Hello everyone!
Time to make a sharp right turn out of the land of doom and gloom. Unless you are the most insidious dissident, this week fairly demands that you look inward to find the realms of cotton candy and sugar-plum whimsy within your own mind.
This week’s prompt is… absurdly wholesome:
The Teeniest Beastling
RULES AND GUIDELINES BELOW!
Make sure you scroll down and read them if you haven’t! You may not be eligible if you don’t!
Admittedly, this prompt was inspired by a story created by one of our own a while back, which you can find here. This is essentially the vibe we’re trying to capture. Not just a tiny beast but the teeniest beastling.
Here be hyperbole, gents.
Drench this submission in saccharin goodness. Shrink things down to a scale we can’t help but find tender and adorable by comparison. Turn your world-swallowing eldritch abomination into an angry little fella in an even larger eldritch horror’s aquarium, eating fully-inhabited celestial spheres dispensed into its environment like flakes of fish food. Wrap all the big evil of humanity into the package of a little baby, and let us all wonder at how something so lovely could pose such a tremendous threat. Write through the eyes of a chihuahua with a firm conviction that it is, in fact, at the top of this world’s food chain.
Whatever you want, just pay homage to the tone of this prompt. If we just wanted a small creature, I think that’s what we’d be asking for.
Teeniest. Beastling.
Give us a pleasant dream this time. We need it after the cold of the abyss.
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Remember, this is part of our weekly Writing Group stream! Submit a little piece following the rules and guidelines below, and there’s a chance your entry will be read live on stream! In addition, we’ll discuss it for a minute and give you some feedback.
Tune into the stream this Friday at 7:00pm CST to see if you made the cut!
The whole purpose of this is to show off the creativity of the community, while also helping each other to become better writers. Lean into that spirit, and get ready to help each other improve their confidence in their writing, as well as their skill with their craft!
Rules and Guidelines
We read six stories during each stream, three of which come from the public post, and three of which come from the much smaller private post. Submissions are randomly selected from among the top ten most-liked of each post, so be sure to share your submissions on social media and with your friends!
- English only.
- Prose only, no poetry or lyrics.
- One submission per participant.
- Use proper spelling, grammar, and syntax.
- Submit your entry in a comment on this post.
- Submissions close at 4:00pm CST each Friday.
- No more than 350 words (you can use this website to see your wordcount).
- Include a submission title and an author name (doesn’t have to be your real name).
- Keep submissions “safe-for-work”; be sparing with sexuality, violence, and profanity.
- Write something brand new (no re-submitting past entries or stories written for other purposes).
- Try to focus on making your submission a single meaningful moment rather than an entire story.
- Please format your submission as “Submission Title” by Author Name and be sure to separate paragraphs. (Example Submission)
- No fan fiction without explicit permission from the source’s owner, and no spoilers for the source material if you are writing a fan fic.
- Original art may be included in your submission, but is not guaranteed to be shown on stream. Only .jpeg format images shared via a direct link will be accepted. (Example Submission) (Information on “Direct Links”)
- No additional formatting (such as italics or bold text) will be applied to the text of submissions. Symbols or instruction indicating such formatting may render your submission ineligible.
- You must like and leave a review on two other submissions to be eligible, and your reviews must be at least 50 words long. If you’re submitting to the private post, feel free to leave these reviews on either the private or the public post. The two submissions you like need not be the same as the submissions you review, although they can be.
- Understand that by submitting here, you are giving us permission to read your submission aloud live on stream and upload public, archived recordings of said stream to our social media platforms. You will always be credited, but only by the author name you supply as per these rules. No other links or are guaranteed.
Comments on this post that aren’t submissions will be deleted, except for replies/reviews left on existing submissions.
No! Damnit! I was the only one who was supposed to write a story that didnt fit expectations!
I am curious of what species the Puppies were, apparently some species that controls mind to make people take care of it. Very interesting interpretation of the prompt!
“Sanctuary” by Magan (Legends of Dracora series: Modern Dracora, Age of Recovery)(350 words)
The Slayer Wars of beastfolk against demigod had ended with Dracora’s Wrath, elemental spirits lashing out against the use of magic in warfare. Both sides suffered as the land was torn asunder by storm, famine, drought, fire, flood, and blizzard. They were lucky to avoid the apocalypse glimpsed by seers, but it would take decades to recover, and new black deserts of corrupted magic were permanent scars of their folly.
Dawnstar the Selfless was the runt of her clutch. The dragoness was tiny at adulthood, pony-sized, but it saved her life when her family was killed by the crazed, demigod-slaying Cult of Nex. While other demigods focused their magic on growth, she turned her power to shrink herself. It wasn’t long after that she learned to shrink others and passed on the spell.
Dawnstar counted their supplies again as her mate, Grainflint, the field mouse, entered the burrow with another newly shrunken group of demigod and beastfolk refugees. Folk never got used to the idea of a dragon and mouse pairing, but that shock kept them quiet long enough for her to recite house rules and get them settled. At this rate, they would have a city.
“Low on food?” Grainflint asked as he hugged her.
She nodded, “My turn to forage.”
“You’re with child,” the mouse reminded gently, “You know how I feel about that.”
She nuzzled him, twining her tail with his, “I’m a dragon. I’ll be fine.”
He never won the argument, but she took a healer with the scouts to ease his mind.
Dawnstar regained full size, gathering medical herbs and keeping watch while the others stayed small. The otters fished minnows from a drying puddle. The kirin and manticore gathered grains and hunted insects.
The weather changed without warning, all too common nowadays. Hail struck Dawnstar as she gathered party and supplies, racing back to the burrows. The sudden firewhirl caught her off guard, nearly roasting them, but a blast of her lightning breath dispelled it.
Grainflint fussed and scolded over her injuries when they returned, but overall she considered it a good day’s work.
“Small Tale”
by Brickosaur
The greatest hero in Greenslime County was a lightnin’-fast mud dragon. Her given name was Millie, but everyone called her Talltail, on account of her tailspines, long as ten inchworms and strong as an ant. Millie’s tail made her the fastest swimmer this side of Frogsbottom Pond.
Every morning, Millie zipped all over the pond, back home ‘fore a fruitfly could finish cleanin’ his wings. And every evening she used her tail to swing all the hatchlings ’round and fling them into dewdrop pools.
One day, while Millie raced around, she stumbled on a sight to freeze your blood solid. There stood a tardigrade, a-snufflin’ and a-stompin’. The ginormous water bear loomed like a pearl in sand, and each slow step was thunder in Millie’s bristles. The monster’s snoot gobbled every last critter there.
“Noot noot!” it growled, in unending hunger.
And it was comin’ direct to Greenslime.
Millie had to do something! She’d heard tell of the unkillable water bears, whose empire spanned from Mount Vulcan to the Ever-Ice. They worshiped only water, ’cause without it, any tardigrade would freeze into glass.
That was the answer. She had to get the monster where no drop could ever touch it. Millie looked up. She knew what to do.
“Hey!” hollered the dragon. “You ain’t nothin’ but a coward and slower’n a starfish. C’mere and let me have a go at ya!”
The beast bellowed, and charged for Millie. But she was ready. When it got close, she looped her spines and lassoed that there monster. Bear and dragon bucked so fiercely, they made waves that capsized cruise ships.
Three whole nights of dares and fights. Then, Millie had her chance. With her strong tail, she FLUNG the monster right into the sun.
The tardigrade roared. “NOOOOOOOT!” it thundered. Three, two, one, and it rocketed into space, turning to sparkling stone before Millie’s eyes.
Some say that water bear is still in orbit today, a shootin’ star all in glass.
And Millie? Well, she’s quick as she ever was. Still a-swimmin’ and a-flingin’, still the tallest tail in Greenslime County.
“The white Beast” Submitted by Exce
The Amatus are a frightful species. They grow as they consume the magical flora and fauna of Moriesha, but they themselves are nearly totally immune to any magical attacks. This, combined with their immense skill as hunters, makes them indomitable hunters.
As their numbers grew, the newest generation feasting on the flesh of those who came before had but one rule: Only the strong survive.
Its egg was white as snow and as pale as bone. Where the eggs of its siblings were tall and meaty, their shells covered in faint veins, it was but small, and its shell was smooth.
Of course the guardians of the brood caves noticed, this wasn’t the first ‘bad batch’. Sometimes something went wrong and the egg ended up deformed.
And usually they would be disposed off, their unborn body feeding new hatchlings. But not it.
When they came for its egg, it could feel their thoughts. Their intentions. And through its white shell, with its yet unborn mind it reached out.
And it crushed their will like a venus fly trap crushes an insect before slowly melting it away.
From then on, the guardians protected the small egg…and when someone could not be convinced to leave it alone they were brought before it as well.
Finally the day of hatching came. And from within the egg a most tiny Amatus emerged.
Its arms not muscle-bound like those of its brothers and sisters. Its fingers were fine, and its body far more delicate. Yet its claws were like needles, its teeth like razors.
Its soul was like the sun.
Where its body was weak, its mind was strong. Where its size was meak, it’s magic was titanic.
It’s said that the Amatus used to have a king. But when they broke the contract the gods had given them, he had been torn apart, and since then they have never had one again.
But one after another they bowed before the small Amatus and its magic.
The white stood at their head as they kneeled.
And a colossal black egg shook far below them.
“Lily”
Gregovin
I look at myself in a small mirror. I am a small changeling, I look like a babe with horns in a pink onesie. I remember when they put me in this lonely castle. I was crying the whole time as my mother abandoned me, said “Goodbye Lily”, and left me to be guarded and taught by the spirits of this place. There was always something … off with the spirits, and I couldn’t quite place my finger on it.
I reminisce about the first time I escaped.
I was supposed to go to my room, but instead I snuck through a small crack. Then I found an open window and exited the building, walked ten feet, and saw yellow eyes in the forest. I was so afraid I turned and ran back through the doors screaming. The spirits fixed the crack and scolded me for attempting such a thing. I was still reeling from seeing a monster when I went to sleep that night.
A spirit appears, surprising me and bringing me back to the present. It is my closest friend among the spirits, and the only one who did not seem off. It tells me,
“It is time. I will help you escape.”
“Finally, I want to see the world.”
“Follow me.”
And so I follow through a maze of corridors and halls in the basement. At the exit the spirit tells me it can go no further, and so I walk into the night.
In the forest, I hear a voice coming from far behind me but still clear. It repeatedly sings:
“Follow everywhere I go, Top of the mountains is a valley low, I can give you everything you’re dreaming of, Just let me in. I’ll be the magic story that you’ve been told, you will be safe under my control, Just let me in”. I notice I am involuntarily walking toward the voice, and turn and run as fast as I can.
I can still hear its whispers as I run for my life.
I see smoke in the distance.
Lady Belladonna
By Margaret Couplet
Lady Belladonna was small, Andrew had almost laughed at the notion that the tiny being before them was an adult before Commander Amera – Cody – had sent him a warning look. It wasn’t exactly a smart move to anger one of the great fire breathing drakes of the North, even if her head barely came level with his hip in human form.
“I am aware of how I look, Squire, there is no need to stifle your humor. It amuses most of my nest mates as well, the dichotomy of my forms.” The dragon smirked at him.
Her voice was deep, too deep to have really come out of her throat which meant that there was a degree of magic behind it. The thought made his hair stand on end.
Comman- Cody sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose, “Please do not encourage him. While you may not mind there are others who would.”
“Of course, but he will have to learn lessons about time and place some time and you may not be there to protect him. Now what brings two humans, two male humans who would have once come to steal our riders, to my humble abode?” She asked.
Andrew absently wondered how someone that small could look imposing.
“Lady Belladonna, we have come here on behalf of his Majesty Prince Federico de Scarletcho in regard to a matter pertaining to the Kindness.” Cody spoke, falling into the formal cadence of the courts between one breath and the next.
Lady Belladonna cocked one eyebrow. “The Kindness. The women in white who walk the battlefields. Scavengers. The Gods’ Mercy. What possible reason could you have to come to me about them?”
“They… well, there is no way to put this simply, they are vanishing and we do not know why. His Majesty would like to request the use of your library for the purpose of research into the matter.” Cody clarified.
Lady Belladonna laughed. “It is not me you need to ask for access to my library, sir knight, but my rider.”
Title: Your First Job
Written by: T.S.G. Sager
“Imp 5689434!”
That’s you! Finally, after hours of waiting, Lord Abaddon wants to offer you a career! You leap off your chair, and from there, your stubby legs carry you back to the front desk.
“Thank you for waiting Imp 5689434, Lord Abaddon wishes to see you now. DON’T keep him waiting.”
You step through the doors ahead of you, and your excitement quickly becomes fear. What if you embarrass yourself in front of the God? His literal job is to keep all the planets in the universe stable. He is the rock. He is the magma. What are you to him? You reach the doors to his office. You take one final deep breath, then walk in.
You look around. His office is decorated in fine golds, platinum, and obsidian. More magnificent than you could ever imagine. You look up at him. He has his focus down on his paperwork, his pencil rapidly moving. As you open your mouth to speak, you hear: “Sponge. Next.”
“Sponge? What in all of hell is a sponge?” You hear yourself audibly ask. What have you done? His pencil stops moving.
“It’s a human instrument designed for cleaning. Please continue onward to your instructor, they will provide you with all you need to know.” He sighed.
His dismissive response fills you with a sense of anger, you speak up once more. “But, M’Lord, I’m great with numbers. I’d even say I’m pretty good with mathematics in general.
He finally blesses you with his gaze, a smirk on his face. “You’re good with number’s, eh? Alright, humor me.” He snorts. “What is the solution to the Riemann Hypothesis?”
You freeze. What even is that? It sounds so foreign from basic addition and subtraction.
He sighs. “Look Imp. There are a billion of you. Your race are Hell’s equivalent of Rabbits. I don’t wanna be here all millennia. You’re a sponge. Quit wasting my time, and you might see a promotion rather than a demotion. Next.”
You leave disappointed. There are worse things than a sponge, right?
“The Anchor” Submitted by Connor/Dragoneye
“Where is it?”
Salvari thought as she fished through the dusty chest, past the trinkets and baubles that littered its interior. From her toy boat to her wooden cutlass, all of it was surprisingly in tact.
“What are you looking for, deary?” The gentle voice of Salvari’s mother took hold of her attention, prompting her to stop her search. “That necklace that Dad gave to me. I thought I threw it in with all my old stuff.”
“Oh, I found it a while back. I kept it in our room.”
The juxtaposition of a stoic half-orc, all grown up, standing in a little girl’s room was jarring to Salvari. However, among her room swept away in the painted waves of a sea across the walls, she saw those churning waves roll again, if for but a brief moment.
The wonder she once held, gone. But the memories, certainly still alive.
She held her eyes shut, only to see a little Salvari, with tusks barely visible, and Dad, the tall, strong and charming sailor that he was, his tusks on full display. She was frolicking around the room, roaring a roar only matched in scale by a kitten’s meow, and Dad ran, in absolute “terror” of the tiny Kraken in his house.
He scooped Salvari into his arms, saying, “And now, I have the greatest catch in all of the land: a Kraken!” Little Salvari kicked, screamed, and giggled until she was released.
“Daddy’s gotta go on another voyage, and it’ll be a very long time until I’m back. But, if you’re ever afraid that I’m not back yet, hold as tightly as you can to this, and I’ll hear you from across the seas.”
In his palm, a tiny anchor on a looped chain. Salvari’s eyes beamed with joy as he lifted it up and around her neck. He pulled her into a deep hug in his burly tattooed arms.
“I love you, Salvari.”
“You too, daddy.”
Image:
“New Friend?”
By Samantha Realynn
“Help! Someone save me from this-this terrible-okay, no. I’m sorry I can’t. You can’t expect me to take this seriously.”
Clara pouted up at her brother. He was being quite rude, laughing at her new friend. She stomped her foot angrily and hoisted the thing up to him. “You apologize! You hurt his feelings!”
Alex barely managed to calm himself and looked at the creature. The thing stared at him with red eyes. It looked more annoyed than anything, probably with being picked up by some random girl and carted around like a child. He bit his tongue to prevent another laugh from bursting out from him. Clara already looked ready to skin him alive. “Alright, I’m so- “ he choked for a moment. “I’m sorry. You-You’re very- “ He took a deep breath. “You’re very fierce and sc…”
“Alex!” Clara glared and stomped her feet as he doubled over laughing.
“I’m sorry I’m sorry!” Alex held up his hands. “But a tiny shoggoth is not exactly what I’d call ‘fierce and scary.’ Their parents, now that’s a different story. How did you even find one?”
“School.” Clara replied. She held the thing to her, petting it behind its head ridge. “Someone was going to kill him, so I rescued him.”
“Uh-huh.” Alex raised an eyebrow. “And the parent?”
“He didn’t have one. I think he got lost somehow. They were gonna kill him!” Clara cooed at the thing. “But he was so brave! He bit the mean peoples and ran away! I rescued him before he could get caught! So fierce for such a teeny baby!”
Alex bit his tongue again. The shoggoth looked like an indignant toddler at the cooing. “Okay, how about we-“
Clara shrieked, dropping the shoggoth and cupping her nose. Alex sighed and watched it dart off. “That‘s that then. Are you okay?”
“He bit me!”
“I saw. Come on. Let’s make sure your nose won’t fall off. Then we can get some sweets.”
“Okay…it was still cute though. It was so teeny for a monster!”