Day 127 Writing Short Stories

The Unexpected

A drip landed on my forehead. I swiped it away, trying not to face-plant into the sewer ground. The goo washing past my legs wet my baseball sneakers. It sloshed between my toes as I ran toward the exit I had come in on. A roar rose behind me—the sound of a failed mission.

I glanced over my shoulder and saw the huge troll storming after me.

I gritted my teeth, trying not to replay in my head my Nana’s warnings about trolls and bridges and how that all had shifted in the modern world into sewers. Though I had come here just for that, I hadn’t expected one with such a lousy temper. All I had asked was a hair off its head so that I could use it for a magic potion.

I had come with gold as that was the usual trade trolls took, but not this one. This one had been offended and was now willing to kill me for it.

I kept running. My feet kept slipping against the goo. The troll had no such worries. Its huge ape-like feet were made for this kind of shit, literal and figurative.

“You know, the legends say you are up for bargains,” I shouted at it.

All I got back was a roar, and then a sniffle.

I dared to glance over my shoulder again. The troll had stopped running and was now huddling against the sewer wall, letting out loud sobs.

Shit, shit, shit. I turned around and slowly crept closer.

“There, there,” I tried.

It was met with a loud wail. “No gold.” Came between sobs.

“No gold?”

“Can’t spend it.” The troll sniffled.

“Huh?”

“Can’t go up and spend it. I’m stuck here.” The troll swirled its hands in the air, showing the sewer.

“Oh,” I said.

“Yeah,” came a sniffle.

I bit my lip. I hadn’t thought about it. Yes, magic was taken out of the world, and the normies knew nothing about it. But I had forgotten that meant the trolls and others like them couldn’t go about their usual business. Back in the good old days, when magic had been wild and free, trolls, hobgoblins, fairies, and all sorts of creatures were part of everyday life.

“I can set you up with an online account. You can have everything delivered to a nearby postal box, and you can get them when it is really dark outside.”

“You can do that?” the troll asked. Its huge, scary-ass eyes went wide.

“Yeah, I can do that. It just takes me a day or two to get you sorted. You need a computer and…” I looked at its sausage-sized fingers and gritted my teeth. But I was sure there was a way—maybe a voice program or something like that.

“You are sure?”

“Yes,” I said with all the confidence of someone who knew nothing about computers and rather magic their way out of any situation.

“Oh,” the troll said, flashing a warm smile.

—

Wasn’t planning on the protagonist making troll friends, but that just happened. I had fun writing this one. It was nice just to let the flow take me and not to think too much about anything. Today, I got a comic action quest written in the first person.

In general, I’m having fun writing these prompts. They are making my writing stronger, and I think that since I don’t have to concentrate on the basics anymore, I have more freedom to play. Also, as I have said before, they are like mini movies I can experience every morning. I was wondering if I should record these and maybe make a site where you can listen to them on your way to work or something. Not sure if there’s a point in that, but it’s an idea I’m playing with.

Thank you for reading! Have a day full of kindness, and see you tomorrow ❤