SCFrankles

In the darkness floated two souls side by side, one rather tarnished and the other bright and shining. A Voice spoke. “Now it is time for you both to be reborn. To go to your new bodies and new lives and continue your quest for enlightenment.” The Voice addressed the tarnished soul. “You did very badly in your last life and so you will be descending several rungs of the ladder.” It addressed the shining soul. “And you did extremely well. You will be ascending many, many steps up the ladder. And so…” The Voice grew. “O tarnished soul, you will receive the life of a wealthy businessman. And

When I was in the infants at primary school, there was a dryad in my class for a term or so. At that age you understand someone like that is amazing and unusual but you also simply accept that such marvellous things can happen. Now my adult brain insists that I dreamt or imagined her, and on the rare occasions I’ve bumped into old classmates none of them remember her, but the memories remain so clear. She was a sweet but awkward kid who nevertheless made the effort to join in with all our games. And she never lost a game of hide and seek. I seemed to be the only one who noticed her vanishing into the buddleia bush each time, away in a

Princess Jane had been a captive in the witch’s tower for over twenty years and it had been quite some time now since she’d had even a sniff of a rescue attempt. Oh, there had been quite a flurry of interest in the early years when she was still young and hopeful. A prince or a knight would pass by, she’d call out through the narrow upper window, and their interest would be piqued by her melodious voice. But then their interest always led to them wanting a description of the royal form that went with it. And, well, once she’d modestly explained she was just an average looking young woman—nothing special, you kno

“Welcome, everyone, to the Tuesday morning self-help meeting for curtains, drapes, shutters and blinds!” The group leader looked around, and she smiled. “It’s lovely to see so many new members—especially more blinds! I thought for a while we were going to be a curtains only group!” “Well, curtains are of course the major, and indeed traditional, solution to light control.” A velvet curtain rippled graciously. “But blinds have their place too of course. And they are most welcome in our little group.” A venetian blind waggled its slats. “Thank you, your majesty, I’m sur

Sandra would never know if it was because she’d bought a new bed or because it was she’d moved to a new flat. But from the first day at her new address there had been very strange goings-on. She’d lie there awake night after night and hear weird moans and scratching coming from underneath her. At first she tried to put it down to imagination or the natural sounds a building makes as it settles. But as the days went past it was harder to hold onto those explanations. Finally she couldn’t bear it any longer. She looked under the bed. Somewhere in the darkness there was an even darker form. Twisted and misshapen. It s

“And so,” said the werewolf, “we will all now share our blood in a solemn blood oath to cement our monstrous alliance!” “Um,” said the mummy. “Er, yes?” said the werewolf. The mummy shrugged. “Well, it’s kind of in the name. I’ve been mummified. I don’t have any blood. Oooh! I do have my brain in a jar somewhere though. Perhaps you could all stick your fingers in that?” “I don’t think that’s quite—” “And what about me?” said the vampire. “I really shouldn’t go about sharing my blood willy-nilly. I could end

“How’s work?” smiled me. “Pretty good. Pretty good,” said them. “Really, really busy, of course.” “Yeah?” said me. “Well, they and I have been getting so popular now. There’s our plural work, and all our singular work too.” them sighed. “All fascinating and rewarding stuff, but gosh, I wouldn’t mind a little break. I’m worn to a frazzle!” “Why don’t you have a break then?” said me. “I’m happy to take over for a day or two!” them frowned. “I’m… not certain that’s going to work.”

Delicia the Beast hadn’t meant to be so vague and obscure about her origins. But it had just been so freeing to leave the past behind and make an entirely new start. Now, Bodmin was completely her home—so much so that she taught courses in beginners’ Cornish, and supplemented her income by guiding groups of hikers around the moor. The latter was always a good source of cash, as plenty of beasts liked to visit and enjoy the wild countryside. All in all it was a perfect and rather quiet life until— “Oh my God! Someone’s seen a human on Bodmin Moor!” She’d scoffed, of course. You’d have to

The Modern English GH swirled its cloak. “Haha! I’m a master of disguise! Look, I’m pronounced /ɡ/ !” It swirled the cloak again. “And now I’m pronounced /f/ !” It swirled the cloak once more. “And now I’m completely silent! Haha! HAHAHAHAHA!” The Middle Dutch GH looked on with mild concern. “Do you think we should… say something?” “Mmm?” said the Standard Italian GH. “Well, I mean,” said the Middle Dutch GH. “This ‘master of disguise’ stuff. It’s not actually changing at all, is it? It always looks exactly

Location: the bath Statement taken from: the sponge His name’s Duckie. Yellow; little sailor hat. Been missing three days. And I don’t want to tell any tales but you might start by talking to a ‘friend’ of his who visited every day... Naturally I’m trustworthy. Me, an ‘old soak’? You’re keeping me in custody until I dry out? That’s discrimination! I don’t see the flannel being treated like this. Location: the bath Statement taken from: ‘Ben-Ben’ Frobisher No, I don’t know where Duckie is. I’m suspected of ‘assault and battery’...? I don&

“Aaawh, what a cutie!” Helen was amazed by the sight of the creature that came flying their way.  It looked like a rabbit, with the wings of a pheasant. And on its tiny antlers it carried a basket of fresh bread. The creature landed on their table and Helen quickly reached for the basket to help it. “Is… is this a Jackalope?!” The creature turned for John as he asked that and wrinkled its tiny nose. “We beg to differ!”, they heard a voice. The old innkeeper came their way with a wide smile on her face, carrying the food they ordered. “Our little Sepp is a Wolpertinger! They might be related

Scholar Padraic blinked and let the book lay flat on the desk. He gripped the magnifying glass so tightly his nails bent back. The surface of the paper writhed and wriggled until the letters were little more than a squiggling mass of nonsense and nincompoopery. Flagship Captain MuffinNose the Tangerine Smith had no business residing in the ancient tome of Necromantic History. It belonged in a child's book of silly tales. The letters blurred again and he could almost swear the dozens of tiny dots were wearing hats and coats and mustaches to rival the Grand Patriarchs. He didn't bother to replace the glass gingerly. He let it fall on the mass

Julia avoided the dog park on weekends, on sunny days, and any other time. The park was the perfect place to get exercise and meet people.The last part concerned Julia the most. With an unusually large dog like TiddlyPoof, she’d learned that people rarely looked past surface level. But today, she was on a mission. She was not missing this date (oh my god, oh my god I have a date.) She ignored the widened eyes, the mouths in frightened O’s. Hands tightened on leashes, pulling their own dogs away, as she and her beast passed. TiddlyPoof was over one hundred pounds of lithe, sculpted muscle, complete with frothing jowls, harrowing