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Tag: captivity

Drabbleclassics 4 – Annabelle’s Alphabet (129)

Cover for Drabblecast episode 129, Annabelle's Alphabet, by Bess GutensteinAnnabelle’s mother closed her eyes. “Get it sharp,” she said. “Very sharp, so it doesn’t hurt much. I’ll boil some water.”

Somewhere in the house, far from the green places she’d known, baby Annabelle lay on her stomach and cried…

Cover for Drabblecast episode 260, Trifecta XXIII, by Bo Kaier

Drabblecast 260 – Trifecta XXIII

Cover for Drabblecast episode 260, Trifecta XXIII, by Bo KaierYou don’t remember anything, do you? Selective memory loss; what an achievement for a mind as young as yours. Locked in a cupboard of your consciousness, the guilt will eat at you from the inside…

Drabblecast 253 – Maybe the Stars

Cover for Drabblecast 253, Maybe the Sea, by Steve SantiagoPresently it rose, and with a shuffling walk it supported itself along the bars until it reached the bucket.  With a sigh it plunged its hands inside.

Little Useless inched closer and watched while the creature cupped the salt water and brought it to its face: not to drink, but to moisten its skin…

This episode of the Drabblecast continues H.P. Lovecraft Tribute Month with an eye towards Lovecraft’s fascination with and misgivings about the sea. It starts with a quote from Dagon, which kicked off the very first H.P. Lovecraft Tribute Month. In the drabble, there is more to a fisherman’s remarkable sea wife than meets the eye. In the feature, a nod to Lovecraft’s The Shadow Over Innsmouth, a young girl living among humans who act savagely encounters a sympathetic, otherworldly Deep One. She faces hard questions: where does she truly belong, and where should her loyalties lie?

Cover for Drabblecast episode 247, How I Crippled a World for just .001 Cents, by Bo Kaier

Drabblecast 247 – How I Crippled a World for Just 0.01 Cents

Cover for Drabblecast episode 247, How I Crippled a World for just .001 Cents, by Bo Kaier“You are accused of stealing the intellectual property of Einstein, Dirac and Heisenberg.” The middle-aged speaker waved his finger at Professor Hillabin, more in the manner of a prosecutor than a judge.

This episode of the Drabblecast illustrates the folly of bureaucracy. In the drabble, one by one an entire classroom of students are promoted to be their own teachers. In the feature, a lost, dimension-hopping scientist is trapped in a world where scientific theories are considered intellectual property. Unable to perform his calculations without them, he finds himself on trial for failure to pay royalties. When he cannot convince the court to take mercy on him, he pulls looses a devastating strategy.

Drabblecast 244 – Doubleheader XI

It had rolled and tumbled, whatever it was, gelatinous and tentacled, from lake to canal to stream.

People watched from the shore, following it with opera glasses and sea telescopes. Some thought it was a squid, others an octopus, others still just a glob of fatty flesh from some aquatic animal long torn apart and rotten. It was milky and translucent with tiny red hooks lining the each of its sixteen flacid arms. Deep blue bruises speckled the skin, wrinkling in like spots on a tomato. It had no visible eyes…

This double header features two “postcard stories” by Will Ludwigsen. In Nora’s Thing, sickly Nora’s sister and friends bring her to a mysterious creature they hope has healing powers. In Endless Encore, a sinister puppet show occurs nightly for its audience of one.

Cover for Drabblecast episode 189, DoubleHeader 8, by Tania Henderson

Drabblecast 189 – Doubleheader VIII

Cover for Drabblecast episode 189, DoubleHeader 8, by Tania HendersonThey needed a virgin to make a bargain with the sea monster who hunted the waters off their coast, and they were not willing to sacrifice their daughters…

With the theme this week being about freedom, this episode of Drabblecast sees Norm musing about the irony of song about freedom written by a man name Key… it could be a trap. Mermaids of the Old West centers on the mistreatment of captured Mermaids. In Darkness we learn what makes a sacrifice worthy.

Special thanks to Salim Fahdley and Jan Dennison for lending voices and artistic help.

Cover for Drabblecast episode 129, Annabelle's Alphabet, by Bess Gutenstein

Drabblecast 129 – Annabelle’s Alphabet

Cover for Drabblecast episode 129, Annabelle's Alphabet, by Bess GutensteinAnnabelle’s mother closed her eyes. “Get it sharp,” she said. “Very sharp, so it doesn’t hurt much. I’ll boil some water.”

Somewhere in the house, far from the green places she’d known, baby Annabelle lay on her stomach and cried…

Cover of Drabblecast episode 110, Trifecta 6, by Tom Morganti

Drabblecast 110 – Trifecta VII

Cover of Drabblecast episode 110, Trifecta 6, by Tom MorgantiThe village of Kriegerwald on the shores of Lake Teufel high in the Swiss Alps couldonly be reached by foot or ski lift, which suited the villagers. Each villager possessed broadforeheads and flat noses with strange guttural accents even the people in the valley below barelyunderstood. They also had a singular tourist attraction, popular enough to fund villagemaintenance but not to flood them or stir a desire for greater accessibility.

This trifecta episode of the Drabblecast features three stories, each exploring humanity’s reaction to strange and threatening situations. In the first story, The Frozen People, Swiss villagers sustain their existence by selling views of their 7000 year old perfectly preserved frozen warrior. When lightening strikes, everyone’s life changes. In Sheltered, a fast approaching asteroid threatens to wipe out all of mankind. This sends many burrowing deep into the ground, while a few brave individuals stay above to revel in the cataclysm. Interactions between the groups take on an ironic twist. In Order to Conserve speaks to governments and people as they are threatened by the loss of the most precious of all natural resources…. and it’s not oil or water.

Of note: this episode marks the debut of Twit-Fic/Twabbles.

Cover for Drabblecast episode 106, Boiled Black Broth and Cornets, by Nettie Pinney

Drabblecast 106 – Boiled Black Broth and Cornets

Cover for Drabblecast episode 106, Boiled Black Broth and Cornets, by Nettie Pinney“From fortress-building to cornet-playing, you never cease to amaze me, Beckie.”  I replied, dumping my weekend luggage in a corner of the grm brickish vestibule…

In this episode’s Drabble, reading a spy thriller helps pass the time while an assassin waits for his target to return home. The feature story, Boiled Black Broth and Cornets, concerns a bizarrely convoluted plot by the narrator’s good friend to learn how to build a fortress, make mind-controlling soups, and play the cornet for the overall purpose of abducting and training an octet of musicians to put on a jazz concert.

Cover for Drabblecast episode 96, L'Wek and Sarah, by Bo Kaier

Drabblecast 96 – L’wek and Sarah

Cover for Drabblecast episode 96, L'Wek and Sarah, by Bo KaierSince the Emergence they’d all had to learn:  humans, certainly, but mostly the Lemurians…

Norm opens the episode with the “Top 10 List” of the most badass animals of 2008, each mentioned in the listener and news forums (winner:  the “colossal squid,” of course).  This episode’s Drabble, by Shane Shennen (who also contributed a Drabble to Episode #93), explores the villainous joys of building a robot army. Norm segues into the moody feature story by Samantha Henderson. Samantha was featured recently with her fantasy “Starry Night” (Episode #89), which coincidentally also involves crystals. In this story, a young member of the underground Lemurian species ponders his relationship to a human race captivated by their unearthly gemstones. Feedback for “Gifting Bliss” (Episode #91) was highly positive.

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