The Littlest Dragon

 

Pathetic Dragon Story

 MEDIACHOMP  AUGUST 17, 2022  16 COMMENTS

writing-in-the-grave came up with this amazing fantasy story idea about a tiny, wimpy, very pathetic dragon named Altheria. She has blunt horns, teeth, and claws. She’s even smaller than a cat and she only has one gold coin in her hoard. So anyway, she gets this crazy idea to go on a quest to rescue a princess (there’s fan art by artfromthevoid below too!):

Noah and the Unicorn

"Who's Noah?"

"He was in the Bible. God told him that there would be heavy rains for 40 days and 40 nights, and there would be a flood. So God told him to prepare for the flood by building a BIG boat called an "Ark". And into this ark Noah was to bring two of every animals, to save them from the flood."

"So he got all the animals into the ark?"

"Yes. He got two pigs, two chickens - a rooster and a hen, two cows - well actually one was a bull, two dogs, two cats, two goats..."

"What about elephants? Did he bring elephants?"

She was obsessed with elephants.

"Oh yes. He didn't forget about the elephants and the zebras and the giraffes, and lions and tigers and bears, oh my!"

"And unicorns?"

"Well, he couldn't find any unicorns. Because they were so rare! So unfortunately, there weren't any unicorns on the Ark. And so that's why there are no unicorns today."

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Cinderella and the Beanstalk (3rd Edition)

[April 1st Edition - 3rd]
[I am saving the various editions as a way of seeing how the story develops.
April 2020 revisions: death of father]

Cinderella lost her mother some years ago. Her father re-married - a woman with two daughters. The he passed away recently. And now Cinderella lives with her stepmother, and her two step-sisters. 

Her step-sisters had the best clothes, the best food, and did not need to do any housework at all because they were wealthy and could afford lots of servants. Except, since her father died, the money he had was steadily being spent.

They had a housekeeper who kept everything clean. But when they could no longer afford to keep her, Cinderella took over the cleaning. They had a washerwoman who did the laundry. But when they had to let her go, Cinderella had to do the laundry. Then they had to let the cook go, and Cinderella took over the cooking. Part of the work of cooking was to make sure the cooking fire was at the right temperature, and tending the fire left Cinderella covered with soot and marked with cinders. And that was how she got the "Cinder Ella". Her real name was Ella. Ellie, her mother used to call her. 

They also had to let the gardener go, but Cinderella had no time to do the gardening in addition to the housekeeping, the laundry, and the cooking. So the garden was left unattended, and was soon overgrown with weeds and untended plants.

All the while her step-sisters lived the life of pampered rich girls.

Confused Fairy Tales: Cinderella and the Bean Stalk

[Mar 18 2nd Edition]

Cinderella lost her mother some years ago, and now she lives with her stepmother, and two step-sisters. 

Her step-sisters had the best clothes, the best food, and did not need to do any housework at all because Cinderella's father was wealthy and could afford servants. 

However, when her father's wealth was spent away, they lost their servants one by one and Cinderella took over the cleaning (when the housekeeper was let go), and then laundry (when the washerwoman was let go), and finally the cooking (when the cook was let go). 

All the while her step-sisters continued to live the life of pampered rich girls, leaving Cinderella to do the household chores.

The Rose

The Rose

by S.I. Kishor

John Blanchard stood up from the bench, straightened his Army uniform, and studied the crowd of people making their way through Grand Central Station. He looked for the girl whose heart he knew, but whose face he didn't, the girl with the rose.

His interest in her had begun thirteen months before in a Florida library. Taking a book off the shelf he found himself intrigued, not with the words of the book, but with the notes penciled in the margin. The soft handwriting reflected a thoughtful soul and insightful mind. In the front of the book, he discovered the previous owner's name, Miss Hollis Maynell. With time and effort he located her address. She lived in New York City. He wrote her a letter introducing himself and inviting her to correspond. The next day he was shipped overseas for service in World War II. During the next year and one month the two grew to know each other through the mail. Each letter was a seed falling on a fertile heart. A romance was budding.

An SG 50 Parable - Mortal Stakes

The (Eventually) Old Man, with a cameo by the Sea (with apologies to the classic)

The young man looked all around.

In the village, the people were hungry. They had nothing to eat.

The young man had just caught some fish for his family. Maybe he could give some to the others in his village.

But...

He didn't have enough for everyone.

He watched as young men stripped leaves off tree branches, turning them into make-believe swords, and fencing each other in mock sword fights.

Others made kites and were flying them.

But all were hungry if not starving.

"Follow me, if you want to eat! Bring your sticks and your kite strings!" said the young man.

And the young men (and some women) of the village followed him.

He brought them to the sea about an hour's walk away, taught them to turn their make-believe "swords"into fishing rods, and the kite strings into fishing lines to fish in the sea. By evening everyone had caught something to feed their families.

Now the young men (and some women) knew how to fish, and their family would have something to eat.

Now every day, they fished to feed their families.

Three Stories

Joan's Story

I don't blame him for leaving me.

But I do blame him for betraying me.

He had made his choice after stringing Jane and me along for the longest time. I had told him many times that he had to make his choice. He always promised that he would, but that he couldn't bear to hurt Jane. Finally Jane and I met up. I didn't hate her. Not then. Perhaps not even now. But if he had chosen her, I would probably have been devastated.

But not knowing for sure, not being able to move forward, was worse. So Jane and I met up, and told him he had to choose.

He took Jane aside and spoke quietly to her, his face serious, his brow furrowed, an anxious look on his face.

I could see Jane shrinking as he spoke. His words were hurting her. Her shoulders slumped with defeat. Her lips trembling as she controlled her tears.

She raised her head finally, defiantly, proudly. She said something that apparently surprised and startled John. But then she went on and I could see the tension flow out of John. His shoulders eased and relaxed.

I guess she was telling him that she accepted his decision. He was saying something else, when she leaned forward to hold him awkwardly as he tried not to return the hug. She kissed him on the cheek and let him go. Goodbye, her lips moved, then she turned and walked away without looking back.

I thought she carried herself rather well in this her time of defeat. I caught myself feeling sorry for her, and told myself, she wouldn't want my pity. Well, she had my respect, then.

Fish. Bird. Lake.

This is a half-remembered story. Someone told it to me. I can't remember who.

But I remember it. Because it has meaning, and a lesson.

-------------------

There was a little lake high in the mountains, not much bigger than a pond. It was so high that in the winter the surface of the lake would freeze over. But it was a deep enough that the water below got really cold, but did not freeze. When it got that cold, the fishes slowed down, became less active, and waited patiently for the waters to warm up again.

The fishes had lived in the lake for many generations and many winters. Seasons passed, the waters rose and fell with the seasons, and turned cold and warm with the seasons.

The younger, more vigorous, and more adventurous fishes swam up the streams that fed into the lake, and came back reporting that the waters ran faster and shallower as they swam up, until finally, the waters ran too fast, or too shallow, or were blocked by ice.

The Little Lake and the streams that fed into it was the whole world to these fishes. And it was good.