Here's the start of a serialized version of one of my short stories.
The citizens of the Clockwork City were a morbid bunch, due to the many rules and regulations with which the Prince had constrained them since the death of the King. The Prince did not like his city or his circumstance. Being, in his opinion, a perfectly organised person, he couldn’t stand the disorganisation of an entity with the word Clock in its title. For example, the rains were late, the people were hungry and whichever girl was going to marry him was nowhere to be seen – without a Queen he could not be King. This story is not about proving whether the Prince was competent, evil or good though; it is about Sir Adrian, Knight of the City on his quest to find the fabled Golden Lentil.
‘The what?’ Adrian laughed.
‘I said, to feed the people and raise their spirits, you must find the Golden Lentil!’ repeated the wizened old Egghead. ‘The Golden Lentil is a huge, magical lentil; it will grow many lentil trees and provide food for decades to come. The only problem is it is located in a land far to the west – beyond the Foreboding Forest and the Flatulent Swamp. Anyway, we need a knight to go there.’
‘And that knight is me?’ said Adrian sceptically.
‘Not necessarily, there is William,’ Egghead muttered.
‘I’ll do it. But what exactly do I do?’ Adrian said.
‘You simply make your way through those lands to the ancient resting place of the treasure.’
‘What if it isn’t there?’ said Adrian.
‘I will give you three clues,’ Egghead continued, unabated, ‘the first is the true location of the bean, only known in thoughts, not in words.’ Egghead touched his fingers to Adrian’s head. A flash of a cave, and something large – and alive; then a wide, sweeping image of the mountain scenery, showing him the route to climb.
‘The second is a message from the last hero who attempted to find the Lentil.’ Adrian heard in another voice the phrase: ‘Oh, it hurts, so badly!’
‘Wait.’ Egghead’s message stopped. ‘A little further back than that,’ he mumbled. There were sounds like a mosquito flying backwards and then ‘The hag likes spinach.’
‘The hag likes… huh? What’s the point of that?’ Adrian was becoming impatient.
‘The final clue is… that contrary to popular belief, lentils are delicious and nutritious.’
‘This is ludicrous - how am I supposed to make it to the western mountains and all the way back again with nothing but a mental image and some stupid sayings?’
‘That is up to you,’ Egghead was gone when Adrian tried to look at him.
The citizens of the Clockwork City were a morbid bunch, due to the many rules and regulations with which the Prince had constrained them since the death of the King. The Prince did not like his city or his circumstance. Being, in his opinion, a perfectly organised person, he couldn’t stand the disorganisation of an entity with the word Clock in its title. For example, the rains were late, the people were hungry and whichever girl was going to marry him was nowhere to be seen – without a Queen he could not be King. This story is not about proving whether the Prince was competent, evil or good though; it is about Sir Adrian, Knight of the City on his quest to find the fabled Golden Lentil.
‘The what?’ Adrian laughed.
‘I said, to feed the people and raise their spirits, you must find the Golden Lentil!’ repeated the wizened old Egghead. ‘The Golden Lentil is a huge, magical lentil; it will grow many lentil trees and provide food for decades to come. The only problem is it is located in a land far to the west – beyond the Foreboding Forest and the Flatulent Swamp. Anyway, we need a knight to go there.’
‘And that knight is me?’ said Adrian sceptically.
‘Not necessarily, there is William,’ Egghead muttered.
‘I’ll do it. But what exactly do I do?’ Adrian said.
‘You simply make your way through those lands to the ancient resting place of the treasure.’
‘What if it isn’t there?’ said Adrian.
‘I will give you three clues,’ Egghead continued, unabated, ‘the first is the true location of the bean, only known in thoughts, not in words.’ Egghead touched his fingers to Adrian’s head. A flash of a cave, and something large – and alive; then a wide, sweeping image of the mountain scenery, showing him the route to climb.
‘The second is a message from the last hero who attempted to find the Lentil.’ Adrian heard in another voice the phrase: ‘Oh, it hurts, so badly!’
‘Wait.’ Egghead’s message stopped. ‘A little further back than that,’ he mumbled. There were sounds like a mosquito flying backwards and then ‘The hag likes spinach.’
‘The hag likes… huh? What’s the point of that?’ Adrian was becoming impatient.
‘The final clue is… that contrary to popular belief, lentils are delicious and nutritious.’
‘This is ludicrous - how am I supposed to make it to the western mountains and all the way back again with nothing but a mental image and some stupid sayings?’
‘That is up to you,’ Egghead was gone when Adrian tried to look at him.
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