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.
NAGA PANCHAMI: A DAY OF WORSHIP
“We’re preparing gifts for the all-powerful snake gods, the nagas, so they’ll bless us and our homes and families,” Shalva explained. “Everyone should honor them and you can give this to them.”
Scoffing inwardly at their stupid beliefs, Dara accepted the tin of sweets. The Mongolian girl ate the candy herself while her foreign exchange family bustled around her. She replaced the sweets with dry greens she pulled out of the garden.
At the festival later, the Nepalese people paraded around with a silver snake effigy. They bathed it with milk, surrounded it with gifts, and offered sacrifices.
Dara worked hard to keep from sneering at the silliness. Thank goodness she wasn’t as dim-witted as those around her. She grew bored quickly and wandered off.
When a snake slithered out of the nearby grass, she gasped and froze.
Others crawled out of the bushes and trees surrounding her, or materialized out of thin air. One serpent darted forward, biting Dara’s right leg. Then the others attacked.
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.
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 