"I" (Writers of Kern A-Z Blog Challenge)

By Kehlee - Inspired by our trip to the Great Western War.

“You’re a hack!” The man in the top hat said as knocked his chair backwards and stood to leave.

“But sir!”

“But what? This is horrible!”

“You can’t leave, we’re not done yet.”

The man didn’t respond and he stepped towards the exit.

“But sir, you have to pay!”

“Like hell!” He answered over his shoulder. “You’re a scam! You don’t deserve a penny!” He ripped open the flap at the front of the tent and stormed out.

Igor the Illusionist laid his head down on the table and listened to the brief sounds of the carnival outside before the tent flap swung shut to silence the room. It sounded nothing like it should have. He heard the agony of unpaid rental fees, the disappointed customers who shunned his magic, and the cries of children who were pulled away by their mothers, afraid to venture near his tent and the disarray it was in. He swore the carnival owner was out to get him. He had to raise prices twice this year to cover the rent, he had no money to fix his tent, and he was given the worst locations at the back of fairgrounds. At this show, he wasn’t even placed on a walkway where customers would see him. He was in the middle of the dirt field behind the broken Ferris wheel that wasn’t operating this week.

How am I supposed to make a living with everything going to hell? I hate this job. I hate this carnival. And I hate my life. He pounded his hand on the table, scattering a mess of playing cards.

The tent flap opened and Igor lifted his eyes at the sound.

“Not now kid, I’m done for the day. I’m tired.”

The kid just stood there with an excited grin on his face.

“Come on, go, get out.” Igor stood from the table and walked around to shoo him away. But the kid somehow smiled larger at this movement and reached into his pocket. He pulled out a quarter and held it up in an outstretched arm, between his thumb and index finger, as if it was a reverent treasure he was proud to show off. 

“Let’s go kid; I don’t want your quarter.” 

The kid didn’t move.

“Fine! One trick, okay? Then you’re out. I want to get some sleep; there’s a lot on my mind right now. I don’t have time for these silly tricks.” Igor reached down and plucked the quarter from the boys hand and laid it in his own, palm up at the boy’s eye level – his other palm waiting just below it. “You see? It’s heads right?” The kid nodded. “Now, if I flip it over…” He quickly flipped the hand with the quarter over onto his other, making a loud clapping noise when his palms met around coin. “…it somehow stays heads.” He pulled his hand away to reveal the quarter still facing upwards, as if it didn’t flip. It was the stupidest magic trick he could think of, simple and quick; anything to get rid of this kid.

But he was wrong. The kid’s eyes lit up in astonishment and he reached out and took the quarter from the magician’s hand to inspect it. He flipped it this way and that to ensure it wasn’t tampered with in anyway. It was still his quarter, he was sure of it. He was amazed and giggled in excitement. He held the quarter out in his palm, offering it back to the magician, an expectant gleam in his eye.

Igor felt a small smile tug at the corner of his mouth. 

“Fine.” He bent down and lightly gripped the kid’s upturned hand with his fingertips, to steady it. With his right, he waved it in a magical flourish above the kid’s hand before bringing it down to swipe over the quarter. The kid’s hand vanished from view underneath the magician’s larger one. It was a smooth gesture, evenly moving across the kid’s hand without touching it and when the kid’s hand was revealed again, the quarter was gone from his palm. The kid’s jaw dropped in wonder. Igor continued his right hand’s flourish and plucked the quarter from behind the boy’s ear.

The kid laughed openly. He hopped from one leg to the other in an excited dance, clapping his hands. It looked as if he was having the time of his life. The smile on Igor’s face was spread wide now, he couldn’t hide it. He was feeling the excitement too.

“Alright, one more, okay? I really need to get going.” He stood and backed away a few steps from the boy. “This one’s a little different. Stay back, I don’t want you to get hurt.” The kid nodded. Igor reached into his pocket and pulled out a rose. He gestured it towards the little boy and then lifted it up to his nose and inhaled its scent in an over-exaggerated manner. The kid laughed. Igor smiled and raised the flower up over his head before arcing it around in a large circle in front of him. He swung it like a sword; the movements fluid as he slashed it across his body, and down towards his feet, back up over his head. He was engulfed in a storm of rose petals as they were shaken loose from the stem and with a small flash of light, he vanished into thin air.

The kid gasped. The petals fell like feathers to the floor and where the magician used to be, was only empty air. The kid looked around at the tent. It was empty. He looked under the table, and behind the man’s chair. Empty. The looked behind the hanging curtain at the back of the tent into the magician’s quarters. Still empty. Where could he have gone? As the boy turned back around, the flap at the front of the tent opened and the magician stepped in and posed like a superhero with his hands on his hips.

“Are you looking for me?” The excited pleasure in Igor’s voice was audible.

The kid laughed and cheered and ran across the tent. He opened his arms and wrapped them around the magician’s legs and robes in an enthusiastic hug. Igor looked down at the boy stunned. He’d never received a hug from a customer before. He didn’t know what to do. Gingerly, he placed his hand on the kid’s back and lightly squeezed. 

The kid backed away and looked up at the magician with tears in his eyes. “That was the greatest thing I have ever seen.” He rushed in again for another hug. Igor accepted it with open arms, smiling and kneeling down to catch him. There a hot ache in his own eyes as he felt the happiness flood over.

“Thank you, kid. You have no idea how much that means to me.” The embrace ended and the boy held up the quarter. Igor laughed. “No, you keep it.” The kid’s eyes became excited again and he nodded before running out of the tent. Igor stood and watched as the flap swung shut again. He marveled at the emotions flowing inside.

This is why I do it. He thought. This is why I’m a magician.

He walked over to the table and gathered up the deck of cards and arranged them neatly in a corner. He re-tied a loose cord that was hanging from one of the poles holding up the tent. He looked down and dusted off his robes and straightened his bowtie. He stood up taller, happier, and exited the tent with a prideful flourish to gather more customers. 

“Igor! The Illusionist! The greatest show on earth! Come and see! Come and see! The wonders of illusion-ry!”

 "I is for Igor the Illusionist"

"H" (Writers of Kern A-Z Blog Challenge)

Space by Kehlee

“Punch it, Martin! Go!”

Martin already had the accelerator pressed firmly up against the top of the console, but he pushed even harder at the Captain’s command. The screen in front of him showed two large asteroids about to collide. They filled up the entirety of the display but for a small, ever closing gap directly in their path.

“We’re not going to make it, sir!”

“Yes we will! We have to. Gun it!”

“We’re at top speed already, there’s no going faster.”

“We’ll make it.” The captain said with finality. It’s either that or we turn around to face the Mulacc’s. He thought. No, we’ll make it. We have to. The ship can’t handle another open-space battle. We need to make it home.

A bolt of energy whizzed past on the screen. Two more followed close after, dissipating into the asteroids with little explosions. Then the ship jerked as a fourth missile hit the ship.

“They’re on us, sir! We can’t handle much more of this! The ship’s going to fall apart!”

“There’s nothing else to do! Keep her straight; we need to make it through!”

The monitor showed the gap in the rocks widening as they got closer but the captain didn’t let that perception fool him. Martin was right; it was going to be close. It was going to be really close.

“Everybody, brace for impact.”

The ship rocked violently as it collided with the lower asteroid. The impact caused the ship to bounce up into the other and begin to twist around. Sheer momentum brought the starship the rest of the way through the gap and out into open space. As they spun wildly afterwards, the screen briefly lit up with the picture of the two asteroids crashing into each other and shattering apart, little rocks rocketing out in all directions.

“We made it!”

“No sign of the Muloccs, sir. Shields are down and central power is about to shut off.” There was a loud beeping of alarms and then the lights on the bridge went black. “There it goes; we’re without engines, sir.”

“Have the crew file into decks one and two. Once they’re all in, reroute power from life support on decks three and four to thrusters and get us moving again, or at least stop this spinning. The Muloccs will be back on us in a few minutes. I don’t think out little escape is going to hinder them much.”

“We’re so close, sir!” Hellen said pointing at the screen. Everybody on the bridge looked up at the monitor where a small round shape was moving across the display like a satellite across the night sky.

“I know, Hellen. We’ll make it. Just get me that power supply.”

“We’re so close!”

The rest of the crew was silent, nodding in agreement. And then the screen showed the two asteroids again, slightly separated. There was a brief flash of light from the right side of the rocks and two small space ships flew into view.

“Here they come!”

“Where’s my power? I need it now!”

“The crew’s almost evacuated; just a few more.”

“Have them hold their breath, there’s no more time. Give me the power!”

The lights flared up on the bridge and Martin stabilized the ship and accelerated towards the small planet.

“How long until we get there?”

“Five minutes, max.”

“Make it four. Hellen, is there anything left for shields?”

“No, sir–”

The ship rocked again as it was hit and two more missiles that had missed flew ahead of the ship.

“We’re in range of The Fleet, sir!”

“Hail them, quick!”

The monitor flashed over to the face of Admiral Wilson.

“Admiral! We’ve got two Mulocc ships firing at us. Ours is badly damaged. We’ll be coming in hot.” The man on the screen nodded and the display switched back to the planet, much closer now. “Do we have any weapons operational?”

“No, sir. All the power’s tied up in engines and life support–” There was a blaring alarm that sounded around the room. “Scratch that, we’ve lost life support on deck two.”

“Damn it!” The Captain said. “What are my options?”

“Not many, sir.”

“Alright, cut the engines, but keep us drifting forwards. Get those support systems up and running.”

“Sir, the Muloccs?”

“Let them come. There’s nothing we can do now.”

“Here they are!”

Two shining, white spacecraft arched over top of monitor’s display to park themselves between the ship and the planet. They had external guns on either side of their wings and both were pointed directly at the bridge.

“What do we do, sir?”

“Try hailing them.”

“… No answer.”

The two ships’ guns began to glow bright pink.

“They’re charging their lasers!”

“Alright boys, it’s time for something crazy; ‘Bout to get really hard to breathe in here. All power to the engines! Evasive maneuvers! Get us passed them!”

A heavy silence fell upon the room as the life support systems were turned off. All the air in the bridge – and the rest of the ship – went stagnant and began to warm up. The ship banked to the right sharply just as the Mulocc ships fired. All the shots missed and the space ship swung around their flank and accelerated towards the planet.

“How long can we make it without air circulation?”

“There should be enough for sustain us for maybe a minute, sir.”

“Everyone keep calm. Pass it on to the other decks. We’re so close to home; we just need to hold out a bit longer.”

On the screen, Admiral Wilson popped up. “Captain! We’ve got ships coming your way to help. What’s your position?”

“I can see Earth, sir.”

“Good enough, we’ll be right there.”

The Admiral blinked away and the planet filled the screen, its greens and blues and whites promising salvation if only they could make it into her warm arms. Four small space ships zoomed passed the starship.

“They’re here!” Cheers rose up over the bridge.

“Can you show me the Mulocc ships, Martin?”

“I think so, sir.” The screen flashed to a battle reminiscent of little birds fighting off a crow who had tried to invade their nest. They flew around in circles around it pestering it with laser shots. It didn’t take long for the Mulocc ships to explode under the pressure.

“All stop, Martin! Hellen, power up the life support! Hopefully we didn’t lose anybody. Make sure all the doctors are scouring the decks for the fallen.” The captain turned back to the screen, where the planet shone brightly before them. “Home, boys. I think we made it.”

"H is for Home"

"G" (Writers of Kern A-Z Blog Challenge)

Sketches by Kehlee, this time in ink!

           The little girl’s heart thundered with a wild ferocity as she ran for her life. She had blonde hair, sea green eyes, a pretty pink dress, and a dark, wild-haired man who pursued her with malicious lust in his eyes.

           The city was night-washed and every small sound she heard gave her the frights. The creak of a window shutter sounded like a man moaning in death, the titters of street rats were beastly roars, and the whipping wind screamed and thrashed her clothes against her body as if the man chasing her had already caught up and was ripping her apart.

           The streets were empty of other people and she knew there was no chance of escaping if she continued running down the open sidewalk. She had to elude him with traps and obstacles, or find people and their safety. 

           She came across a wooden fence that separated two brick buildings and she scrambled up onto a large flowerpot just to the side of one of the brick building’s shop windows and jumped up to hang on the fence. Quickly, she swung her leg up and vaulted herself over, just as the wild-haired man crashed into the gate. She felt his fingertips claw at her shoes as she went over. His touch scared her more than anything she had heard that night and she stood back up to her feet and continued running between the buildings.

           The opposite gate was unlocked and hanging open. She slammed it shut as she ran by and found herself running through a small garden courtyard at the middle of the brick buildings. She passed a water fountain and a couple of park benches and trees looking for a way out but she had little time to think when the second gate exploded open behind her. The man sounded as if he had turned into a bear and the dreadful, frightened visions in her mind showed him caroming through the courtyard forest, on all fours, bounding over the fountain and crashing through the benches in a shower of wood slivers.

           With her heart threatening to break itself free of her chest, she found another street at the front of the brick buildings. She turned left onto the sidewalk and in the distance ahead of her she could see a faint light shining out of the door of a tavern. Safety! She thought, but it was miles away and she didn’t think she was going to make it in time.  Just as that thought hit her, the man broke free of the brick buildings and turned down the street. She ducked quickly down an alley on her left hoping he hadn’t seen her. 

           The small passageway was very dark and she had trouble seeing. She was forced to slow down to a quick walk to avoid making any noise. Appearing, seemingly out of nowhere, out of the darkness she ran into a brick wall. Oh god! She thought and she frantically moved her hands across the stone feeling for a door or a hand hold to climb over. All she found were the other walls of the buildings to her left and right. It was a dead end. She was trapped and she needed to go back.

           When she turned around, she saw the outline of the wild-haired man silhouetted against the ambient light out on the street. She stifled a cry and moved very slowly to duck down behind one of the trashcans. There were two doors that would lead into the buildings ahead of her, but she thought she would surely been seen if she tried to run to them. And what if they were locked, he’d catch her then when the doors wouldn’t open. Hiding was her best option.

           Crouching down on the ground behind the cans, she wrapped her arms around her legs and tried to stay quiet. Her breathing was rapid and she kept her mouth closed, breathing only through her nose in quick, short breaths. Her eyes were wide and large but she couldn’t see anything in the darkness but for the bluish glow of the moonlight trying to reach its way down into the alley. Her ears strained for any sound but the silence was absolute. 

           A few moments passed and her fear started to turn into hope. She struggled to convince herself to get up and look down the alleyway but she couldn’t bring herself to do it. She would rather sit here and wait until morning to rise than go back out on to that street where she might be chased again, and so she sat, waiting.

           Violently, the trash can was ripped away. The little girl’s hiding spot was exposed and the wild-haired man snarled. “You can’t run from me, pretty!” He reached out and seized the girl by her wrist and pulled her out into the dark alley. He whipped her around and threw her backwards where she tripped over the overturned trash can. When she hit the ground and rolled to her side in pain, screaming in fear, her savior arrived.

            He started as a bright ball of white energy that slammed into the ground like a meteorite between the girl and the man. Its impact knocked the man backwards where he stumbled but managed to keep his balance. The light began to swirl and glow and it coalesced into the form of a shining knight. Everything about the knight was ethereal in nature including his armor which looked to be made out of see-through clouds molded into the shape of platemail. He wielded a great, ghostly broadsword in one hand and a pointed shield in the other.

           “What the hell?” The wild-haired man said but it was more in shock at the sudden pushback than from the appearance of the knight. In fact, the man couldn’t even see the knight. He felt a strange power, almost an urge to turn around and leave the little girl alone, but he couldn’t see the ghost that stood battle ready not five feet away from him. The man steeled himself and stepped forward, intent on getting his prize. 

           From the ground, the little girl whimpered and tried to stand. When she braved a glance up at her attacker, she saw a white knight standing between them. He looked brave. He looked strong. He looked like the man from all of her childhood princess dreams; the man who would one day save her from evil and sweep her away in his arms. He looked like safety, like help, and she so desperately needed help right now.

           Through the knight’s ghostly form, she saw the wild-haired man’s face pass from startled, to confused, to determined, and he stepped towards her. With the quickest of reflexes, the white knight arced his sword through the air and sliced the man’s body from shoulder to hip with a massive swing. The blade swept right through him. It left no mark, no injury, just passed through him like a ghost. But the wild-haired man stopped dead in his tracks and his eyes opened wide, a terrible fear overcoming his features. He cautiously stepped again and was met by another cut from the knight’s sword. This one sliced across his belly and the knight used the momentum of the attack to spin around three-sixty before stabbing the sword through the man’s heart.

           The wild-haired man blinked down at the girl, his mind reeling as it tried to figure out what was happening, and then he turned and ran. He said nothing, just ran. But the little girl thought she saw a tear run down his cheek.

           The white knight lowered his hand to the girl and helped her up. He knelt down beside her and she gave him a hug befit of rescuing.

           “Thank you.” She whispered into his chest and he vanished.

"G is for Guardian"