Writing Challenges
This week's Odd Prompts writing challenge from More Odds Than Ends came from nother Mike: Summoning a demon to wash the dishes was a mistake…
Well, yeah, summoning a sworn enemy of the Almighty would definitely be a mistake -- but what if the demon wasn't one from the Abrahamic religious tradition? What if it were from the dharmic faiths, or from the folkloric traditions of some non-Western region? Say Japan -- especially with a lot of Westerners getting introduced through anime.
While many sources would cite the oni as the closest equivalent to a demon in the folklore of the yokai and youma, the uncanny beings of Japanese folklore, it tends to be straight-up violent, other than in some anime (Those Noisy Aliens comes to mind). On the other hand, there are plenty of yokai that are more mischievous in their nature, who would offer plenty of Hilarity Ensues opportunities, especially for someone who is casting a spell as a joke, certain there is no such thing as magic.
And then, just as I was getting to planning out what kind of mischief such a yokai could wreak on a modern American setting, I got knocked flat by a con crud that I'd picked up at Indiana Comic Con. By the time I got that beat, there wasn't time to do much more than the setup:
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Never Bind a Fox
Somewhere among my grandfather's vast trove of classic science fiction, I came across a parable that went something along the lines of being ill-done to chain a dragon to cook one's food. It was supposed to be a caution against using important things for trivial purposes, but also to give a flavor of the imagined culture.
Perhaps it would've saved Wally a bunch of grief. On the other hand, Wally was never one to pay much attention to cautionary advice, especially if he saw something as just a lark.
Which was what he thought that old spell-book was. An art book someone had carefully created to sell at an anime convention, representing a grimoire that appeared in one or another anime that was super-popular at the time.
Quite honestly, I can't say I blame him. I've seen plenty of artist's renderings of fictional documents over the years, from the illuminated squirrel cage blueprint from A Canticle for Liebowitz to the occasional eldritch tome out of Lovecraft. We all know they're in jest, and while they may be fun to use in a cosplay, they're only there for our willing suspension of disbelief.
Or so we thought. Wally knew just enough Japanese to read some of it, and to recognize something that was a sort of spell for summoning a household familiar. I know, that wasn't an exact translation, but it's the closest cultural equivalent, especially given that a lot of anime draw as much on Western fantasy literature as Japanese folklore.
We were always ribbing Wally about his messy apartment, and how he could really use a fetch to keep the place for him. So he would have to try to recite the spell, purely as a joke, of course.
And then the air shimmered and in front of him stood a charming young woman in traditional Japanese attire. As she bowed deeply to him and announced herself as his humble servant, I noticed her oddly narrow face, with close-set eyes and thin eyebrows.
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I'm not sure exactly where I'm going to be going with this story, but I'm hoping to have some fun with it. Probably try to keep it short and sweet, a bit of mischief and some comeuppances, and then the return to normalcy at the end.
I did get my story done in time for this week's Indies Unlimited Flash Fiction Writing Challenge, albeit right down to the wire. My effort was a mundane one, and rather bittersweet.
As always, if you'd like to participate in Odd Prompts, just send your prompt in to oddprompts@gmail.com to be assigned a prompt of your own. Or if you're not up to the commitment of trading prompts, you can always check out the spare prompts and see if any of them tickle your creativity.
There will be a new word and picture prompt up at Indies Unlimited on Saturday. Until then, the polls will open tomorrow for voting on the Readers' Choice Award, and will close at 5PM on Thursday.
In the meantime, keep writing.
Well, yeah, summoning a sworn enemy of the Almighty would definitely be a mistake -- but what if the demon wasn't one from the Abrahamic religious tradition? What if it were from the dharmic faiths, or from the folkloric traditions of some non-Western region? Say Japan -- especially with a lot of Westerners getting introduced through anime.
While many sources would cite the oni as the closest equivalent to a demon in the folklore of the yokai and youma, the uncanny beings of Japanese folklore, it tends to be straight-up violent, other than in some anime (Those Noisy Aliens comes to mind). On the other hand, there are plenty of yokai that are more mischievous in their nature, who would offer plenty of Hilarity Ensues opportunities, especially for someone who is casting a spell as a joke, certain there is no such thing as magic.
And then, just as I was getting to planning out what kind of mischief such a yokai could wreak on a modern American setting, I got knocked flat by a con crud that I'd picked up at Indiana Comic Con. By the time I got that beat, there wasn't time to do much more than the setup:
===========================================================================================
Never Bind a Fox
Somewhere among my grandfather's vast trove of classic science fiction, I came across a parable that went something along the lines of being ill-done to chain a dragon to cook one's food. It was supposed to be a caution against using important things for trivial purposes, but also to give a flavor of the imagined culture.
Perhaps it would've saved Wally a bunch of grief. On the other hand, Wally was never one to pay much attention to cautionary advice, especially if he saw something as just a lark.
Which was what he thought that old spell-book was. An art book someone had carefully created to sell at an anime convention, representing a grimoire that appeared in one or another anime that was super-popular at the time.
Quite honestly, I can't say I blame him. I've seen plenty of artist's renderings of fictional documents over the years, from the illuminated squirrel cage blueprint from A Canticle for Liebowitz to the occasional eldritch tome out of Lovecraft. We all know they're in jest, and while they may be fun to use in a cosplay, they're only there for our willing suspension of disbelief.
Or so we thought. Wally knew just enough Japanese to read some of it, and to recognize something that was a sort of spell for summoning a household familiar. I know, that wasn't an exact translation, but it's the closest cultural equivalent, especially given that a lot of anime draw as much on Western fantasy literature as Japanese folklore.
We were always ribbing Wally about his messy apartment, and how he could really use a fetch to keep the place for him. So he would have to try to recite the spell, purely as a joke, of course.
And then the air shimmered and in front of him stood a charming young woman in traditional Japanese attire. As she bowed deeply to him and announced herself as his humble servant, I noticed her oddly narrow face, with close-set eyes and thin eyebrows.
===========================================================================================
I'm not sure exactly where I'm going to be going with this story, but I'm hoping to have some fun with it. Probably try to keep it short and sweet, a bit of mischief and some comeuppances, and then the return to normalcy at the end.
I did get my story done in time for this week's Indies Unlimited Flash Fiction Writing Challenge, albeit right down to the wire. My effort was a mundane one, and rather bittersweet.
As always, if you'd like to participate in Odd Prompts, just send your prompt in to oddprompts@gmail.com to be assigned a prompt of your own. Or if you're not up to the commitment of trading prompts, you can always check out the spare prompts and see if any of them tickle your creativity.
There will be a new word and picture prompt up at Indies Unlimited on Saturday. Until then, the polls will open tomorrow for voting on the Readers' Choice Award, and will close at 5PM on Thursday.
In the meantime, keep writing.