#short narrative

[lolmanthecat]

Make a story that starts and ends with the same sentence.

The hunt is over. He leaves the woman in his bed. He dresses up and poures some coffee powder into the coffee machine to make himself a cup of coffee. Then takes out some biscuits to nibble.

He has been pursuing this woman for months now. She always postponed his advances. It took ages to be able to have her respond to him. To get her number. To get a date. To learn about her. To finally have sex with her.

He takes a new biscuit and reminisces how long it took him to make her notice him. How much he had to try again and again.

He gets up to pour himself a cup of coffee. He finally scored with her so now it was time to move on and find a new woman. They usually want a relationship and whatnot after so much work.

He takes a sip. New flavour of coffee. A good way to celebrate his achievement.

It could have happened a lot sooner if that time at the disco one of her friends wasn't sick and had to be driven home. He feels a swelling in his throat.

This new flavour might not be a good thing after all. He started searching for his EpiPen. Where was that damned thing. Not in the jacket, not in the suitcase, not in the cupboard. He swears that there was one in the medicine cupboard.

Too late now. His allergy was going worse and worse. He takes his cellphone to call the emergency line. Dead. This is a time where a landline would have been useful. He decides to run to ask help from a neighbour. He faints on his way to the door. *THUD* *yawn* she wakes up at the noise in the house. *rings* "hallo?" "so?" "The hunt is over."

[supercitycarnival]

Return

Evidently there was a Supercat week recently. I have no idea what the guidelines are, but I couldn’t help myself. Enjoy. 

:-)

The elevator seemed to be moving faster than normal. Each floor slipped by quickly as it made the ascent to Catco’s main lobby. Kara sighed to herself, in no hurry to get to work. Looking at her watch, she realized she’d waited until the last possible minute to arrive. The tardiness had been happening more and more the last couple weeks. Kara felt guilty for the seeming irresponsibility of it, but at the same time she didn’t care.

Where Catco used to be a place of solace and purpose, it had become tumultuous and directionless. There had been three CEOs in the last three years and the latest one had taken it so far from its foundation that Kara hardly recognized the global brand anymore. 

The elevator dinged its arrival and Kara took a deep breath in, preparing herself for the hostile environment that now waited on the other side of the sliding doors. However, as the door opened and Kara stepped out, she was met with a different kind of chaos than she expected. Catco employees were bustling around, chattering to each other enthusiastically. Brow furrowing, Kara caught sight of movers pulling boxes and furniture out of Andrea Rojas’s office. Dodging them, she made her way toward the office. 

The sound of Andrea’s angry voice rang out through the bullpen as she berated her assistant for touching something she shouldn’t have. Slowly approaching the door, Kara braced herself. She looked around to see the CEO’s office being emptied out. The movers were wheeling chairs out and taking the large conference table apart. Confused, Kara stood at the door. While hurriedly putting the contents of her desk into a box, Andrea looked up and saw the Pulitzer Prize winning reporter. 

“Well,” Andrea breathed out, with an irritated expression, “looks like you get what you wanted.” 

Not understanding, Kara simply asked, “What do you mean?” 

Standing with enough force that her chair rolled back and bumped the wall of screens behind it, she shot back, “I’m leaving.”

Kara’s lips parted and she had to force herself not to seem excited. She felt her heart rate increasing with relief. “What’s going on?”

Andrea turned her attention to her computer and leaned down, tapping quickly at the keyboard. Without looking at Kara, she stated, “Buyout clause.” She said the two words with disdain.  

Buyout clause, Kara thought. But who, and how? “I don’t understand, someone bought Catco out from under you?”

The movers were coming back in and Kara had to side step to get out of their rushed way. Slamming her laptop closed, Andrea walked around the desk and up to Kara. She was tall and Kara couldn’t help being slightly intimidated by the hard expression on the woman’s face. Crossing her arms, Andrea told her, “No, someone simply bought it back. The original sales contract had a clause stating the owner can buy Catco back at any time, no questions asked, no resistance.”

Kara’s mind raced. “So Lena’s coming back?”

Andrea rolled her eyes. Turning her back on Kara, she walked toward the desk again. “You won a Pulitzer. Try to keep up.”

Kara’s brow knit. So not Lena. “Then who?”

Sighing loudly, Andrea pinched her nose, annoyed. “The original contract,” she repeated as if Kara should easily comprehend.  

Just as Kara opened her mouth to continue with her questions, the assistant was back and scurrying up to the desk to receive more instructions. As Kara slowly walked out of the office, the last thing she caught was that the mysterious new owner wanted to take over by close of business today. 

Making her way through the bullpen, speculation flew over what was happening. Andrea had only been here a short time, Lena hadn’t been in charge that long and while she was, she wasn’t exactly present at Catco. When James took over, it was at the same time that he was being consumed with the Guardian, pulling his attention away from running the media giant as well. That only left one other person. 

Stopping in her tracks amidst the bustling employees, ringing phones, and tap, tap, tapping at keyboards, Kara’s breath caught in her lunges. It couldn’t be. Sucking in a breath, hope filled Kara’s heart for the first time in months. Could it be? She was frozen in place, unable to shake a familiar face from her mind until her phone loudly alerted her. Snatching it from her purse, Kara looked at the screen, disappointed when it was Alex, though she didn’t know why. Who did she expect it to be?

Answering the text, Kara made her way back to the elevator. Looks like work would have to wait after all. 

*********************

The night air swept through Kara’s hair. She heard the gentle flapping of her cape as she flew slowly over the city. The day had been spent chasing aliens all over town. They had eluded her and the DEO until not long ago. After twelve hours of flying, punching, and lasering, Kara was happy to glide through the humid Pacific air at a lazy pace. She took in deep breaths. These kinds of flights always settled her. 

Soon, she had made her way to the middle of the downtown skyscrapers and her favorite logo caught her eye. Eyes widening, Kara’s heart beat faster. She was drawn to the Catco building, the tallest and proudest building in downtown National City. Maybe she shouldn’t go. What if it was another let down? After all, what would bring the object of her hope back after all this time? 

Floating closer, Kara made her way around the building to where the CEO’s office balcony would be. The light was on inside. The anticipation had Kara craning her neck as she came closer. Then the office came into clear view. Someone was there. Kara’s eyes were playing tricks on her. Inside the office, a blond woman was pulling things out of a box and placing them on the desk. It looked like… but it couldn’t be. 

Suddenly the woman stopped her movements, as if sensing someone there. Kara watched, mesmerized, as a small, close-lipped smile formed on perfectly contoured lips. Taking languid steps, the person in the office came to the balcony door and slowly pushed it open. 

Kara had unknowingly drifted closer to the balcony wall, close enough to touch it. As the woman made her way to stand across the wall from Kara, Kara’s finger tips itched to reach out to her. Bright, emerald eyes met deep blue ones for the first time in ages. Memories flooded Kara’s mind as she reflected the small smile on her companion’s face. The name slipped from her lips involuntarily and reverently. It had been far too long since Kara had said the name and when she did say it, it was barely above a whisper. 

“Cat.”     

[thezodiacthinker-blog]

The Sanity to My Day

As my eyes close and my sense of the real world dulls, my reality in time stops. The music blaring in my eardrums; not yet causing hearing damage. With each step I take, my sense of what it all was, is, and will be loses me. I am no longer here or there. I am gone. Lost in the rhythm and beat. Lost in the sea of madness. Covered and comforted by the melodies; stringing a story for the Gods. I have descended into the deep pits of despair and ascended to the heights of redemption; losing my grip on the reality of which I call sanity. How I dare gain some slim bit of control of myself? How I dare reimagine myself as a warrior, fighter among those yet still lost.  Lost in the Stringy, gooey mess of life.

Today was a rough day. After almost failing a test, stumbling over new marching band drill, and being blindsided with reality, I have officially unofficially decided to take life by the reins and let them go. For one or maybe two hours. That’s all I need. One to two hours of complete and utter loss of reality. No connection to anyone, anything, or any current problem.

Once the music starts, my sanity falls. I am detached. Yet somehow I feel like I’m connected to everything. My senses are heightened. Filled with the musty air of the sun room in which I stride back and forth. Filled with the music pounding in my ears; creating the beat for which I tap to. Filled with the desperation and love pounded into each chord of the progression. Filled to the brim with the defeated lost cause of feeling weightless.  I can’t help but feel the words and notes course through my veins. Enter my mind and leave through my fingertips.

I may be no professional dancer. But at this point, that fact doesn’t matter. I need this. I need to feel something worth living for. This is my ecstasy. I’m addicted and I’m afraid I don’t want to stop. I don’t want to lose this feeling I get when the harmony hits and pattern of chords play. The feeling of being on cloud nine and being high off weed doesn’t compare to the emotional outburst and passion I grow to love in the musical number.  Swinging my arms, leaping into the air, and tapping my feet; I lose sight of the road made for me. In its place takes the scene of wonder, stories of the untold, and the desire to be free.

As I’m swinging my arms, tapping my feet, and moving to the rhythm a faint murmur of my name collides with my music. Another 2 seconds later and I know it’s for me once I hear the faint sound of my impatient mother once again. So I take out my headphones and look her way towards the dining room with a defeated look.

“ Yes, mom?”

“Dinner is ready.”

She gives a warm smile and leaves to plate the steaming food which just came from the still warm oven as we all sit to eat and talk about our day. There I sit eating a steaming plate of pasta, eagerly awaiting the next chance I can fly and depart from my sanity once more.

[writtenbygen]

Watching the traffic light turn from red to green and back again A seemingly clear night taunts her with surprisingly few stars How odd, she thinks, because there doesn’t seem to be a single cloud. Colorado seems like a dream, like it’s definitely been more than a year ago when she could say what she was really feeling But who am I kidding, she thinks, that never happened a year ago, that never happened once in this lifetime. She continues to dream of Colorado, of what could’ve been and what probably shouldn’t have been and what certainly wouldn’t have been as she imagined She recalls how she has hated him and she recalls how she has loved him but mostly she recalls how she has hated how much she loved him What if he hadn’t gone to Colorado? she wonders What if I had gone too? What if we lived in a world where we got our timing right just once? If we were ever single and in the same timezone for more than a day, would we have been more than just a goodbye kiss? She tells people constantly that things never would have worked out anyway Timing did nothing more than prevent a disaster from occurring Bad timing was a blessing, in fact But the more she insists upon this, the more she begins to wonder if this is really true Or if it’s just what she says so she can sleep at night without being haunted by thoughts of Colorado Of what could have been. She snaps back to reality To a dark evening and a flashing traffic light And the love of her life beside her She stares at him, at the personification of everything she has ever wanted “What’s wrong?” he asks His sunny aura basks in the green glow of the traffic light She bursts into tears The sea of could haves and what would haves if timing had been different are flooded to the surface and plastered across her face He can read me, she thinks, he knows I’m trying to push him away, he knows I’m trying to sabotage the best thing that ever happened to me because I’m dreaming of a world of what ifs in Colorado, where timing was different It feels like cheating, she thinks, to even think of the what ifs a world of could haves “I’m fine,” she says, wiping her tears, because the light turned red I will be fine, she thinks, this too shall pass–it always does I’m not in love with him anyway I’m in love with the what if and I’m in love with Colorado.

Excerpt from a book I’ll never write (Mar. 2017)

This is definitely the most terrifyingly personal, emotional, genuine, and honest thing I have ever written and having this put into words makes me feel incredibly exposed.

But kind of in a good way.

writtenbygen

[linuxgamenews]

The Dreams in the Peacock House Gameplay Experience

The Dreams in the Peacock House is a strange and stylish short narrative game coming to Linux via Windows with Mac. Developer Harlequin Diver keeps proving they know how to turn small ideas into strange, memorable adventures. Due to find its way onto Steam soon. Some games do not kick the door down. They whisper from the dark hallway and dare you to step inside. The Dreams in the Peacock House feels like that kind of strange little mystery where sight, memory, and escape all blur together inside one ruined old house.

Support plans

Harlequin Diver has announced that The Dreams in the Peacock House is coming in June. It is also coming to Linux through Windows with Proton, with Mac support planned too.

But I am planning to have a linux build in the upcoming weeks following the release, which will probably be through Steam Proton.

The Dreams in the Peacock House will not have native support on release day, which is June 10th. Still, players are not being left behind. Since a Linux build is coming in the weeks after launch, and it will likely arrive through Steam Proton. This title was built with Decker, a small engine inspired mainly by HyperCard. That choice shaped the whole feel of the project. Decker is simple, small, and limited in all the right ways. Those limits helped keep the gameplay close to the spirit of the titles from the 80s and 90s. The low resolution, limited color palette, and tiny file size all play into that mood. The full release is only around 10 MB, which feels almost unreal in 2026. But that is part of the charm. It is a small, strange, handmade thing that leans into its limits instead of fighting them. Not because it is huge. Not because it is trying to eat 100 hours of my life. But due to this being one of those tight, weird, personal PC releases that sticks in your head.

A short narrative with a haunted pulse

In The Dreams in the Peacock House, you play as Argus, a character who wakes from a long slumber after years of isolation. That alone already hits a nerve. You are not just exploring a creepy old building. You are waking up inside a place that feels like it has been waiting for you. The goal is simple on paper. Find mystic eyes hidden throughout the Peacock House. Help Argus regain his sight. Recover his lost dreams. Unlock the Sanctum Sanctorum. Then, maybe, finally escape the house for good. That is a strong setup. As someone who has played way too many PC releases late at night with headphones on, I like when a game makes a house feel like a character. The Peacock House sounds ruined, secretive, and probably full of things that do not want to explain themselves right away. That is my kind of mess.

It starts like a classic text adventure

Here is the great twist. The Dreams in the Peacock House begins with simple text adventure mechanics. So at first, you are reading, choosing, probing, and trying to understand the space through words. Then the gameplay starts changing. As Argus finds each mystic eye, new pieces of game style begin to appear. Point and click elements come in. Visual novel elements show up too. That is such a smart idea for a short narrative title, since the mechanics seem tied to the story itself. You are not just unlocking rooms. You are unlocking ways to see. That is the kind of design choice I get excited about. It makes progress feel personal. Every new eye could change not just what Argus knows, but how the player interacts with the world. For Linux players via Proton, this is also exactly the kind of smaller release that often feels right at home on a PC. Short, focused, strange, and built around mood instead of hardware flexing.

The Dreams in the Peacock House - Official Trailer?

The Peacock House sounds beautifully odd

The gameplay is expected to last around one to two hours. Honestly, I respect that. Not every title needs to become a second job. Sometimes I want a sharp little story I can play in one sitting, then sit there afterward staring at my desktop. The Dreams in the Peacock House seems built for that feeling. You explore the Peacock House, solve puzzles, and search for every mystic eye. Somewhere in there, you also dream about an old television show called The Chaotic Elegance of the Bugsoiesie. I do not know what kind of dream logic Harlequin Diver is cooking here, but I am listening. It sounds strange in the best possible way, and is not afraid to get surreal and a little funny while still keeping that mysterious atmosphere. And yes, there is also a duck in the gameplay. His name is Herbert. That matters.

A weird little Steam release worth watching

What grabs me most about The Dreams in the Peacock House is how confident the idea feels. It is not trying to be everything. It is a short narrative experience about isolation, hidden sight, old dreams, and escaping a ruined house full of secrets. That is a clean promise. For PC players who like experimental indies, classic adventure vibes, visual novel flavor, and games that feel handmade instead of market-tested, this one has a strong hook. For Linux players, the planned Proton path makes it even more interesting, especially if it runs well out of the gate. I like high frame rates, clean performance, and deep systems. But sometimes the game I remember most is the odd little one that sneaks in through a side door. The Dreams in the Peacock House launches on Steam in June 10th, 2026, with Linux support via Windows and Proton, plus Mac on the way.

[indyfilmlibrary]

The Impostor (2022) – 4 stars

Director: Will Priddis Writer: Will Priddis Cast: James Glyn, Holly Lucas Running time: 25mins The longer Indy Film Library runs for, the more of an insight we are given into the catalogues of our return filmmakers. Sometimes, we get to see which themes make them tick, what they might be trying to say, or to become. But sometimes, to quote Paul Weller, the more I see, the more I know, the…

The Impostor (2022) – 4 stars

[theweeklyblogger]

The Village

The villagers had lost a few goats and poultry to a mystery. There was a flurry of interest in the missing farm animals in the village as the mystery spread like wildfire. The village was rumored to be full of thieves, while other residents suggested a wild animal was running loose. Although several theories were put forth, the mystery of the disappearance has never been solved. It was a shocking sight for the whole village when the tiger appeared in the village and launched another attack on it. One night, one villager lost five goats, which forced them to find another income source. Many of the villagers feared the tiger would return, and looked into additional ways to protect their livestock in the future.

However, there have been no tiger sightings since that night, and the villagers have returned to their normal routines. Some speculate that the tiger was only passing through and is no longer in the area. Others believe that the tiger was killed by a hunter or another animal. Whatever the case may be, the village has returned to its peaceful state. But that hopeful thinking was soon turned back when more livestock disappeared. However, this time the people of the village knew it couldn't be the tiger. It had become apparent that the tiger was not the culprit, and that the village was facing another predator, one that was more familiar and more difficult to catch. This caused the people of the village great distress, as they were now dealing with a more complex problem than they had initially anticipated. The villagers had to come up with a plan to find and capture the mysterious creature that had been stealing their livestock.

They organized search parties and put up traps and snares, but the creature was always one step ahead of them. They were stumped and could not figure out who or what was causing their livestock to disappear. With each passing night, the villagers grew more and more fearful, unsure of what would happen next. Finally, they decided to organize a vigil and keep watch over their livestock in shifts, hoping that they could catch a glimpse of the creature and put an end to their troubles. However after someone stayed up to watch, they all claimed the same thing happened. They would say that they had fallen asleep, or that they didn't see anything or anyone during the attacks.

Growing tired of the nonsense of the situation, local hunters decided they would scavenge the surrounding nature to find the culprit of the disappearances. After setting traps and exploring the woods, they eventually discovered an old, abandoned cabin deep in the forest. Upon searching the cabin, they found evidence that a large animal had been living there and was likely responsible for the disappearances. After piecing together all the clues, the hunters concluded that the animal in the cabin had to be a large, predatory creature.

With this realization, they realized they had to take action to protect the local community from any further danger. The hunters created a plan to monitor the area around the cabin and set up motion-sensing cameras to detect the creature's movements, while some of the other hunters went back to warn the village of their findings and what they planned to do. The village was ecstatic to know that their livestock would be safe and that they wouldn't have to fear the night soon. They spent the next several days and nights in vigil, watching the cameras for any sign of the creature. They had no idea what they were looking for but were determined to protect the village.

They were relieved when the cameras finally detected the creature, and they were able to track its movements and keep it away from the village, or at least that was the plan. When the hunters who had left to go tell the village their findings returned, the other hunters had disappeared, along with all of their equipment. Assuming they had stumbled upon another abandoned cabin, they checked inside. When checking inside, they realized it was the same cabin, and that something had to have happened, they searched for any signs of life, from their friends to the mysterious creature they had tracked. After searching for a couple of days, they decided to call it quits, and head back home.

Once home and telling the village of what happened, they were stared at in confusion by all they asked. Telling them that their livestock never went missing, they had passed due to an infection spreading between their animals, and how they hoped it wouldn't happen again. Some told the surviving hunters that the livestock was butchered too and that they never mysteriously disappeared. Growing tired of being told similar stories regarding the livestock, they mentioned the missing hunters. The people of the village said they had 'no clue who those people are', and that 'they certainly never lived here before'. Tired and confused, the remaining hunters decided it was best to keep what happened during the whole ordeal a hushed memory between themselves. No one seemed to know the whereabouts of the hunters, and the villagers made it clear they had never heard of them before. This provided little comfort to the hunters, and they decided it was best not to speak of the incident any further.

[klaired]

somebody

Since long ago I've already made peace with the fact that I will die someday-maybe due to an accident or an illness I'll acquire thru time-and I'm okay with it. It's already a given. We get to live in this world with the limited time we have. Some were given a long one, some are brief. No one knows how long life will be, but since little, we were taught to spend it wisely. Those born with a silver spoon on their mouth got to live more leisurely, while the rest had to take a 9 to 5 job. I always thought that I should just live my life the way I want because it doesn't really matter. I'm somebody's passerby; that classmate who always had extra pens, the girl they used to serve coffee for, or the one they used to cut their hair short. I was convinced that I'll just be somebody to everyone else, as to why the thought of dying never scared me. Until now. I didn't realize that I could be someone important to a person until I saw his tears. Until I heard his sobs next to me. Until He breakdown crying after the doctor told us I did have not much time to live. I never realized my worth till he started reassuring me, "It will be okay, there's a miracle" almost inaudible in between desperate sobs. More to comfort himself than me. I'm always ready to die until he started holding my hand tightly every day. Just to feel my warmth, because we both know, it could turn cold sooner. I guess you'll be okay leaving this world until you find someone worth living it with. I did, but I'm dying soon. If I told this to myself years ago, I would have been glad to know I'll finally perish, but right now, I'm scared. I'm so scared, cuz I finally realized, I am not just somebody. I'm not just a passerby. I am me and I've managed to touch people's lives in the little things I do and I have failed to see that. I wish I did, and I wish I could do more, but I guess it was too late. I won't live more, but now I have to say goodbye.