Bonbon’s boundary was normally alight with activity- from the gentle happiness of his forest home, to the delighted squawking of kids during outdoor recess from the adjacent elementary school. During the winter months, however, both aspects of his life fell silent. The cold seemed to seep into every nook and cranny of his grotto, the stone becoming cold and inhospitable, the trees drawing inwards and fleeing from the frost, the animals hunkering down and retreating into their warm dens and nests. At the school, the children left for something called ‘winter vacation’, the building left dark and uninhabited as the falling snow warred against the thick layer of salt and sand poured on the blacktop. During times like this, the little esk would often retreat into the Conservatory. The eerie silence gave him the heebie jeebies, you see, and he’d fight that feeling by seeking the company of others. Today was different, however. It wasn’t often that Bonbon looked up and saw a swath of
[TWWM] Valentino Origin Prompt 1 - Escapism by cnida, literature
Literature
[TWWM] Valentino Origin Prompt 1 - Escapism
“Uh, my name is Nicole, not…” The concerned voice of a customer woke William Birch up from his daydream, and he internally swore to find that once again, he was typing the name of one of his book characters onto this poor lady’s order slip and not her actual name. “Ah! So sorry, ma’am. Let me…” Sheepishly, William backspaced the erroneous name from her order, giving her his award winning terrified customer service smile. Over her shoulder, he could see the hostess glaring at him from the entrance to the food court. His grimace widened a smidge, and he quickly typed in her correct information with clammy fingers. It felt like every day he was making little mistakes like that. Head caught in between two worlds, with both the real monotony of his cashiering job and the dazzling fiction of his novel warring for his attention… it was only natural, he thought, that one should eclipse the other. Why should he be William, a college student stuck in a mall food court making minimum wage
It was warm and sunny one late May day, the 3rd grade class at Auburn Elementary abuzz with excitement as they chattered about summer vacation. The teacher, still somewhat green, tried in vain to gently get the class’s attention. She had an announcement as to what they’d be doing in the month leading up to June- something that would involve no tests or pop quizzes. That got the children’s rapt attention. With a kind smile, she bade the class to gather around her desk, placing a strange container on top. It was a wire cylinder surrounded by a fine green mesh, with one door on top closed by a zipper. With a green swirl around the outside, it looked almost like a stretched out slinky. She bade the children to lean in, and after a moment, some of the kids could see inside. There was a layer of green leaves on the bottom, with one darker green, serrated leaf on top. And there, gleaming like a precious green jewel, was a tiny round egg. The children gasped and murmured amongst themselves
Bonbon was splayed out on a bed of soft moss, relaxing in the warmth of a sunbeam. The air was cool and languid, the atmosphere of his boundary peaceful. Dragonflies darted around the cattails growing up near the tiny pond in front of his grotto, some landing daintily on the fluffy seed heads. High above, birds chatted amongst themselves without urgency. Like Bonbon, the world was sleepy. Distantly, Bonbon could hear the swell of noise and laughter of children that marked the beginning of recess. For just a short while at noontime, the normally silent schoolyard would be just as lively as the forest just beyond its paved parking lot. Inwardly, he smiled, and he snuggled down into the moss for a little catnap- -At least, he was planning to before he heard an out of place noise. He stood up, looking to and fro. Separate from the far away sounds of cheer and play, there was the sound of sniffling and held back sobs, coming from the area of the forest nearest to the school. Bonbon’s
Bonbon dove into the water, swimming against the current as fast as his stubby little legs could carry him. He held the sea star in its murky bubble of water like a precious bauble. The sun was his enemy, the sun and time. He was not a powerful enough esk to make time less of a factor, either through speed or by directly affecting it like he’d heard some esk could. The sun, however… he may not be able to control the sun, but he could shield the sea star with the ocean and his body. He bought the bubble of sea water down, down, down until it merged seamlessly with the rest of the water- too seamlessly, the sea star dropped out of his grasp and fell like a stone. He yelped, diving down and just barely grasping one of the tips of its arms with his telekinesis. It hung suspended above what Bonbon felt was an inescapable abyss. That was too close, far too close. He lifted it back up towards his chest, deciding that telekinesis would not work this time. Sea stars were good at sticking onto
[TWWM] Ebb and Flow- Shoreline Chapter 2 by cnida, literature
Literature
[TWWM] Ebb and Flow- Shoreline Chapter 2
Beachgrass held high above his head like the Olympic torch, Bonbon walked- well, more skidded- down the steep path down the cliffside. The plant was taller than he was long, its seed heads dragging across the ground no matter how he tried to hold it. It was a strange, sad brownish tan color, reminding Bonbon of the dead grass patches that popped up during hot summers like this one. Was it meant to look like this? Concerned, he gave it a tentative nuzzle with his nose- something he immediately regretted, as the top sides of the leaves felt like they were covered in hundreds of tiny barbs. It didn’t hurt so much as it felt uncomfortable. He was glad to discover the undersides of the leaves felt delightfully smooth. After a bit of investigation, he came to the conclusion that it wasn’t dead- at least, not yet. Putting it back where it belonged couldn’t possibly hurt. Finding out where that was, though, that was another thing entirely. It wasn’t that there weren’t plenty of places
[TWWM] Ebb and Flow Shoreline Chapter 1 by cnida, literature
Literature
[TWWM] Ebb and Flow Shoreline Chapter 1
With the toy boat as his passenger, Bonbon continued down the beach, strolling by the many esk examining the washed up items on the shoreline. He wasn’t quite sure where he was headed, but something in his heart told him to walk, and so he did. Where did this little toy boat belong? Craning his head up, he surveyed the area, a bit difficult to do considering his small stature. The beach was crawling with other esk, and despite his best efforts, every sight line was blocked by a new esk traveling. He almost tripped over the long tail of a passing esk, made of sleek pumpkin vines and holding a lantern at the end. Peering ahead, he could see a cliff near the end of the beach, but what was on it was obscured by the neck of a gigantic palm tree. Wait, no- not a palm tree, another esk, an esk with the neck of a palm tree and crowned with palm leaves. Scampering forwards, he caught the briefest glimpse of a tall building on top of it, only for it to then be hidden behind a floating esk with
That was no mere nap. Bonbon awoke with a start, fear shooting through him as he realized that he could no longer see the town- nor any land, for that matter. Scrabbling up on top of the driftwood, he put his head on a swivel, rocking as he balanced precariously on his raft. How far had he drifted? How long had it been? He squinted up towards the sun, ghostly eyes unable to get scalded from the light. It hadn’t moved too much, though to be fair, he barely saw the sun itself except for when the trees were bare. He had no clue what that meant in terms of time he’d spent. Perhaps he’d slept the night, and woken up the next day, even! He hoped not. That would be a little too much adventure, even for him. Looking around, at first all he saw was level ocean, the sea thankfully calm. As he gazed, however, the little variances he’d overlooked at first became gradually known to him. The sea wasn’t just blue: it seemed almost mottled, blues and greens and dark navies and near purples all
[Rexalia] Karosa and Cawthorne by cnida, literature
Literature
[Rexalia] Karosa and Cawthorne
It was a mellow sunny day within the Dome, soft scattered light filtering in through the sea and then the trees below it. The world held an almost dreamlike quality, as if this gentle spring day had stepped directly out of a storybook. Outside of Karosa’s little cottage, the bees buzzed to and fro, harvesting from newly blossoming flowers- patches and patches of them, myriad colors painted onto the landscape seemingly overnight. Butterflies flitted around between them, dancing lazily through the air. Two rexals stood near the back door of the cottage, one dark green with lime accents on her face, and the other a bright spring green with intricate facial markings. They were Karosa and Cawthorne, and as of about a month ago, a little more than friends. At least, that was Karosa’s interpretation. What started as a chance encounter led to one meeting after another, and then Karosa found herself cleaning the house in preparation for her stopping by, and looking at hiking trails with a