Daily writing prompts from June 9th, 2008 to December 31st, 2022
Monday August 5th, 2019
The exercise: Write about: the itch. I awoke this morning to find that the ow of the wasp sting had been replaced by the itchiness of the wasp sting. Hurray?
Itchiness is probably better than pain: you can just rub some soothing cream on the itch to calm it down. And there probably aren't little wasp eggs in there, hatching away so that wasp larvae can eat your flesh :)
The itch "Does she have a name?" Pestilence was stroking the hell-dog who was deigning to allow this while she surveyed the church. Scuffles was sitting in a gorillawood pew and scratching himself just about everywhere. "War calls her Brunnhilde," said Scuffles. "I suggested Edith, but he didn't like that very much." He twisted, trying to scratch the middle of his back. "Brunnhilde," said Pestilence, rolling the words around his mouth. Somehow they came out sounding greasy and tainted. "Too long. I shall call you Hilda." He lowered his head to gaze into the hell-dog's eyes and she licked the tip of his nose. "Is she going to catch anything?" Scuffles was scratching both sides of his waist now. "Only, well, you're Pestilence and I don't think War would be very happy if she got ill." "No," said Pestilence. "How long have you been doing this, anyway? You should know about the Law of Restriction. And why do you keep scratching? You remind me of the time I gave some Judean shepherds mange. Me and Famine were drinking wine out at Be'er Sheva and they were... well, in our line of sight I suppose. Famine gave them cravings for lobster; it was hilarious seeing them surrounded by all that delicious lamb and wishing they were in a seafood restaurant." "I'm itchy," said Scuffles. "I get like this whenever there's unresolved tension nearby. Hah, the shepherds sound like fun though. Whenever War takes me somewhere I barely have a chance to do anything before it escalates and he's grinning through a fountain of someone's blood, or piling skulls up so he's got somewhere to sit." Pestilence nodded. "Right," he said. "And the Law of Restriction?" Scuffles stood up and bent over so he could scratch both his ankles. "War's talked a bit about the Laws," he said. "They're different from the Accords, right? There's the Law of Similarity and the Law of Contagion and the Law of Attraction, I know those three." "There's about fifty-five Laws," said Pestilence. "They set the boundaries for what we can and cannot do. The only one who gets to ignore them is the Boss, but he's governed by the Accords." He stared off into the distance for a moment. "Actually, he's not the only one who follows the Accords and not the Laws," he said. "But... let's teach you the Laws first. Everything that comes after -- well, we've got practically forever." Scuffles straightened up, and suddenly relaxed. "Oh, that's nice," he said. "The tension just went." Pestilence cocked his head to the side, and seemed to be listening for something. "Famine and War just departed," he said. "Hah, well yes, there's tension there alright." He saw Scuffles look confused. "It's simple, Scuff," he said. "I can call you Scuff, right? War tends to destroy crops and brings on Famine. And Famine causes people to go looking for food and invokes War. They form a vicious circle when they're together, and War's pretty vicious at the best of the times. Fam's.... well, Fam's just Fam. Not fam. If I've got that right, and I might not have. QTNA as he'd say." "What?" "Exactly."
I am pleased to have been properly introduced to Hilda. And I am enjoying the interplay between Scuffles and Pest here. And I feel like I'm learning the rules of the place a bit as well, so that's a nice bonus!
2 comments:
Itchiness is probably better than pain: you can just rub some soothing cream on the itch to calm it down. And there probably aren't little wasp eggs in there, hatching away so that wasp larvae can eat your flesh :)
The itch
"Does she have a name?" Pestilence was stroking the hell-dog who was deigning to allow this while she surveyed the church. Scuffles was sitting in a gorillawood pew and scratching himself just about everywhere.
"War calls her Brunnhilde," said Scuffles. "I suggested Edith, but he didn't like that very much." He twisted, trying to scratch the middle of his back.
"Brunnhilde," said Pestilence, rolling the words around his mouth. Somehow they came out sounding greasy and tainted. "Too long. I shall call you Hilda." He lowered his head to gaze into the hell-dog's eyes and she licked the tip of his nose.
"Is she going to catch anything?" Scuffles was scratching both sides of his waist now. "Only, well, you're Pestilence and I don't think War would be very happy if she got ill."
"No," said Pestilence. "How long have you been doing this, anyway? You should know about the Law of Restriction. And why do you keep scratching? You remind me of the time I gave some Judean shepherds mange. Me and Famine were drinking wine out at Be'er Sheva and they were... well, in our line of sight I suppose. Famine gave them cravings for lobster; it was hilarious seeing them surrounded by all that delicious lamb and wishing they were in a seafood restaurant."
"I'm itchy," said Scuffles. "I get like this whenever there's unresolved tension nearby. Hah, the shepherds sound like fun though. Whenever War takes me somewhere I barely have a chance to do anything before it escalates and he's grinning through a fountain of someone's blood, or piling skulls up so he's got somewhere to sit."
Pestilence nodded. "Right," he said. "And the Law of Restriction?"
Scuffles stood up and bent over so he could scratch both his ankles. "War's talked a bit about the Laws," he said. "They're different from the Accords, right? There's the Law of Similarity and the Law of Contagion and the Law of Attraction, I know those three."
"There's about fifty-five Laws," said Pestilence. "They set the boundaries for what we can and cannot do. The only one who gets to ignore them is the Boss, but he's governed by the Accords." He stared off into the distance for a moment. "Actually, he's not the only one who follows the Accords and not the Laws," he said. "But... let's teach you the Laws first. Everything that comes after -- well, we've got practically forever."
Scuffles straightened up, and suddenly relaxed. "Oh, that's nice," he said. "The tension just went."
Pestilence cocked his head to the side, and seemed to be listening for something. "Famine and War just departed," he said. "Hah, well yes, there's tension there alright." He saw Scuffles look confused. "It's simple, Scuff," he said. "I can call you Scuff, right? War tends to destroy crops and brings on Famine. And Famine causes people to go looking for food and invokes War. They form a vicious circle when they're together, and War's pretty vicious at the best of the times. Fam's.... well, Fam's just Fam. Not fam. If I've got that right, and I might not have. QTNA as he'd say."
"What?"
"Exactly."
Greg - you are so encouraging.
I am pleased to have been properly introduced to Hilda. And I am enjoying the interplay between Scuffles and Pest here. And I feel like I'm learning the rules of the place a bit as well, so that's a nice bonus!
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