The exercise:
For the first time since we moved to Penticton, we got a babysitter for the boys this afternoon so that Kat and I could go for a hike together. Before we left Miles asked me to take pictures of everything we saw, so that he wouldn't miss out I suppose, so I ended up with a lot of pictures.
Which got me to thinking that it's been a bit since I last used the picture prompt. So... today, the below shot from our hike is your prompt:
Write something inspired by it, or that takes place there - up to you.
2 comments:
That's a beautiful picture, and you've got the compositional balance just right. The trees draw the eyes in to the valley ahead very nicely, and the clouds hang over looking like you could get up there and sit on them. Great work!
I hope you enjoyed the hike and the time without the kids as well :)
Picture prompt
"We will do battle," said Earl Leofric, waving languidly with a gauntleted hand, "down there."
Everyone in his party, all mounted on horses save for the mages who were mounted on an ill-tempered unicorn, a bile-coloured manticore and a sparking chimera respectively, looked ahead hoping they could figure out what he meant.
In front of them the land was dotted with trees and off to the left was a slightly-higher ridge with better tree cover. Further ahead the land declined to the right onto what might be flattish ground, with two more ridges coming in directly ahead and slightly left of that as though three fingers were reaching out.
"It's not like we really get to choose," said Viscount Itterly, a squat man with a sparse beard, a red-veined broken nose and breath like a brewery in need of cleaning. "If Earl Munno's forces reach us first then we may have to fight closer to the castle."
"The men are half-a-day behind us," said the Earl. "I thought of that."
"That ground is not very flat," mused the Viscount's son, Jolin, who hadn't yet earned a title. "It will be hard to fight well there. We might be better with guerilla tactics--"
"No."
"No, your Earliness?" Jolin, who face was creased with no fewer than five scars from duelling and looked like a washcloth left to dry in a heap, frowned. It was slightly terrifying to see.
"No, hence why the mages are here. Mages, flatten that land into a battlefield. Now."
"Let's take a look then," said Mage Albert. His manticore unfolded bronze-coloured wings and lifted his upwards towards the clouds. They didn't quite cover the blueness of the heavens, but they hung tantalising close as though waiting for people to sit on their edges and dangle their legs over.
"You'll miss things by yourself," said Mage Yinqui. Her chimera tucked its feet in and things moved under its skin in unsettling ways for a living creature, and then it levitated off the ground and followed Mage Albert.
"One moment," said Mage Haralda, who was acutely aware that unicorns couldn't fly, and that his unicorn would definitely not appreciate being expected to learn. He murmured something so softly that everyone strained to hear him, but failed, and then a nimbus of golden light started as a point beneath his unicorn and stretched upwards into a golden bridge. He cantered up it as though this was entirely natural.
He caught up with the other two as they were gazing at a distinctly not-flat proposed battlefield that appeared to have an inconvenient village of white-roofed houses dotted across it.
"Theorfer's Solid Rain," said Mage Albert. "I would say that about six minutes would be enough to pound the surface flat enough for the pickiest of horses. Or even unicorns -- oh, Haralda, you decided to join us!"
"Rubbish," said Mage Yanqui with scorn in her tone. "Elpheba's Scouring."
"That's a desert-climate spell," said Mage Albert. "You need sand."
"You can use anything gritty and dry," said Yanqui. "It's a common misconception though. If you're worried we can just apply a quick Dehydration spell and then scouring will grind the surface to a mirror-like consistency."
"Over a two-month period!"
"Why not just lay down a new surface?" asked Mage Haralda. "I quite like Magyat's Tectonic Hiccoughs -- they'll burp up a couple of volcanos on those ridges and they can lava over the area in a matter of hours and we'll have a battlefield you can play Pickleball on."
Greg - thank you!
Appreciate 'Earliness'. Big fan. Also I rather like these three mages. Also, also... you just had to toss pickleball in there, didn't you?
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