skjam

Hi! It's time for me to do a little more writing exercise, so let's have a free microfic day.

Name of Day: SKJAM!'s Free Microfic Day

Description of Service: Leave a prompt or prompts in the time window (below) and I will write at least one microfic. The themes this time will be in honor of Chinese New Year, "Dragons and other Zodiac animals."; you don't need to include any of those words in your prompt though. No fanfic, this time.

Who is Eligible: Anyone who leaves a prompt on time.

Date/Time Window: January 20-22. It may take longer than that for me to get done, of course.

Tipping? Sure, why not? My Paypal addy is skjam at yahoo dot com. If I get $10 in donations, I'll write to up to two prompts per person. If the total reaches $25, I'll make an icon related to one of the microfics for each requester. Making me a tip banner will count as $5.

Examples: Here's links to some previous microfic days. http://skjam.livejournal.com/185720.html
http://skjam.dreamwidth.org/25099.html

This offer is on both Dreamwidth and LJ, so you may want to check out both locations.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

From:

ariestess

dragon's breath

charred phoenix feather [I prefer phoenix to rooster sometimes]

skjam

Dragons are inherently magical beings. For all some natural philosophers try to find logical biological explanations for them, dragons do impossible things just by existing, let alone flying.

A dragon's breath is no less magical. Whether it is flame that should crisp the dragon's own tongue, frost that a cold-blooded creature would be too sluggish to open their jaws to deliver, or any other bizarre spew.

Mind you, some dragons have more subtle magic than others. Have you ever noticed a cloud that looks almost exactly like it was shaped deliberately? Yes, that's a dragon using its breath to create a sculpture in the sky.

Oh how neat! I like it. Thank you!

ysabetwordsmith

A Chinese dragon trying to deal with the barbaric western dragons.

A rat who is a writer.

Positive representation of Snake.

"Brother Snake! So good of you to come!"

Snake coiled himself up so that he could look the Chief Superintendent of the Celestial Granary in the eye. "Yess. It iss. There are thievess in the granary again?"

The Superintendent flinched a bit. Few of the humanoid gods could bear up under Snake's lidless gaze. "I fear so. The latest accounting found rice short by forty-three bushels, and barley short by eighteen bushels. Ordinary pilferage by workers would never go so far."

"And you have no cluess how the thievess got in?"

"Unless we can prove that one of the guards lied," said the Superintendent, "not a one."

"Very well. I will attempt to catch your thievess."

Snake was smuggled into the granary in a basket, and laid low until the sun set. He felt a bit sluggish, but the night was still warm enough for him to stay alert.

Several rather boring hours later, Snake tasted the air moving somewhere in the granary, and silently slithered out of the basket.

Snake navigated between the many boxes, bundles and vats. His flexible body made it possible for Snake to pass through twisted passages that would have looked too small for him in the daylight. Every so often he tasted the air again to establish where to go next.

Soon, he found the intruders. Mice, who'd cut a section of floor matting in such a way as to make it look like the normal seams, and come in through the tunnel underneath. Snake would have to put a stop to that.

Snake struck, wrapping his coils swiftly around all three intruders. "Ssurrender, and you might live!" he hissed. Two went limp in his grip, but one drew a dagger with a free paw. The steel tooth stung, but Snake's tightening coils crushed the thief's ribs before he could do real damage.

The struggle's noise brought in the guards, and Snake handed over the criminals. Another case solved!

rix_scaedu

And perhaps after some time in the infirmary the thief will live to be able to regret his ways.

Thank you! This is really cool.

sarah_tv

OX is not impressed with Monkey's attempt to move him from his position.

One spring day as Ox was walking through the forest, he found an ideal spot to stop and eat. To his left was a bush with sweet ripe berries, to his right a willow tree with new shoots and tender leaves bowed down where he could reach them without stretching his neck, and around his hooves the grass grew high.

He commenced to eating.

After a few minutes, Ox heard a high-pitched voice behind him. "Hoy, OX! Move out of the path!" It was probably Monkey, only he had that annoying chatter to his speech.

Ox ignored him and kept eating. After a bit, he became aware that something was hitting his hindquarters. Presumably Monkey again. Ox flicked his tail and was rewarded with a short screech.

He heard a scrambling in the woods, and shortly Monkey appeared on the path, holding what appeared to be a piece of cloth. Monkey fluttered the cloth, which puzzled Ox, but it wasn't important.

Monkey leapt up on Ox's head, and started pulling at his ear. "Why won't you move?"

Ox shook Monkey off with a flex of his mighty neck. "I. am. eating. here. When I am done eating, then digesting, then chewing my cud, then digesting again, I might move."

Monkey screeched, "No! You have to move now!"

"Why?"

"So I can get past you!"

Ox chewed thoughtfully for a moment. "But aren't you already past me?"

"Oh."