered with small bushes, rocks were strewn all over the place and he could see snake holes. All kinds of things to twist his ankle if he had to run for it. 

     His breath caught and his stomach froze as he realized what  had caught his attention. It was a lot warmer here then in the ravine. 

     Jordan said, “Oh oh” 

     The temperature change could be natural, since it would be 

cooler in the ravine, but he didn’t think so. His head jerked back as a sudden thought came to him. A quick look showed the sky was empty, except for three, very normal looking clouds. He looked up the mountain side and still nothing. The dragon could be on the top of the cliffs, just out of his vision angle. He didn’t think so, though.

     He relaxed a bit taking another step. He thought about picking up one of the larger rocks, but what good would that do against a dragon? 

     Jordan took another step as he looked around. The stories about the dragon must be making me paranoid he thought. 

     His stomach sank and his heart froze, when he heard a deep, raspy voice say, “You should give me proper reverence.”

     Jordan's head spun around as he looked behind him, nothing. He looked upward again, still nothing. He’s eyes jumped to the large rock against the wall opposite his position. He watched in terrifying fascination as the upper one third unraveled. It went from being a solid boulder to being a long, snake like neck. The bulging end shot his way stopping a few feet in front of him. He had an impulse to run back into the ravine. It wouldn’t be able to fit in there, but the thing could either fly, or leap to the top of the ravine. That neck could reach into it to scoop him up, or bite him in half. He fought his instincts to flee screaming, and moved forward to meet that horrible, ugly head. 

     For a few seconds he stared at he head of the dragon. It reminded him of an alligator’s snout he had seen once. Only this snout had teeth along the outside of the mouth and it was almost as long as he was tall. It was wider then he was. The rest of the creature’s face, the eyes and forehead, looked very much like a snake’s head. The shape of the eyes, as well how far apart they were, and the slope of the forehead all gave the impression of a snake. The color was three shades of gray with small spots of green and light browns. 

     He got his mind working again and said, “Great Being, My name is Jordan C. Calhoon. I have a proposition for you that I need to tell you about, before you eat me.”

     The great head titled to one side and the gravely voice boomed, “What type of proposition could you have that a being like me would be interested in?”

     The breath was very warm and stunk of bunt meat mixed with other unidentifiable smells, he didn’t want to know what it made up that stink.

     “One by which you could eat to your heart’s content, while people of all types paid you the homage you deserve.”

     “I can eat all I want to now,” it said while moving its snout  in a significant manner, closer to him,

     “Yes this is true, but you still have to catch what you eat, or wait until something gets close enough to you so you can grab it. What I propose would allow you to eat all you want, without having to work for it. Cows, and sheep would be delivered to you, waiting to be eaten.”

     ”I can eat everything, including humans, that come onto my land.”

     “Of course you can, but cows are larger then humans. They are longer, fatter and weigh three to four times as much as a man would. One skinny human isn’t all that much of meal for someone like you.”

     “True, most humans are on the thin side, and I’ve eaten cows before. They are bigger. Humans are usually gone in one gulp, but I have to take three bites to finish off a cow. I like variety though.”

    “I would be able to get you an oxen or two. They are even larger then cows and perhaps even a deer now and then. Deer are smaller then cows, but still larger then a person. I might be able to get you an elephant now and then too. You do know how big an elephant is?”

     “Yes, I have heard of elephants. My cousin described them to me. They would make a large meal.”
     “One fit for the Monarch of all animals.”

     There was a pause, after which Jordan continued, “And as I said people would give you the reverence you deserve... I would imagine you don’t get much of that out here.”

     “I have been getting very little reverence lately. The last maiden I ate punched me in the nose first. While she wasn’t strong enough to harm me of course, she should have felt more awe of me.”

     “I agree she should have been too awestruck to punch you. It was a good thing she wasn’t a sorceress though. You do realize there are more sorcerers, wizards and the like throughout the land. They can be very dangerous even to an animal of your magnificence.”

     The dragon grunted. The hot air it expelled reminded Jordan of the air billows blew across a blacksmith’s fire.

     Jordan said, “You said that a maiden punched you, what would have happened if she had been a sorcerous with a fist full of magic powder. Those sorcerous powders can do all sorts of harm even to beasts of your stature.”

     “I know,” the great beast said with a growl of fire, “another cousin of mine was killed be a wizard just last month.”

     Jordan flinched at the voice, but said, “I’m sorry to hear 

that, my condolences to you. But if you come with me no sorcerer, or wizard would come after you. And as I said you would have all you could eat along with people paying homage to your regalness, great strength and nobleness.”

     “Would I be able to eat any of those who come to watch?”

     The man shook his head, “That would not be a good idea, if people thought they might get eaten, they would not pay gold to see you.”

     “But I like humans.”

     Jordan looked thoughtful, “Well... if you really wanted one maybe we could get a village to give us, or better yet, pay us to execute a condemned man. It could save them time and money. I should be able to talk village elders to do that if you promise me you only eat the people I say you can.”

    “You promise me that I can eat all I want with little work?”

    “I can promise you cows, oxen, a deer now and then, and maybe an elephant once in a while.”

     “What would I have to do for this?”

     “Let people look at you and be awed. Do a little flying, breath fire now and then. We can set up some logs, maybe build a few huts you could swoop down on and breath fire on.”

     The dragon pulled its head back, and asked “People would give you gold to watch me?”

     “A magnificent beast like you, of course they would. You would have people coming out to see you now, if they weren’t afraid of being eaten, or twisting a leg on these rocks.”

     The dragon titled his head looking thoughtful, “What would you get out of it?”

     “I would get to keep half the gold and I would be known far 

and wide as the one who was showing such a wondrous dragon.”

     He added to himself, and I would not get eaten.

     The dragon suddenly snaked its head toward Jordan. It stopped it right in front of man’s. It was all Jordan could do to stand his ground.

     The dragon stood there a minute then said, “Its a deal.”

     Jordan let out the air he didn’t realize he was holding then said, “We can start in the next village. It might take them a while to see that you don’t want to attack, then to realize they can see you close up if they pay. I should go in first with you waiting outside the village until I call you.”

     “I can do that.”

     The dragon unlimbered himself and man and beast started walking down the gully together.

     Jordan was thinking as he walked next to the dragon.

    I am Jordan C. Calhoon. I can charm anyone even a dragon and the villagers who would want to see him. But it’s a good thing that I had heard that dragons were lazy and egotistical. And it was a good thing that I came up with the beginning of what I said while walking through that ravine, just in case I ran into the dragon. With my experience I was able to come up with the rest of it as we talked. I will have to remember to continue my act at all times.

     The dragon was also thinking as he waddled alongside the human. 

     Its a good thing I had heard that humans are egotistical, and that they do think they can talk their way out of trouble. I was hoping to find a human that would offer me a deal. I’m getting old and running down food is getting a little hard, and he is right there are more sorcerers and wizards around these days. I thought I could find some one who I could talk into helping me. I don’t really like eating humans all that much. They are small, and their clothes taste nasty sometimes. They can have all sorts of sharp, or hard objects in their clothes. Swords, and knifes sometimes get stick into my mouth, and any type of metal is hard to digest. 

     He shook his great head, thinking that he would have to remember to continue his act.  

                      The end  

 #fantasy #dragons #freestories #shortstories #fun 

Second half of New Alternate Universe Tale: Multi-Castles

This is part two-the final one-of Multi-Castles from last week. Quite a few have read this one-at least plussed it-but very few have stated what they thought of it. Some people, like me, like alt universe stories and some don’t. Not sure what I will do next week maybe another story from a pic I am writing or an excerpt from one of my new novels.

I have done a whole series of stories based on a picture titled Dark Castle. The setting for this story is the picture. A dark castle set on a short hill with a walled village around it and the full moon right behind it. It's not a blue moon though I added that detail here. Anyway if anyone is interested in reading more stories here is the link to my Collection on Goggle Plus. You will need to sign up for Google Plus to see it, I think. There is a Urban Fantasy story, a thriller, a fantasy, a romance tale and a couple of others. There will be a science fiction and a youth story. And a steampunk. There are other pictures-stories there also. 
Remember that this is also a story in my new Collection which can be found here:
https://plus.google.com/collection/Exg0WE


This section is 2,200 and some words long and has a bit from last week to help you catch up.



Enjoy:



Rick continued on though. Most of the stores, houses, and Inns were in dark shadows. Good thing he had overcome his fear of the dark. He debated calling her an American and see if that would get a reaction since she disliked it so much, but she would have to hear it first.
However he jumped when someone ran out of an alley and on down the street. He blinked, that hadn’t been Jonna. Come to think of it she had said that people were in the city. Now that he was here he hoped they were not thieves or drunks. He heard footsteps in front of him, so fearing the man who just ran in front of him was a drunk after Jonna, Rick ran harder.

The sand near the gate had smell hot still, in here though it was old wood and what might be cloth decay. Strands of his matted hair flipped around his face and got sucked into his mouth when he breathed in. Sweaty hair was not a good after dinner snack.
It had cooled in here but enough warmth came from the warm stones and street so it didn’t feel too cold yet. He saw the steeple of the church and that other building. It had looked newer yet still ancient. Now everything was dark-except the church. It sat on a very low hill be itself so moonlight shined on it. The moon was up.
Someone ran on another street. It could be Jonna if she took an alley. If she wanted to get the people out of the field they had made she should be shouting, but wasn’t. Just in case these people had harmed her or caught her to hold until later-for a ritual maybe? He didn’t shout.
He shined the light here and there but saw no one. He heard slithers and tiny feet but no people. He should have at least seen their camp by now. Maybe they were tourists who wanted to camp here.
A squeak up ahead made him run faster. It had started to smell of hot rock and ozone-he could taste the last when he panted. He better find Jonna soon, they didn’t know what a prolong exposure to their field did to houses, rocks or people.
Someone stood in the street up ahead. Rick slowed and pulled the large flashlight out as quick as possible. Its light would help him see better, maybe blind the guy and would be strong enough to use as a club.
Rick slowed and approached the figure. It turned to glare at him, or so Rick thought, since he couldn’t see the face that well.
He ran on pass the figure. The person looked familiar, but Rick didn’t go back to find out how. He turned down a corner. Another person who looked the same as someone else Rick knew came out of a building. He came up to Rick, ran with him for two blocks then made a sound of disappointment and turned off. Almost like they had just realized they didn’t know him after all.
There, in that strange building a light and a figure that was female. It looked right for Jonna. He turned and headed that way. Someone else came out from the side, he slowed and blinked. That looked like Jonna, but if so she had changed her outfit. A young man followed her soon after.
Whoa, Rick thought, that guy was me, with short hair. The new man ran after the second Jonna who had increased her speed. She was headed for that building. It now had two lanterns and three flashlights inside. He could see the lights flicker through a window. Or empty space in the wall. Those lights made the shadows look deeper. And now that he knew that he and Jonna were not alone he stared at the darkness, his fears coming back.
But he put on speed and found the building.
When he neared the door he slowed and stop. Off to one side Rick saw Cory standing and talking to a completely different Jonna. For one thing this one was dressed as a Goth, which included pale make up, black ribbons in her longer hair and maybe she looked younger too.
But Cory couldn’t walk. He had been born with spinal bifida, so had never walked.
The two turned to look at him, than at a newcomer who, whoa, looked like Rick but stockier.
That Rick said, “We need to get going the fields weren’t last much longer.”
The two pointed at Rick, the wider Rick turned and said, “Whoa-and damn. We should have known.”
Rick wanted to ask what was going on, but the strange Rick was right about the fields. He mumbled something about “nice meeting you” and hurried to the door into the building. He saw Jonna standing in the shadow of one side Jonna stood near the door in deep shadows. He had only seen her because he accidentally shone his light into that space when he stumbled again.
He rushed to it. “What is going on?”
She looked at him in surprise. “You need to leave.”
Figuring out what she meant by just saying. “You” he said, “Why without you?”
She sighed, “I don’t belong here. I made this trip here already, but the field died too soon and I was stuck somewhere else. I have spent over two years trying to get home but the last one attempt only brought me to your universe. Again the field wasn’t strong enough now laster long. Your battery makes a huge difference-make sure you get credit for it-as does the digital instead of analog readouts. It took me eight months to find you four so we could put together the right equipment. I didn’t know it all, I needed you guys to get home. I knew you all would be on that social media site but it took me months to draw you all out so I knew you could do the same as my real partners.”
“Whoa, real partners? You don’t have to be insulting, after all we are friends.”
She shook her head. “You are good people, but you are not my friends and partners in this. You are so much like my Rick but not the same. The same goes for the Siblings and Gory.
And no, I didn’t mean you and I are an item. We are just friends and not with benefits. I am married to Gory and we have a child.”
“That explains your push to get back to your world.”
She nodded, looked teary eyed for a moment. “I could not get close to any of you. The Rick of my group is more assured. He started the group and encouraged us.
“Your battery and the new infuser made a difference here. I have a temporal unlocked chroniton particle reader. I think it shows the right numbers. But if you are here when the field breaks down you will be with me or it will mess things up. But don’t worry you and I have to be together some place, not in the two alts I have been too but still it had to happen. You’re a good man. Now go. I need to hide here so none of the others grabs me, or stays here too long trying to talk me into going with them.”
Rick nodded, she was right about that field, even his battery would not last much longer, it had taken a while to find her.
She said, “I knew almost at once that I had been left in an Alt, even though this building was here. Because it is so unusual it is a catch point, it helps to focus the temporal twisting tachyon waves-I think.”
Jonna blinked back tears. “The universe I came from was so different. For one thing America was nothing as you know it and as it was on the other two universes I visited. George Washington and the others lost. He was, according to my school’s history, a bad man. Irritable, he killed people in duels for small slights, drank too much etc,. Now though I wonder if he was that bad. It could be why he lost but it could also be just what the winners said about him. But after the failed attempt to win his own country England dumped people on it the King didn’t want, including criminals and such. Three decades later England granted America independence but more because they just didn’t want it any more. Later they did awful things in the world and to each other. Worse than anyone thinks you guys really did. You did help win WWII. Half of what you built was junk, but it could be fixed up and it helped. Than on D-Day which to us meant Distraction Day, for the attack on Omaha Beach was just a distraction you guys ended up taking the Beach which cause Hitler to send in more troops for he didn’t want to lose to America. The American troops ran out of ammo so they used captured German arms. That included turning the cannons around and using them on the Germans. That became a good cliche. Turning a person’s weapons around to use against them. Later in the nick of time Churchill sent ammo and a few more troops. They made movies about that. But despite that win and the Battle of the Bulge being called an America is still an insult. A bad one.
“However in the first Alt I was sent to, was the opposite. People from other counties wanted to be called an American. That county’s history was close to yours but they helped a couple of more countries to become self sufficient and had better PR. It still amazes me that your America is so much better than mine. I wouldn’t mind living here even with your problems. All of my universe’s countries have problems of one type or another.”
A moment later someone headed away from them.
She said, “Damn, I took too long to explain what I wanted to say all along. I left notebooks and comments and my machine. Go now.”
Rick nodded and turned away. He wondered at first if she had flipped but he had seen others like their group and her description of her world made sense. He walked away but looked in the doorway. He saw another Jonna who held a lantern while another Rick held a flashlight like the one he carried. He rushed over to them. They held hands, he looked at them saw rings. Either they were cheating or were marred to each other.
They startled and he said, “The fields are collapsing. You better run for it or you might get caught in another universe as a friend of mine did. She thinks this one will take her home.”
Their expressions showed that they got his point, turned and ran toward another wall. He turned back and ran too. He managed to shout to someone who might have been the Siblings. But he knew his battery was almost used up and that the fields were starting to die.
He ran through the gate, wondered what would happen if he had chosen the wrong one. He found it easier to run on the sand than the cobblestones, even though he still couldn’t make top speed. The ozone smell grew, enough so he could taste it in the air. The night air had cooled a lot. He tripped once over some shrub but got up and ran harder. The air crackled behind him. Either it was about to break or it was going back together. Maybe if it broke they would have a permanent gate or field or something.
Someone stood on a dune and shouted for him to run faster. He wanted to ask why? The field was behind him. Was someone after him? A dinosaur from a universe where they hadn’t died out? Or more likely a cloud or concussion from the field collapsing was headed his way.
His back grew hot fast. Darkness shadowed him. The air and earth rumbled. A giant after him? He ran past Jonna’s device even as it died: lights blinked out, the humm it made ran down. Rick couldn’t stop though and almost ran into Jimmy, who had to duck to one side. He went up the dune and didn’t stop until he was against his SUV. At least he had lost enough momentum so he hit it easy. He leaned on it and panted. After a long moment he gasped out, “Did-you get-it?”
Cory answered through Rick’s ear piece. “Most of it. There was some fluctuating interference but I recorded most of it. I am making a back up now.”
Rick thought that not everyone would believe them, even with the video but maybe enough so they could get money and assistance to do it again.
What Jonna had said about him and her came to mind so did that last couple. He hadn’t really thought of marring Jonna. She was hot, and he liked looking at her-she must have noticed that. Because she mentioned her husband and but she had been too distance for that type of relationship. But maybe in another universe she might not have been. He might have been stronger and able to see things in people he couldn’t here too. Or braver and not so unsure of himself. But he had gone into the field and the dark village maybe he was braver than he thought. He could do more than be a one trick pony and chauffeur-he had in other universes evidently after all. He nodded as Jimmy and Coral caught up with him and asked what happened and where was Jonna. He caught his breath and turned to explain. They would want to see the video of her explanation. Cory could send a copy back to one or both of their laptops. Probably Jonna didn’t exist here or had died but they had this Jonna’s device and notes so they could do it without her now. He hoped she got home.

End