I
Incinermyn
Round-Robin Short Story & Epic Poem Contest III
Rules and Entry Requirements
1.) Round-Robin writing is a one-shot contest in which up to eight people attempt to write the best short story or long poem based on a given theme and/or genre. All entries are due by the fourth Wednesday after this thread has been revealed, and at least two are required for voting to commence (otherwise, the deadline may be extended).
2.) Like the Haiku & Short-Poem Contest, entries will be taken on a “first-come first-serve” basis, meaning that slots will be filled depending on the order in which entries are received. All submissions are to be made directly to me ([mod]Incinermyn[/mod]) via PM before 3:00PM Central Daylight Time on the Wednesday they’re due on. Whatever entries I receive will then be randomized and posted sometime later that afternoon or the following Thursday.
3.) Voting will be conducted via poll. The poll will be left open for about a week, and depending on how many votes are made, the winner will be determined based on their point value. In the event of a tie, I will be the one to make the final decision of who wins.
4.) Contrary to what was stated previously, the winner of the last round will be allowed to enter this one as well.
Due Date: Wednesday, September 5th, 2012
Theme: Suspense or Humor
Genre: Action/Adventure or Comedy
You have three weeks, writers! Good luck and Godspeed!
~Incinermyn
Participant List
1.)
The Glass Child
She felt the surge of it, the ache in her bones. At first she was convinced it was sadness. She had every reason to feel it, to let the grief overcome her.
After all, it was only a few hours that she had learned of her brother’s death.
It was expected of course, he had hardly scraped the standards of living with his weak heart. He struggled just to breathe, and the doctors explained to her that it was impressive that he made it this far. She sobbed grossly, her eyes clouded with tears on the drive back to her home. She left the hospital and its pitying looks as soon as she could. Her parents couldn’t even look at her, and that image was forever bore in her mind.
She was a twin, and gained the greatest luck in terms of health. However, her brother didn’t come so easily. While she was learning to walk and read, he was eating from a tube, with a heart that hardly works. And as his condition proved to only be heading for the worst, her parents grew stressed. Anything she did wrong was just one more thing for them to worry about. And as a child, this young girl did the only thing she could think to do: become the perfect child.
And she was. She excelled in academics, played many instruments at a professional level, and was an all-star in cross country. Her parents had nothing to worry about when it came to the healthy child. She would come home after school every week day, and see her father cooking in the kitchen while her mother filed around with papers. Her brother stayed in his room, watching the same movie over and over again.
Anyone else would say that their family was happy and full considering the disabled child.
But this young woman knew very well that the house she lived in was empty. It was just a shell representing what life should be about: living. Instead she felt like she was slowly dying. She would take any day to be her brother. To receive such joy at such small things. To watch a movie a million times and still see something new.
She had expected his death for a long time. But she never thought that it would feel like this. She knew that she wasn’t ready for it, but she also knew that the sick feeling sinking in her soul would soon overcome her.
When she arrived in her home, she shut the door behind her softly and slumped against the couch, wanting to cringe and disappear. Why did she feel like this? Staring at the small fibers of her carpet she tried to sort through her thoughts, the tears leaving a salty crust on her cheeks. She thought about how her brother had only used his room for a year before dying. How she grew used to the disgusting smell of the hospital. How the doctors never bothered to learn her name. She did like the hospital in a way, but it slowly grew to be more of a reminder of how her parents looked at her.
To say that her parents looked at her was a lie. The truth is that even though the eyes might be pointed in her direction, they were never looking at her. The eyes would look right through her, and see her twin. She was a glass child. Her job was to just stay out of the way while her parents took care of the child who needed them more.
She lived her entire life in the shadow of her other half. And while everyone else would say she was lucky, she knew that she would give anything to be him. Even now, he would be remembered. They would remember him and sigh, thinking about how great he could have been. Her parents would never get over it. This she knew in the deepest part of her soul.
She was tired. She was so tired of being half of something more spectacular. She was tired to being the sister of the disabled child, and nothing more. She had lived her entire life being made of glass. She had watched as everyone looked straight through her.
But there was a bonus to being made of glass, she thought with a sickly grin. Climbing to the top of her house, she looked up at the bright sun that had always made it so hot this time of year.
And like glass, she crashed on impact, shattering into billions of pieces, each as forgettable as the last.
She felt the surge of it, the ache in her bones. At first she was convinced it was sadness. She had every reason to feel it, to let the grief overcome her.
After all, it was only a few hours that she had learned of her brother’s death.
It was expected of course, he had hardly scraped the standards of living with his weak heart. He struggled just to breathe, and the doctors explained to her that it was impressive that he made it this far. She sobbed grossly, her eyes clouded with tears on the drive back to her home. She left the hospital and its pitying looks as soon as she could. Her parents couldn’t even look at her, and that image was forever bore in her mind.
She was a twin, and gained the greatest luck in terms of health. However, her brother didn’t come so easily. While she was learning to walk and read, he was eating from a tube, with a heart that hardly works. And as his condition proved to only be heading for the worst, her parents grew stressed. Anything she did wrong was just one more thing for them to worry about. And as a child, this young girl did the only thing she could think to do: become the perfect child.
And she was. She excelled in academics, played many instruments at a professional level, and was an all-star in cross country. Her parents had nothing to worry about when it came to the healthy child. She would come home after school every week day, and see her father cooking in the kitchen while her mother filed around with papers. Her brother stayed in his room, watching the same movie over and over again.
Anyone else would say that their family was happy and full considering the disabled child.
But this young woman knew very well that the house she lived in was empty. It was just a shell representing what life should be about: living. Instead she felt like she was slowly dying. She would take any day to be her brother. To receive such joy at such small things. To watch a movie a million times and still see something new.
She had expected his death for a long time. But she never thought that it would feel like this. She knew that she wasn’t ready for it, but she also knew that the sick feeling sinking in her soul would soon overcome her.
When she arrived in her home, she shut the door behind her softly and slumped against the couch, wanting to cringe and disappear. Why did she feel like this? Staring at the small fibers of her carpet she tried to sort through her thoughts, the tears leaving a salty crust on her cheeks. She thought about how her brother had only used his room for a year before dying. How she grew used to the disgusting smell of the hospital. How the doctors never bothered to learn her name. She did like the hospital in a way, but it slowly grew to be more of a reminder of how her parents looked at her.
To say that her parents looked at her was a lie. The truth is that even though the eyes might be pointed in her direction, they were never looking at her. The eyes would look right through her, and see her twin. She was a glass child. Her job was to just stay out of the way while her parents took care of the child who needed them more.
She lived her entire life in the shadow of her other half. And while everyone else would say she was lucky, she knew that she would give anything to be him. Even now, he would be remembered. They would remember him and sigh, thinking about how great he could have been. Her parents would never get over it. This she knew in the deepest part of her soul.
She was tired. She was so tired of being half of something more spectacular. She was tired to being the sister of the disabled child, and nothing more. She had lived her entire life being made of glass. She had watched as everyone looked straight through her.
But there was a bonus to being made of glass, she thought with a sickly grin. Climbing to the top of her house, she looked up at the bright sun that had always made it so hot this time of year.
And like glass, she crashed on impact, shattering into billions of pieces, each as forgettable as the last.
2.)
{The Dreamer}
Come on Musouka, come quick! He heard his mother cry.
I'm coming! He replied, running as fast as he could. He came to the edge of a huge cliff where he could hear his mother's voice. He was so tired from running he almost didn't see his mother hanging off the side of the cliff. Her fingers grasping a small rock.
Help me son! Grab a rope! His mother yelled. Somehow, He knew there was a rope right to the left of him. He grabbed it and lowered it down to her. Grab on! He yelled.
She reached for the rope but missed it and started to fall. No! He screamed, closing his eyes tight. A moment later He opened his eyes and saw his mother, still in mid air. But not falling, it was like time had paused.
Mother? He said, there was no answer. Musouka heard something behind him. He turned around and saw a huge black cloud coming straight for him. The cloud started to change into a giant elephant with big red eyes, but it had a long tail like a cat.
He was so frightened by the monster of a cloud that he forgot about his mother.
He looked over the edge and saw his mother was still paused in mid air. Musouka didn't know what to think. He had never been so scared and confused.
Suddenly the ground started to shake, then the ground began to brake apart and started to disappear. Musouka saw the cliff crumbling apart and being sucked into the monster's trunk revealing a blank white world around him.
Musouka didn't feel scared anymore, Just confused. The dark elephant monster slowly changed into a much smaller and cute monster,still shaped like a elephant, but it also looked kind of like a tiger or a pig. What's going on! Where's my mother? Said Musouka. You are dreaming! But don't worry, you won't remember it! Said the monster in a deep voice.
Now wake up! Wake up son!The monster said. But this time it's voice was higher and softer. What? Asked Musouka. Wake up son! The monster faded and Musouka's mother took it's place. The white world turning into his small bedroom.
Are you ok? Asked his mother. I'm fine said Musouka, still blurry eyed from just waking up. What was your dream about? Asked his mother. I don't remember said Musouka shaking his head.
I just remember this strange little elephant monster. Do you mean a Baku? Asked his mother.
A Baku? What's that? asked Musouka, His eyes opening wide.
Never mind, don't worry about it,said his mother.
Try to get some rest my baby boy, She gave him a kiss and turned off his lamp.
Musouka went back to sleep, still thinking about the strange monster in his head. In the morning, Musouka started to wake up. He moved his hand over his pillow and felt something small and cold. He opened his eyes to see what it was. He was surprised to see a small figurine of the elephant monster that he saw in his dream siting on his pillow!
The End!...
Come on Musouka, come quick! He heard his mother cry.
I'm coming! He replied, running as fast as he could. He came to the edge of a huge cliff where he could hear his mother's voice. He was so tired from running he almost didn't see his mother hanging off the side of the cliff. Her fingers grasping a small rock.
Help me son! Grab a rope! His mother yelled. Somehow, He knew there was a rope right to the left of him. He grabbed it and lowered it down to her. Grab on! He yelled.
She reached for the rope but missed it and started to fall. No! He screamed, closing his eyes tight. A moment later He opened his eyes and saw his mother, still in mid air. But not falling, it was like time had paused.
Mother? He said, there was no answer. Musouka heard something behind him. He turned around and saw a huge black cloud coming straight for him. The cloud started to change into a giant elephant with big red eyes, but it had a long tail like a cat.
He was so frightened by the monster of a cloud that he forgot about his mother.
He looked over the edge and saw his mother was still paused in mid air. Musouka didn't know what to think. He had never been so scared and confused.
Suddenly the ground started to shake, then the ground began to brake apart and started to disappear. Musouka saw the cliff crumbling apart and being sucked into the monster's trunk revealing a blank white world around him.
Musouka didn't feel scared anymore, Just confused. The dark elephant monster slowly changed into a much smaller and cute monster,still shaped like a elephant, but it also looked kind of like a tiger or a pig. What's going on! Where's my mother? Said Musouka. You are dreaming! But don't worry, you won't remember it! Said the monster in a deep voice.
Now wake up! Wake up son!The monster said. But this time it's voice was higher and softer. What? Asked Musouka. Wake up son! The monster faded and Musouka's mother took it's place. The white world turning into his small bedroom.
Are you ok? Asked his mother. I'm fine said Musouka, still blurry eyed from just waking up. What was your dream about? Asked his mother. I don't remember said Musouka shaking his head.
I just remember this strange little elephant monster. Do you mean a Baku? Asked his mother.
A Baku? What's that? asked Musouka, His eyes opening wide.
Never mind, don't worry about it,said his mother.
Try to get some rest my baby boy, She gave him a kiss and turned off his lamp.
Musouka went back to sleep, still thinking about the strange monster in his head. In the morning, Musouka started to wake up. He moved his hand over his pillow and felt something small and cold. He opened his eyes to see what it was. He was surprised to see a small figurine of the elephant monster that he saw in his dream siting on his pillow!
The End!...
3.)
Lupine Terror(Rating: PG for some violence, coarse language, and weird humor)
The forest was always so peaceful at twilight. With the waning of the sun, the creatures whom were about during the day always hid from us. For this, I do not blame them. After all, we are wolves. It is our time. At least, that is how I liked to remember it.
That one evening was amongst the quietest I’d ever known. There were no sounds to be heard for miles around, none but those of Father and I as we trekked down one of the deep paths away from our den.
Of our clan’s members, Father was by far the strongest. A beast whose stature easily cleared six feet, his body was clad in chain mail save the helmet covering his brow and upper maw to part of the back of his head, the protective shell covering his torso and part of the his abdomen’s backside, and the areas from his hind legs back that were bare. The part of his form that was unexposed was very muscular. But it saddens me that this regal creature I had never truly seen, only sensed.
His silence as we walked this eve I found somewhat unnerving. Not unusual considering that I didn’t get as much attention as my siblings, but since we were here by ourselves the least he could have done was stuck up some conversation.
“Father? Where are we going?” I finally asked.
“Somewhere special… And we are nearly there,” he replied. His was a stern bass. Comparatively, my voice was far less robust yet hinted gruffness.
I had always considered myself somewhat of an oddity amongst my brethren. The last to mature and still blind afterwards, I felt as though Father never much cared for me. This seemed to confirm it, but he did say this was somewhere special. And he insisted that only we go together tonight. I was more than elated to be here with him!
After a few moments, the rugged beast ahead of me stopped. I walked up to his side and sensed around the area before us.
It was a fairly open grove with little shrubbery between the trees surrounding it on all sides. The air also seemed to be completely still, not even a gentle breeze blew here. I found it a little disturbing because of that…
Yet, I found myself ambling slowly into the copse. As I did, I felt the presence of something as it sat perched in the trees above. I couldn’t tell what the creature was in its entirety, just that it was a tall biped with what I took to be a long and bushy tail. There was no malice I sensed from it, only inquisition.
“Father? What is this place?” I asked as I reached the center of the field.
I heard the shifting links of his mail as he came up behind me. Then, the long metal talons attached to a ring around the pads of each forepaw that arced out several inched in front of his toes seemed to make a sound like they were rubbing against each other. Strange… Was he sharpening them before we went hunting tonight?
Turning about, the solitary eyeball on my mask seemed to focus on the glower Father was making from across the way. Next, I felt a shockwave of hatred emanate from him.
“Once a generation, a traitor emerges. He whose thoughts are impure…one who questions the sacred bylaws that dictate the pack’s actions. It is these whom must be disposed,” Father stated as he began to come towards me slowly, “Like my father before me, I will slay the b*stard child that dares to question my authority!”
The large wolf began to charge at me. I started to run. But, within seconds, I felt the three of his razors digging into my back!
“For you, Lord Arceus heralds no mercy, cur!” he howled at me. I turned slightly, sensing his jaws open wide. This was it!
I heard something clang with his helmet just then. A stick?
“Enough!” a man barked. Then, I felt Father’s paw and claws lift from my back.
That other creature I’d just sensed had forced him off me. But who was it?
“What are you doing?” Father roared at his attacker as I stood up.
“Cairo, get out of here!” the beast shouted at me.
I wasted no time dashing headlong into the forest ahead. There was no way I would ever look back. My savior, whomever he was, was on his own.
“Son of a…! He was supposed to die!” I heard Father shout. The sound of his voice carried far and very quickly. It easily scared the birds that were resting in the trees all around.
I ran for a while before coming to a small ditch concealed by the base of an immense oak tree. Surely, I would be safe here while I tried to contemplate just why Father wanted me dead.
It made little sense… I had always been loyal to the pack. There were some times when Father paid more attention to my brothers that I had questioned whether or not he’d loved me, but then Mother reassured me that he did. Were those few negative thoughts truly enough to call for my execution?
The slashes down my back were throbbing a lot! They were really painful, but didn’t seem to be that deep. I had to take care of them.
Sensing the area, there didn’t appear to be any types of fruit-bearing plants around. Only some bushes, shrubs, and several oaks and pine trees were nearby.
Saliva would have to suffice until I found Oran berries or something to eat. I immediately got into a position so I could course the wounds with my tongue. After making a few quick licks, I heard something rustling in the bushes a couple meters away.
From what I detected, the creature was a bit shorter than I and seemed disfigured… Its head was overall rounded, though it possessed a narrow elongated mouth with a lower jaw that seemed to be half-hinged or maybe broken. The mammal had a trapezoidal right ear that was missing a small portion near its top, while the left part of its head was missing and some of its brain exposed to the air. With a chest that protruded away from its abdomen and skin tight against its pelvis, this thing was literally a walking corpse, quite a surprise considering how bony its legs were. What manner of Pokémon could this be?
“Dinner…” the creature uttered as it climbed through the plant.
“If you value your life, stay your ground!” I ordered, standing up.
“Dinner…” it continued as it slowly made its way towards me. Step by step, it seemed to gawk at me more with its large blank eyes.
After it was in the clearing more, I used Confusion to force him back. Landing on its back, the demon immediately bounced back to its feet by using its long vertebrae-formed tail like a spring.
“Dinner… Want dinner…” it again muttered. Why didn’t my attack phase it?
“Get back!” I growled.
“Dinner… Want… Friend?”
The zombie stopped a few feet from me and hunched over slightly. I folded my ears back and started to snarl.
“Who are you?” I asked it.
“Oposombie… Friend want dinner?”
“What?”
“Dinner. Want dinner. Doggy…friend. Find dinner. Share?”
“You want me to find food and share it with you? Why would I do that? We just met.”
“I kill you, you don’t. No problem make dead doggy. Twin Lancing work good,” Oposombie replied as he raised his scrawny arms and wiggled the three stubby fingers with long claws he had on each paw.
I rolled my eye just then. There was no possible way this creature could…
Suddenly, the possum was on top of my back with his arms wrapped tightly around my neck. The points of his index claws were also against my throat, and were about to puncture the skin.
“Kill doggy? Make dead? Make like me? Or find dinner? You choice,” he whispered in my ear as he pressed them harder.
“Alright! But first we have to run,” I barked, readying to make a dash. Oposombie lessened his grip and dropped off.
Just then, there was a terrible howl. There was no mistaking it. Father was almost here…and he was calling for more of the pack!
I stood there, shaking violently. They said that his Eerie Bay was enough to completely terrify the bravest of Pokémon, making them completely immobile until he struck them down. This only confirmed the rumor…
“Doggy! Why scare?” Oposombie asked as he stood back up. How could he just shirk something like that off like it was nothing?
“Listen. My father just tried to kill me a short while ago, and now he’s coming to finish what he started. We have to get out of here now!”
“Doggy not run, though. Scare easy? Me help doggy.” Oposombie sat on the ground, hunched over, and started to dig. Within a split second or so, he’d disappeared into a small-sized hole.
“Want live? Come me!” he then ordered.
“I can’t fit!” I replied. There was no way I could get though that! And my digging skills were simply atrocious…
“Hold breath.”
“What?” I felt my body starting to sink into the dirt just then. I started to struggle, but only sank more quickly. Before my head was completely submerged in the earth, I took a deep breath and shut my maw tightly.
I kept sinking for a long moment before finally landing on something solid underground. Sensing that I was in a large tunnel with Oposombie, I immediately exhaled and took several breaths. The air was musty and smelled of rot, but that was probably due to the dead possum’s decayed body.
“Hiding spot good. No one find me and doggy here,” Oposombie commented.
“Where is this?”
“Cave made Diglett and Dugtrio once. Oposombie find when leave,” he continued, turning around, “Outlet! You follow.” Then, he started moving forward.
After a few seconds, I began to follow. There was no telling just where he was going to lead me, just as long as I could elude Father and my brothers.
<End>
The forest was always so peaceful at twilight. With the waning of the sun, the creatures whom were about during the day always hid from us. For this, I do not blame them. After all, we are wolves. It is our time. At least, that is how I liked to remember it.
That one evening was amongst the quietest I’d ever known. There were no sounds to be heard for miles around, none but those of Father and I as we trekked down one of the deep paths away from our den.
Of our clan’s members, Father was by far the strongest. A beast whose stature easily cleared six feet, his body was clad in chain mail save the helmet covering his brow and upper maw to part of the back of his head, the protective shell covering his torso and part of the his abdomen’s backside, and the areas from his hind legs back that were bare. The part of his form that was unexposed was very muscular. But it saddens me that this regal creature I had never truly seen, only sensed.
His silence as we walked this eve I found somewhat unnerving. Not unusual considering that I didn’t get as much attention as my siblings, but since we were here by ourselves the least he could have done was stuck up some conversation.
“Father? Where are we going?” I finally asked.
“Somewhere special… And we are nearly there,” he replied. His was a stern bass. Comparatively, my voice was far less robust yet hinted gruffness.
I had always considered myself somewhat of an oddity amongst my brethren. The last to mature and still blind afterwards, I felt as though Father never much cared for me. This seemed to confirm it, but he did say this was somewhere special. And he insisted that only we go together tonight. I was more than elated to be here with him!
After a few moments, the rugged beast ahead of me stopped. I walked up to his side and sensed around the area before us.
It was a fairly open grove with little shrubbery between the trees surrounding it on all sides. The air also seemed to be completely still, not even a gentle breeze blew here. I found it a little disturbing because of that…
Yet, I found myself ambling slowly into the copse. As I did, I felt the presence of something as it sat perched in the trees above. I couldn’t tell what the creature was in its entirety, just that it was a tall biped with what I took to be a long and bushy tail. There was no malice I sensed from it, only inquisition.
“Father? What is this place?” I asked as I reached the center of the field.
I heard the shifting links of his mail as he came up behind me. Then, the long metal talons attached to a ring around the pads of each forepaw that arced out several inched in front of his toes seemed to make a sound like they were rubbing against each other. Strange… Was he sharpening them before we went hunting tonight?
Turning about, the solitary eyeball on my mask seemed to focus on the glower Father was making from across the way. Next, I felt a shockwave of hatred emanate from him.
“Once a generation, a traitor emerges. He whose thoughts are impure…one who questions the sacred bylaws that dictate the pack’s actions. It is these whom must be disposed,” Father stated as he began to come towards me slowly, “Like my father before me, I will slay the b*stard child that dares to question my authority!”
The large wolf began to charge at me. I started to run. But, within seconds, I felt the three of his razors digging into my back!
“For you, Lord Arceus heralds no mercy, cur!” he howled at me. I turned slightly, sensing his jaws open wide. This was it!
I heard something clang with his helmet just then. A stick?
“Enough!” a man barked. Then, I felt Father’s paw and claws lift from my back.
That other creature I’d just sensed had forced him off me. But who was it?
“What are you doing?” Father roared at his attacker as I stood up.
“Cairo, get out of here!” the beast shouted at me.
I wasted no time dashing headlong into the forest ahead. There was no way I would ever look back. My savior, whomever he was, was on his own.
“Son of a…! He was supposed to die!” I heard Father shout. The sound of his voice carried far and very quickly. It easily scared the birds that were resting in the trees all around.
I ran for a while before coming to a small ditch concealed by the base of an immense oak tree. Surely, I would be safe here while I tried to contemplate just why Father wanted me dead.
It made little sense… I had always been loyal to the pack. There were some times when Father paid more attention to my brothers that I had questioned whether or not he’d loved me, but then Mother reassured me that he did. Were those few negative thoughts truly enough to call for my execution?
The slashes down my back were throbbing a lot! They were really painful, but didn’t seem to be that deep. I had to take care of them.
Sensing the area, there didn’t appear to be any types of fruit-bearing plants around. Only some bushes, shrubs, and several oaks and pine trees were nearby.
Saliva would have to suffice until I found Oran berries or something to eat. I immediately got into a position so I could course the wounds with my tongue. After making a few quick licks, I heard something rustling in the bushes a couple meters away.
From what I detected, the creature was a bit shorter than I and seemed disfigured… Its head was overall rounded, though it possessed a narrow elongated mouth with a lower jaw that seemed to be half-hinged or maybe broken. The mammal had a trapezoidal right ear that was missing a small portion near its top, while the left part of its head was missing and some of its brain exposed to the air. With a chest that protruded away from its abdomen and skin tight against its pelvis, this thing was literally a walking corpse, quite a surprise considering how bony its legs were. What manner of Pokémon could this be?
“Dinner…” the creature uttered as it climbed through the plant.
“If you value your life, stay your ground!” I ordered, standing up.
“Dinner…” it continued as it slowly made its way towards me. Step by step, it seemed to gawk at me more with its large blank eyes.
After it was in the clearing more, I used Confusion to force him back. Landing on its back, the demon immediately bounced back to its feet by using its long vertebrae-formed tail like a spring.
“Dinner… Want dinner…” it again muttered. Why didn’t my attack phase it?
“Get back!” I growled.
“Dinner… Want… Friend?”
The zombie stopped a few feet from me and hunched over slightly. I folded my ears back and started to snarl.
“Who are you?” I asked it.
“Oposombie… Friend want dinner?”
“What?”
“Dinner. Want dinner. Doggy…friend. Find dinner. Share?”
“You want me to find food and share it with you? Why would I do that? We just met.”
“I kill you, you don’t. No problem make dead doggy. Twin Lancing work good,” Oposombie replied as he raised his scrawny arms and wiggled the three stubby fingers with long claws he had on each paw.
I rolled my eye just then. There was no possible way this creature could…
Suddenly, the possum was on top of my back with his arms wrapped tightly around my neck. The points of his index claws were also against my throat, and were about to puncture the skin.
“Kill doggy? Make dead? Make like me? Or find dinner? You choice,” he whispered in my ear as he pressed them harder.
“Alright! But first we have to run,” I barked, readying to make a dash. Oposombie lessened his grip and dropped off.
Just then, there was a terrible howl. There was no mistaking it. Father was almost here…and he was calling for more of the pack!
I stood there, shaking violently. They said that his Eerie Bay was enough to completely terrify the bravest of Pokémon, making them completely immobile until he struck them down. This only confirmed the rumor…
“Doggy! Why scare?” Oposombie asked as he stood back up. How could he just shirk something like that off like it was nothing?
“Listen. My father just tried to kill me a short while ago, and now he’s coming to finish what he started. We have to get out of here now!”
“Doggy not run, though. Scare easy? Me help doggy.” Oposombie sat on the ground, hunched over, and started to dig. Within a split second or so, he’d disappeared into a small-sized hole.
“Want live? Come me!” he then ordered.
“I can’t fit!” I replied. There was no way I could get though that! And my digging skills were simply atrocious…
“Hold breath.”
“What?” I felt my body starting to sink into the dirt just then. I started to struggle, but only sank more quickly. Before my head was completely submerged in the earth, I took a deep breath and shut my maw tightly.
I kept sinking for a long moment before finally landing on something solid underground. Sensing that I was in a large tunnel with Oposombie, I immediately exhaled and took several breaths. The air was musty and smelled of rot, but that was probably due to the dead possum’s decayed body.
“Hiding spot good. No one find me and doggy here,” Oposombie commented.
“Where is this?”
“Cave made Diglett and Dugtrio once. Oposombie find when leave,” he continued, turning around, “Outlet! You follow.” Then, he started moving forward.
After a few seconds, I began to follow. There was no telling just where he was going to lead me, just as long as I could elude Father and my brothers.
<End>
