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.
MOST BEAUTIFUL OF THEM ALL
The god looked at his followers, incredulous amazement rippling over his magnificent features.
“This is your offering?”
The crowd nodded, heads bouncing like toy balls. Their faces were blank and open with conscientious, diligent worship.
The god stared at what, at who had been placed before him.
“You dare disrespect me!” The god let his anger show in the flaring flames of his hair, fireballs flashing in his mouth.
The crowd cowered. The god was pleased at their response, and he waited, maintaining his resplendent display.
Amongst the shrinking cowering there began some shoving. Whispers and shouldered ripples percolated through the group, ending with the eviction of a young woman. She glanced back with betrayal and worry, exposed from her peers.
She turned to the god, who raised one glorious eyebrow at her. She swallowed and bowed, intoning,
“Your eminent marvellousness, we are grateful for your presence and your blessing, may your light shine upon us until long after the stars go out, and may your virile strength be a source of inspiration to—”
“Cease your babbling!” the god interrupted. “Explain.”
“Well, your wondrous personage, your majestic self, this is what you asked for.”
The god stared, frowning, lightning flaring between his eyebrows.
“You asked for the most beautiful creature amongst us.” He widened his flaming eyes, and the woman’s speech quickened as she continued, “And we cannot deny that Speckles is the most beautiful of all of us.”
The woman gestured at the cat sitting on a purple velvet cushion. Its grey fur was dappled with brown and white. It flicked and coiled its tail. It watched the god with large golden eyes containing barely concealed superiority and boredom.
“Speckles?” the god repeated. His irate mood had paused.
The woman nodded and turned back to her colleagues who all nodded with her.
“Yes. Because of her beautiful coat, see?”
The god bent and looked the cat in the eye. The cat gave a long blink. She turned away and did an extended, back-arched, satisfying stretch, showing tooth and claw. She proceeded to clean her front paw with a wide pink tongue.
The god reached out one large hand, and the cat turned to it. She seemed to deliberate her options.
She chose to lean forward and nuzzle him.
“Charming,” the god muttered, turning his hand over for the cat’s purring scritches. Then, louder, he added, “I accept your offering.”
The woman beamed, and the crowd sighed.
“But!” The god interrupted the relaxed, quiet celebration, “For my next offering I would like the most beautiful person amongst you.”
There were whispers in the crowd.
The god was pleased. What could possibly go wrong?
JM Cyrus writes speculative fiction. With a BA in Classical Studies, an MA in Reception Theory, and currently studying for an MFA in Creative Writing, she enjoys finding new worlds, looking at how she found them, and working out how to show them to you. She has work published magazines, anthologies and online, in venues such as Inner Worlds, Black Cat Weekly and Luna Station Quarterly. See the full list at her website and say hello at https://jmcyrus.carrd.co/#works
If you enjoyed this story you can find it and more in the Hawthorn & Ash 2023 anthology.
Iron Faerie Publishing 