July is that wonderful masochistic time of year when a group of those slightly odd wordmonkeys attempt to spew creativity on a daily basis, because trying to churn out a novel in a month or a poem a day just aren't hardcore enough on their own.
Challenge #1
Write a story that incorporates elements from urban fantasy and comedy.
Challenge #1
Write a story that incorporates elements from urban fantasy and comedy.
Ziggy pressed his face between the flaky iron bars of the fence. Shadows hugged the sloping lines of brittle trees and cast dark loops across the overgrown lawn. In the centre stood the house. Gauzy curtains fluttered out through broken windows. Part of the roof had caved in, and the front door hung at a slant. In the distance, what remained of the chapel spire and the handful of broken headstones could just be seen through the fog. A shiver ran down his spine. The whole thing was delightfully creepy.
‘Right,’ he said, stepping away from the fence. ‘Up you go.’
Zero looked up at the very tall fence, taking particular note of the very long spikes topping each bar. ‘Why do I have to go first? You never go first. It’s your turn.’
‘You can’t die,’ Ziggy said. ‘The person who can’t die always goes first. That’s a rule.’
‘You just made that up.’
Ziggy tapped his foot impatiently and pointed to the fence. ‘Up.’
Zero leaned forward and tapped one of the bars with a long, lacquered nail. ‘Can’t.’
‘What is it this time?’
‘Consecrated ground.’ Zero pointed between the bars at the fallen spire. ‘You know I can’t go on consecrated ground.’
‘Oh, for fuck’s sake. They’re Protestants. It doesn’t count.’
‘Sorry. I don’t make up the rules as I go along.’ Zero poked his finger halfway between the bars, and stopped it, appearing to demonstrate he couldn’t cross any further.
Ziggy was not convinced. ‘Even if the church part was consecrated, it’s way over there. They wouldn’t have gone around blessing every inch. You’re just trying to get out of climbing the fence because you’re a big scaredy-cat.’
‘Am not!’ Zero stuck his tongue out at Ziggy. ‘I would totally climb that fence and not even think twice about it. I just can’t. Because it’s consecrated. I can sense these things.’
‘Uh-huh.’ Ziggy climbed up on the stone base and tested the bars in front of him. It wasn’t the tallest thing he’d ever scaled, and was certainly feasible. ‘Give us a boost, then.’ He wedged his foot in Zero’s cupped hands and hoisted himself onto the top rail of the fence, balancing precariously between the spikes before dropping over to the other side. ‘Give me the flashlight.’
Zero looked at the torch in his hand, then at Ziggy on the other side of the bars. ‘What do you want the flashlight for?’ he asked, clutching it to his chest.
‘So I don’t trip over some dead body and break my neck. Come on. Hand it over.’
‘What am I supposed to use?’
‘I dunno. Maybe your ability to see in the dark?’
Zero clutched the flashlight tighter. ‘I never said I could see in the dark.’
Ziggy levelled his gaze his companion. ‘Are we seriously having this conversation?’
‘What if something comes and I don’t see it because I don’t have a flashlight?’
‘So you can magically sense consecrated ground, but you can’t tell when some big, toothy beasty is about to sneak up on you in the middle of a deserted street?’
Zero pressed up against the fence. ‘Do you really think there are big, toothy beasties?’
Ziggy reached over Zero’s shoulder and swiped the flashlight. ‘Worst. Vampire. Ever,’ he said. ‘Have fun guarding for beasties.’
Zero watched Ziggy head up the path, the flashlight orb bouncing ahead of him, and then they both vanished into the shadows. He looked up and down the abandoned street. ‘Damn it.’
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