Day 48 Writing Short Stories

The Quest

Finding a good minion is hard. One has to take these things into one’s own hands. One could say that dirty work was needed. On a normal given day, I wouldn’t feel bad about killing a person—I’m a necromancer after all—but something strange kindled inside me. The desperate times made me push aside any such feelings. The war left me no other choice. I drew my curved blade into my hands. It was made from the screams of thousands of souls forged into the blackest iron to be had.

The gentle giant was a perfect candidate. His friendliness, sunny disposition, and body made to carry an ox were the makings of a good minion. The only thing I had to do was a slight stabbing, and then a whole lot of burying and necromancy to reanimate him, and I was set to win the war. But somehow, the feeling that the entire act was perverse didn’t go away.

I tried to look at him sideways, upside down, the right way up, and still he remained too nice to expire. The blade screamed with the desire for blood, yet the happiness the gentle giant radiated was the kind that could shape people and worlds into something more—a word rarely associated with me and my kind, and I sighed.

I tugged my blade back into my boot. I passed the gentle giant and nodded my adieus. I would have to find someone less suitable as a minion. One with a nasty disposition. One who deserved to die.

—

This wasn’t actually my doing—the story, I mean. Oh, of course, I wrote it, and all that, but the idea came from my friend a few days ago. He told me that his greatest fear is that I would murder him and use my necromantic powers to turn him into a minion. And I said it would be a wonderful idea; “Think of all the things we could do.” He said that was exactly what he was afraid of. We were already a terror together. So here is my story for my gentle giant friend, who makes the world a better place just by existing. I didn’t kill him, despite the fact that we had a war to win. I had a good reason, just you know! Sigh.

I’m tired. I couldn’t edit or write anything else today. For some reason, I couldn’t sleep past four a.m. All the thoughts kept swirling in my head. Not sure what thoughts, but thoughts nevertheless. Maybe it was because I climbed my project, the 7B+ route, yesterday, raising my climbing grade. It felt so bizarre to sit at the top of the boulder, having tried it so many times. Highly emotional and all that. It might be that or all the usual emotional load that comes with life. Life is a funny thing one is made to endure.

Anyway, now I will take a nap with the cat before heading to work. What I got today was a voice-driven war story with a quest and a first-person point of view. The war was the only spin I put on the idea my friend gave me, and it worked well. I’m not sure what war we were going to win, but it was a big one, I’m sure of it.

Thank you for reading! Have a day full of happiness and gentle giants ❤