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Thursday, July 04, 2013

Preliminaries (#FridayFlash)

+Helen Howell gave me a challenge when I said I was trying to think of a #FridayFlash this week: “Write me a 100 word story using cylinder - goglet - liberate - off you go.” I made it a brief glimpse into Termag’s history.

(A “goglet” is a stone vessel, designed to keep water cool.)



Source: openclipart.org
Protector Ethtar watched his friend work. “What is this?”

“You’ll see.” Chelinn lifted the hot cylinder with bronze tongs, and placed it in a bowl.

“And what is my part, here?”

Chelinn turned up the goglet, filling the bowl with cool water. “This has to cool quickly,” the warrior-mage said. He stirred the concoction with a glass rod. “Ah.” The contents began to foam and smoke, and he took the bowl to the window. “Now! Call the wind. Send this all over the city.”

“Why?”

“Before we can resettle Vlis, we must liberate the spirits of the original residents.”

15 comments:

  1. Fantastic Larry, loved the story snippet and loved that you managed to use the prompt so well! ^_^

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  2. Enjoyed this snippet! Really good use of the prompt. Feels natural.

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  3. I don't know if I get it... Is it just the description of finishing a spell that will liberate the residents, or was something more going on there?

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  4. I thought it was pretty good. From what storytreasury said "Feels natural." I got that feeling too. Keep on typing Larry and happy belated book launch.

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  5. man those were some tough words to get into just 100 words. Don't think I've ever used 'goglet' ever!

    marc nash

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  6. "liberate the spirits" ... love it!! Does that mean it's weed? lol . Excellent and inventive weaving of prompt words

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  7. I had to look up "goglet". Well played.

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  8. Great use of the prompts! I like the Termag stories, and would love to see a longer version of this one.

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  9. Thanks, Helen, for the prompt and the comment!

    Sonia, yours was pretty good, too.

    John, the spell is liberating the spirits bound to the city, yes. There's more going on, but it's not written. Yet. ;-)

    Thanks much, FM!

    Marc, I'd never *seen* the word "goglet" until Helen gave it to me. First thing I did was to look it up. I figured if anyone ever *had* used it, it would be you!

    Tom, who knows what's in that enchantment? Heehee. Thanks much!

    Tony, that's why I left a description.

    Yay, Katherine! I've given some thought to the (extended) event, because it draws a lot of comparisons to the re-settlement of Stolevan, a few generations later. So chances are, a longer version will happen.

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  10. I assume you gave Helen the requisite, "Challenge accepted!" response. ;-) Nicely done.

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  11. Great job. I've been doing 100 word flash fiction every Friday on my blog (forgot this week though) and it's such a fun challenge to get it in that word limit.

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  12. Super use of the words Larry, great fun story!
    I was shocked to hear Marc had never used goglet too. :)

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  13. Well done, Larry! Challenge met.

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  14. I pictured a goglet as some form of goggles (too much steampunk lately) - always nice to add a word to the vocab. Well done with only 100 words!

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