The outlander had agreed to the precautions Haisa wanted for their meeting. Satisfied, she retrieved the carved box that held what he sought, and opened it with a flourish.

His eyes, so far shining with excitement, went dull, and his shoulders sagged.

“It’s what you seek. Hair of Qilin!"

“Oh, I don’t doubt that, pardon me. It’s just that I need much more. To stuff a quilt.”

“Whatever for?” Haisa knew many uses for the potent ingredient; why waste it?

“If you slept under it, you would never get sick.”

Haisa wrinkled her nose. “Well, you buy? It’s a start.”

I'm way behind schedule in the April A to Z challenge, but I'm not stopping now. The prompt "quest" came from Lyn Thorne-Alder, "quilt" from Nita, and "Qilin", "Quantity", and "Quack" from Herm Baskerville.

Drabbles up to S are written; if you have prompts for later in the alphabet, please give them to me. :)

All verses from the Book of Prophecies were debated, among those who cared about these things.

For example, “The black-eyed bear and the red-backed bear vie for supremacy, but the cat will beat them” had seen various warlords, kings, and politicians assigned to the animal roles. A relatively new reading cast President Elsa Winter as the cat, as she overshadowed her brother’s and husband’s political careers.

Those who considered prophecies Serious Business just turned up their noses at the reading, “there are more photos of cats on the internet than of great pandas and red pandas put together”.

I'm way behind schedule in the April A to Z challenge, but I'm not stopping now. The prompt "pandas" came from Lyn Thorne-Alder, "prediction" from Ellen Million.

If you have prompts for later in the alphabet, please give them to me. :)

When my hairdresser tries to talk me into a wave, a new hair colour, or using more styling products, at least she has the excuse of trying to improve her business, Miranda thought, unlike them. She took another forkful of her birthday cake and tried to ignore her mother’s and aunt’s comments. Again.

Soon, with half the family arguing if she had looked better with longer hair, or if she should cut her hair even shorter, Miranda excused herself.

Yes, the hair clippers were still there.

The whole room fell silent seeing her buzz-cut.

“Will you shut up now?”

Yes, I fell off the wagon. Better late than never. The prompt "Opinions" came from Ellen Million.

If you have prompts for later in the alphabet, please give them to me. :)

The inner gate opened, admitting a woman with hair shorn short, and a still sore tattoo on her forehead.

“We’re up to eighty already?” Katya’s loud voice made the newcomer flinch.

“Yeah. Rats got the last five,” Rani drawled back.

Their number eighty straightened, recognising the game for what it was.

Sun in her back, Rani approached her. “All right, Eighty, here’s the rules. You do what you’re told, you guard the Rift, and you’ll live a while yet. Look for Seventeen, she’ll show you the ropes. Understood?”

“Yes.”

Her voice was firm. Maybe she’d last more than a day.

I'm now halfway through the April A to Z challenge, with fiction with at most 100 words. The prompt "Numbered" came from Lyn Thorne-Alder, "Newcomer" from Ellen Million.

If you have prompts for later in the alphabet, please give them to me. :)

Thessaly had composed new songs since sailors had gotten wise to how to cross her sea unscathed.

Deep, dark, and slow like a whale’s heartbeat, her voice sank, and swept the seafloor. In the bright shallows the sand grew much-articulated legs as crabs were drawn to her and dug themselves out of their hollows. Further out, it was the big octopuses, tentacles streaming behind them as they hurried to find the source of the melody.

Thessaly shifted it, halting the animals’ motion. She would have to practise making them do what she wanted, but it was a good start.

I'm now halfway through the April A to Z challenge, with fiction with at most 100 words. The prompt "Mermaid" came from Lyn Thorne-Alder, "minions" from Ellen Million.

If you have prompts for later in the alphabet, please give them to me - I have 5 for Q, but none foe R or T.

Alysha’s clothes stuck to her skin. With her old partner, she’d have stripped to her bra, but not with the rookie, so she merely entertained the thought of making a suggestion to have surveillance vans fitted with climate control on top of their usual gadgets.

“How about I nip to the store for some cool drinks?”

Keeping her eyes on a screen - currently useless infrared imaging - Alysha answered, “No.”

Barely a minute later, he said, “Or I could ask the people in the house here if we could borrow a bottle”

“Travis, this is no school trip.”

“But-”

“No. Way.”

I'm attempting the April A to Z challenge, with fiction with at most 100 words. The prompt "lending" came from Ellen Million, "Lauschangriff" (German for "electronic eavesdropping") from Barbardin.
If you have prompts for later in the alphabet, please give them to me.

“Jane, we need to have a last chat.”

“Last, boss?” It felt like her head wasn’t connected to her body anymore, and that might just happen.

“You want to turn key witness against me.”

“Oh, no, boss. I— Yesterday that was just showing off to that cute— ahem. I said that I knew enough, not that I wanted to. It was stupid, but I was just kidding around.”

He leaned in and lowered his voice. “Jane, that cute guy was a mole. Police, causing trouble with your little hints.”

“But…” I’m dead. “Police?” she echoed.

A sharp smile. “Just kidding.”

I'm attempting the April A to Z challenge, with fiction with at most 100 words. The prompt "kidding" came from Ellen Million, "Kronzeuge" (German for "key witness") from Barbardin.
If you have prompts for later in the alphabet, please give them to me.

Lyra’s idling jeep purred like a tiger, a low growl. She liked to think the machine looked forward to the hunt. After all those years of strict protection, finally there was a hunting quota on jaguars.

Lulled from waiting, Lyra spotted the sleek, dark form approaching the watering hole late. She brought her gun to bear and aimed carefully, not wanting to damage the coat. A shot, a pop, and a whining motor. Perfect.

Watching the wild car spin the other motored wheel futilely, letting it tire itself out, Lyra patted her jeep. “Don’t worry. You’ll always be my favourite.”

I'm attempting the April A to Z challenge, with fiction with at most 100 words. The prompt "Jaguar" came from Ellen Million, "Jagdsaison" (German for "hunting season") from Barbardin.
If you have prompts for later in the alphabet, please give them to me.

“I had the best idea.”

“Tonight?”

“Yeah. Best idea. For break-ins.”

“Break-ins.”

“Yeah, see, we’ll train your iguana to climb up a wall, right. Carrying a rope.”

“There are so many things wrong with this idea.”

“No, really, it’s a lizard, it climbs well. So it climbs up with a rope, and hold really tight with those claws of his-”

“-hers.”

“-hers, and we can climb up.”

“Why would we break in anywhere, anyway?”

“Because we can!”

“You should switch to water.”

“Pool? Like in True Lies?”

“Mila, you’re drunk.”

“Right! I have the best ideas when drunk.”

I'm attempting the April A to Z challenge, with fiction with at most 100 words. The prompts "Iguana", "Ingenious" and "Imbibe" came from Lyn Thorne-Alder.

If you have prompts for later in the alphabet, please give them to me.

Time she couldn’t calculate and countries no-one under this sky had ever mapped behind her, Sylvie now only saw sea voyage between herself and home. It felt odd to again be negotiating with someone who spoke Seafarer tongue natively.

“Ship-mages usually have a better handle of wind than ‘hardly at all’.”

“I’m very good with wood, in case your ship has patched leaks you’d like properly fixed. And I can keep water clean, or pull the salt from seawater.”

The captain gave her a long look. “If we get no better offer by tomorrow, you’ve got your passage.”

I'm attempting the April A to Z challenge, with fiction with at most 100 words. "H is for Homeward" came from Lyn Thorne-Alder.

If you have prompts for later in the alphabet, please give them to me.