The Confabulator Cafe

Author: ayoung

  • Nicholas Does Science

    Nicholas and his fascinating obsession with science.

     

    Their home wasn’t enormous, but it was more spacious than average to afford extra room for books and research. It was also located near the center of the underground town and had belonged to Storykeeper families for generations. “Nicholas, where are you?” Eidald called as he searched the house room by room for his adopted son.

    “You know that boy is probably in your study. I think he may love those books more than your father ever did.” Zofiya looked up from the pile of chia seeds that Nessa, their daughter, and she were harvesting.

    “I suppose I should have thought of that first.”

    “Yes, you should have,” Zofiya’s words were brining with hostility as they had been for the past ten harvests. Just when Eidald thought her ire was lessening it would flare back to life. “When you find him, tell him to come help separate the seeds.”

    “Actually, I had something I wanted to show him.”

    “But not Nessa?” Zofiya’s words were laced with daggers. Nessa hunched lower as if she could escape remove herself from the middle of her warring parents.

    “If she wants to come along, she can join us,” Eidald answered slowly, knowing that he was surrounded by a minefield of wrong answers.

    Nessa looked back and forth between them before finally whispering, “Uh, okay.” She brushed her hands off and hurried to Eidald’s side.

    “We’ll be back in time for the dimming meal.”

    “You probably shouldn’t have said that,” Nessa whispered on their way to the study. (more…)

  • Mansion

    “Bernard!” Philip’s voice carried easily across the grungy one bedroom apartment. Bernard knew that tone, knew what it meant, and knew the fear that would be reflected in his eyes would only enrage Philip more.

    “You didn’t wind the bloody alarm! Do you want me to lose my job?!” Philip emerged from the bedroom, suspenders hanging loosely from his pants.

    “I’m sorry, papa. What can I do?”

    “What can you do?” Philip stumbled over an empty bottle. Bernard had a second to duck before the bottle was kicked at his head. “You useless piece of shite!”

    Bernard felt a whimper crawl up his throat, and wished he had let the bottle hit him.

    “Now I’m going to be even later! What do you have to say for yourself?!” Bernard hugged his knees to his chest as Philip’s kicks seemed to find every sensitive organ.

    “Papa?” he whimpered as blood blotted out his vision.

    “Stop you’re whining. You have no idea what the real world is like. Your existence should have been ended with a hanger.”

    Bernard remained still as his blood dripped slowly onto the floor until he heard the sound of the door slamming. He relaxed and was rewarded with searing pain. Bernard listened to the sounds of human misery as he waited for the strength to get up and clean his blood off the floor. There would be hell to pay if Philip got home and found a bloody mess.

    He closed his eyes and listened to babies screaming their hunger to empty rooms, and young children playing with laughs just a little too desperate. The sound of the lock jiggling sent a bolt through him and he attempted to push himself from the floor.

    He can’t be back yet! (more…)

  • Bunnies

    Orlen stood back and looked at their work. “Do you think it’ll work?” he asked his brother, Neven.

    “Now you want my opinion?” Neven snapped as he knocked on a length of the solid wooden fence.

    “Cloth wouldn’t work, Orlen.”

    “How do you know? Rosella said they tried it and it worked on their section of the Vine.”

    “Yes and Derek, and John, and Pearl tried it on their Vines and those damn beasts barrelled through it like it was nothing. We can’t risk them getting through, the Vine is too fragile right now.”

    “I don’t know what those damn hunters are doing.”

    “Oh come on now, Neven. They’re doing the best they can. We need to plant more diversion crops to draw them away.”

    “Who’s got time for that?”

    If you didn’t spend half your free time drinking, perhaps you would have time for that! Orlen bit his tongue though.

    “Perhaps if we put up a sign up sheet for it?”

    “Sure, why not.” Neven shrugged. He leapt over one of the short fences that separated the property from the main road. (more…)

  • Only You

    The crystals hanging from the shop door jingled and Alexandra looked up from counting inventory to find a confused girl looking around.

    Of all the curio shops, why did she have to come to mine? Alexandra wanted to crawl behind the shelves and duck away into the back room. Too bad those beaded curtains would give me away.

    “Hi Gianna, how can I help you?” Alexandra put on her best customer service smile she could muster.

    “There’s sunshine in chairs!” Gianna’s face was contorted in frustration.

    “What?”

    “There’s sunshine in chairs and the tub can’t sing!” Tears were forming around the girl’s infamous pretty brown eyes.

    Alexandra exhaled a soft laugh. “Who did you piss off?”

    “A giraffe and a desk. Will there be pillows?” Gianna’s puppy dog eyes turned hopeful.

    “I can’t understand a word you’re saying, Gianna. Try writing it down.” Alexandra flipped the page on her inventory tally and handed the clipboard to her. (more…)

  • The Crow Keeper

    Emmaline hesitated to ask the girl what was wrong. Far too often it led to a game or trick being played on her, but Nadia’s distress appeared to be quite real.

    “What’s wrong?”

    “Claudia has been gone for nearly two weeks. She should have been back by now.”

    “She’s a clever girl. I’m sure she’s fine.”

    “She’s not. I can feel it.” Nadia shook her head vigorously as she searched the dark void above them.

    There was no use arguing, a crow keeper and their wards were bound together in a union created by the glowstones. If a keeper said their ward was in danger, it was simply a statement of fact.

    “Then we should go.”

    “You are going to help me?” Nadia’s question was full of suspicion.

    “If I don’t who will?” (more…)

  • The Dragon Lore

    I wonder how much longer we can go on like this, Elder Eidald thought as he surveyed the town bathed in the soft orange light cast off from numerous glowstones. He stood and massaged the stiffness out of his shoulder. With the dwindling supply of glowstones, the moths are venturing closer and closer to town to get the fruit.

    Reports from those attempting the coming of age trial were grim. Some reported as few as a dozen of the life-giving fruit growing from the Great Vine.

    Waldomar refuses to listen to reason, but I fear that soon the decision will be made for us… His dark musings were interrupted by a tug on his cloak.

    “Kenan, my boy, what brings you to my gardens? Have you come for some of Emaline’s favourite nectar?”

    “No.” Kenan folded his chubby little arms over his tiny chest. The boy was just six cycles old, but he could be oddly serious at times.

    “Have you two been fighting again?”

    His frown was out of place on a child so young. “Tell me a story.” (more…)

  • Laying Down The Law

    “Come on Grandma, we’re going to be late!” Alexandra Underwood called up the stairs to Jean.

    “Oh quit your fussing, there’s still an hour before the concert starts,” Jean’s disembodied voice floated down.

    “Yeah an hour for you! I have to get there and get set up. This bad boy doesn’t tune itself.” She tapped on the cello case.

    “Perhaps you should consider meditating to prepare?”

    “Grandma, seriously!”

    The phone chose this inopportune time to begin ringing.

    “Of for-”

    “Language!” Jean interrupted the curse as she appeared at the top of the stairs.

    “Don’t answer it!” Alex grabbed the phone from the little decorative table whose only purpose seemed to be to hold Jean’s two phones and keys. (more…)

  • Soul Bracelet

    Alexandra felt certain that the heat was literally melting her flesh from her bones as she sat in front of the wheezing fan. This summer had been particularly brutal and the weatherwoman predicted no break in the heat on the horizon.

    “Seriously, Grandma Jean, can we turn the freaking AC on?” The fan distorted Alexandra’s voice making it all the more pitiful.

    “Language, young lady.”

    “Freaking isn’t a curse,” she muttered under her breath.

    “It’s the intent. And that’s all the more important given our abilities.”

    “Yeah, yeah. Like I’m going to start a fire by saying freaking.” She’d heard the speech far too many times in the last year living with her grandmother. “About the AC?”

    “I’ve managed to survive living here without air conditioning for a decade, I think you’ll be able to survive your next few years.” (more…)

  • The Unbrella

    Emaline looked out at her village and the noticeably dimmed glowstones lighting the streets of their large cavern. The crops had been reaped and it would be another thirty sleeps worth of guided rest and reflection with the Elders before they could sew the next crop.

    Oh how I hate the Yule season. Nothing to do other than watch other people go off on their rites of passage. Her rite wouldn’t be for another two harvests thanks to a promise she had made to her father. He had insisted that she take Kenan with her, and it had seemed like a small thing to promise at the time.

    She watched the procession as the elders guided the two boys to the edge of town and gave them blessings from the gods of travel, speed, and luck. I would have been perfectly safe if I had gone with those boys.

    “Emaline?” Kenan, the object of her irritation, called from the base of her tree.

    “What?”

    “Sheena wants you to come home.” His timid reply echoed up through the branches. “She made nectar seeds.” (more…)

  • Honour The Dead

    “Emaline! Duck!” Her mother screamed, and she dropped to the dirt without a second thought. Paper thin wings whooshed over her, but their claws missed. A blast of ice chilled her as her mother flung the magic into the beast.

    “Mother!” Emaline cried as she watched the woman fall to the ground as the moth shattered into red shards.

    Her mother’s veins pulse briefly with a faint glow, and she knew that Sheena would never wake again. She knelt next to her mother, and pulled her into her lap.

    “You shouldn’t have done that. The battle was nearly done. If you had just warned me, I could have defended myself. Foolish woman. We could have both made it through this.” She sat with her mother while the last few blasts exploded around her. A few people wailed their grief in the post-battle stillness.

    “Sheena too?” Waldomar’s voice rumbled next to her.

    “How many did we lose?”

    “Four including Sheena.” (more…)