Day 3 Writing Short Stories

Heist

A good story is about the setup, the struggle, and almost always about death. Death gives meaning to the now, to the one, to meaning. And he had a whole lot of meaning to have. Gods were made so, and he was a god, even though how small and furry he was, even though he suspected the other gods laughed at him and his appearance. He wasn’t wrong there. Yet perhaps it was all in his head. There’s a thin line between knowing and suspecting, and when it comes to others’ minds and thoughts, there’s only suspecting involved. Not that the Rabbit God would admit that. It was not in any god’s nature to admit things aloud, things about suspecting nature. Gods and their likes always knew. That was their power. That was the power of knowledge. It made you a king. So burn the libraries and give them amusement, and they will know nothing.

But that was not the Rabbit God’s intention. He was there in the library to rob it. Sometimes, gods didn’t get what they wanted, least of all from other gods. That’s why power games were invented, and cunning sneaked into the world for all alike. Not that anyone wanted it, but there it was, for all to use, and you were a loser not to use it.

The Rabbit God wasn’t a loser, despite rumors of such a nature. He was a hero. The library robbery was a hero’s quest. He was there to save a life, as was said, all the great stories were about death. It was for the love of his life, mind you, not in any romantic way. It was for a mortal girl, the only innocence the Rabbit god had found in the world. And the kings and their like were willing to throw that away if he didn’t intervene. So here he was, going to steal the book of life and all the other secrets holding together the universe. Whoever possessed the book would control it all, and the Rabbit God suspected that if the girl had it, then things would get a whole lot better, though innocence can be tricky. Especially if it’s the only thing one possesses. With innocence, there is a hint of ignorance masked by kindness, and kindness can get one only so far when it comes to the masses and their problems. Yet, it was a place to start. A better place than any of his kind had tried before.

He held his gun to the ancient librarian’s face. The thing frowned, never having seen a gun before. Neither had the god, but he had found it pretty useful in his travels wide and far in the space-time of now. Time was constant, and so the concept of the gun itself had always existed in his hand. It was just that the librarian didn’t know that.

The Rabbit God shot the gun in the air, showing that knowledge was original about perceiving, and not so much about reading. The knowledge caught on quickly. Again, things about death and its nature had that effect.

The book was taken out of its glass box and handed to the god, who bowed and disappeared from the library triumphantly after his first-ever heist. Not that anyone else saw it as triumphant, only as the beginning of a great, great chase and revenge and dominance. It was always about dominance.

—

This one is hard. Even when I write satirical fiction, I find comedy hard. So, so, so hard. Also, I feel I have lost my ability to write in the omniscient style. A thing one of my readers said they loved in my books. They loved how I was able to break the fourth wall.

So, today’s lottery draw: me, conversational writing style, comedy as a genre, quest as a narrative, and omniscient third-person point of view. It was a doozy. It forced me to really try and find the rhythm for the story. I think there is something in the short story that could be made into something. I’m really proud of what I was able to make. I rediscovered my old writing style, not quite as it was, but close to it. The style and the story itself need polishing. The tone needs more cheekiness to it, but the structure and idea are there.

I have had so much fun returning to my Glorious Mishap books. As I wrote before, the genre gives me more freedom than the sci-fi book I wrote. I can play more with concepts like the ones in this short story. Actually, the Rabbit God is a reference for my first and third books, and his relation with Sigourney, a highly anxious and introverted spy I have ever created. I could write a longer short story about what is going on with Sigourney and her journey. I have great fondness for her and her ability to hide in plain sight. Hmm…

Thank you for reading! Have a day of journeys ❤