Putting Dreams to Paper
These are first lines, or story starter ideas, that never went anywhere. I may use them later, but most likely I won’t (most have been sitting in the ‘ideas bin’ for over two years now!)
1. “Hark! What light through yonder window breaks?”
“Tossing a lamp through a window is not Shakespeare”
“Artistic License!”
“No, that’s more like Artistic Misdemeanor.”
2. The quad was quieter than she expected. Even with the oppressive herd of students gone for the summer, the teachers kept their same quiet rounds like clockwork soldiers. Continue reading
1. “Most of the time when people say can’t, they mean won’t.” She gave him a measured glare.
2. The giant hare rousted itself from its nest with a chuckling grunt, stretching like a cat and showing off incisors the length of Yuem’s forearm. Wiam had met hares before, but never so close and never without his brother’s protection. Continue reading
1. Behind the trembling twig-like fingers hid a face unlike any she’d seen before.
2. Normally shelter came first, then fire, then food—but they’d settled for two out of three for one too many days and even the strongest of them was starting to fade. She’d get in trouble for using her magic, but meat was more important than acceptance. Continue reading
1. Dehydration is a horrible way to die, but teetering on the edge of dying of thirst is a worse way to live.
2. There are no horizons here, at least not the kind he’s used to. No trees, no mountains, not even the hint of a building to mar the uninterrupted line between the grass and the sky.
It’s decidedly unnerving. Continue reading
1. Spaceships were giant sterile things, even crammed to the gills with refugees—hard vacuum solves a host of ills and even bedbugs need to breathe.
2. He was a man by night and a cat by day, when all common sense pointed to the curse having the opposite effect. Continue reading
1. Morning comes much too quickly for comfort, the skies tumbling from deep purple to a clear bright blue as the twin-suns burn the cloud cover away.
2. Just because they knew the risk doesn’t make failure any easier to bear and We’re sorry for your loss echoes hollowly along the empty corridors behind her. They’ll be sorry the next time too, and the next, for as many empty condolences as it takes until she reaches their goal. Continue reading
1. Dancing has always been the best way to raise the dead, but most cemeteries frown on raves.
2. ‘Because’ was never an honest answer, but Virginia quickly found that most people resented anyone pointing out their oversights. Thankfully those few that didn’t mind were often more than happy to continue the conversation, even if they gave her odd looks when they thought she wasn’t looking. Continue reading
1. Fake gold nuggets aren’t as easy to make as she thought and her first few attempts attract too much attention. She learns from those mistakes and recalibrates the fabricator to produce less valuable, but less alarming currency.
2. Night falls abruptly as they take the first few steps down the path into the valley. The edge of the cliffs slice across the sunset in a sharp black line pitching the lead riders into darkness. Continue reading
1. “‘Never bind a demon you can’t kill alone’,” his missing eye burnt red against in the darkness as he recited the Second Rule, “you forget such simple things, my master.”
2. The temperature swings are nearly unbearable, the heat during the day traps them in hastily built dens and the cold at night cuts to the bone. If they can’t find the tunnel entrance tomorrow there’s a chance none of them will make it back. Continue reading
1. What-if’s are never binary choices, life is more than ones and zeroes after all, so parallel universes are spawned every second of everyday in an infinite multitude. And if you step through one into its neighbor, the chance you’d notice was very very slim.
2. In the lean years Illsya’s Children live off The People, scavenging their kills and campsites– and The People learn not to look too deeply into the shadows. Continue reading
1. He couldn’t blame them for thinking the cliffs were the end of the world, those brave enough to look over the edge saw only smooth glassy rock and clouds.
2. The worst part was it looked like a normal tree. Sitting alone on the grassland’s horizon there was nothing to measure it against and it looked to be no more than an hour away. It was only after a week on the trail, when it hadn’t changed at all, that his mind started to grasp its immensity. Continue reading
1. Yin is all that stands between them and the light and already his form is fading at the edges. “RUN!”
2. Winter on the sands is bitterly cold and the air’s too dry for clouds, much less snow. Still, if he squints with the sun at just the right angle, the dunes almost look like home. Continue reading
1. “You know what we face tomorrow, and why.” She looked out across the assembled faces of those that had stayed behind. “So tonight– tonight we’ll feast to all the things we’ll be dying for.” She raised her glass, “Death to the light!”
2. Slaying a dragon isn’t enough– anyone can manage it with enough time and planning, no it’s not a story until you slay a dragon unarmed, wounded, and with the fate of the world on the line. Continue reading
1. Once Upon a Time goes forwards as well as back, some fairy tales just haven’t happened yet…
2. The South’s only trees are tiny stunted things carefully tended by royalty and nurtured through the sicknesses that strangles less pampered groves. They’ve build their cities of brick and bones– nothing here is made of wood, save the emperor’s throne.
When the first explorers from the North emerge from the deserts are quickly slaughtered for their wagons. Continue reading
1. He hasn’t gotten used to the loss of his wings, so many habits are still ingrained beyond conscious thought, but pain’s a swift teacher and he’s learning not to jump.
2. They’ve dressed for the weather, but the storm is still unnerving. Rain comes down as fine mist, blown into kaleidoscopic eddies by the winds and casting rainbows everywhere they look.
3. “If I wanted your opinion, I would have given it to you,” she snapped.
“I’m a learning AI,” the computer objected, “you can’t help but give them to me.” It paused. “And it’s still a stupid idea.”
4. Soft whispers of sound are all she leaves behind, even in the still of the evening mists. It’s the third night, the last chance for them to break spells, and she has won her freedom– almost.
A figure stands beside her boat, blocking the way.
“Seriously Mom? WTF?”
5. Getting dressed used to be easy, but the new holographic avatars have an infinite wardrobe to choose from… one that’s constantly updated. She flipped through the Recent Uploads from her favorite designers and muttered unkind things about the inventor of virtual soirees.
1. She’s more of a dog than a wolf, rough edges worn smooth by the press of the world, but when it comes to a fight she’s just as able as Theo or Jack. There are some things you never unlearn.
2. They’re tiny meteors, burnt up long before they ever reach the ground, but he shivers as he watches the sky burn.
3. ‘And then what?’ was how every tall tale ended, passed down from generation to generation until the point of the game was forgotten and only the stories remained.
4. “When did ‘ordinary people’ become an insult?” He objected, “Magic’s all fine and good, but most of us have gotten along just fine– will continue to get along just fine without it. We appreciate your help, we do, but don’t for one minute think we depend upon it.”
5. Aliens always have something in common, they dance, they sing, they do math in ragged claw marks gouged out along the cliffs, a shared point of reference to build a friendship on… she just has to find out what that something is
1. Months go by, then years, and at some point they give up hope– or stop needed hope, she isn’t sure which. By the time they’re found the city doesn’t need rescuing.
2. Thrift is a skill rarely learned in lush times, but William was lazy and unwilling to keep up with the Joneses.
3. “I’m not a puzzle,” she snapped, “and I’m not broken. Stop trying to fix my life to make it match your expectations.”
4. Humans are best at ambush hunting, laying tricks and traps and herding their prey into the nets. Which meant it was up to the Khriss and the Holst to keep them fed while on the trail– the Quan were good for many things, but hunting wasn’t one of them.
5. “The good ones all go crazy, that’s how you know they’ve finally understood.” He looked out across the waves as if he’d said something profound.
“He’s not much good like this.” She pointed out.
“Well, you have to wait for them to get better.” He squinted. “But he’ll come around, most of them do.”
1. “Before you leave,” he asked, dismissing them before they had time to object, “would you mind turning out the lights?”
2. Even the best of them can’t do more than blink while piloting, laid back in military couches designed to cradle them for hours. Tess is an aberration, a fluke, and carries out aerial battles over lunch and casual conversation.
3. Children only go bad when you aren’t watching, her mother said time and time again– so when her own children were born she carpeted the house with eyes and they grew up good, but terrified.
4. Artists cannot exist without patrons and there’s an frantic war for attention each time the spring subsidies roll around.
5. She doesn’t need the scanner to know they’re gone; the flames are too high, too bright, and the shadows have long since stopped moving.
1. Someone is dying, but he can’t tell who– they’ve woven themselves together so tightly in the overmind that they’ve lost track.
2. There are more important things, and less important things, but it’s a small brown kitten with eyes the color of snow that catches his attention.
3. Life has never been linear, it’s a chaotic mix of past and present and future jumbled together to create a sense of ‘now’ that only lasts a heartbeat.
4. Could-have-beens taste like sand and he aches for something to drink as she drags him across a desert of regret.
5. “‘Why’ is never a good question,” the dragon said. “You’ll never get the answer you want to hear.”
1. The night is unnaturally still and silent and he wonders if the forest can tell the king is about to die.
2. Immortals lose track of the their humanity as the years roll by, falling out of step as the world thunders ever forward. They change, but they change so slowly that no one notices– reduced to static snapshots of their pasts.
3. The stained glass casts faint shadows within the chapel, great golden wings that fan out across the stones in stylized defiance of bad omens. An irony that’s lost on all but four of the assembled…
4. Just as the computer finally boots, the video card dies with a snap and tiny puff of blue smoke, victim of a wet dog nose and static. Bella licks her nose and gives me a mournfully accusing glare, as only basset hounds are built to do.
Mouse-smell, She says, leaning forward as I try to push her away to and salvage my poor desktop.
5. When magic was shaped by will alone, it was lack of imagination that killed off wizards.
1. There was no magic now, but– Archeologists theorized it from ancient architecture and ruined cities, but paleontologists confirmed it: Man can build pyramids, but they can’t make whales fly.
2. Being immortal is only fun for the first two lifetimes.
3. The best kind of stories are the ones with happy endings, where everything’s resolved and everyone’s future is bright– because life is never like that. In the real world you end up with people who are just happy to get back to their old ruts and villains whose story doesn’t end with jail.
4. Only three heartbeats mark the line between falling and flying, but she holds her breath each time waiting for the winds to catch.
5. At the appointed hour those who had chosen, or had been chosen, vanished from the earth. If it could have, Ship would have brought them all onboard awake, but assimilation into her crew was a slow process so most went into hibernation. A few came through alert, to confirm to their respective populations that she’d kept her word. Then, after one last farewell, she moved out of orbit—leaving the Earth and its Advisors to defend themselves.
1. A lamp hangs off-kilter on the tavern’s post, the glass stained white and green and its fire elemental singing the menu into the night.
2. People love you best when you lie to them, it’s truth in marketing or marketing in truth—either way all they want to hear is that you’ll solve all their problems for $19.95, even if you’re solving problems they didn’t know they had.
3. Somewhere, if you go far enough and fast enough, you’ll find a planet on the edge of space whose sky only has stars on one side…
4. Twins are rarely both born alive; the stronger cubs consume their shadow selves and emerge complete or not at all.
5. In the end, it’s everyday magic that’s more powerful: the sparks that light the fires, the barriers against the rain. By luck or by wits the First Child made the right choice, eons ago, when the peace between men and gods was written into stone.
1. There are no windows on spaceships, not even the landing craft. They are far too complex for humans to fly and the AIs have found that windows just encourage them to try.
2. Before he could stop her she stepped off the ledge, arms spread wide and laughing. He watched her fall, her manic confidence crumbling to fear when he didn’t follow.
3. They’ve drawn lines in the sands for generations– this time they build them out of stone.
4. “It was supposed to be a surprise.” She was grumpy in the way all pre-teens react when the universe doesn’t quite bend to their whims.
He smiled and didn’t ruffle her hair, “When you’ve lived here long enough you can tell by the pitch of the winds when someone’s coming through the canyons.”
5. Soil is rare in the Midnight Mountains, the hills and cliffs are a jumble of night black obsidian and smokey quartz.
1. Cartoons had it all backwards: half of the battle was not knowing, because once you knew you certainly weren’t going to keep fighting!
2. “There are no sunrises here, no sunsets,” she looked up from the luggage and gave him a measuring look. “You don’t notice it at first, but it’s an annoying itch that chews at the back of your lizard-brain—you’ll know something’s wrong, but you won’t know what. Makes everyone a little nuts after a while.”
“But you just told me what’s wrong,” he pointed out.
“What makes you think that’ll make a difference?”
3. Cavalry was never quiet, even when you mounted it on cats.
4. Work was work and after the excitement wore off, they were pushing the same paper across the same desks—they were just doing it on another planet.
5. “Almost time to leave.” He watched the clock with the same slow pessimism he’d applied to everything else, and she was a heartbeat away from reducing things to a three-way split.
1. There were ghosts in the caves, shadows of creatures who had wandered the long-dead sea.
2. Weather was such a wonderful thing. Rain turned the roads to mud, snow hid gopher holes, ice sliced pawpads to ribbons, even sunny days turned rough stone into a hotfoot race. No matter what happened, they just couldn’t win.
3. The first thing every colony made was alcohol, a grand tradition dating back to when ships crossed seas instead of vacuum.
4. “I don’t suppose you could be a tad quieter? Some of us are trying to kill things before they hear us coming.”
5. There is no antidote to human curiosity, save death. It’s one of the few things I like about my new coworkers.
1. Life is seldom prone to tipping points, where you can say ‘yes, this spot here, this was when it all went wrong.’
2. “Very nice, now next time if you could manage to just destroy the building we were aiming at, that would be peachy.”
3. She’d quickly discovered that ‘Under the Mountain’ was a very bad place to hide, since almost all storytellers everywhere (and everywhen) made reference to it at least once.
4. If gas giants are water planets, then the Earth is a shallow pond indeed.
5. “Give me the crown.” He paused in front of the throne where the child-king wept, head in his hands.
“I can’t, I tried, I really did.” He looked up, face and hands streaked with dust and tears and blood, beseaching, “It won’t come off, they won’t let me go. I tried, please– I don’t want to die.”
1. The amulet was simple wood, inlaid with river stones no larger than seeds. She held it up to the light and watched the memory of water ripple over their surfaces.
2. Mists rose around the berobed figure as she moved her hands over the face of the water. “Whatever will be,” there was a dramatic pause, “will be–”
“The future’s not ours to see,” Nancy intoned back, in a somber sing-song. “Que sera, sera.”
The Oracle glared, the courtiers gasped, and the newly-crowned Queen of Altevia sighed at her best friend. “Please don’t sing at the Oracle.”
“She started it.”
3. No one underestimated the Sslin, they just failed to estimate just how much damaged we’d do to ourselves.
4. Built by the People of Long Ago, the dolphins were never quite sure what to make of Atlantis.
5. Regret is more powerful than forgiveness.
1. They’re quickly approaching zero, but any probability, no matter how small, is still a chance.
2. Kindness was the most insidious of weapons and he wielded it with the grace of long practice. He made sure they owed him, each and every one, but they were such small favors that no one realizes how far his web had grown.
3. Appearances were everything when it came to making and keeping clients. No one cared how good you were if you didn’t match up to their visual expectations.
4. Archers were few and far between, wood was too precious to waste on arrows. Rocks, on the other hand, were plentiful and the army had no few slingers whose aim made kestrels weep with envy.
5. She could read auras, not as well as her mother or her sisters, but well enough to tell their latest customer was not their average clientele.
