#nmmp — Public Fediverse posts

Rabbit House Obon (ラビットハウスお盆)

#IsTheOrderARabbit? (#GochiUsa) #FanFiction

#MicroPrompt #MastoPrompt 8/13

Takahiro held the amber #malt up to the #light, showing his appreciation with a tiny nod, then handed it to Midori.

Rabbit House was currently quiet, with Aoyama Midori being the only customer. She took a sip and sighed with contentment. “Nice.”

“Are you visiting anyone for Obon?” he asked, leaning against the bar. With just Midori and himself, he could relax. It was a soft, warm evening, perfect for that.

“My daughter. It was a swimming accident.”

“I’m sorry.” He paused. “I didn’t know you had a daughter.”

“I don’t talk about it. Maybe I’ll write a story about her someday, but right now, cute will do. Chino reminds me of her. Cute, quiet, shy, good kid. I miss her.”

“Where is she?”

“Cimetière du Lapin Vert. Tomorrow morning, I’ll buy some flowers, marigolds. She loved them, and they’re bright like her smile.”

“Would you mind taking Chino? Her mother wanted to see her.”

She nodded, and Takahiro slid another malt whiskey across to her. “On the house.”

#MircoFiction #TootFic #NMPrompts #NMMP #Obon #ご注文はうさぎですか? #ごちうさ

To a Forgotten Dreamer II

#Wss366 (For the new word) #MastoPrompt 8/12

The caravan #halted above Far Karabash.

From Neither Lang’s once verdant hills, they saw the twisted streets of its bazaar.

The camels spat at not having arrived yet and longed for the cooling waters of Minashi-by-the-Sea.

Their drivers silently signed themselves against evil and glanced at the waning stars above. The moon grew dimmer by the hour.

From where they were, they couldn’t see the dust devils dance in Karabash’s haunted streets.

The city’s fireworks no longer bloomed in the even dusk. Its crystal #fruit had ceased singing.

Far Karabash’s dreamer no longer dreamed but slept forever in hushed darkness.

#MircoFiction #TootFic #NMPrompts #NMV366 #NMMP #Drabble #LordDunsany #Pastiche

#TimeTravelingGhost Part 30: Episode 2: 1937: The Hindenburg Part P

#Wss366 #MastoPrompt #TimeTravelAuthors 8/11. Cold/freezing in your story

By the time we got to the cabin, Emily had calmed down. Instead of a lecture, she said, “The steward must have been in a cold sweat. There he is, fishing for more tips, and you turn out to be a health faddist. Do people in the future actually eat that stuff?”

“It’s popular. You can find it at any supermarket — you do have supermarkets, right?”

“We do, but not in Arkham. Boston has an A&P and a Safeway.”

“I’m sorry, I should have known yogurt might be an anachronism.”

“Forget it; that’s past and gone. It’s hard to believe that yogurt and probably whole wheat bread would become popular.”

“That too, but no flying cars or personal jet packs, but we have no-#fault auto insurance.”

A smile tugged at Emily’s lips. “That’s disappointing. Now, about tipping…”

Once Emily finished her quick lecture on current idioms, we turned our attention to testing our new abilities. We shared the same standard skills, though we each had our own drawbacks. Anything involving dematerialization fatigued me: flying, passing through walls, invisibility. Anything involving materialization fatigued her: visibility, picking up objects, etc. Overdoing it left us cold, shivering, and unable to move.

“I’m worried about your plan,” Emily said. “What if you materialize halfway down and fall? We don’t have any proof you can’t die. You just assumed that.”

“It’s a risk, but we can’t test it. Please don’t test it!” I threw my hands in the air with a look of mock alarm.

Emily missed the joke. “Good Lord, of course I wouldn’t test that.”

That was too much, and I broke out laughing. “And that’s how it happened! To test the theory, the intrepid spy fired three shots from her pocket revolver. The ghost dodged, only to be engulfed in flames as the bullets ignited the hydrogen. And now we return you to our sponsor, Hydrolux, the dish detergent you can count on.”

Emily’s expression set me off again; a moment later, she was laughing too. “You’re quite a card, you know.”

The dinner chime cut off any witty retort I might have had.

“I’m looking forward to it. The menu says we have a choice of Dover #sole or fillet of beef with mushroom sauce—but no flaming cherries jubilee for dessert. Such a shame, just chilled brandied peaches.”

“Better hurry, or you’ll miss it. It wasn’t the spy who caused the explosion; it was the cook when they flamed the crème brûlée. The sole survivor was the dishwasher, who fell into a tub of Hydrolux suds. Seriously, though, watch out. Dinner could be a conversational minefield; you do come out with some odd turns of phrase.”

I gave her a thumbs up as I departed. If she said anything more, I didn’t hear it over the announcement of dinner.

#MircoFiction #TootFic #Serial #PulpFiction #TimeTravel #NMPrompts #NMTTA #NMV366 #NMMP #NMTTG

#TimeTravelingGhost Part 23: Episode 2: 1937: The Hindenburg Part I

#Wss366 #MastoPrompt #TimeTravelAuthors 7/25. Jewelry and fashion in your story.

“I didn’t see any rabbits when I was alive,” Emily began. “There was no warning of a problem, just suddenly there were flames. My last wish before I blacked out was to go back and warn myself. When I came to, I was no longer on the Hindenburg; instead, I was in Frankfurt on the day I’d left.”

The first thing I tried was speaking to her in her hotel room. I remember standing in front of the door, frustrated that I didn’t have the key. I gave the door an angry shove, and to my surprise, my hand went through it. That’s when it really hit me: “I’m a ghost.”

“It’s tricky going through things, but I managed to enter the room.

“There I was, putting on a long blue…” Emily began, and I waved my hands for her to get on with it. Clothing wasn’t what I was interested in. I wanted to know about Nazi rabbits and mind-reading studies.

“Anyway, I tried talking to her, but she couldn’t hear me. I was #nagging and yelling at her by the time we reached the lobby, and that’s when I saw them. There were two rabbits dressed—the way you saw—in those awful black SS uniforms, talking to the ‘kind’ officer who had ‘volunteered’ to drive me to the aerodrome.”

“I didn’t know if they could detect me, so I made myself inconspicuous. I wasn’t getting through to her anyway.”

“All I could do was drift along above the car, following them to the Hindenburg. It felt like floating through a movie scene, #severed from reality.”

“Wow, Emily is one adaptive person.” I hadn’t tried any of those things: passing through walls, floating, flying, and God knows what else.

Emily continued her story. “When we got to the aerodrome, there were two more rabbits. I don’t know if they were the same ones. They had the same black uniforms and death-head insignia. They watched me—her—board the Hindenburg. My driver nodded to a rabbit, a major, and they also boarded. I don’t know how many are on the ship, but at least three.”

“That’s the story. You saw me trying to talk to… myself. Oh, and I tried possessing myself with no luck.”

I thought I understood, despite the tangle of “I”s and “me”s. But for the future, I said, “It will be easier for both of us if you refer to your living self as ‘her’ or ‘Ms. Pang.’ And you”—I pointed at her—“as ‘I’ or ‘Emily.’ Is it all right if I call you Emily?”

She nodded.

#TootFic #Serial #PulpFiction #TimeTravel #NMPrompts #NMTTA #NMV366 #NMMP

Tanabata Bird Case – Part 2

七夕バード事件

#OthersidePicnic X #MissKobayashisDragonMaid #FanFiction

#WSS366 #MastoPrompt 7/7

“It’s moving,” Riko said as the origami bird began fluttering.

“It’s the fan,” Kanna said.

Kanna and Riko’s eyes grew wide as the bird took flight, soaring over the classroom.

“Look, a bird got in,” a boy pointed.

“Listen,” a girl in rumpled clothes said. “It’s singing.”

“How lovely,” a third voice said.

“It’s like a dream. I can see the song,” a girl in the back said. She held a manga tightly in her hands, eyes wide, listening.

“It’s Kozakura-san and Kasumi,” Kanna whispered. “It’s a vision.”

Each of them saw Kasumi with her hair done up with dozens of blue bows. She was eyeing a strawberry-covered cake. Kozakura had a big smile and was cutting an enormous slice of cake.

“Your mom looks happy,” Kanna gently touched Kasumi hair, “and those are lovely ribbons.”

“There are Toriko-san and Sorawo-san,” Kanna said as the two adventurers appeared. The tall blonde Toriko was smiling broadly and held a large stuffed bear. The blue ribbon around its neck matched the one in Kasumi’s hair. A serious Sorawo stood next to Toriko, holding a small wrapped present.

Kanna giggled. It was so like the two women: enthusiastic Toriko and her serious girlfriend.

As quickly as the birthday scene had appeared, it dissolved, replaced by a new one.

This time Riko spoke, “That’s me! Oh… And I’m hugging Kasumi. And there we go—running. I’m pushing her on the swings. We’re having so much fun!”

Riko looked at the real Kasumi. “Is that what you want—to be real friends?” Kasumi nodded harder, smiling.

The vision changed once more.

“Look, that’s me,” Kanna said. “All grown up, still wearing my hair ties.”

“You kissed her on the cheek,” Riko said. “I want that too. If you kiss Kasumi, you have to kiss me.”

With one more burst of vision, the three girls appeared in a swan boat. Then, with a final flutter, the bird slipped out the open window.

“The visions—are they what you wished for?” Kanna asked, and Kasumi nodded, head bobbing wildly.

Kasumi finally spoke in a voice a little like Toriko’s. “I think if you wish hard enough, anything can come true.”

#MicroFiction #TootFic #NMPrompts #NMV366 #NMMP
#LightNovel #Manga #Fantasy #SliceOfLife #Yuri
#KobayashisDragonMaid #DragonMaid #小林さんちのメイドラゴン
#UraPi #裏世界ピクニック #Tanabata #七夕 #たなばた

Tanabata Bird Case – Part 1

七夕バード事件

#OthersidePicnic X #MissKobayashisDragonMaid #FanFiction

#WSS366 #MastoPrompt 7/7

“Ohhh…” Riko stared at the little stand of bamboo the teacher had put at the classroom’s #entrance. Each student had hung a Tanabata wish on it the day before.

“So many colors! Look at them dance!” Kanna said, looking at the slips of paper spinning in the breeze made by a fan the teacher had put nearby.

The other two girls were entranced, especially Kasumi, who studied each fluttering wish like it meant something.

“What did you wish for?” Riko asked, turning to Kanna.

“Silly, you’re not supposed to tell your wish,” Kanna replied.

“At least point it out,” Riko said.

Kanna pointed to a neatly #clipped slip of lilac paper.

Riko peered at it. “Ah, I can’t read it.” Then she turned to Kasumi, saying, “Which one is yours?”

Kasumi indicated to a white bird, the only origami on the bamboo.

Only the three girls noticed what happened next. Everyone else’s eyes had been drawn to Kasumi. The fan’s breeze had caught her long hair, and, for a moment, she looked like a witch child flying with her hair streaming behind her.

(1/2 Continued)

#MicroFiction #TootFic #NMPrompts #NMV366 #NMMP
#LightNovel #Manga #Fantasy #SliceOfLife #Yuri
#KobayashisDragonMaid #DragonMaid #小林さんちのメイドラゴン
#UraPi #裏世界ピクニック #Tanabata #七夕 #たなばた

The #Case of Beach Terrors

#OthersidePicnic X #MissKobayashisDragonMaid #FanFiction

#WSS366 #MastoPrompt 7/4

“Wow, look at the sand.” Riko was pointing at the beach in front of the three friends: Kanna, Riko, and Kasumi. “And look.” She ran forward and picked up a broken sand dollar.

Kanna smiled. Beaches were nothing new to her, but seeing her friend excited pleased her. On the other hand, she was worried about Kasumi, who had stuck a tentative toe in the sand. “Are you okay, Kasumi-san?” she asked.

“It’s fine. Nothing bad is going to happen,” Kanna said. She didn’t know what Kasumi was, but she figured her friend was also from another universe, one where a beach was a danger zone.

Riko had run ahead, so Kasumi didn’t have to be careful of what she said. It was tough cutting and splicing phrases to communicate. So she just pulled a quote from memory: “On a scale of ‘weird dog’ to ‘entity that erases time,’ how dangerous are we talking?”

“Fluffy cute puppy—come on.” She grabbed Kasumi’s hand and led the still hesitant but reassured Kasumi out onto the beach.

Riko, meanwhile, had found a pile of seaweed and was poking through it. Kasumi pointed at her and stitched together a new quote. “It won’t turn into a weird dog and eat her?” It was clumsy, and she could have done better, but Kanna understood.

“No, it’s normal seaweed. Things don’t turn into other things here.”

“Okay, shoot it if it does.”

Kanna bent down and picked up a sand crab from #under a piece of driftwood where it was hiding.

“Kasumi shrieked, trying to hide behind Kanna. ‘No, no, no, it’s turning weird!’”

Kanna glanced over her shoulder, then, making sure Riko wasn’t watching, bit into the crab. “See, if it turns, I’ll eat it.”

“You ate that. Do you have a third stomach?”

Kanna glanced at Riko and said in a low voice so only Kasumi heard, “I’m not from this world either. Let it be our little secret.”

Kasumi nodded. “Accomplices.”

#MicroFiction #NMPrompts #NMV366 #NMMP
#LightNovel #Manga #Fantasy #SliceOfLife #Yuri
#KobayashisDragonMaid #DragonMaid #小林さんちのメイドラゴン
#UraPi #裏世界ピクニック