Teryl_Pacieco

Teryl_Pacieco, 12 hours 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, 1 day 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, 2 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, 3 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, 4 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, 6 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, 7 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, 10 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, 12 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, 14 days 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, 15 days 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, 19 days 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, 20 days 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, 24 days 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, 25 days 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, 27 days 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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Teryl_Pacieco, 29 days ago to writing

The princess adjusted her tiara again - no position seemed to ease the pinching.

But the wizard had insisted - she wasn't a simple book-seller anymore. No more shapeless frocks, no more simple braids, no more chunky boots.

She missed the books, the frocks, and the sensible shoes.

"When can I go back to selling books?"

"Back? You've got to pick a royal spouse to rule with!"

The next day, she escaped the castle in a wagon full of scrolls.

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Teryl_Pacieco, 1 month ago to writing

"Wooden chairs, how... primitive."

The alien looked at the human, detecting some kind of disappointment.

"Wood is very natural and easily compostable," she explained.

The human nodded, "I suppose it has some interesting properties - insect, mold and weather-proof?"

"Oh yes!"

"Why are they all slightly different - carved that way?"

"Carved? No, we pluck them from the Chair Tree - it takes a while for the chair-fruit to grow consistently."

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Teryl_Pacieco, 1 month ago to writing

Goldivy was built for lounging; if there was padded surface, she would drape herself across as much of it as possible. Beds, sofas, armchairs - even the occasional loaf of bread; if she could get on top of it, she lounged.

Even her cat-carrier could charm her, if you put a soft enough pillow in it; it was never hard to get her to and from the vet.

Goldivy was so good at lounging, anyone who saw her doing it usually relaxed instantly too!

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Teryl_Pacieco, 1 month ago to writing

The prince sank into the soft seat in his small secret room.

On the other side of the hidden door music, dancing and chatter was blissfully muffled, distant.

It had been his first chance to rest his voice, eyes and feet all day; the Ball had begun at dawn and he was sure most of the bachelorettes who'd particularly stunned him were enchanted by Fairy Godmothers, or had stolen the beauty of other maidens.

Why did dating have to be so hard?

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Teryl_Pacieco, 1 month ago to writing

The small aliens frolicked in the waves that were far too acidic for my own skin. Nearby, a larger alien paddled about keeping a close eye on the smaller ones, and two even larger ones, my exchange family, cooked meat or set a table with precooked food and drinks.

"Suvuv, are you okay over there?" the grilling one called to me.

I gave a 'thumbs-up', as the humans called it, then resumed constructing the sand-building with the smallest human.

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Teryl_Pacieco, 1 month ago to writing

The cat stumbled through the rooms, too excited to run straight.

Why? It was time! It was time to run and chase nothing in particular. It was time for nonsense!

A skid bumped a tall spindly table hard enough to tip a book off as it wobbled. A throw-rug was thrown, a key plopped into a mug, and the corner of the wall was scratched.

Finally, the top of the bookshelf traded dust for fur.

Truly a wonderfully productive middle-of-the-night.

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Teryl_Pacieco, 1 month ago to writing

"Where's the sun?" asked the relatively small Being.

"It'll be back soon," the minor Deity assured.

"That's not what I asked... Where is it," the Being demanded, waving a limb at the dark, vast, empty space.

"It's... being borrowed."

"We are ageless and powerful... we can't move stars alone!"

"I had help."

"It's that Greek kid isn't it? The one that's trying to outshine his twin sister?"

"He said he needed it for his medical studies!"

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