Ah, the last of the I’m Hearing Voices Blogfest challenges: Emotion Flash Fiction.
Emotion is the engine of a story. Pick an emotion and in a flash fiction piece of 250 words MAKE us feel it! We want to connect with your character. This will be a challenge in 250 words.
I was going to go back to Kael for this one, but I couldn’t get the scene to stay under 250 words. So I’m giving the last challenge to Dragon, as seen through Maayin’s less knowing eyes after she’s been imprisoned.
I’ll leave you to decide what emotion I chose. ^_^
The smooth shell under her fingers bulged as the dragon inside tapped against her hand. The clammy skin underneath slid against her palm. “Hush little one,” she breathed, hoping it could hear her. Would it break free on its own? Did she dare try to help?
It rocked harder, shoving against her and rolling off into the darkness. Swearing softly, she moved to stand when she heard a soft crack. Maay froze, her hand hovering over her skirts as she paused in wiping the slime off. There was movement to her left, something small and pallid hovering on the edge of her vision. She spun round to face the figure, finding naught but more darkness. “Hello?”
Her heart leapt as the silence was broken by a crunch and the unmistakeable scrape of claws on stone. Maay swung back to where she’d seen the egg disappear into shadow. She took a step towards the darkness, sure she could make out something huddled in its depths. “Little one?”
The words bounced back at her unanswered. Even the scrabbling had stopped and the pale lump before her was unmoving. Yet, she felt the uneasy prickling sensation of being watched. Measured. Did dragons hatch hungry? How steady, how lethal, could a newly-hatched dragon be?
She backed away from the lump, smothering a scream as the hatchling lurched forward. It uttered its own piercing shriek, colliding into her in a flash of white fur and with a sickening crunch.
Oh! I didn't expect her to get an answer to that, honestly! I was thinking this dragon was cute in its egg. I was wrong!
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Wow…so what happens next I wonder…
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Egg cute, yes. Hungry draggie … not so much.
Don't worry, the crunch most likely isn't what you think it is.
Maybe.
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… there’s a couple of paragraphs then I switch pov’s. It's one of the reasons I chose this bit.
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Do dragons hatch hungry? Now that is a great question 🙂 Evidently yes. I love the anticipation in this piece.
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Everything comes into the world hungry. Dragon's just have the teeth and claws to feed themselves.
No fire though. Goodness, could you imagine if there'd been fire? I'd have one crispy main character. O_O
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You definitely created an atmosphere of fear. I enjoyed this piece.
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Thanks. I was going for a mixture of uncertainty and trepidation when I wrote the full piece. Good to hear I got the fear part across. ^_^
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