Fictional Derivations

I’m working on the next installment of The Well-Tempered Clavier, but in the meantime I thought I would share the little stories I thought up for John Scalzi’s Zoe’s Tale advanced reading copy contest, as a sort of sorry-that-I-missed-this-Sunday apology. The idea was to “explain the events of August 19, 1994″.

Photography by dalangalma
Flash fiction, fantasy. 1200 words.
O-Gosai’s blood dripped onto the damp pavement when they stopped, briefly, to rest. Blood and rain soaked her kimono, and her breath came out in little pants. O-Sattou knelt down to sponge the bleeding with her tongue, only to have her cheek slapped harshly.
“Not here,” growled O-Gosai. [...]

For the February 2008 Flash Fiction Carnival, theme is “cowardice”. Science fiction. 750 words.

Photography: Memotions
I once thought S1526 the most beautiful designation bestowed upon any one of the student body. She was of the oldest class in existence, that rank so battle-wearied that only a few members yet remained alive.
I remember her [...]

Photography: Orin Optiglot

On the gray morning of Christmas Eve, Phineas Zene sat on the horrible green couch in his dingy apartment, watching the constant Seattle winter rain cascade down his windows and trying not to be lonely. Empty Chinese takeout boxes littered the coffee table (one leg broken and supported by a fat block [...]

Photography: kankie

For the AW Flash Fiction Carnival the Third.
The Third Princess of the Second Imperial Court of Hang-sing shifted restlessly in the afternoon summer heat, sitting in a regal, if uncomfortable, lacquer chair. On her lap rested a small wooden pallet on which lay linen paper, and her pale hand, holding a graphite stick, [...]