Fionagreywrites

Week 9 of Odd Prompts

Well, hey there, odd prompters! Welcome back to this week’s iteration of More Odds Than Ends, the place where creatives are flat out encouraged to be a little strange, and to share that strangeness. In fact, please join us!

Here’s how it works: You submit one, you get one. Trade! You want one, but forgot one? Spare! It’s that simple. And while we might bite occasionally in real life, there aren’t fangs on our delight at seeing what other people do with our odd ideas.

PRO

PrompterPromptPromptee
AC YoungThe mermaid scout encountered a kraken…nother Mike
Fiona Grey“Don’t worry. Last time the room moved without telling us first, we found a rhino in the library. Nothing to worry about.”Leigh Kimmel
Becky Jones[Character] stared at the painting. It looked different today. The birds had moved around.Cedar Sanderson
Leigh KimmelYou keep hearing a strange rumbling sound — but no one else can seem to hear it, even when you direct them to it.Fiona Grey
nother MikeThere was a baby dragon in the trashcan, laughing as it dug through the trash…Becky Jones
Cedar SandersonAt first she thought the little bundle of sticks, grass, and moss was a blown-down bird’s nestAC Young

SPARES

SpareThe birds wouldn’t stop singing.
SpareRolling storms brought more than rain and hail.
SparePowerless against the cute
SpareGive me The Beach Boys, I wanna get lost on a sandy shore…
SpareYour new smart kitchen wants to cook fancy stuff, not good old homecooking…

So come on, already, and get to prompting and being prompted! The world could use a little brightness at times like these.

Header image by Fiona Grey

14 comments

  1. This week’s prompt was donated by Cedar Sanderson: At first she thought the little bundle of sticks, grass, and moss was a blown-down bird’s nest

    I introduced Atlas IV back in week 6. This gave me an excuse to explore the planet further.

    —

    Lauren and Arthur were on their first expedition as members of the Society for the Study of Atlasian Ecology (SSAE).

    The society was only founded some 60 years after colonisation. All the founder members were third-generation settlers – with far too much time on their hands was a common view.

    The society was dedicated to studying the ecology of Atlas IV, especially the unique elements deriving from the terraforming process. The relatively well-known habitats had been the first to be studied, poison meadows among them. But now the SSAE were sending expeditions out to areas of the planet as yet untouched by the colonisation process.

    Lauren and Arthur were part of the first expedition to the temperate woodlands of the eastern seaboard of Themis, the second largest continent on the planet (the main continent having been named Theia – all the continents being named after female titans, with the oceans being named after their male counterparts).

    The expedition had sailed across the Crius Ocean and sailed into a suitable bay. A river flowed into the ocean there, which the expedition named Athena. They set up camp at the river’s mouth.

    The next day the members of the expedition set out into the woods in pairs. This was a common-sense measure as no-one knew what might be poisonous – one person alone might die before help could find him/her; with pairs there was a much better chance of an explorer accidently poisoned getting help in time.

    Lauren and Arthur had been paired together. They made careful note of all the trees, many of which appeared to be of species known back on Earth. Some looked as if they were unique species arising out of the terraforming process. Each time one of those trees was encountered photos were taken and leaves were snipped off to enable proper identification and classification. The plants they noted, but left for tomorrow’s excursion.

    As they passed through the woods Lauren saw a bundle of sticks on the ground. As she approached she noticed that grass and moss had been used in its construction. She thought that it was a bird’s nest, one blown down from one of the trees overhead. She was very interested – the expedition had heard the calls of birds, but she had not yet seen any.

    When she reached the nest she knelt down, and with gloved hands started to tease the bundle apart. Then she stopped mid-tug.

    It wasn’t a nest. The bundle was a squirrel’s drey. It had been blown down from above during a storm, and contained dead young. Two, small, with red fur and two white bands down their chest.

    Arthur approached, noticed the dead young and knelt also.

    After a short discussion, one of the young was left next to the drey, food for the predators and bugs that the expedition had not yet encountered. The other they carefully bagged to be analysed. It looked as if it was a unique atlasian squirrel – but this needed to be confirmed.

    Upon returning to the camp, on the banks of the Athena, the pair reported back what they had discovered, and heard what the other pairs had observed.

    The expedition members were very excited. A number of potentially unique species of trees and plants, and a potentially unique species of mammal. This was exactly what the expedition had hoped to find.

    A few more days, and then they would pack up and return to Atlantis on Theia. There the expedition’s discoveries would be analysed, and any unique species confirmed. The expedition agreed that the squirrel would be named the Themisian Striped Red if it turned out to be an atlasian-specific species, and not a variant colouring of an earth-native.

    Even after only one day, the team knew that it would be a very successful expedition.

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

  2. AC Young poked the trident in with…

    The mermaid scout encountered a kraken…

    [first thought… Aquaman! And the hordes of Atlantis! ]

    [a sketchy beginning…]

    The submarine crew was already nervous. Who wouldn’t be, cruising surrounded by mermen riding hammerhead sharks, with mermaids scouting ahead? And sitting in the commander’s chair was the ruler of the mermen, his outfit straight out of the comics, with a silver trident standing in his hand.

    Then one of the mermaid scouts encountered a kraken! The seabottom seemed to lift, as the enormous cephalopod rose, its eyes glaring at the scout, and quickly picking out the mermen and the submarine. The scout casually flipped upright, and raised her hand. The tip of one gigantic tentacle lifted, and… raised like a wall in front of her. She pushed her hand onto its skin, and quickly wiggled and sketched.

    The ruler chuckled. “Now, we will see whether Gregor wants to join our army or not.”

    The captain of the sub looked at the screen, then at the ruler.

    “You’re going to bring that thing with us?”

    The ruler smiled. “Well, I think having him with us will provide a little more emphasis to my requests. After all, if you hadn’t been there, would you believe that Atlantis still exists, and would like you surface dwellers to stop dumping your trash in our oceans?”

    The captain nodded. “No, you’re right. But will the kraken… I mean, do we have to feed him?”

    Now the ruler tilted his head. “Hum, that might be hard. But don’t worry, we’ll find food for him.”

    The kraken seemed to blink, then turned red all over. The ruler nodded. “There, he’s joined us. Let’s proceed, Captain.”

    The captain shook his head, but ordered the sub to continue its cruise into New York City. He wondered how the city would take having the kraken, mermaids and mermen, and of course, the ruler of Atlantis turn up on the docks, and ask to be taken to the United Nations.

    [okay, that’s one way to go…]

    The mermaid scout encountered a kraken. She veered off, and watched for a moment, then signaled the others.

    Moments later, the mermaids and mermen surrounded the section of the sea floor where she had spotted the kraken. They all lifted their tridents, and in a sudden flash, slid them into the giant beast. They sent their electric currents down the metal handles, and the beast writhed as its muscles tore at its control.

    Within seconds, the huge carcass floated between them, hanging from their tridents. That’s when they got their knives out, and started carving the kraken into chunks that they could carry. The entire group took what they and their families could eat, and left the rest for the scavengers to clean up.

    That night, everyone would eat well. Calimari cutlets for all!

    [now, that’s just silly…]

    [a quickie!]

    The mermaid scout encountered a kraken.

    The kraken lazily opened one eye, curled a tentacle around the tidbit, and dragged it into its maw. It slowly chewed, and wondered if any more tasty strangers would come visiting.

    [the end]

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

Leave a comment