《Tales from the Afterworld - short stories collection》Story 014 - ZERO MONTH (magical realism)
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ZERO MONTH
May had been snowy for the last several years and summer arrived only in July, at best.
One day Queen Lana decided to summon the elder synoptic… well, it wasn’t as official as it seems…
When Riff entered the hall, Queen Lana, clothed in well worn patched jeans, woollen socks, and a warm sweater (knit by her grandma, of course!), was seated on her favourite sofa. The two childhood friends hugged and sent a servant to the kitchen to get them some herbal tea.
It was snowing heavily outside, just like in the dead of winter. Nature didn’t care that it was actually May.
“See, Riff? That’s so wrong,” Lana mused as she sipped her tea. “It looks like the all the seasons have shifted.”
“That may be just the case,” the synoptic agreed. “Our calendar is far from perfect.”
“We must do something. It’s not like anyone enjoys snowfalls in May, and when spring is no longer spring and summer is no longer summer everything is a mess. Can you solve it, Riff?”
He did, in a way: by inventing the “zero month”.
The Queen’s heralds carried the news everywhere in the Queendom, announcing that there would be “zero month” after May. It would last 25 days and then be succeeded by June.
Zero month. A month without a name. Unheard of. Unusual. Magical. Lots of people truly believed it was magical, as if someone granted them extra time for real.
The whole Queendom lapsed into quiet. Cities, so busy and crowded before, now were filled with newbie stargazers wandering empty streets. A lot of people left the cities to travel somewhere that they always wanted to. Even the noisy markets hushed up.
Hundreds of eyes contemplated thousands of little things they didn’t have time to notice before: ripples in on the mirror of the lake, the vastness of the sky, the primroses in the snow...
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A lot of young citizens walked the snowy parks in pairs, hand in hand, talking, kissing, and then talking some more. They had all the time in the world.
Two northern lords stopped their decades-long feud and made peace. You could see them fishing together every day in the very river they used to fight over.
Day by day the zero month was doing its magic, making life flow and not rush, letting thousands of people breathe freely for the first time in their life, giving everyone time to feel, to dream, to see…
Riff found Lana curled beside the fireplace with a book. He stood there for some time, just watching her, before clearing his throat to announce himself. Lana was beautiful. How come he had never noticed that before? They were both nineteen, and yet they didn’t feel young, having so much serious stuff to do every day. But now, when life had slowed down for a month… Riff smiled at the thought, then laughed. Lana closed the book, surprised, gave her friend a puzzled look and then laughed as well.
“Listen, Lana,” said Riff taking a seat beside her on the sofa, “would you like to go skiing with me? I wanted to ask you for years but we never had the time… But now? Will you go?”
“I will!” Lana almost jumped, happy. “Really, let’s go, right now! Who knows when we will have something like zero month again?”
“I do.” Riff sighed. “I made some calculations and… well, it turns out that we won’t have another zero month for at least 2050 years.”
(May 9, 2003)
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Poké-Journey
Daniel Earnhart is fifteen, two weeks away from his sixteenth birthday. And that means two weeks away from beginning his Pokémon journey! But of course, it all goes wrong. And before he knows it, he's stranded and alone, with only the Pokémon he's been so lucky to partner with to help him survive. Will he survive this brutal beginning to his journey? Can he turn it around, and can he even thrive? Join him as he makes his way through Sinnoh, fighting his way through circumstance, rivals, gyms, and even the occasional criminal, and truly becomes a Pokémon Trainer! I've modified the world of Pokémon heavily. There are some elements from the games, given that's what I'm most familiar with. But overall, I've tried my best to turn it into a real world. Frankly, I don't know how well, I've done that, but here it is. I will happily take suggestions and advice! I will admit, that I already know what the whole team is gonna be. I will happily accept guesses and I'll even promise to let you know if you guess right! Thank you for reading and enjoy!
8 153Lucky SP
Spencer Red overdoses on Alpha-gene awakener and dies in a car crash. However, he somehow survives after his death due to abnormally lucky circumstances. He begins a new life but things are not simple. Lurking underneath the visible world lies scheming, beast-like, and chaotic spiritual entities. Follow Lucky S.P. in this dark world of genetic mutations, superpowers, and spiritual energies. Support me on Patreon if you like the story. It is my original content. I'd like to commission art work in the future with everyone's support. https://www.patreon.com/Lucky_Sp?fan_landing=true
8 128Pint-Sized Prompt-Fills: December 2017
An anthology of super short scenes involving magical aliens and suspicious dragonflies.
8 131Whispers from the dark
During the dark times, the humans and elves decided to work together to defeat the Fiend. A high king among the humans was chosen, together with his archmage he defeated the Fiend. A few years of peace, until the high king lost it. He was convinced that the mages would steal the crown and take over his world. Scared as he was, he decided to hunt down everyone with magical abilities. Elves retreated to the safety of their forests and mountains, forever remaining a mystery to the humans. Many non-magical humans agreed to this plan of their lord, for they were also afraid that the mages would take advantage of their weaknesses. The mages tried to survive. The archmage, who was the former counsellor of the last king and protector of the royal family, protested. He wanted to solve this problem through politics. But nothing helped, and the archmage fled. The king got two sons, one was born a mage, and the other human. The king despised his mage son and banished him. His younger brother became the heir of the throne. Anger grew in the mage prince. He thought war was the only solution to this problem. Consumed by the will to gain power, he searched for followers who would fight the humans in order to stop the hunt on mages. The archmage tried to stop this evil plan of the prince. But the mages split in two groups. The necromancers, followers of the evil prince, who studied the crafts of the dark magic to terrorise their enemies and gain back the throne. And the sorcerers, followers of the archmage, who tried to peacefully restore the trust between humans and mages. But nobody knew the danger that was gaining back his power in the underground world. The archmage disappeared and a darkness swept over the world. Human, elves, mages, every creature awaited in fear the day the darkness would take back his control. Faelwen, a young woman, was put in the middle of this chaos. Even though her only priority was to survive. Hunted down by humans and evil beasts, who can she trust? And what whispers from the dark will reveal the secrets from the archmage?
8 139The Courts Divided
The old guard is now threatened by older evils. Without their legendary king to guide them, an ancient way of life and honor is put to the test. What starts with a string of unexplained murders in the fairy lands, steadily develops into the greatest crisis Western Civilization has ever encountered. Not the dragons and their ilk, not The Trenchlings that gnash in their holes, not even the great empire of Ulteria that holds the power of gunpowder and electricity. This is the oldest, most consolidated structure of evil the omniverse has ever known. Hiding between silent nightmares and the deepest crevices of the human psyche, necromancers, vampires, demons, and all manners of undead hold covenent with this one, ultimate predator upon humanity's hope: The Night God. The West is strong, held up by the remaining bastion of their immaculately-powerful witch knights, but when their sworn nemisis and a beloved traitor are the ones that uncover the great masquerade, will they trust them, or will they doom the planet by holding fast to what they know? Magical power beyond all comprehension is what they're up against, that is of no doubt. The question of the hour is this: can old knights of a dead kingdom stand up once more to put the dark back in its place? The Courts Divided is a massive fantasy project containing humor, horror, and some of the strangest forms of magic known to man or arcanite alike. Daily updates until June. Cover by Shiroasa.
8 160The Villainess
Amazing cover made by: GeksxxTalia grew up without trusting anyone but herself to live. With no father figure to look up to and a clinically depressed mother who keeps on betraying her, Talia crawls her way to the top of the social chain to survive. But one drunken night, she meets her terrible end. Just like that, Talia loses all she worked hard for, or so she thought.When she wakes up, she becomes a duke's eldest daughter in a medieval era where alliances and conspiracies dictate a noble's future and where love is a luxury that will lead anyone to ruin. No matter how twisted the world she is pushed into, Talia is determined to live long. She realizes that she is given a second chance to live - or not.Reality slaps her hard when she learns that she is now inside the body of a sixteen-year-old villain character of the Netflix series that she binge-watched, "Thorny Crown"! Talia, who is now the infamous Lady Victoria, entered a popular yet twisted Netflix series two years before the plot started. And in that plot, the character of Lady Victoria is meant to die like cannon fodder for the female lead!Talia refuses to die again. And this time, she is going to extend her helping hand to another side character, the second prince of the story, Prince Cory. She decides to be the queen and defy the plot called destiny with the king of her choosing.In an era of deceit and conspiracies, will she be able to keep her head as she walks the thorny path of a villain?With her head on the line, will she be able to control her blooming feelings for the pawn that she has chosen?
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