Category Archives: Stink Bug

Stink Bug – Chapter 10

It started with a sneeze that startled me from my slumber. There was a tickle in my throat and I coughed. The tickle wouldn’t go away, and the cough grew in intensity. I sneezed again. My eyes burned. I sat up and looked about. All around me was darkness. A stiff blanket of feathers slid off my body. Another sneeze.Continue reading “Stink Bug – Chapter 10”

Stink Bug – Chapter 9

The entertainment went on like this for nearly an hour. Sometimes only one Vrr’ak’l would be performing, sometimes as many as ten were leaping and flipping in the air in a mad flutter of feathers and claws. It was probably one of the most amazing things I had ever seen.

I found myself nuzzling into K’eel’s feathers as the evening’s chill set in. She was clucking softly, and grooming W’oo’woo who was snuggled in on her other side. I shuddered from the cold, drawing K’eel’s attention.Continue reading “Stink Bug – Chapter 9”

Stink Bug – Chapter 7

I walked a few paces behind K’eel. He – she – kept looking back at me, fluttering her wings with each hop. The sounds of squawking and clucking floated toward me, growing louder with each step. The light of day diminished into deep shadows as the cacophony took over.

A dark wall of bushes loomed in front of us and K’eel paused. The chatter was just beyond in the blackness, ringing in my ears. K’eel spread her wings and trilled. The forest was suddenly silent.Continue reading “Stink Bug – Chapter 7”

Stink Bug – Chapter 6

The sun was low on the horizon and the shadows very long when we reached the stand of trees. It was dark in there, all shadows and flashes from the few remaining streams of light able to penetrate the thick canopy of trees. The canopy was abrupt, changing from a nearly unobstructed view of the darkening skies to a solid roof of leaves within a few feet. The edge of the canopy was almost perfectly straight. It bothered me.Continue reading “Stink Bug – Chapter 6”

Mephitic

I’m part of a Facebook group associated with National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo). The group is all the WriMos from the Rochester, New York region. NaNoWriMo is a November thing, but writers write year-round. For fun, we’ll occasionally challenge each other with writing prompts.

This prompt was to write something involving TPS reports. You know, those hideous things from the movie Office Space. We later discussed the wonderful word “Mephitic.” In the end, I decided that I needed to write a scene involving the words “mephitic” and “malarkey,” TPS reports, and an unexpected visit from Mephitis mephitis. Let’s see if it can be done.Continue reading “Mephitic”

Stink Bug – Chapter 5

I stared closely at the white cliff wall as I climbed down. It was crystalline and beautiful, like snowflakes compressed together. As I moved downward, different crystal surfaces lit up and twinkled in the sunlight. The cave entrance had all but disappeared from this perspective. I wondered if I could find it again. Panic gripped me. What if I couldn’t find it again? Would I be trapped here forever?Continue reading “Stink Bug – Chapter 5”