Welcome to this week’s installment of many micro stories, ranging in length from 100 words to 500 words.
With each story we hope to deliver a little whimsy into the lives of our readers.
A BAD PLACE FOR A CAMPSITE
Dawa staggered around the clearing, crushing plants along the way, then headed for a tree and urinated on it. When he got back to the campsite, he pulled a matchbook out of his pocket, tried to start a fire, but fumbled one match after another.
Tenzin sighed. “I told you not to overdo it, but did you listen to me? No. Of course not. And now you’re drunk.”
Dawa ignored his friend. After more unsuccessful attempts, he flushed, and grabbed his machete. He swung it to his right, to his left, wielded it more and more wildly, and damaged scores of flowers and bushes.
An ominous rumbling sounded from somewhere in the distance.
“Stop.” Tenzin bit his lip. “You hear that, don’t you? People say the nyen get angry when their territory is disturbed, and you’re doing much more that just disturbing things.”
“Rubbish. You’re being a superstitious idiot.” Going to a cluster of trees, Dawa started chopping them with his machete.
The rumbling intensified, the sound coming from all around them.
Dark shapes oozed from the ground, undulating back and forth.
Tenzin gasped and fled.
Gaping, Dawa started backing away. But he shrieked when the shapes shot toward him.
Gabriella Balcom lives in Texas and writes fantasy, horror, romance, sci-fi, and more. She’s had 488 works accepted for publication and was nominated for the Washington Science Fiction Association’s Small Press Award. Clarendon House Publications published Gabriella’s multi-genre anthology, On the Wings of Ideas, after one of her stories was voted best in a book. JayZoMon/Dark Myth Company released her romance, Worth Waiting For, which won second place in their 2020 Open Contract Challenge. Black Hare Press published her sci-fi novella, The Return, and Dark Myth Publishing released Gabriella’s horror novella, Down with the Sickness and Other Chilling Tales.
Her Facebook author page: https://m.facebook.com/GabriellaBalcom.lonestarauthor
If you enjoyed this drabble you can find it and more in the Hawthorn & Ash 2023 anthology.
Iron Faerie Publishing 