1. It always rained in the morning, soft and slow as if the ever-present clouds were shaking off the night.

2. There were no such things as Evil Wizards, not anymore. Susan had found that there were very few limits on what a god could do, even one who’d won her godhood by deeds instead of birth.

3. The air was thick with smoke, coating every breath with the taste of charred pine and scorched moss. The forest might be too wet to burn, but the invading army was still giving it the old college try.

4. Heather was the kind of dog that children dream of having; a fierce protector to ward off nightmares, a ruthless champion to mete out their revenge, someone to love them no matter what they asked of her… but Heather wasn’t real.

5. The soup was little more than flavored water, but there were few ways to make two rabbits feed eight people and damned if he was going to let any of them go hungry tonight.

These story prompts are released into the wild per Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 United States License, so sayth their author Martha McMahon Bechtel.

Technotari Tags: Writing Prompts

I hate stories with a twist. I especially hate stories where you can see the twist coming three words in, and this looked like it was going to be one of those stories.

“But he’s cute!” Sandy was right, the puppy was cute, but normal dogs don’t have magical auras that spark and fizzle in chaotic rainbows. I flattened my ears and rowled my opinion of of the demonic fluffball.

“Words!” She chided.

“I think this is a very bad idea.” I glared at the puppy who looked up at me with misplaced adoration. “There’s something wrong with it.”

“Wrong how?” To her credit, she did ratchet up her shields, if only a smidgen. Thankfully the pup seemed oblivious to the changes.

“It tastes of young magic,” the wild unpredictable sort that had popped up since the war. “I don’t think we found it.”

“You think it found us.” Sandy was the youngest of the company, both in terms of years in service and years alive, but she learned significantly faster than most of the older recruits. Still, she hadn’t actually put the puppy down yet. “So,” there was a pause, “so if it found us doesn’t that mean if I put it down it will just find us again?”

I hate these sorts of stories.

These snippits are copyright Martha McMahon Bechtel and may not be reproduced or distributed without express permission. All rights reserved.

Technotari Tags: Fiction, Fantasy

1. I might not agree with his methods, but the results were certainly impressive.

2. Three dogs were two dogs too many –or three dogs too many depending on who you asked– because when things came to a vote the dogs always won.

3. If anyone could make yellow socks and fuchsia shoes look good, it was Edward… and apparently no one could.

4. You could see the lights of the city from miles away, tiny glimmers of civilization scattered among the weeds.

5. There are only so many ways to start a story that takes place in a near-hurricane strength storm, in the middle of the night, on a deserted island, that’s haunted. Did I mention that none of them are good ways?

These story prompts are released into the wild per Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 United States License, so sayth their author Martha McMahon Bechtel.

Technotari Tags: Writing Prompts

The Hounds of Winter were a proud tradition of the Little Kingdom; a long line of noble knights who kept the citizens safe from all intruders. Their unblemished reputation was backed by several hundred years of peace, and no one dared besmirch their honor.

Of course Little Kingdom was a) much too little to be worth conquering, and B) tucked into an easily defended mountain range, but Theran had learned long ago that keeping his opinions to himself. It made his job easier, and as he kept ending up with the worst assignments possible, easier was good. But easier took a backseat to honesty, especially where children were concerned.

“No.”

The girl’s eyes narrowed, “But you’re a Hound, you have to help me.”

Theran mustered up as much disdainful disinterest as he could fit into a look (which was quite a lot, thanks to one disastrous court assignment) and shrugged.

“You. Will. Help. Me.” The girl crossed her arms and glared. “NOW.”

“Nope.” He returned to eating dinner, blatantly ignoring the teenager.

It was a little harder to ignore her when she turned his mashed potatoes into a turtle. Well, turtle-shaped mashed potatoes. Moving turtle-shaped mashed potatoes. He sighed and pushed back from the table.

“Fine, what is it? Did you lose a favorite piece of jewelry? Break a pot you need mended? No wait, don’t tell me, you need help winning your true love free from an evil wizard.”

She frowned, “He has my dog, not my boyfriend.”

Theran blinked.

These snippits are copyright Martha McMahon Bechtel and may not be reproduced or distributed without express permission. All rights reserved.

Technotari Tags: Fiction, Fantasy