Warm Ups

NANO IS COMING!

So have a one hundred word original ficlet, inspired by this hilarious, if unfortunately headlined news article.

Sometimes, when the octopus is bored, it juggles the hermit crabs.

You’d think something with eight arms would be a reasonably good juggler, but our octopus was terrible at it. I suppose it’s possible that it’s not representative of the species. That might be more fair. I’d hate for aliens to judge the human race by two or three captured pets. I’m never quite sure whether it’s the adventurous octopus or the dumb one that ends up in the zoo.

I don’t feel bad for the hermit crabs. For all I know, it’s the crustacean equivalent of an RV holiday.

There may be more later.

More Warm Ups

(I started this one yesterday and it was about birds, but I think the birds are their own story now.)

The river is eating away at the city John Galt built on the bank.

He called it the Grand and hemmed it in with concrete. He spanned it with bridges and readied it for settlement. He lined the riverbank with stone: churches and factories, a courthouse and an armoury, all of it cold and grey to match the clouds. It rains, and the river has nowhere to go but up towards the windows. So the windows creep higher, and the concrete follows in their wake, chasing progress out from the water and up to the sky.

The river fights back.

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( Photographic Inspiration )

I'm throwing it open for pictures and prompts. No guarantees, but you might get a hundred words if you send me something. :)