Hey All,

Amuze-gueule: The term is French, literally translated to "mouth amuser" or "maw amuser". The idea is very short stories or just scenes, good for new authors to try some writing in a relaxed environment, and also for experienced authors to try out writing techniques or ideas that they either don't want or don't have time to try in their main works.

Stories may be complete or isolated scenes lacking context, perhaps beginning or ending in medias res: In the middle of things. They may be as short as you like, but will typically be less than one-thousand words long. People can then comment on those stories in this same thread.

I'll post something up a bit later as an example, but otherwise do we think this is a good idea?

Yours,

Ambrose,

Yes, why not? It is indeed a good idea; it could be quite useful.

It's a great idea I think

This is too good of an idea to leave exiled to the depths of the forum. Thus, I've created something to put here. My first foray into the first-person perspective (which was weirder than I expected with a female character), and a much more angsty tone than usual too. (And a little long, just barely under 1000 words.) Feel free to let me know just how disastrously it turned out.

And no, this is not a new direction for my writing, just a flight of fancy. Though a couple of my previously used characters are here, albeit unnamed.

The Little Things
"Look girl, I really, really tried to humor you, but it's stupid! Why are you making such a big deal about this?" Chiilia said, tone filled with exasperation. I looked straight into her eyes, searching for some hint of understanding, or even that she wanted to understand. There was none. Not that I could blame her, the truth could be a cruel thing, and it had nearly destroyed me. But then I had always been... fragile, though I hadn't known it.

"But you promised. You lied to me."

"I know, and I'm sorry. I just thought... I could do it where you wouldn't see. Until you got over this... phase. It's not like I'm hurting anyone." I suppressed the urge laugh. Or cry.

"Please, Chiilia, just put her down."

"...No. No, I won't! You can do whatever you want, and I'd never judge you, so why can't you give me the same courtesy? No. I will not be bullied into just doing whatever you say! I worked hard to catch this, and I'm going to enjoy it." The little human in Chiilia's hand looked back and forth between the two of us, breathing hard, eyes wide with fear.

"No, you are not. Please, I don't want to hurt you."

"What the hell happened to you? You used to be so fun... happy. And now you're just... I don't know. It's like I don't even know you anymore."

"I mean it! Put her down." I pulled myself up out of the water, displayed my height advantage over Chiilia. I did my best to be intimidating, despite the fact she outweighed me by quite a bit, due to her tail, and I had no natural weaponry to speak of. She'd probably crush me in a real fight. Literally.

"So... what? You're just going to beat me up if I don't give you your way? Is that where we're at, now?"

"I tried to explain this to you..."

"And it was stupid! 'Humans are just like us'? Come on! I thought you were joking. Just look at it for a second." Chiilia held out her hand containing the terrified human for emphasis. I wasn't likely to get a better shot, so I lunged. Chiilia yelped and pulled her arm back, so I just continued the assault, barreling into her so that we both crashed to the ground in a tangle.

"Agkh! Are you insane?! Let-urk!" Chiilia's tail lashed around, looping reflexively around my waist in its search for purchase. The pressure, even from a single coil when she wasn't actively trying to hurt me, was painful, crushing the breath from my lungs. I wasn't afraid though; she might be able to (easily) destroy my body if she tried, but she couldn't kill me.

I acted on impulse, twisting to pin her under me, her shocked, hurt eyes meeting mine for a moment... before I hit her in the face. Hard. She made a strangled sound, more indicative of emotional pain than physical, and I ignored the sickening guilt that rose up in the pit of my stomach. Taking hold of the human-holding-arm by the wrist, I wrenched it until she cried out in pain, snatching the human (who was now screaming in blind fear) away as gently as I could.

Chiilia probably could have just constricted me until I passed out and taken her back, but she didn't. Instead she writhed, shoving and squirming away from me as though my touch burned her, only stopping when she was well out of reach. She was breathing hard, tears in her eyes, holding one hand to her mouth, where she seemed to be bleeding slightly. Her face held an expression of utter hurt and betrayal, as though her best friend had attacked her over nothing. And she would probably spend her whole life thinking that was exactly what happened.

"W-why? I... I thought we were friends..." her voice broke, unsteady with emotion. I wanted to cry. To go over and hug her, apologize, beg for forgiveness. Tell her I had lost my mind, or something. Anything. But it could never go back to the way things were. And apparently, she couldn't follow where I was going.

"We were," I said softly, not trusting my voice with anything more complex. The stricken look on her face broke my heart, but mercifully she turned away quickly, the sound of her sobs as she slithered back into the jungle making me feel like a monster. Apparently, no matter what I did, in the end I was always the monster. Perhaps it was karma, if such a thing exists.

I finally tore my eyes away from the spot Chiilia had been, looking down at the tiny, fragile, vulnerable creature in my hand. I was struck; suddenly, painfully reminded of that young woman on the beach, nearly a year ago. They didn't look alike at all, the girl in the present wearing a tight, dark full-body covering, her hair equally dark and tied back in a little knot, in contrast to the wispy blonde of the girl from my past. Still, there was a fire in her eyes, a zest for life perhaps, including all the dangers inherent in it, that they seemed to share. She stared back up at me, and swallowed.

"You don't have to be afraid, I will protect you. Have you anywhere to go?" I said as gently as I could. She nodded, warily, a little bit of hopefulness creeping into her features. Perhaps it would be enough. Perhaps for both of us.

Thank you for reviving the thread!

That's a heart-wrenching situation, beautifully written. Writers have dealt with similar conflicts before (heck, including myself), but never like this. The emotions are really well conveyed. You make it so easy to understand the sincere hurt each character feels, and to sympathise with them. Ouch.

This is nice for all the short nonsense stories that mob me on occasion. Comedy piece I thought up a day ago.

Attack!

The pinpricks of the all-wood sword, little more than an elongated stake, barely even itched. The weapon was barely sharp enough to break his skin, and the ten-year old neko girl wielding it was hardly the strongest warrior in the world. The chilotaur, a male with dusky skin and a black lower half, just raised an eyebrow at the child stabbing at the hand she was caught in.

It was peculiar. He hadn't picked her up to eat her, as he disliked the taste of nekos, but to halt her from attacking him. She had just suddenly burst out of the thick brush of the Bulvon wood, letting out a squeaky battle-cry, and began jabbing at him with the sword.

"What the heck are you doing?" he asked, wondering at her fervor.

"Imma monster hunter! I WILL END YOU!" was her only reply, along with a renewal in her frenzied pricks.

The chilotaur put his free hand on his face. He knew children of the smaller humanoids often played at hunting giant predators, but for one to actually go out and ATTACK a predator was ludicrous. He sighed at her foolishness and plucked the toy sword from her tiny hands, snapping it between his fingers.

"Kyaaaa! You broke it! Now I can't slay you!"

The chilotaur rolled his eyes; she couldn't have slain him in any case. He put her down, then shooed her away. The neko ran off, crying and shouting that she would come back for revenge one day.

"Remember my face! I'll come back when I get a metal sword, and then you'll be sorry!"


Felarya is Karbo's

Named characters are mine unless otherwise stated.

Those stories are short but really nicely written, with a situation developping and a conclusion

The mermaid one was really powerful with strong and very well conveyed emotions ! you could really feel the distress of Chiilia. great work here ^__^

And that one with the hilotaur was unusual and fu, really nice job on managing to make something interesting in such a short space

FrenchSnack: Thank you, good sir, I'm glad to hear it had the desired effect. Also, I would be remiss if I did not point out that several of your stories were a fairly direct inspiration for this.

MrNobody: That was freaking adorable! Simple, but nicely realized.

Karbo: Thank you. That was quite a departure for me, but that's kinda of what this thread is for huh?

Well, been doing some brainstorming related to the most recent group contest, but so far my muse has not been cooperating. Instead, this popped into my brain, and would not leave until I wrote it out, proving that I am a terrible, terrible person, for which I feel absolutely no shame. Since this lovely topic has once again sunken farther than I think is right, I will once again be the bearer of the mighty bump.

This probably won't make much sense to anyone who hasn't read the 4th Tome of the Felarya Manga. It also might not make much sense to anyone under any circumstances.

Enjoy, if you dare. X3


Practice Makes Perfect

"Urgh! It's just impossible!" the enormous, blue-skinned female cursed, causing Dr. Eira Millicent to cringe fearfully. Her first expedition to collect Hydrographical data on the Jewel River was not going especially well, so far.

Eira dangled, flushed, panting and soaked in saliva, from the mermaid's fingers. Her clothes were disheveled to the point of risque comedy, at least under other circumstances; skirt knotted up around her waist, blouse unbuttoned but wrapped intractably about her left arm, and her bra had ended up trapped on her neck.

"I-I'm sorry...?"

"Oh, it's not your fault, I just need more practice. Now; straighten them back out so I can try again," the mermaid said firmly, placing Eira on her stomach and watching expectantly.

"A-again?"

"Yes, again! If she can do it, it can't be that hard. Now hurry up, unless you want me to just eat you."

"No! No, I'm hurrying!" Eira began half-frantically realigning her clothes, a process the mermaid observed curiously. The whole day had gone from terrifying, to profoundly surreal and only slightly less terrifying, when the mermaid had caught her on the bank, but instead of eating her, had introduced herself as Mina, and done... this.

"They're so small, I wonder if there's some sort of trick to it..." the mermaid murmured thoughtfully.

"This doesn't seem like normal mermaid behavior, I just... are... are you going to eat me?" Eira asked once she had returned her clothes to some semblance of order, unable to stand the suspense anymore.

"Judging by how this is going, probably not," Mina returned, voice filled with annoyance. "I resolved to myself that if I can't get you unwrapped, I have to let you go. Helps keep me motivated. I had a bunch of fish earlier anyway, or else I would have just eaten you up lickety-split."

"I... see. Maybe if you explained what this is all about, I-"

"Alright, you look ready to go," the massive predator interrupted, "third time's the charm!" Without any further warning, the blue-skinned giant lifted Eira into the air, where she squirmed despite herself. Then, she was lowered into that huge, cavernous mouth for the third time.

"Ohh, oh gods..."

Once again, she was enclosed in humid darkness, and once again the mermaid's tongue began a clumsy series of attempts to undress her, a process which while not exactly pleasant and profoundly embarrassing, was very much preferable to being digested.

Now, her life rested on the hope that this Mina wouldn't start getting good at... tongue-stripping. Or even just 'forgot' about her little resolution. Still, it was better odds than most could ask for when languishing inside a mermaid's mouth whilst her tongue attempted to remove their bra.

I think the only appropriate response to that is: Oh, gawd!

Looks like a good challenge, so to speak. Having a limited amount of words - either going for the 1,000 mark suggested here or giving yourself your own limitations - helps in developing your imagination and your writing skills... Trust me, it isn't the same writing with no limits than with a word limit. ;P

I might try this sooner or later.

@PrinnyDood: I have to read more of your work. That story was flippin awesome! I can't really say enough about it. Nice job on it all around.

I wouldn't call it "awesome" however the prose was fine, I couldn't see any mistakes and the events flowed quite well. Stories like these tend to have a sharp point that is just there, exposed by the length of the story. The entire text becomes the point. I didn't really see much of a point in "Practice Makes Perfect."

Taken from the introduction to 100 great science fiction short short stories:
"Finally, in the short short story, everything is eliminated but the point. The short short story reduces itself to the point alone and presents that to you like a bare needle fired from a blowgun; a needle that can tickle or sting and leave its effect buried within you for a long time." - Issac Asimov

haha that was a great story
I loved what you did with that idea and you are right to point out how hard it would be XD