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Continue reading →: The Howling“The morning is always the same. I’m covered in dried blood, and an exploding headache,” Rob told his friend. “Aren’t you tired of it? It’s been three years since your attack. After all this time, you still have found no way to reverse the curse,” said Dave. Rob and Dave…
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Continue reading →: Apothecary“Eels again? You’re not sticking that beastie on my bum, are you?” cried the miner. “This is no eel Angus. This beastie is a northern horned serpent, and they are very hard to come by,” replied Edweena. The Apothecarist terrified everyone who walked through her doors. Whether it was Sicilian…
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Continue reading →: Silent VigilWhen the corn stands dry and brittle, and a harvest moon hangs low in the sky. The Tatterman walks in search of lost souls. A hundred years ago, he stood as a tatterman guarding the farmers’ fields. One fateful night, a young girl took a shortcut through the corn field…
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Continue reading →: Alesi“Tamac, hurry up, I don’t want to miss seeing the rainbow falls,” said Alesi. “Must we always be rushing everywhere, Mistress?” replied the tiny dragon. Alesi had spent her entire life in the beloved forest of Ãlskad. She couldn’t imagine that the whole world was not an enormous forest. “Do…
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Continue reading →: Tavern Talk“If you weren’t my brother, I would box you about the ears,” said Agatha. “I tell you that thing is as real as you, and it tried to kill me,” replied her brother. Timothy had been on his way home from the field the previous night when a large beast…
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Continue reading →: A Heavy Burden“Apophis, I want to give it all up and move to another realm,” Death told his raven. “Boss, you always say the same thing as Samhan nears,” replied Apophis. The Grim Reaper was feeling rough around the edges lately. A recent surge in hurricanes and typhoons did not help matters.…
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Continue reading →: Afterthoughts“I’m not sure I did the right thing going onto their sacred lands,” said Marcella. “I wish I could comfort you by saying everything will be alright, but as you are already aware. Thneeds are very secretive,” replied Shallow. The starlet had wanted to make an herbal healing tonic for…
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Continue reading →: Wind Dancing“We will not make it another year without a good harvest,” said Olga’s father. “Papa, you worry too much. Everything will be fine. The ancestors will see us through,” said his daughter. Two years ago, Olga’s mother died from the black sickness. After her death, the crops failed, leaving the…
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Continue reading →: A Dark Monk“Fear controls them, makes them weak like lambs,” mumbled the monk. Grigori Gagarin entered the priesthood at a very young age. The boy saw the power the order had over its people. “I will bend their will to me and make them do my bidding,” said the young monk. His…
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Continue reading →: Listening“The wind has calmed, so peaceful yet if I listen, I can hear a thousand voices,” said Anya. Every morning, the matron sat outside and read her books while she sipped tea. “What must the birds think of me sitting here munching on cake? Hoping I’ll drop a few crumbs…
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Continue reading →: Naughty Children“Oh, I understand your point of view, really, I do. I’m afraid that pulling Sally’s pigtails does not qualify as a preemptive attack for when she kicks you,” said the Coal Bringer. Each year, the Coal Bringer visits naughty children during the Halloween season. The visit is an attempt to…
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Continue reading →: I Spy“Quenton, your people must understand you have great power. This makes the outsiders afraid,” said High Council Verous. “We, the all-seeing eyes, are not afraid of the two legs. It’s they who are failing to follow the compact,” replied Quenton. When humans first came to the Yung-Dow mountains, they were…
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Continue reading →: Ever Wonder?“Tyre, you ever wonder what life is like outside the forest?” asked Bobby. “Can’t say as I ever did. Why are you thinking about such things? Miss Daisy says that sort of thing will land you in trouble,” replied his friend. Bobby and Tyre had been best friends as long…
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Continue reading →: Dark Troubles“Get out, you interloper! How dare you steal my precious mushrooms? A plague on your house,” cried Tamaki. The Senjen lived alone in the dark forest where he raised shiitake mushrooms. On market day, he would load his basket and head to town to sell his fungi. “If I catch…
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Continue reading →: CoddiwompleCoddiwomple (v.) to travel in a purposeful manner towards a vague destination. “Winds are picking up, Dodger. We should be heading in the right direction soon,” said Merkel. The two aeronauts were heading for their next port of call, wherever that would be. Merkel trusted the elements would put him…
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Continue reading →: Tea and Cakes“Cookies, cakes, pie, and tea, that’s what’s in store for me,” sang Daedalus. Once a month, the Puntik would sail his little shruberish down the babbling brook. There, he would have afternoon tea with Ursula, the wise woman. “What special treat will Ursula have prepared today? I hope it has…
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Continue reading →: Sea Sprites“You’re a liar, Billy Stoat,” said Thomas. “It’s true, my grandfather took this picture while he was serving on the HMS Britney,” said Billy. Billy had brought an old, faded photograph to school, which he had found in his grandfather’s house. “My father said the Sea Sprites are children’s stories…
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Continue reading →: DesideriumDesiderium(n.) a feeling of loss or grief for something lost “It’s all gone, Dionychus,” said Kinoko to his dragling. The Mardye had lived in this part of the forest for twenty generations. When Kinoko’s grandfather was a boy, the round eyes came. After that, the forest spirit Mahoya cried out…
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Continue reading →: Snailing the Seven Seas“Foul weather ahead, Agnes, best go around, don’t want any troubles like the last storm,” said Tuft McGraw. Tuft and his good ship Agnes roamed the seven seas. They searched for items that royalty would give a sack of gold for. “We’ll make the Spice Islands by midmorning if we…
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Continue reading →: Autumn Nears“My goodness, what a wonderful smell. How I love Autumn’s fragrances,” remarked Anya. This year would be her one hundredth Autumn. Thinking of all the village festivities made her as giddy as a schoolgirl. “I can’t wait to tell Gojeck about tonight’s harvest moon,” said Anya. Anya’s husband was a…
Twisted Tales to Delight and Amaze
Christopher Johnson
Christopher is a retired professor of science and medical education and a children’s author living in Taiwan. He has over 30 years of experience working in higher education internationally. Originally from Huron, Ohio, in the United States, he spent his childhood playing in Lake Erie and Sawmill Creek.
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