“Hesitate” is a literary fiction short story. It’s available from Kindle Unlimited if you’ve got a subscription and want to read it for free. Otherwise it’s $0.99 and will be published as part of a short story collection sometime around June(?) if you want to wait.
At 2060 words, it’s a short social commentary piece.
Trigger Warning: threat of noncon. character death.
Title: Doggy Style
Author: Sol Crafter
Genre: urban fantasy, magical realim, mm
CHAPTER FOUR
Having his door pounded on at three in the morning would usually have Faraday screaming with rage. But tonight, with his best friend missing and sleep as far from him as the moon, he was up out of the blanket nest he’d made on the couch and running to the front door.
“Hold on, hold on, I’m coming,” he called out.
Relief was a cold rush across his face and down his body when he opened the door and found Zack on the other side. Sure, Zack’s hair was an uncombed mess, his glasses were missing, and the clothes he wore were too large and combined with the lack of shoes or socks to give him a waifish air, but he was alive.
“Oh shit.” Faraday grabbed Zack by the arms and pulled him in close for a desperate hug. “You’re alive.”
Part of him wanted to be mad at Zack for frightening him, but he could feel the way Zack trembled in his arms and it quieted his anger. Obviously something had happened to Zack.
He tugged Zack inside and toward the couch, kicking the door shut behind them. “Are you all right? Here, sit down. I’ll get you something to drink. Do you need to eat?”
“I have no idea what’s going on,” Zack said. He gave Faraday a spooked look and didn’t hesitate to grab the afghan off the couch. He wrapped the brightly decorative piece of cloth around himself and made to draw his legs up under it before seeming to remember that his feet were filthy. “I don’t even know what’s real anymore. This seems like it should be somebody else’s life.”
Faraday hurried into the kitchen area to grab a bottle of cran-raspberry juice out of the fridge. He looked indecisively at the cupboards for a moment before going to the oven and taking out a cookie sheet to use as a tray for the juice. He added two glasses half filled with ice, a plastic bowl of baby carrots and cherry tomatoes, and a package of cheese and chive sandwich crackers.
Part of him wanted to make Zack a couple of turkey sandwiches and possibly a bowl of soup, but he didn’t want to leave him alone for too long. He was paranoid at the idea of Zack disappearing when his back was turned. It was just too bad that he didn’t have much in the way of instant food that wasn’t also junk food.
He carried the makeshift tea tray into the living room and set it on the coffee table. He sat down next to Zack and busied himself with pouring the juice and opening the sandwich crackers.
“Here, I got you a little something to eat. Drink this first.” He pressed one of the glasses into Zack’s hands and gestured for him to drink it. “You’ve got a lot of explaining to do and I don’t want you to have a dry mouth.”
“Gee, thanks.” Zack sipped at the juice and accepted one of the crackers Faraday offered him. He ate it in two quick bites, then looked surprised, as though he hadn’t realized he was hungry.
Faraday let him swallow before asking, “Where the hell have you been? I’ve been going out of my mind with worry.”
“You’re not going to believe me,” Zack said. “I don’t think that I even believe me.”
“Well?”
“I was a dog. A literal dog, with fur and a tail and four feet and everything.”
“You’re right. I don’t believe you.” Faraday flopped down on the couch. He rubbed his hand across his forehead. “Where were you?”
“I’m serious. Look into my eyes. I was a dog.” Zack shook his head. “I have no idea how it happened, but I experienced a full-body transformation. It was like something off TV.”
Faraday had heard all the stories, though magic was usually something that happened to other people. People that moved through darker circles than he or Zack ever had.
“Did you piss off a witch–or I guess it would have to be some kind of enchantress? What did you do to make someone so mad?” he asked.
The look Zack gave him could have melted steel. “I have not had any run-ins with witches, enchantresses, sorcerers, or even party magicians. I have been working and going home as usual. Turning into a dog has got to be the most unlikely things to ever happen to me. I don’t know why anyone would bother cursing me.”
“Hm.” Faraday thought of all the transformation cases he’d ever heard of. It wasn’t a popular spell anymore, since it was power intensive and was a quick way for a magic user to end up in prison. Still, there were stories. “Maybe it wasn’t intended for you. You were cataloging the new shipment. Maybe you triggered some kind of booby trap.”
“Who would leave something like that hanging around?” Zack looked thoughtful. “We did receive all that stuff from that estate sale. I didn’t see anythng in the paperwork about Mary Nye being a magic user, but it’s not something people usually advertise, is it?”
“This is very serious,” Faraday said. “We’re going to have to final reports with the police and get you Cleansed before it becomes a permanent curse.”
“Maybe we should be a bit careful with that. Can we just go to a Cleanser and not bother with the police?”
Faraday stared at Zack, noticing his deadpan expression and the forthright honesty of his stare.
“What did you do?” he asked. He was experiencing a sense of dread.
/EXERPT
This story is being serialized at Kimichee.com.
Does anyone want to make a Ren’Py game with me?
I really like the idea of making a Ren’Py game. From the moment I was steered to The Ren’Py Visual Novel Engine home page by Morgan Hawke’s novel/games, I have wanted to make a game of my own. But I can’t get my computer to make android.sdk files. I know it’s probably me doing something wrong. Like I didn’t setup my java correctly or something. I don’t know.
I can come up with the story, and I’m willing to write the script, I just don’t know how to make some of the fancy game things happen. I mean, you can have real fights and gameplay with the Ren’Py program. It’s very simple and easy to use.
I just suck at php right now because I’m still learning. Plus I don’t know how to draw, I’ve got no ear for soundtracks, and I’m not quite sure how to load YouTube or Hulu videos into a Ren’Py, which is something I really want to do.
I want to make a Visual Novel that sticks in peoples’ minds. But not like that terrible one that kept crashing my Kindle FireHD. I want it to be for all the good things that people pick up from it and the emotions they feel. I don’t want it to be read and forgotten.
Test out my first attempt at a Ren’Py at: https://www.patreon.com/posts/kinetic-novel-1241928. “The Collection” –
KINETIC NOVEL: The Collection
Genre: mm, mf
Rating: mature
Includes: The Hand of Ares [mm, powerful god]: Morpheus [mm, narcolepsy]; The Wilding [gen, what a twist]; And A Single Petal Fell [mm, life in the harem, CHARACTER DEATH]; A Cuckoo In the Nest [mf, elves are real].
Extracts to 68.3 MB. Compatible platforms: Windows, Linux, Mac.
This isn’t done yet. (There’s no menu screen, just a background, and there’s some intro content missing.) I’m thinking about adding some sprites — like cutout people — and actionable objects. There might be quizzes and mini-games at the end.
There are five stories available: The Hand of Ares; Morpheus; And a Single Petal Fell; A Cuckoo in the Nest; and The Wilding.
How it works: 1) Extract the zip files. 2) Click “Collection.exe” 3) Enjoy.
When you’re done, as there’s no screen after the Index yet, just hit ESC to bring up the menu functions. Click Quit and Yes when prompted.
I think it’s a big size for the game it is, but I think it’s because it’s still a WIP and I didn’t finalize it by having it crushed down to size. Plus the game is a standalone Ren’Py container. You open it and the game plays. I mean, if you didn’t want to save, I think you could play it off a CD. Which is cool.
It’s not a very intensive “game,” mostly because it’s a series of short stories broken into multiple screens. Once I’ve got some sprites and some screen changer ideas, I think The Collection could become a much better experience. But as it is, it’s simply my first attempt at making a Ren’Py game.
Anyways, I’ll probably add to the game and make it a little cooler and more awesome. If I do that and you’ve downloaded the beta version, it’s pretty easy to update a Ren’Py game. You just add the update files to the Game folder and the script tells everything what to do. I’ll include actual instructions with any updates.
* * *
Help me buy groceries and receive my gratitude:
via Paypal.me/HarperKingsley.
via Patreon.
via Amazon Affiliate link. (This ones the easiest to do. Click before shopping.)
Title: Desecrated Places, Lonely Faces, and You
Author: Harper Kingsley
Original Fiction
Genre: urban fantasy, dark fantasy
Rating: mature(?)
Summary: “There was blood on the sheets.” I don’t know. What is this even? Just enjoy and discover the ride.
*
There was blood on the sheets.
It painted faces against the age-thinned cotton. The impressions of arms and legs, of broken bones and shattered dreams.
She feels like she’s just been let free. It’s looking to be a brand new day.
“Where will we go?” her voice comes out little girl soft, hushed in the temple-like silence of the room.
His hand is warm where it comes to rest against her naked shoulder. “Anywhere you’d like, cupcake. The world is yours to command, and I will be your arm, your sword, your everything.”
“My valiant hero?” She smiled, a shallow curve of her lips. “Will you be my knight in bloodstained armor?”
“Anything that your heart desires.”
Yes, she thought. This would work.
“Let’s take a shower. There’s no reason to bring this… mess… with us.” She led the way into the master bathroom. She’d never been allowed in there before. It was just as beautiful and princess-like as she’d always imagined.
She stepped into the shower, crooking her finger until he followed, as docile as a favorite pet. Only this pet had fangs, claws, and a willingness to bite.
Turning on the water — hot, hot, steamy hot water, which had always been “too good” for her — she felt happy. For the first time in a long time she was free. Her life was hers to do with as she pleased, the iron collar abandoned back in the room with her master’s dead body.
She reached for the soap. “Bend down. I’ll wash your back.”
He looked at her, eyes dark with love, and sat on the shower floor, turning so his back faced her. There were the ghosts of lash marks pressed into his skin, beautiful lines of faded gray against the smooth muscle. She had to touch them, tracing her fingers up and down the ridges before following the straights from one side of his spine to the other. He’d been hurt before, by unkind masters, just as she’d been.
“I will treat you so well,” she whispered into his ear, pressing her chest against his back. She liked the image they presented, flesh against flesh, blood red turning to pink as it washed away down the drain. “I will take care of you.”
“And I will give you the world,” he promised.
“Yes.”
It seemed so easy. They had all of forever to make their way. With the cold iron gone from her neck, she could feel the spirit of the world flowing back into her veins, the old power reigniting itself deep within.
She would keep him, this man-mountain, and she would tumble death to tie him to her. For gratitude, for grace, and for what might be the beginnings of love, she would rescue her rescuer and keep him safe.
Queen Titania scrubbed her knight’s skin with a pale green loofah and let the fire begin burning in her heart. She was ready to set the mortal world ablaze. Ready to be free.
=THE END=
