A year ago today my wife was diagnosed with breast cancer. 365 days later, she’s had chemotherapy, a lumpectomy, radiotherapy and is halfway through a second course of chemo. It’s been a tough and strange year, but we’re stronger and closer than we’ve ever been.
She continues to amaze me, and every day I think I couldn’t love her more - and every day I do.
Look after yourselves and each other, and don’t be afraid of getting things checked out. Better to know, better to look it in the eye, better to live the life you’ve got.
The dragon struck in winter, decimating the town. Charles and his friends could do naught but drive the brute off, though it left its mark. He buried them, weeping.
For years he chased the wyrm, cursed like a dog wherever he roamed. At times he was forced into such depravities he near forgot he was a knight.
“Turn back,” his friends’ voices growled in his mind. “Live, as we cannot.”
“It’s too late,” he whispered.
*
“Too late.”
The EMT plucked a needle from his stiff arm.
“Damn. What was his name?”
“ID says Charles Knight.”
Silence fell.
“Well. Bag him.”
————————
Written for the final round of the NYC Midnight 100 word Microfiction contest, 2021. I placed somewhere between 21-200 out of an original 6900+ entries, so pretty happy with that overall.
Hosts of the Wirrn Kate Stewart: I prioritized giving my people every chance to escape and now hundreds of civilians are dead
Breach of Trust Kate Stewart: I was willing to give up a mother and her child to be executed in order to save Earth and now I have to live with that knowledge
Open the Box Kate Stewart: These therapists are BAD they are doing BAD THINGS I am extremely suspicious of everyone getting in touch with their feelings for purely logical and scientific reasons and DEFINITELY NOT ANYTHING I HAVE BEEN GOING THROUGH LATELY
Scientists observed common Sydney octopuses launching shells and silt at particularly annoying individuals
Excerpt from this story from Smithsonian:
Scientists have discovered that female octopuses will “throw” objects at males when feeling harassed. When an annoying male enters the scene, a female octopus will gather projectiles like shells or silt using her tentacles before launching the debris with a siphon of water. Though researchers have witnessed octopuses use this throwing technique in den building, this is the first time it’s been documented as a targeted attack on another octopus, according to a new paper published on the pre-print server bioRxiv that has not yet been peer reviewed.
In 2015, biologist Peter Godfrey-Smith of the University of Sydney and his colleagues were studying a group of common Sydney octopuses of the Australian coast, in an octopus-rich area called Jervis Bay. The team observed the octopuses launch objects and sediment several body lengths away. Though scientists call the behavior “throwing,” the cephalopods usually situation an object in their tentacles and propel it with a jet of water.
Scientists already knew the clever cephalopods used this throwing behavior as a housekeeping technique to keep dens free of debris, but it appeared some octopuses were aiming detritus at others. The team returned to Jervis Bay the following year to collect more footage.
The recent paper confirms what Godfrey-Smith and his colleagues suspected: Octopuses can intentionally target other individuals with their projectiles. In one example captured in 2016, a female octopus threw silt at a male who was attempting to mate with her. She threw silt at him ten times, hitting him on five of those attempts. The male occasionally tried to dodge the sentiment but was only successful around half of the time, reports Samantha Berlin of Newsweek. Octopuses throw with particular vigor when targeting others and prefer to launch silt instead of shells.
“That sequence was one of the ones that convinced me [it was intentional],” says Godfrey-Smith to New Scientist’s Michael Le Page.
I went to close the coop earlier but the hens didn’t feel like going home just yet, so I told them they could forage for ten more minutes before bedtime. When I returned (expecting to find them huddled inside, say good night, and close the door) they were standing by the door, looking like they didn’t dare to go in. There was a bird in their coop. A non-chicken bird. It was flying chaotically the way trapped birds do, crashing into every wall, somehow unable to stumble through the wide open door. The hens were staring at it with total stupefaction. The three of us stood there watching the bird and feeling awkward before it occurred to me to open the trap door over the nesting boxes, and it finally managed to fly out through this larger opening. The hens immediately entered their coop, climbed the little ladder to get inside and started the delicate process of choosing which perch to settle on tonight—while clucking to each other nonstop. I bet they’re still talking about it. They saw a fellow bird choose to leave the safety of the coop and fly away into the forest right as the sun was setting. Just about the craziest thing a bird could do. I started walking home and I could still hear their clucks of disbelief inside the coop the whole time.
I was tagged by @batnbreakfast , @slightlyintimidating and @pers-books - thanks all!
Most of these are from the Berena Final Countdown organised and run by the ever magnificent @ktlsyrtis - I wrote each of these fics on the day of the relevant prompt and have barely looked at them since, apart from the ones that became multi chapters, and it’s been fun to revisit them - “Ooh, I’d forgotten this one!”
Rules: List the first lines of your last 20 stories (if you have less than 20, just list them all!). See if there are any patterns. Choose your favorite opening line. Then tag 10 authors! I think everyone’s done it by now, but if not, go for it!
Strong and Hot
“Phew, that’ll put hairs on your chest!”
Kith and Kin
“Don’t be angry with Cam - I made it very difficult for him not to give me your flight details.”
Lost and Found
The worst of it was that she didn’t dislike Nina Karnak - she rather admired her, actually.
Listen and Learn
“Cherepakhy plavayut u varenni.”
Lift and Separate
She had nearly bailed on this date before it started, and now, looking crossly at herself in the mirror of the cloakroom, she asked herself why she hadn’t.
Silver and Gold
They had been at a deadlock for several weeks by the time Jason intervened
Devices and Desires
“Oh my goodness.” Serena was slack jawed and wide eyed. “I thought I had quite the collection, but this...”
Bib and Tucker
For a woman who always looked so effortlessly gorgeous, Bernie really didn’t have the first clue about dressing herself.
Green and Yellow
“Mr Fletcher? Mr Fletcher!”
Life and Limb
When Bernie Wolfe returned to the UK, it was with a blaze of publicity, an incredulous military escort and a leg that she knew she would lose.
Miles and Miles
After all they had been through, the struggles they had overcome to be together, Serena was a widow.
Now and Again
Now and again, Serena runs into the new locum surgeon, Bernie Wolfe.
Now and Always
Serena frowned as she surveyed the damage before her.
Radiators and Corkscrews
Serena’s night in the slammer, while hardly spent in Dickensian squalor, had been decidedly uncomfortable, and she was beyond relieved to hear the words “no further charges” as the cell was unlocked in the morning.
To Sleep - Perchance to Dream
“It’s just for a while, Bern, just until you can get her into a routine.”
Sense and Sensitivity
Is it not strange, dear Friends, that a lady must conceal her ankle at any cost, but that all who wish may look upon her wrist, though they perform a similar task for the extremities of their respective limb?
Whose Cider You On?
It was the beginning of September, and the early harvest was safely gathered in, with only the squashes and pumpkins to ripen, and the onions and brassicas left in the ground to overwinter.
Thicker Than Water
Serena had expected the building to be more brightly lit, but it was definitely the right place.
And Two of a Kind Makes a Pair
“Whose idea was it to make it a Gangsters and Molls party? What on earth is festive about that?”
Over and Out
It is night time, May, 1942. The fire you can see down below is a city, ablaze after a heavy night’s bombing. It could be any city in Europe, for it is a continent at war.
Patterns? Well, I rarely write in present tense, and never in first person (I think I’ve done that once in something like 65 fics). A third of these start with speech that drops you straight into the story, but more of them are scene setting. Is there anything I’ve missed?
Favourite opening line: I like Strong and Hot, and also Over and Out - I cheated by giving you three sentences, but I like the way it hangs together.
Thanks for the tag, folks. I recommend going back and having a look at some of your old stuff - this was fun!
