Cedar Sanderson

Week 2 of Odd Prompts: 2024 Edition

Another week, another year, another new and exciting opportunity. Some chances in life come once. Others? Well, you can always try again next week. Or tomorrow. No one around here is judging you, or grading your output, or doing anything but mildly cheering you on. Just remember one thing…

BottleCorkFizz!
Fiona GreyThe scheduling bot was the perfect assistant, until…Leigh Kimmel
AC YoungIn the morning sun, the clouds looked like a snow-capped mountain range.Cedar Sanderson
Becky JonesAfter two hours of walking, the tunnel finally opened into…AC Young
Padre“The repairs were necessary and not cheap, but worth it in the end.”Becky Jones
nother MikeAround the corner, in the dark alley, they waited…Padre
Leigh KimmelThe downpour had become so heavy you could barely see across parking lot. And then you glimpsed…Fiona Grey
Cedar Sandersonhe nursed his wounded handnother Mike

Judge yourself, and your output, with the same kindness you would give to someone you love and care about. Be gentle to yourself. If you need to learn and get better and tighten up your ability to meet a deadline, do so. Just don’t beat yourself up about it. That doesn’t help. Find a way to reward yourself, in some small way, instead of a punishment.

Spare“It’s the barrens for us all, now, lad.”
SpareThe alien ceremony was a joy to behold, but impossible to describe.
SpareOn the lake, with a sudden rainstorm pouring down, the boat seemed wobbly…
SpareWhen the witches started stirring their kettles, it was time to run…
SpareThe skeleton walked in the door, opened a briefcase, and started to sell us …

Let’s make 2024 a year of kindness, building ourselves up so we can support others. Don’t forget to come post your prompt responses in the comments. See you there, and remember, if you wouldn’t say that to a friend, why would you say it to yourself?

Visual prompt (Image by Cedar Sanderson, rendered with MidJourney)

10 comments

  1. This week Becky Jones sent me: After two hours of walking, the tunnel finally opened into…

    Perhaps I could set it in a variant world with a continent similar to South America, but prevailing winds from the west not the east, and at about the time when European explorers were starting to visit the area.

    —

    The scout left his horse at the outpost and headed up the valley. After about half an hour he slipped behind a boulder and entered a hidden tunnel.

    Taking a torch from the store maintained just inside the entrance, he lit it and headed down the passageway.

    As he went he couldn’t help breathing a sigh of relief. The land he had left was dry and parched, with barely enough water to keep the grass alive. Only where streams and rivers flowed down from the mountains was there enough water to support anything else.

    The population of the land was low, and had been easily conquered by his people sweeping down from over the mountain passes. It was a hard land, and if it wasn’t for the gold, iron, and other valuable metal deposits it wouldn’t be worth keeping. But the gold mines funded the government, and kept the army functional, and the iron was used to make their swords and armour.

    The scout kept going. He had important news that had to be delivered in person. The sailing people had returned. They had been espied sailing their overlarge ships up the Southern River, turning around only one bend before the iron mine and associated settlement in that area came into sight.

    Yet again, it seemed as if the sailing people were content to leave the eastern lands alone, but there were rumours of rumours that the northern barbarians had been badly mauled by the sailing people, and their civilisation wiped out. Certainly no merchants made their way down the western coast carrying goods from the barbarian lands any more.

    On and on the scout hiked. The tunnels through the mountains were amongst his people’s finest engineering achievements. Kept secret, they permitted his people to move armies through the mountains in all seasons and from unexpected directions. Every so often the eastern peoples tried to rebel, but even on the one occasion the gates to the passes were all taken, armies sent through the tunnels permitted the restoration of his people’s rightful rule.

    It was a long hard slog, but after two hours of patient walking, the tunnel finally opened up into the valley beyond.

    Green. That was always his first impression when he came out of the tunnels into his own land. Green and verdant.

    This was the largest valley this side of the mountains, whose range came very close to the western sea, heading both north and south as far as the land was known. The thin strip of land between the mountains and the sea had plenty of rain and excellent soil. It may be only a thin strip, but the good farming supported a populace easily twice or three times the size of the population of the much larger eastern lands, and a much wealthier and technologically adept population at that.

    At the gate to the tunnel there were stables. The scout selected a horse and rode to the capital.

    The town had a population of about 25,000, and was the largest town in the known world. Most of the building were made of wood, as were the town walls, but the major civil buildings were all made of stone. The Temple to the Sun God dominated the skyline, the stepped pyramid being the largest building in the land. The King’s Palace next door was the second-tallest building, and could be seen from miles around.

    Just inside the eastern gate was the army headquarters. The scout headed inside to make his report. The sailing people were getting bolder. It might be time to prepare for them to do something silly, but no-one seriously expected them to be much of a long-term threat.

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  2. Cedar Sanderson suggested…

    he nursed his wounded hand

    [oho! Who is he, what did he do to get a wounded hand, and what is he trying to do with that injury? Hum… here’s a splinter…]

    Henry shook his head as he stared into the cage at the little dragon. He nursed his wounded hand, and bit his lip. What had happened?

    He thought the little dragon was settling down, despite the sounds and smells of the veterinarian hospital. It was such a pretty thing, with those scales, almost a crocodile pattern. And the wings, well, they probably weren’t going to be big enough to actually let him fly, but someone had borrowed wings like a bat, and tailored them to his body. Then, too, he seemed to have friendly blue eyes. He had scrabbled over close to the front of the cage, and then looked up at Henry, almost begging to be petted.

    That’s why he had opened the cage door. When the dragon didn’t seem to be trying to escape, he turned his hand down and reached into the cage, like he would with a dog or other normal pet. And that’s when the dragon had jumped forward, fangs out, and slashed at his hand.

    Henry had pulled back, surprised, and the dragon… oh, wait, the dragon stopped right at the edge of the cage. It stood there, watching him, until he swung the gate shut. Then it backed away, and sat down in the back of the cage.

    Henry nodded, slowly. Territory. The literature on the new dragons didn’t say much, but it did mention they apparently had a strong territorial drive. And apparently the dragon had decided that the cage was his new territory. So, of course, someone sticks their hand in, you protect your territory. But he stopped as soon as Henry backed out of the territory.

    He wasn’t sure, yet, about treating the dragon, but he sort of understood why it bit him now. And he could probably deal with it feeling that the cage was its territory, somehow. If it felt safe in there, well, they could move the cage when they needed to.

    He rubbed his hand. And that little nip was going to be a good reminder that this was a different species, with different reactions, than anything he had treated before.

    [hum. The trials of a vet dealing with… magical? Gene-engineered? Some kind of new animal…]

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