Glowworms

They grew tired of the dark and decided to move out.

The members of the first expedition didn’t survive. They didn’t know how to catch food in the outside bright world. A few members were able to report back, but died shortly after.

They needed an adaptation strategy.

They thought of different possibilities, but it was no use. All they knew was to glow and grow.
Glow a beautiful light to attract prey and grow webs to catch them.
But how to do that on a world already full of light?

Then they had the idea of disguising as art…


This post was written in response to the Friday Fictioneers of January 5th 2018.

The photo prompt is courtesy of Roger Bultot.

To see more entries inspired by the picture, click the blue frog below:

Portuguese version: Glowworms


When looking closely at the picture, seeing that each tube had different sizes, the image came to my mind of the glowworms that exist in the depths of some caves in Australia, and decided to write about them.

Image cropped from original, that has a CC license with attribution: By No machine-readable author provided. Markrosenrosen assumed (based on copyright claims). [GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html) or CC BY-SA 4.0-3.0-2.5-2.0-1.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0-3.0-2.5-2.0-1.0)%5D, via Wikimedia Commons

As per Wikipedia:

Fungus gnats[edit]

Three genera of fungus gnats are bioluminescent, and known as “glowworms” in their larval stage. They produce a blue-green light.[1] The larvae spin sticky webs to catch food. They are found in caves, overhangs, rock cavities, and other sheltered, wet areas. They are usually classified under the family Keroplatidae, but this is not universally accepted and some authors place them under Mycetophilidae instead. Despite the similarities in function and appearance, the bioluminescent systems of the three genera are not homologous and are believed to have evolved separately.[2][3][4]

Genus Arachnocampa – around five species found only in New Zealand and Australia. The most well-known member of the genus is the New Zealand glowworm, Arachnocampa luminosa. The larvae are predatory and use their lights to lure prey into their webs.[5]

Genus Orfelia – sometimes known as “dismalites”. Contains a single species, Orfelia fultoni, found only in North America. Like Arachnocampa spp., their larvae are predatory and use their lights to attract prey.

Genus Keroplatus, – found in Eurasia. Unlike Arachnocampa and Orfelia, the larvae of Keroplatus feed on fungi spores.[6]Their bioluminescence is believed to have no function and is vestigial.[2]

The Dark Priestesses

Their lord was captured by the priestesses of the Dark Sect.
She couldn’t let them have him. He was a good soul and needed to be saved.

She got her sword, mounted the mare and whistled for her companion dog.
In a minute they were flying through the woods, avoiding the branches and roots, trying to find the hidden shrine of the dark priestesses.

It wasn’t easy.
The woods were dark and very dense. Riding amongst its trees wasn’t a smooth ride.
Sometimes it also felt like they were going in circles. Maybe they were indeed.
And on top of it all, there was powerful dark magic protecting the shrine from being discovered.

But they needed keep trying.
His life was at risk and the villagers needed him.

She summoned her own Gods to help her on her quest. Hoping they’d help.

After two days riding, stopping only briefly to eat, and having had almost no sleep, the dog sniffed the air and started to bark and howl.
The mare panicked and wouldn’t go on.
She could also feel it. They were getting close.

She tethered the mare at a nearby tree and called the dog to come with her.

As they walked towards the force emanating from the trees, she became weak, her mind was going blank, but she was still struggling. She had to be strong to safe her lord.

After a few minutes of very hard walk, they came to clearing, where the priestesses were standing in a circle, with her lord tied up in the middle, subjugated, kneeling at the center, his head down.

She only had time to hear the spell before passing out herself.

 

Goddess of

the unliving!

 

I proclaim

this person

to your

eternal service,

on death.

 

Her lord was deceased…


This post was written for the Flash Fiction Rodeo Contest #3, hosted by Carrot Ranch.

The challenge today was to write a piece of fiction of about 200-300 words, that included a septolet as a spell or a charm.

Initially I though only the septolet would be required and crated the one above naming is “Verborragic Avada Kedavra”. But it was only once the rules were posted, and I leaned it should be in the middle of a story, that I created the story around it to go with it.

The winner for this contest was announced yesterday at the Carrot Ranch.

Congratulations to Deborah Lee!

Good job to all the participants!

 

Portuguese version: Sacerdotisas do Mal

The time is now!

Not knowing what to expect, he made his way into the dark of the forest.

It started one morning when, while waiting to open the gates for the big celebration, his house was marked.

Guests went away, afraid of being close to the red mark. He and his family were doomed.

He knew it was time to change, but he was also afraid.
He could still save his family if he went away, but that would mean not seeing them ever again.

The spirits came to summon him. “I can’t decide when to change” was his answer.

“The time is now! Come.”

And so he did…


This post was written in response to 2 writing challenges:

  1. Mondays Finish the Story – Oct. 19th, 2015 -> with a prompt to start a story with the sentence “Not knowing what to expect, he made his way into the dark of the forest” and be inspired by the picture below:
    timeisnow
     
    To see other entries for MFtS, click the blue frog below

     
  2. 100 Word Challenge for Grown Ups – #Week171 -> with a prompt to include in the story the sentence “I can’t decide when to change

I also took the opportunity to write a brief continuation to my own The Red Mark, on which lots of people replied curious about what the mark means. Well, this 106 word story does not really explain much, but puts us one step ahead into finding out what it means… ;o)