Now, somehow all of the votes revolved around the Classic challenge, eighteen votes and not one for poor @redshirt, still, he does not go without a prize, two actually!
Now, I made a HUGE mistake and somehow forgot to add one of his Speed Challenge stories to the voting list. Sorry dude :-(. As I had to choose a story as the winner of the Speed Challenge and as I really like all of your stories I decided that the one I missed is the winner! I love the "…voice like bones scraping…"
Bones Scraping
By Robert Hilliard @redshirt6
As she finished the spell, she listened intently in the night. The only thing she noticed was her own beating heart as it pounded.
“Damn it,” she said out loud. “That should have worked.”
She sat for a few more minutes, waiting. Finally she decided to call it a night.
As she moved to stand up, an odor invaded her room. It reeked of sulfur and rot.
The hairs on her arms stood up and her pulse quickened.
A voice like bones scraping from the shadows lurked and shuffled.
“I am here,” it said as it moved into the light.
This week there was only one Blind Entry and once again @redshirt6 did a stand-up job of creating a fantastic, and fantastical, tale using all three prompts. I really like this story, a lot:
The Dragon and the Girl
By Robert Hilliard @redshirt6
Dragon
Arthur stumbled, his head suddenly swimming with disorientation. As the pigeon took to the air, reality seemed to blur and shift.
The bird transformed, its wings becoming fibrous and long as it took the shape of a dragon.
Arthur’s arms trembled with fatigue as he drew back the great sword preparing to strike. The movement felt natural and practiced. His calloused hands matched perfectly to the leather of the sword’s handle, worn familiar from long and constant use.
And then it was just a pigeon flying overhead.
Arthur paused, bewildered. On his hands was a scent. Leather.
Lurker
Arthur leaned against the brick wall he struggled to comprehend what had just happened. The hair on his arms stood on end and his hands shook. Strangely, the muscles in his back and shoulders ached as if from some strenuous activity.
“Damn,” he swore quietly. “I haven’t even been drinking!”
Pushing off the wall he started down the sidewalk, the vision still vibrant and visceral in his mind. The sun was low in the sky as the end of the day approached.
Passing by an alley, he heard a sound. From the shadows lurked a small girl.
She wore chainmail.
A Woman Full Grown
As Arthur approached her, she stepped out from the shadows.
“Halt!” she said in a commanding voice, her hand raised over her right shoulder and grasping the pommel of what appeared to be a sword as tall as she was.
Arthur froze in his tracks, raising his hands in a surrendering fashion. And then his heart skipped.
In the late afternoon sun he could see that he had been mistaken. She was no child. She was obviously a woman full grown. And beautiful.
“Are you the one called Arthur?” she demanded.
“I am.”
“Then you must come with me, now.”
Finally there is the Classic Challenge, what started off as a tie was broken at the last minute with the obvious champion:
Lisa McCourt Hollar (@jezri1)
This is a really cool tale reminding me of "The Princess Bride", "Labyrinth" and all of those beautifully illustrated fantasy tales from my childhood, I present:
Penelope's Way
"Edmund was on his way to see Princess Penelope. From the shadows lurked, Goldwing, the dragon that had killed his father. The beast was watching the knight, waiting for the opportunity to strike when..."
"The princess leaped out of the shadows and ran him through with her sword!"
Gaylord sighed. "Penelope, who is telling this story, you or me?"
"You are."
"Then let ME tell it."
"When daddy reads to me, he lets me change the story."
"I'm not dad."
"I know. Daddy would never put a dragon in the shadows. How can a dragon lurk? He's huge."
"It's a small dragon."
Penelope snorted. "Edmund deserves to be eaten, if he can't see a dragon in the shadows."
"Maybe Edmund is thinking about Princess Penelope."
"I told you, I don't want to be a princess. I want to be a knight and carry a sword with a magical, crystal pommel."
"Well in my story you are the Princess of Unicorns and Rainbows." Gaylord grinned at his sister and attempted his most evil laugh.
Penelope rolled her eyes. "In that case, I want to change the story."
"You don't get to change the story."
But Penelope wasn't listening. She was holding a crystal gem; one of those glass things they sell at novelty stores. Only Gaylord noticed this gem looked different. It glowed when she held it.
"Where did you get that?"
"I found it. It grants wishes."
"How cute," Gaylord smirked.
Penelope whispered into the crystal, "Dragons are real. They live in the shadow realm."
On the wall a shadow of a dragon appeared.
"What the...Penelope, what did you do?"
Penelope smiled. "I like this story much better." Penelope whispered into the crystal again. She and Gaylord disappeared from the room and two new shadows appeared on the wall.
Not only does Lisa get to be one of the coolest Flash Fiction writers of the week and get badges of honor for her tales, she also gets to pick the special prompt for next weeks challenge!
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