I write stories, and I put them on the internet. Read them. I beseech you, sir.
cool little tidbit: to read stories in chronological order, add /chrono to the end of the url
I like the childish perspective and logic of "The Tragedy of Rachelle King"! You should consider reading the book “Room" by Emma Donoghue because I got similar vibes from that (your style is still original, there are just some interesting similarities).
I’m glad you like the style!! I wanted to tell a story where you get to see scattered but connected thoughts that go through a person’s mind in the moment of any given event. The plot is kinda ridiculous (as are the plots in most of my stories) in “The Tragedy of Rachelle King,” but I like to think the poetic/stream of consciousness style saves the piece. Rachelle grows up over the course of the story, so unfortunately we don’t get to see much more of a child-like perspective after the first two or three sections. Her thoughts will become more complex and concrete, but I hope you still continue to like the writing style!!
I’ve been told to read “Room” before, but it seems like such a psychologically taxing story :( Maybe I’ll find an excerpt and sample it before I dive in headfirst.
Empress Nami landed in a damp turquoise cavern with a great splash. It was a beautiful shimmering room with a large red coral-framed bed and a reflective waterfall. Somewhere in the room, a time-kreeper buzzed.
“Naturally, she has left her time-kreeper in her bedroom. It is no wonder that she never answers me!” Nami, resigned, began admiring herself in the Looking Liquid; her mark of the Spydar was sparkling beautifully in the reflective room.
“Empress Nami! What are you doing here?”
Nami whirled around to the sight of Queen Anom entering the room, her hand holding up the perpetually unbalanced Conch on her head. Before Nami could answer, a tall, skinny, blue man with what looked like a replica Conch on his head entered the room after Anom. He did not seem to notice the Arachnid Empress and continued talking stuffily to the Queen Conch.
“Honestly, your majesty, I do not think it wise to trust a Spydar. Certainly after years of fighting their kind, we have come to the conclusion that they are barbaric and inferior to our—”
“Wow. Your friend is incredibly racist, milady,” Empress Nami was speaking casually to Anom, but all four of her glowing amber eyes were fixed on Sir Eatsalot.
“GAH! SPYDAR EMPRESS NAMI! I did not see you there. What I said before—uh—it was just a jest. Simply a jest. I jest often about these matters,” Sir Eatsalot did not look the least bit amused as he bowed somewhat sarcastically to Nami.
“Next time you jest, skinny blue scum, pray jest to the mark of the Spydar upon my face. I imagine the souls of my ancestors, too, would enjoy your humor,” Nami snapped her pincers threateningly.
“Out of my sight, Sir Eatsalot,” Anom waved her Chief Vizier out of the bedroom. “I have important matters to discuss with my friend, Empress Nami.”
“Yes, yes of course, milady. As you wish,” Sir Eatsalot bowed sarcastically once more as he backed out of the room looking thoroughly and perpetually unamused.
“I think,” Nami spoke first, “and I say this with the utmost respect to you and your people, but I think your Chief Vizier is racist and might actually be evil.”
Anom nodded. “I know! Like, I know you and I are bad, but that guy is evil.”
“A decaweek from tomorrow!” Nami hissed as she lounged in the Weaving Room next to the loyal Spydar Rook Henry. “This torch complains to me about losing time to Ayidaas, and yet she would have us wait a decaweek before she faces us? I just want to get this over with already!”
“Mm…yes, Empressness, I agree,” Henry responded absently as he unsuccessfully attempted to simultaneously eat a fly-cracker from each of his six hands. The crackers crumbled on his stout belly as Nami watched with disgust out of the corners of her two right eyes. Her left eyes were focused on her time-kreeper.
(21:33) hii anom
(21:33) ixel wants to know when we’re gunna meet
(21:35) hellooo.
(21:40) OH YEAH! Sorry just saw this! Uh. Idk.
(21:41) When do you wanna do it?
(21:41) nice timing. tbh idc when or if we even do it but ixel just texted me a decaweek from tomorrow works for her
(21:43) i’m down if you are
(21:46) becuz i really dun care
“Ugh, how embarrassing! She always does this to me!” Nami shouted to Henry, who was now intent on using his feet to feed himself even more fly-crackers. “She never responds in a timely manner, and I told Ixel I would ask Anom when we were free. Not that I care when we do it, but now I am leaving this other person without a response, and that is unbecoming of someone of my stature!”
“Yes, naturally, your Highnempressty. You are right; everyone else is wrong,” Henry’s voice carried from under the table from where he was attemtping to locate a fallen fly-cracker.
“You know, Henry, I would truly appreciate it if you would hold your position in a higher regard. I once met a cat who had a lot more important things to say on the matter of war and peace than my own Spydar Rook. Does that not concern you? That a cat does your job better than you?”
“…I did not know we had cats in Arachnica, your majesticalitiness. Mayhaps if you—”
“Shh, Henry, she responded!”
(21:55) Umm…so here’s the thing.
“Great. Here it comes, Henry.”
(21:55) I promised Sir Eatsalot I’d be at his wife’s dinner party
(21:55) and I swear I really don’t want to go
(21:56) but I have to
(21:56) because he’s my chief visor
(21:56) vizer*
(21:56) viper*
(21:57) VIZIER
(21:57) anyway
(21:57) it’s a decaweek from tomorrow so I can’t smash the bar greaf then
(21:58) is that how you spell bar graeaph?
“GAHH! Oceanis have no sense of necessity!”
Henry toppled out of his chair in surprise. “What’s happening? Actually…never mind. Yes, your Travesty! No sense of necessity at all! I am following completely, and you need not fill me in at all! How impudent of them!”
(21:59) okay…so when can you do it then? bar graph* (i think?) is still waiting on an answer
“Honestly, that Queen Conch will be the death of me!” Nami shouted, wrenching a fly-cracker from Henry’s sleeve and, much to his dismay, crunching on it angrily. Nami continued speaking with her mouth full, spraying crumbs with every word, “’Ons’y ah rike da gull bu’ jee duh’n’ sheem ‘o ker.”
“I thought, milady, that you did not even care,” Henry eyed the half-eaten fly-cracker wistfully as he spoke to his Empress. “What does it matter if she, too, cares not?”
“’ekuhsh, ‘enry,” Nami’s outermost eyes rolled in their usual way at the Spydar Rook’s words as she swallowed, “because you cannot have two indifferent people in one room. It simply will not work!”
Henry did not point out the seemingly obvious contradiction about his own indifference and instead turned sadly to the last fly-cracker resting solitarily on his left shoulder.
(21:68) yoo. ixel-dawg. anom finally replied. she can’t do a decaweek from tomorrow. but she can do the day before?
(21:70) Seriously, guys? No. I have a thing that day. How about the day after a decaweek from tomorrow?
“THAT IS IT!” Nami screeched, her pincers champing dangerously. The Weaving Room was empty but for her; Henry had long since left to catch more fly-crackers. “Enough of these infernal messages.” She grabbed her time-kreeper and transported herself to Anom’s kreeper-location.
Days later, the legendary Ixel sat in a shadowy mountain cave awaiting her appointment with the wise and wistful Foreseer of Doom, the immortal Asheya. She sat and waited and sat some more. She lied on the cold cavern floor, absentmindedly checking her time-kreeper. The appointment was supposed to begin 40 decons ago, and she only got one kreeper message from Asheya saying, “Running late! Will be there soon!” Ixel groaned and flipped onto her stomach. Should she message Nami and Anom?
She slid forward and back on the ground, her fire-hair going out slightly. No. She should not.
Asheya was 50 decons late now.
Ixel yelled and threw her fire-axe across the cavern. It clinked to the ground, and its flames went out.
She grabbed her time-kreeper grumpily.
(21:30) Hey Nami! This is the legendary Ixel. Just out of curiousity, when were we going to have our great showdown?
(21:31) um. just out of “curiousity” how did you get my kreeper contact, bar graph? also idk yet why are you asking me??
(21:32) Ayidaas gave it to me. Look, we need to figure out a date, or we’ll just keep losing time to the Time Seeker!
(21:32) quit nagging. i’ll ask anom.
“That Spydar is insufferable!” Ixel shouted.
“Who is?” Ixel jumped at the sound of the Foreseer’s mystical voice. Asheya emerged from the shadows. She was clad in magnificent magenta robe and watched Ixel with small white eyes. Her long plaited violet hair trailed on the ground behind her as she crossed the cave and settled before Ixel, raising one purple eyebrow inquisitively.
“I…just…it’s nothing. Never you mind. It is my honor to sit here before you, great Foreseer.”
“Stop, child, you embarrass me. What is it you would like to know?”
“I, as my name declares, am the great Reuniter that your prophecy of old foretold. As my destiny demanded, I faced the terrifying Queen Conch and the menacing Arachnid Empress. My goal was to bring the two together and end the Eternal War, but I’m afraid I only succeeded in uniting the two against me! What is it that I must do to properly fulfill the prophecy, wise Foreseer?”
Asheya’s white eyes darkened till they were a stormy grey, and she glared at the fiery warrior. “Foolish child. The prophecy told not of a warrior to bring an end to the Eternal War. It spoke of a warrior to unite the warring nations. It was not a prophecy of hope as the masses have misconstrued it; it was a prophecy of doom and despair! You, my child, have already fulfilled the prophecy and have led the world to its end.”
“No! No, this cannot be! Foresee a way out if this, then!”
“I am the Foreseer of Doom, not the Foreseer of Wishful Thinking! I cannot solve your problems with my visions, child.”
“But I am the legendary hero of legend! I can fix this! I spent my whole life training; tell me what I must do!”
Asheya’s eyes faded to a soft blue as she stroked her purple hair rhythmically. She sighed forlornly, “All you can do, child, is hide and hope that the rest of Ookala does not discover that it was you who joined the two most powerful and evil beings in all the land.”
And with that, Asheya left the cave for another Fortune Appointment. Ixel screamed in fear and frustration just as her time-kreeper buzzed.
(21:39) anom’s not answering, fire-brains. what works for you?
Ixel shuddered slightly with the Foreseer’s words echoing in her head. She paced the cave debating whether she should heed Asheya’s warning and go into hiding or if she should face what she’s done and accept the consequences. Decons pass before she released a final yell, spazzed a little, and then replied to Nami’s message.
The hour of the Invasion dawned, and the two ferocious armies, led by the The Mark of the Spydar and the Ancient Conch, met at the border between Oceanistan and Arachnica. At the head of one stood the sparkling Queen Conch Anom, and at the head of the other, the dazzling Arachnid Empress Nami. Both beautiful and terrifying in their own rights, they faced one another, ready to carry on the tradition of centuries. Each leader harbored a deep-seated hatred for the other; it was in their blood to be enemies.
The fighting began just as it always had. Empress Nami commanded her loyal Spydar warriors while Queen Anom used her Baleful Bards to control her Oceani warriors. The melee continued until it seemed there was but one fighting entity; there was no line between Oceani and Spydar. That is, until a there was an eruption from the center of the brawling mass.
Spydar and Oceani fell back together, cowering in one another’s arms. A path was cleared, and in the middle of the great circle stood a fiery-headed warrior wielding a fire-axe. On her right stood an extremely muscular but dim-witted man. She unleashed another terrible display of her power before shouting “I AM THE GREAT AND LEGENDARY IXEL, REUNITER OF LEGEND! I AM HERE TO FULFILL THE UM...LEGEND AND REUNITE OCEANISTAN AND ARACHNICA!” She turned to her muscular friend and added quietly, “Did I say legend too many times? I did, didn’t I?” The dimwitted man nodded slightly then shook his head then nodded again, unsure of the correct answer.
There was a ripple in the crowd as the grey-faced Empress Nami pushed her way to the front, the mark on her forehead gleaming furiously. Her people cheered, waiting for her to decimate this strange yet terrifying new addition to the war. But instead, Nami spoke, “What? Ixel? That name is worthy of ridicule.” She almost laughed.
“Yeah! Ixel? Sounds like a primitive way to compile, analyze, and visualize data.” Heads craned to find the source of the disembodied voice. Queen Anom, too, revealed herself by pushing her way to the circle’s center, standing directly across from her nemesis, Nami.
Nami, despite herself, grinned widely, showing her silver pincers. She spoke, mocking Ixel’s gallant voice, “Hi, my name is Ixel, may I make a legendary bar graph for you?” Nami and Anom both cackled viciously.
“Ha! What, in Ookala’s mercy, is a bar graph?” Anom asked Nami, wiping tears from her eyes.
Nami shrugged. They both burst out laughing once more, embracing one another.
“Enough! I am here to bring an end to the devastation of Ookala, and—” Ixel was interrupted once more by the mirthful giggles of the Arachnid Empress and the Queen Conch.
“And she is waving that fire-axe around like it is going to do anything to us, the two most powerful beings in all of Ookala!”
“I can…I cannot breathe. And her friend! He looks like a giant, stupid oaf. I bet I could outwit him in a game of ‘Where’s the fly-cracker,’ and he would crumble!”
Their snorts and cackles were joined by their respective armies, and as the laughter filled the air, Ixel stood in the center miserably, lamenting her failure. But her muscular companion, Humphrey Dumphry, put a comforting hand on her shoulder and pointed to the two leaders who, to Ixel’s joy, seemed to have begun to properly communicate with one another.
“HA! Queen Anom, haha, can I—ha—can I ask you something?” Nami struggled to stifle her giggles as she spoke to the Queen Conch, her two right eyes closed as tears of mirth streamed down her face.
“Hehehe—Yeah, yeah sure—hehe—anything after the joy you just brought me,” Anom spoke as she rearranged her Conch; her laughter had pushed it precariously to the edge of her head again.
“Are Atlantic Spydars even real?”
“Atlantic who-what? What is this Atlantic hooblah of which you speak?”
“Atlantic Spydars? Underwater-dwelling spydar people? The very reason my ancestor, the great Froyo (may she eternally weave a web of peace), declared war on Oceanistan?”
“……………..”
“…………………………….”
“No? I have never heard of such a thing. What a ridiculous notion. Oceani Spydars? Not in my realm!”
“Then. Why. Are. We. Fighting. This. Wretched. War,” her eyes glinting furiously, Nami was not laughing anymore.
“I…because…I…well, I do not really know…” Anom stroked her shoulder scales pensively.
“Do you really think me to be one of the most powerful beings in all of Ookala?” Nami asked tentatively. Anom turned quickly, facing her, and Nami immediately regretted her question.
“Of course I do! You would not be my arch nemesis if we were not a perfect match!” Anom grinned, showing her glinting rows of teeth. Nami, too, smiled, revealing her own set of dental weaponry.
“YES! YES I DID IT! YOU SEE! I ENDED THE FIGHTING, HUMPHREY, I DID IT!”
The Queen Conch and the Arachnid Empress turned simultaneously, both glaring fiercely at the fire-haired warrior. Ixel, surprised, grabbed her fire-axe and readied herself for another battle. Humphrey, too, clenched his fists and flexed his muscles.
“You know,” came Nami’s bored voice. “I think I am rather tired of fighting Oceanistan. Perhaps we need a change of enmity. What think you, Queen Anom?”
Queen Anom yellow eyes glowed with malice. “Hmm…yes. Think of it, Empress Nami. You and I could combine our powers and flush out this puny fire-legend.”
“Sounds like a…hot idea,” the Time Seeker, Ayidaas appeared out of thin air, chortling at her own joke. She hovered slightly above the ground, spinning playfully. “But methinks you two should wait to fight another day. Why finish off the great Reuniter the same day you met her? No doubt the two of you could do it, but I think it would be a little more fun if we did it later. Yeah?”
Nami’s outermost eyes flitted over to Anom as her center two followed Ayidaas’s sporadic movements in the air. “Ayidaas, I know you are only saying this because you want us to waste more time than necessary, but alas I am lazy and more than willing to postpone. Queen Anom?”
“Sure. I agreed to go to a festival later today, and I have to show up. You understand.”
“Alright, then it’s agreed!” Ayidaas shoutted gleefully. “Fire-head and her ugly friend will have time to buff up, and Anom and Nami can nurture their newfound friendship! Lemme know when the next battle is! By the way, Nami dear, I love the outfit!” And with that, Ayidaas disappeared once more.
“I thought the outfit made my abdomen look enlarged,” Nami said absently to Anom.
Anom chuckled. “Honey, your abdomen always looks enlarged.”
In Oceanistan, Queen Anom stood in her turquoise chambers, admiring her scales in the reflective Looking Liquid. She repositioned the Conch on her head for what seemed like the thousandth time that day. “Ugh! Stop falling. You are making me look foolish,” Anom shouted into the Liquid. Somewhere in the room, her time-kreeper buzzed, but she did not seem to notice. Sir Eatsalot bust into the room, looking haughty and predictably unamused.
In Oceanistan, Queen Anom stood in her turquoise chambers, admiring her scales in the reflective Looking Liquid. She repositioned the Conch on her head for what seemed like the thousandth time that day. “Ugh! Stop falling. You are making me look foolish,” Anom shouted into the Liquid. Somewhere in the room, her time-kreeper buzzed, but she did not seem to notice. Sir Eatsalot bust into the room, looking haughty and predictably unamused.
“You could knock, Sir Eatsalot. I am the Queen Conch, and I deserve a modicum of privacy, do I not?” Anom’s face was pleasant, but her voice was threatening.
“Yes, milady. I only ask that you check your time-kreeper every so often, as the buzzing is driving us all crazy,” Sir Eatsalot snarled. “Furthermore, as today is the day of the Invasion, we will need to be in constant contact with you.”
“Hmm. Yes. Okay. You’re right,” the Queen Conch ceded this point. Still, as Sir Eatsalot whipped around and glided out of the room, Anom shuddered and questioned the very purpose of the Invasion. She was still a young Queen, perhaps around the same age as the Arachnid Empress Nami, but in all her years of scheming in the Marine Chamber, she had never once come across a plan to win. The attacks had all seemed to be for show. She could skip today, and nothing would change; tomorrow she would be back in the Marine Chamber scheming once more with the Royal Viziers.
Anom sighed and strode over to her time-kreeper. Three hundred messages from Sir Eatsalot, and two from the aggressively neutral Time Seeker, Ayidaas, wanting to know what she is wearing to the invasion. Knowing full-well that answering her message would result in a loss of her time, Anom replied anyway.
(55:75) I just saw this! Umm…I’m thinking turquoise scales and my conch?
(55:76) Lolz
(55:83) LOL hawt. K see u thur
Ayidaas probably also asked Empress Nami what she was wearing, too. Anom absentmindedly stroked her shoulder scales, debating whether she should ask Ayidaas if she knows Nami’s outfit plans. Anom shook her head and laughed; regardless of what that Nami wore, Anom would naturally look as beautiful, if not more so, than that nasty Spydar.
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