Zyn checked the display that was embedded in her left wrist and cursed. She was going to be late for work, again. After diving into the autonomous vehicle assigned to her by the Company, she quickly punched in the coordinates and pushed the buttons that said “go”.
There was nothing left to do but drum her fingers against the dashboard. The auto scooted slowly along the path of lights at a pre-programed speed The Council decided was safe.
Continue Reading “Another Day, Another Dollar”
My husband and I have, over the years, been the caretakers of several cockatiels (and three parakeets.) The parakeets don’t live as long as the cockatiels do – but they burn bright while they are here.
In general, we have had up to six cockatiels at a time. Most (if not all) cockatiels are happy creatures who appear to really love the birds in their flock. (Humans count as “part of the flock” to them, it seems.)
Continue Reading “Story About A Cockatiel”
Fireworks by Jingda Chen on Unsplash
Unfortunately, the neighbors in the apartment complex nearby are shooting off fireworks right now. It started shortly before it was officially New Year’s Eve 2023.
Was hoping that the massive amount of rain we had all day – rain that was hard enough to knock the door off the outdoor housing for our water heater – would have been enough to prevent the fireworks from happening.
Continue Reading “Explosions”
Bowl of popcorn by Keegan Evans on Pexels
My husband went to his sister’s house for the 4th of July. I can’t go because they have a multitude of little dogs – which I am allergic to.
I allowed Lucy (our cockatiel) to sit on me for a while. Birds like to sit on shoulders, for some reason.
Continue Reading “Popcorn”
It’s raining really hard where I am (in California). When this happens, the wind and rain together pull the door off of our water heater cabinet (which is outside).
The door has been thrown against the neighbor’s porch and has developed an annoying dent across the front of it.
I’ll fight with it – again – whenever this atmospheric river stops long enough for me to go out and put the door back.
January 4, 2023
It’s not quite New Year’s Eve here.
And outside, the rain has stopped (for now).
There are children that are blowing what are probably paper horns, which make exactly the high pitched, strained sound you would expect.
Continue Reading “New Year’s Eve Story”
lightbulb on a yellow background by Riki Risnandar on Pexels
We used to have a “smart” lightbulb that can be used as a speaker. In the past, we used it to make sure there was a light on in the room our cockatiels were in.
One night, the neighbor who lived next door accidentally connected her TV to that lightbulb. The cockatiels were suddenly presented with loud, crashing, movie noises.
Continue Reading ““Smart” Bulb”
Close up of a crow by Dimitar Donovski on Unsplash
Earlier today, a large crow sat at the front of our mobile home and yelled. Later, another, (or maybe the same crow?) stood in the middle of the alleyway and barked at the mobile home across the way.
Then, the crow turned around and looked at me. A second crow sat up on a wire, watching.
Continue Reading “Crows”
mouse by Alexas Fotos on Pexels
November 24, 2020: We have unfortunately attracted a mouse. It somehow got in our vents, and has been making noises in there at night.
The only vent it can fit through is the one in a bathroom. The vent is decorative and has wide openings. At first, the mouse seemed to think that the bathroom somehow led to “freedom,” and we would hearing it bouncing around in there.
Continue Reading “Mouse Problem”
Chocolate Chip Cookies in a stack by Lisa Fotos on Pexels
A demon from the pits of hell was just about to take a bath. He felt the need to get the “ick” off of himself. This realm has a lot of dirt, and gore, and he wanted to wash all of that off.
Suddenly, the demon found himself in a summoning circle. Rolling his eyes, and scowling, he looked up at the woman who pulled him into her living room.
“Oh, good, you’re here!” The woman seemed a bit frazzled, gathering various items into her purse, her hair disheveled. “I tried calling some of our previous babysitter, but none would respond to my texts. You’re going to have to do — I’m late for work!”
With that, the woman ran out of the door, hoping to catch a bus.
The demon looked down at a toddler who was sitting on the floor, holding a plastic block, and staring wide-eyed at him.
The demon frowned, remembering all the times that teenagers attempted to summon one of his kind. Sometimes, it simply didn’t work for them. Other times, one of them gets the incantation right, a demon appears, everyone screams. Once in a while, the summoner chooses to give the demon a beer.
Humans are strange, strange, beings.
The toddler dropped the block she was playing with and stared at the demon.
“Um, hello,” the demon said. “My name is Ragrakel. Your mother wants me to watch over you until she gets home.”
“Dog?” the toddler asked.
“No, no not ‘dog’ — Ragrakel.”
“Ragg” the toddler nodded her head and smiled.
Ragrakel stepped out of the summoning circle and sat on the floor near the toddler. Why wasn’t this one afraid of me, he wondered.
“What’s your name, child.”
“Clara.”
Clara stood up, smiled at “Ragg,” and handed him some of her blocks to play with. She picked up her teddy bear and hugged it.
Ragrakel looked at the blocks the toddler placed in front of him. He started stacking them into a cube-like shape. Clara clapped her hands, and said something in “toddler” that he didn’t understand.
And then she walked into the kitchen.
“Wait, where are you going?” Ragrakel followed the toddler who had stopped and was now pointing at a cabinet.”
“Snack.”
She must be hungry, Ragrakel thought. He opened the cabinet and started pointing at the snacks that were inside.
“Um.. is it this one? No? Ok, what about that one? Not that one either? Hmm. How about these little round discs?”
Clara jumped up and down and let out a high-pitched squeal. She walked over to the kitchen table, and pointed at a small chair that had a little table attached to it.
“Uppies.”
Ragralel gently picked up the child, placed her in this strange, small chair, and put the “table” on it. He gave her three of these little food-discs to eat.
The round, flat, food smelled — good. Much better than anything Ragrakel had smelled in Hell. Carefully, he pulled one of these strange, flat foods out of the box. He considered eating it.
When he gathered up the courage, he put this food into his mouth. It was soft, and sweet and … somewhat addicting, actually. The flavor was surprisingly delicious.
Clara watched “Ragg” eat the cookie. She smiled at him. When she finished her last cookie, she held up her hands.
“Potty.”
“Potty? What is that? Where is that?”
“Uppies.”
Confused, Ragrakel removed the “table” on this strange chair and put Clara on the floor. She ran toward whatever this “potty” was — moving very quickly.
When he arrived at this small room, which was mostly made of some kind of white clay – he almost was knocked over by the smell. What has this toddler been eating before he was summoned here?
Fortunately, Clara seems to know what she was doing, and didn’t need any additional help.
Clara left the strange, ceramic-like room, and went looking for her teddy bear. She picked him up, and yawned. Clara reaches for “Ragg’s” hand, and tried to pull him toward a rocking chair.
Ragrakel had not seen one of these in a long time. He picked up Clara (and her teddy bear) and placed them on his lap. A small blanket was hanging on one of the arms of the chair, and he covered the small girl with it.
And then he started gently rocking back and forth as Clara fell asleep. Ragrakel was finally able to relax and get some rest.
Sometime after that, a loud noise happened outside the door. Clara was still fast asleep, and “Ragg” didn’t want to wake her up. There was some muttering beyond the door.
“No, that’s not the right key. This one? Oh, that’s the mail key. Maybe the key is in my purse?” A few clicking noises started and then stopped, and Clara’s mother was back from work.
She dropped her purse on a small side table by the door of her apartment. Tried to get her hair out of her eyes, and the gave up on it. Ragrakel wondered if her work was really exhausting.
“Oh! I forgot you were there! Sorry for running out on you like that. My name’s Luna. What’s your name?”
“I am Ragrakel.”
A sleeping toddler whispered “Ragg” without waking up.
This story was inspired by a writing-prompt-s on Tumblr: You’re a demon. One day, you’re summoned into a living room, and an exhausted woman quickly rambles about needed to get to work and being unable to find a sitter before flying out the door. Now, you stand in your summoning circle, a toddler staring wide eyed at you. This story is not allowed to be copied.
