I do a short story challenge every now and then. This is the one I do.
NYC Midnight
I was in
Group 10.
Group 10
Genre: Fantasy
Subject: A fishing trip
Character: An Astronaut
(Not more than 2500 words)
The Wellspring
An astronaut is knocked out of orbit into another world that does not resemble his own. And he finds a fox that fancies fish.
The ship was hurtling through space out of control. Stars shot past in a blur.
“I can’t understand these coordinates!” shouted Pilar. “They don’t make any sense. We’re going too fast! Too fast!”
Lozen held the control column with both hands. It bucked and twitched.
“Reverse thrust,” he yelled. “Reverse thrust, Pilar!”
Pilar punched at the controls.
“It’s not working! Nothing’s working! We’re too low! We’re going to crash!”
“Just hold tight!”
“I can’t! I can’t!”
Lozen watched his co-pilot reach for her eject button.
“I’m sorry,” she said.
“NO!”
A simple popping sound, like opening a can of peanuts - and Pilar was sucked out from her seat. Her body flew up and was gone. In seconds she would be nothing more than a handful of ash. Lozen was alone now; the nose of his ship dipping down and the roar of reentry in his ears...
When Lozen first opened his eyes, he felt surprise. Not at the cool bed of leaves he was resting on, but the fact that he seemed to be alive. In high school he once blacked out from drinking too much. And one time in a flight simulation unit, he blacked out from pulling too many Gs, but no one had ever pulled that many Gs before. It remained an Academy record as far as he knew.
Lozen looked up at the blue sky. It was clear and calm, some scattered clouds. He breathed in through his nose. The air was sweet, but slightly bitter. He thought about his toes. He moved them. Then he moved his fingers and clutched at the ground beneath him. It was wet, cool. Sensing nothing was broken or missing, Lozen slowly leaned up on his elbow. He was in a thicket of trees, but the trees were enormous. They were skyscrapers; 50 stories tall and 5 stories wide. He saw his smoldering ship overhead caught high in a web of branches.
Lozen layed back down and closed his eyes.
"Hello?" said a voice.
Lozen turned his head slowly from one side, and then to the other. There was no one.
"Hello?" said the voice again.
Lozen lifted his head. At his feet was a fox with bright green eyes in a thick red coat. It was staring at him. Also it was wearing waders and carrying a fishing pole.
"Are you alright," asked the fox. "It seems you took quite a tumble."
"Are you talking to me?" asked Lozen.
The fox nodded its head.
"Wait, what? Are you talk-? Am I dead?"
"Oh, you're very much alive,” said the fox. “But we need to get going. I have to catch us some fish. And it will be dark soon and then the Gracks will be out."
"Gracks?"
"Soldiers of the dark lord Grack."
"Wait, why would I leave where I am right now?"
"I told you. Gracks."
"You're a talking fox!"
"Yes, well, be that as it may, you’re welcome to stay here, but I must be going."
The fox turned on its paws and started on its way.
Lozen looked up at the smoking wreckage of his ship caught in the swirl of towering trees above him.
"Wait!” he yelled. "What's your name?"
The fox turned around and smiled. "Felix," he said.
The sun was beginning to go down by the time they came to the pond. The clouds were turning pink and gray.
"There isn't much time," said Felix.
The fox threw his line into the water and sat on the bank next to Lozen. It was quiet.
Lozen pulled at his side pocket zipper and stared at the bobber in the water. He accepted the fox could talk. He accepted that he survived the crash, the miles of branches slowing his descent. Well, the talking fox was still hard to swallow. Lozen pulled the zipper up and down and up and down and stared at the bobber in the water.
"Seriously," said Felix. "Can you stop that please?"
“Sorry.”
The bobber dipped below for a moment and came to rest on the surface.
"Why are we fishing,” asked Lozen.
"I'm hungry,” said Felix. “And I assumed you are also hungry.”
“Yes, but why-“
A low moan rose up behind them. It sounded wet.
“Oh, dear,” said Felix.
“Oh dear what?” said Lozen.
“Did that sound wet to you?”
“A little.”
“We should run.”
Felix darted up along the bank leaving his pole behind. Lozen followed close behind.
“Is it a Grack?” shouted Lozen.
“No!” said Felix.
“What is it?”
“A loon!”
“A loon?”
“They’re worse than Gracks.”
Lozen stopped running. A loon? What’s so terrible about a loon? He turned around and looked at the bank where they had just been. The fishing pole was lying on the ground. Was the bobber gone? Had it gone underwater?
GRAAAAWRRR!
A loon the size of a jet plane sprang out onto the bank. It was magnificent with its enormous black head and huge red eyes. It craned its neck skyward and spread its wings. The pink and gray sky disappeared. And then the great bird snapped its beak at the air.
Are those fangs, thought Lozen. Loons don’t have fangs.
GRAAAAWRRR!
Lozen turned and ran. His eyes searched for Felix, but Felix was gone.
“Felix! Felix!”
GRAAAAWRRR!
Lozen heard thundering steps behind him, which disappeared into a whoosh of air. He sensed the loon right at his back. He sprinted for the trees. A heavy shadow zeroed in on him. There was darkness, a rush of air. Lozen imagined himself being bit in half, his legs falling to the ground and the rest of him being carried away by the loon.
“Now!” shouted a voice.
A large rock sailed over Lozen’s head.
GRAAAAWRRRK!
“Again!”
It was Felix!
An even bigger rock sailed by.
GRAAAAWRRRKK!
“Again!” shouted Felix.
The shadow began to lift and Lozen could feel his adrenaline levels begin to normalize.
But then Lozen heared another voice.
“Whoops!”
Lozen’s head was throbbing when he woke. He felt something cool and wet on his face. He opened his eyes slowly. It was dim, but he could make out a figure next to him, which seemed dark and light at the same time. It looked like a small bear.
“How’s it going?” said the figure.
“My head is pounding.”
“Yeah, my bad on that. I was trying to get the loon.”
“What is this?” asked Lozen reaching for his face. “It smells terrible.”
“It’s a healing pack. It’s got a bunch of leaves and herbs and stuff. You shouldn’t touch it. It needs to do its thing. I got you pretty good.”
“Who are you? What are you?”
The figure stepped into the light. Its head was white like snow, but its eyes black and hard like charred embers.
“I’m Gary,” said the figure. “I’m a Panda.”
“Do you know Felix?”
“Yeah, he’ll be back soon. You should rest.”
“What’s in this pack? That smell. I think it’s making me sleepy. I need.. to. Pilar…”
Lozen opened his eyes. He reached up and touched his face. It was tender, but not throbbing like before. The healing pack was gone. He looked around. He was lying on a bed of leaves in a room with wooden walls and a wooden ceiling and a wooden floor. He was in a tree. The wood was all very smooth, like glass. But it wasn’t straight. Everything sort of curved and glided about. From around one of the curves came Felix, followed by Gary, who in fact was clearly a Panda. Felix wore a smart green vest and held a tiny teacup. Gary was in an old blue sweater. He was chewing on a root.
“Ah, you’re awake,” said Felix. “How’s that head of yours?”
“Tender, but not bad.”
“Some tea?”
Lozen nodded and took the cup from Felix. He sipped the tea. It was warm and bitter.
“This tastes terrible,” said Lozen making a face.
“Yes, well, be that as it may, it’s good for you. Drink up.”
Lozen did as he was told.
“When you’re done,” continued Felix, “we’re going to go back to the pond to finish what we started.”
“Fishing?”
“Yes.”
“What’s with you and fishing?”
“I’m a fox that fancies fish.”
After Lozen finished the tea, Felix grabbed his fishing pole, his waders, and a kettle.
“Let’s go,” he said.
The three of them sat on the bank of the pond and watched the bobber. It floated on the surface.
Braaaaaaaap, burped Gary.
Felix shot him a look.
“Doesn’t seem like they’re biting today,” said Gary.
“It’s early still.”
Gary rolled on his side and scratched himself, burped again.
Braaaaaaaaaaaaaaaap!
Felix shook his head. Gary looked at Lozen.
“What’s Pilar?”
“Pilar?”
“You said it last night in your sleep.”
“I did?”
Gary nodded. Felix, too.
“Pilar is my co-pilot,” said Lozen. “I lost her.”
“I didn’t realize,” said Felix. “Once we’re done, we can go find her.”
“No,” said Lozen. “I misspoke. She was my co-pilot.”
They continued to fish along the bank for hours, but nothing. Not even a nibble. The sun went gold and then red. Soon the sky would be pink and gray. And then it would be dark.
“I don’t understand,” said Felix. “Where are all the fish?”
“Don’t know,” said Gary. “But we need to wrap this up. Loons, Gracks, I don’t want any of that again.”
“No loons,” said Lozen.
“Fine,” said Felix. “Just a little bit longer.”
But right then the Gracks appeared. They came out of the brush, a dozen of them. They looked like apes with their long hairy arms. But they had the heads of dogs with long snouts, sharp teeth, and pointed ears.
“You are trespassing,” said the first Grack. “You have been warned before. And now you must die.”
“Wait, wait, whoa,” said Lozen. “Trespassing? First off, there’s no sign. And second, this is my first warning. I don’t even know where I am. In fact I’m sure I shouldn’t be here at all.”
“Exactly,” said the Grack. “This is all belong to Lord Grack. The fox and the bear have been warned before. They will die. You will be brought before Lord Grack himself.”
“Ok, listen, it’s Felix and Gary and they are my friends, although really we just met, but we’ve been through some stuff together with the loon. So, we’re friends. No one needs to die, ok? We just wanted some fish.”
“Lozen?” said a voice behind the Gracks.
Lozen’s face went white. And he started to tremble.
“Lozen?” said the voice again.
“Pilar?”
The Gracks moved aside. In a cage behind them was Pilar.
“Pilar!”
Lozen ran toward the Gracks. They lowered their swords.
“Halt!” shouted the Grack. “How do you know the prisoner?”
Lozen looked at Pilar. Her hair was mussed, her cheek was bruised, but considering the deadly vacuum of space, she looked good.
“She’s my wife.”
Felix looked at Gary.
“You were right,” he said. “You have such good intuition. I don’t know why I don’t trust you more. You’re always right.”
“I’d like to see you embroider that on a pillow.”
“Silence!” yelled the Grack.
“Let her out!” shouted Lozen.
The Gracks laughed.
“Who are you to tell us anything?” said the Grack which made all the Gracks laugh even harder.
“I’m a wizard and I command you.”
The Gracks stopped laughing. Even Felix and Gary stopped what they were doing.
“Blasphemous,” said the first Grack. “There is no wizard but the Lord Grack.”
“I AM a wizard,” said Lozen.
“Then prove it!”
In addition to the legend of his alcohol black out in high school, Lozen was a 9th level dungeon master. If there was ever a time to pull the wizard card, this was it.
Lozen looked at Felix and Gary.
“Hand me the kettle,” said Lozen.
They both shrugged their shoulders.
“The fish bucket,” said Lozen pointing.
“Oh, right,” said Gary. He brought the empty kettle to Lozen. Lozen pointed to the first Grack. “Fill this with water.”
“You will order me to do no such thing.”
“No worries,” said Gary. “I got it.”
Gary filled the bucket with water from the pond.
“Everything is bitter here,” said Lozen. “I don’t know why. I don’t know how. But for some reason everything tastes bitter. Am I right?”
The Gracks all nodded.
“Yes,” said the Grack. “Tis true. And?”
“I will make this water sweet by adding a secret powder.”
“Ha! It cannot be done. This is a sulfur pond.”
The Gracks all laughed.
“Is that why there are no fish?”
The Grack nodded with a grunt.
“Really, Felix?” said Lozen turning to the fox. “You didn’t know that?”
“You know what,” said Felix, “that actually makes a lot of sense.”
Gary shook his head.
“How can you not know that?” asked Gary. “We come out here almost every other day and it’s always the same thing. Nothing.”
“That’s what fishing is,” said Felix. “It’s a mystery.”
“Well, mystery solved.”
“It doesn’t matter,” said Lozen interrupting. “If I make this water sweet and refreshing, will you let us all go?”
“Yes,” said the first Grack.
“How do I know you’ll keep your word?”
“You don’t.”
“You’re not giving me a lot to work with,” said Lozen. He looked at Felix and Gary.
“The oath,” said Felix. “Ask him to give the oath.”
The Grack rolled his eyes.
“Fine,” he said. He lifted his sword over his head before tapping the end on the toe of his right boot three times and then placing it above his left eye. “I swear upon the soul of Lord Grack and all that is belongs to Lord Grack, I will keep my word or I will stab my eyes out with mine own sword.”
“So we’re cool?” asked Lozen.
Felix and Gary nodded. The Grack grunted.
Lozen reached down and unzipped his side pocket. He took out two silver packets - imprinted on their sides were the words Government Use Only – Tang, Orange. He tore them open and poured the contents in the kettle. He swished it around.
“Ok,” he said. “Taste.”
The Grack lifted the kettle to his snout and lapped at the water. He lapped again.
“Release the prisoner,” he said. “Let her go.”
Pilar ran into the open arms of Lozen.
“Why did you eject?” cried Lozen holding Pilar tight. “Why did you go?”
“I don’t know,” said Pilar. “I didn’t think I was strong enough.”
“Never give up,” said Lozen. “You must never give up. Ever.”
“My thoughts exactly,” said Felix. “Now help me cast this line.”
