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.
The demon king tapped his long, sharp, nails on one of the arms of his throne. He became the king of the demons eons ago, and spent a lot of time trying to keep the smaller demons from intentionally setting themselves on fire.
Continue Reading “The Demon King”
Earlier this year, California was covered in rainstorms – one right after another. The sky was dark and grey, and the winds were so fierce that they blew the door of our water heater straight off.
One day, there was a break in the weather. Skies were blue again. The rain had (temporarily) stopped. The weather got a little bit warmer.
Continue Reading “Springtime”
This story came from a prompt on Tumblr by writing-prompt-s. The prompt said: “In a world where every human has a unique superpower, yours is largely laughed at. The ability to untangle anything has come in handy for untying shoelaces until you discover a new way of using your power that makes you formidable against your former superiors.
When I was a little kid, just starting kindergarten, the world changed. My classmates and I didn’t even notice what happened. We were too busy coloring, playing with blocks, and learning the alphabet.
Continue Reading “Untangled”
I wrote this story based on a prompt from writing-prompt-s on Tumblr. The prompt said: “I pulled myself together and got up. The autopsy technicians could only stare in horror.”
The last thing I remembered was getting shot in the head by one of those “Hunters”. There was just enough time for me to memorize her face as she ran away. And then… nothing.
Continue Reading “Free Lunch”
Here is a true story that I wrote on Tumblr. It is about the crows that live nearby.
Continue Reading “Reciprocity Crow”
This story comes from a writing prompt that said: Offering the dragon marriage into the royal family had been a power play on the king’s part, a way to intimidate the kingdom’s enemies. He had not anticipated the dragon actually accepting the offer.
Here is the story I wrote in response to this prompt:
Continue Reading “Gruzedla the Brave”
No one told us that this little robot would become a hunter!
Continue Reading “Things Our Roomba Has Attacked”