Teryl_Pacieco

Teryl_Pacieco, 6 days ago to writing

"It's the future, why haven't we cured hiccups," whined Vena, between hiccups.

Her robotic companion rose, shrieking, "Destroy all humans!"

Vena hiccuped again, "Sorry, that isn't going to work twice."

"Then I am out of ideas," said Robonnie, sounding defeated, curling up on a cushion.

Vena stifled yet another hiccup, and started to speak, only to jump as something slammed into the window.

"Ow," said Robonnie's remote drone.

"I'm cured!"

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Teryl_Pacieco, 8 days ago to writing

The hazy smoke filling the room smelled of vanilla, raisin and burning cookies.

I snapped out of my work-mode, and raced to the kitchen, throwing open the window and turning off the oven.

"Timer! Why didn't you alert me?"

The enchanted device dutifully went, "Ding!"

"Oh no, I don't believe you, I definitely asked you to go off early."

"If you want me to go off, I will; those cookies were going to be abysmal, you ought to thank me."

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Teryl_Pacieco, 12 days ago to writing

"Hard day in the data-mines?" asked the elf, a slight frown on her face.

The dwarf scratched at her neatly trimmed beard, "Aye, is it really that obvious?"

"You went straight to the fridge and crushed a whole beer in one gulp - a good day you normally go for three with a bowl of peanuts."

"Oh, ah, aye... Hard to drink on a full brain."

"Then let's get pizza and watch a brain emptying movie."

"I love you so much."

"I love you too."

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Teryl_Pacieco, 14 days ago to writing

The maiden and her cat strode boldly into the castle.

"I'm here to court the prince."

This was met with laughter, and she was thrown into the dungeons; her cat chased away.

Her loyal companion visited every night, first bringing her pen and ink, then food, and then somehow a gown and slippers. Then more food, and some soap.

After a week, the prince rushed down, "I want to know you better, your letters have been so compelling!"

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Teryl_Pacieco, 15 days ago to writing

The fox itched, and scratched and rolled dramatically at the strange collar around her neck.

This wasn't easy because of the injured leg, but injuries were familiar, the collar was not.

“Ahem, stop that,” said the healer, to the fox’s surprise, because she understood.

“Don’t like,” she yelped.

The healer was patient and laid down food.

In time the fox healed, the collar was removed, and everything was better, especially the new friend.

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Teryl_Pacieco, 16 days ago to writing

The mushroom ring was drawn in chalk, so I'd thought nothing of it...

As the fae realm drew me in, I tried to remember - was it just local fairy food that I needed to avoid? Was the lunch in my bag safe since I'd brought it with me?

"It worked! It's a human!" exclaimed an excited pixie.

"They-them, please," I blurted instinctively.

"They're a human! Humans exist!"

"Ugh, you won the bet, now let's send them back..." grumped an elf.

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Teryl_Pacieco, 17 days ago to writing

The witches secretly watched from the shadow of the moon.

In the marsh below, the king wheezed as he jogged past the Old Stump for the third time, wearing boots, breeches and muddy leaves. He waved a scepter in his left hand, and clutched a barely sedated badger in his right.

"Last month the Leaves foretold that his next child would be a son. Why did you tell him this was the only way--?"

"Because he was rude; I'm making him work for it!"

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Teryl_Pacieco, 18 days ago to writing

"I need an anti-itch spell," pleaded the human with an arm in a cast.

"Ah, for the injured limb?" asked the summoned demon.

"No, for the middle of my back, I can never quite reach it."

"I could just scratch that for you?"

"In exchange for...?"

"You could scratch my back," suggested the demon, flexing her wings restlessly.

"That's all?"

"The spell would cost you a first-born and probably a few toes."

"Let's get scritching then!"

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Teryl_Pacieco, 19 days ago to writing

The knight struggled out of his armor then strode toward the dragon, "I need to be crushed immediately."

The dragon shifted his massive body, waiting for the knight to lay flat in his nest of furs and fabrics. Then he gently rolled some of his mass onto the knight's, worriedly asking, "Rough day?"

"Rough week," sighed the knight.

"It's Monday!"

There was no response, the knight had already dozed off under his favorite weighted-blanket.

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Teryl_Pacieco, 20 days ago to writing

The teenagers hovered over the stadium, hidden behind numerous hologram-projectors. The audience below was already a thick hum of excitement.

"Is she on yet?"

"Any second!"

"And you're sure we won't get caught?"

"Nobody's looking up here, even security won't take their eyes off her."

The crowd roared as the hologram of music's greatest queen synergized.

The concert was totally outrageous and the teens watching from above went unnoticed.

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Teryl_Pacieco, 21 days ago to writing

"Eat pests, always trip potential burglars, and when the mood strikes, provide purrs."

The kittens repeated these wise words from the older cat.

"What about the red dot?" asked one curious ball of fluff.

"What about the red dot?" the older cat asked back.

"How do we catch it."

The older cat washed her whiskers making her pupils wait, "If you catch it, then what?"

The kittens couldn't answer, realizing the chase was much more exciting.

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Teryl_Pacieco, 22 days ago to writing

"What did you do to my laptop?!"

The young mage beamed before noting the anger and dismay; deflating slightly, "I m-made it more secure?"

"You carved runes into the letters! And all around the lid, the base, there's goo on the camera..."

"T-the glyphs protect you from typos, battery failure, spam and spy-ware."

"Oh. Sorry technomancy wasn't a thing when I was your age. Thank you."

"That's okay, mom."

"What?"

"Er, I mean, ma'am!"

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Teryl_Pacieco, 24 days ago to writing

"You missed a smudge," said the magic mirror.

"Where?" asked the young manservant, squinting at his reflection - a little taller and richly dressed, not a hair out of place.

"Up along the frame, you'll need the step-stool," his reflection said, pointing at the spot.

"There. Did I miss anything else?"

"You finished early, could you brew some tea?"

"You can drink?"

"No, I'd like some company; there's cake in the pantry you can have too."

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Teryl_Pacieco, 25 days ago to writing

"When I grow up I'm going to be a fire-fighter!"

"There are fires in the ocean?"

"No silly, I want to fight fires with humans!"

The human child decided not to tease their fish-tailed pal, and instead talked about marbles and their mutual love of turtles and pizza.

Decades later, the human had to admit that the siren looked so happy atop the firetruck she was assigned to, screaming her lungs out as they raced towards a blaze.

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Teryl_Pacieco, 28 days ago to writing

"Kitty has an itch!"

There was a crash as the cat skidded out of the room.

Last time it had heard that word, the next word it had heard was 'bath'.

It did not like bath.

"Oh you poor thing," said a pixie disguised as a dustbunny, "Look at all those tangles."

A good long brushing later, kitty looked pristine and didn't itch at all. The humans thought each other had bathed it.

As thanks, the cat fetched the best left socks.

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Teryl_Pacieco, 30 days ago to writing

The fishers reeled in their lines.

"A silver ring with elvish inscriptions on the inside... What about you Bena?"

"Another dagger--ow! Sharp... What about you Ron?"

"A gold chain with a ruby pendant," he sighed.

Potions, a bottled fairy and an ancient scroll were bemoaned by the rest.

"Err... I was diving for treasures... Would you like to trade for all these fish that kept swimming into my net?" asked a surfacing treasure hunter.

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Teryl_Pacieco, 1 month ago to writing

The carriage was hot, cramped and the waft of human sweat gave the air a certain umami.

In an overhead shelf, a goblin made himself comfortable. It had made sense to buy a solo-luggage ticket, being so much smaller than the average passenger, and the ticket seller had been kind enough to agree.

Honestly, being above everyone else, tucked between a sack and a satchel, the goblin felt rather lucky.

He could even stretch out and take a nap!

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Teryl_Pacieco, 1 month ago to writing

The princess brushed dust and ash off her gown, then scowled at the smoking crater that had been her mentor's laboratory.

"This certainly puts doubt on those lessons he was giving me."

Her lady-in-waiting peeked out from behind an overturned table, "His qualifications looked so authentic too..."

Somewhere in the rubble came an indignant voice, "There was a smudge on the spell-page! I thought I could perform it by memory; lesson learned!"

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Teryl_Pacieco, 1 month ago to writing

The elven maidens were not how the King had expected.

They were beautiful, yes, but...

"Er... is that smell...natural?"

"Oh yes," purred a dusky blonde, sheer white fabric barely clinging to her curves.

"It is our magical musk," smiled another, wearing gold lace.

"We smell strongest around royalty," giggled curly haired twins clad in gossamer and shadow.

The elves bathed frantically once the King abandoned his quest for an elven bride.

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Teryl_Pacieco, 1 month ago to writing

"...So then I said, if you can't hex 'em, pay a professional to do it. And what did he do?"

"Still tried to do it himself," I guessed.

"Yes! And now all of downtown is purple and full of peacocks," the witch grumbled, "It'll take thirteen whole covens to untangle this botched spell."

"Can you even find thirteen covens that get along?"

"No, but the truces should hold... Hopefully."

"So avoid downtown?"

"For at least a week, yeah."

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Teryl_Pacieco, 1 month ago to writing

The kitten surveyed her queendom from atop the curtain rails.

It would do, she decided, even if her servants made loud noises and regularly dethroned her.

But they gave good cuddles, warm meals and plenty of things to chase.

And they always came running if she called. Sometimes, they had the good sense to carry her around in a cozy pocket. That was correct.

Yes, this place would do nicely, she purred, sharpening her claws on the fabric.

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Teryl_Pacieco, 1 month ago to writing

"I thought fairy godmother's were for ladies."

She shrugged, "Sometimes men need a little magic too."

The scruffy young man looked down at himself, then at the list of tasks he still hadn't completed, after hours, for free, "A little magical help would be nice..."

"To the gala with you, charm some princes, be back by midnight," said the fairy godmother tucking away her wand then pulling on her programmer socks, "I'll finish up here."

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Teryl_Pacieco, 1 month ago to writing

The kettle was always the right temperature for the intended beverage, nor did it require fire nor electricity.

Yet it was always cool to the touch. This tended to startle people, especially if they had placed it on a stove and witnessed a typical whistle of steam.

It had been created by a tea-loving wizard, then given as a gift to the wizard's favorite tea-loving Influencer.

It was delivered by raven because the wizard was too chai.

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