telepathy

Twitch Stream Story: Stumblethought

~ Blaine Arcade ~ 1 Comment

Prompt: A man has the power to read minds, but it’s only activated when he drinks alcohol. He wants to be a hero, but he gets derailed once he starts drinking.

Avoiding bars was supposed to be the safe thing to do if you were an alcoholic. He had done that admirably, but this was Lassie’s. Lassie’s was a somewhat casual eatery that might as well have only been open on Fridays, because that’s where ninety percent of their business lived. That was when they sold the honey mustard chicken strips and wings for half-off, which is what convinced him to go with a few friends. Continue reading →

Panic in the Mumgrass

~ Blaine Arcade ~ 4 Comments

Modified animals with human minds roam the jungles and savannas, each kind generally keeping to their own, but the trailcutter of the mighty water buffalo-like brohoov must explore other options when he learns there’s a traitor in their midst, causing fatal stampedes at every turn…

(reading time: 1 hour, 12 minutes)

Panic in the Mumgrass

“Stampede!” a voice shouted.  Hundreds of others joined in calling out the word and took off running.  The herd’s countless hooves pounded the mumgrass they were grazing on moments before into a thick choppy pulp.  Calves called to their mothers in the confusion, unsure where to run.  One of the older beasts tripped and rolled onto its side; a second later it was trampled to death by its distracted kin.

The calls to flee took a moment to reach the back of the herd, since this group of Brohoov was over six hundred strong.  When it did, the herd’s leader, Dodarka, growled to himself, Not again!  He was forced to join in as the horns of those behind him pushed and shoved forward.  It didn’t matter how much authority he carried as TrailCutter, it would take an act of god to stop a stampede before it ran its course.  That meant an hour of running until everyone’s legs burned and their breath came in great gasps of mist that shot from their wide nostrils like jets of volcanic gas.  It meant everyone would need a little more food to recover their strength.  It meant innocent dead, crushed in the storm surge of stupid fear. Continue reading →