Stories : Booktopia Talecrafting Contest
Adventure, Rake, Pied Piper, Body Paint, Diamond, Mirror, Test, Tomb, Discovery
The Girl with Diamond Eyes
John Santy Calalay- Winner
On a night suitable for warm rest and quiet beds, the little girl said, "Grandmother, I cannot go to sleep." Grandmother listened and left Grandfather.
"Still sad over Old Henry Cat?"
The little girl nodded.
"Let me tell you a simple story."
"Where does this happen?"
"In a cottage, in a forest, where a grandmother and her granddaughter lives, as where all simple stories begin."
"Let me try it on grandmother," peeped the little girl.
"Are you really eager for such a responsibility?"
The little girl covered her mouth with eager hands.
"Let us discover. You must do something for me. Go to the Discovery Woods and retrieve the Piper's pipe. He has been stealing my kittens who cannot resist the musical sound."
So eager was she that the diamond's luster was caught in her eyes. She had always admired her grandmother's diamonds.
"But why did the grandmother send her on such a thing?"
"They were simpler times dear. People spoke less and did more."
At the entrance of the Discovery Woods, the little girl met two fellows.
"I am The Body Paint Man! Today is the day for roses! Let all the women come running."
He flexed his body for her to see. But the little girl had something more valuable in mind.
"But not all love roses."
"What else do they love?"
"Something smaller that sparkles with the moonlight, colorless but just as admired."
"Well, I am bravest when admired!"
"Well then once I get my diamond, everyone will admire us together."
The Body Paint Man led the way, confident as the weakening sun made his tattoos glow.
"It was wise of you to appeal to his vanity," whispered The Plump Boy to the girl.
"I only spoke the truth as instructed many times by my grandmother."
The Plump Boy asked her if she would like dandelions. She said no. The Plump Boy gave a shaky smile,
"because you will find better things at the Piper's hut."
At the lonesome and barren heart of the Discovery Woods, the three companions saw the hut of the Piper. They entered the foreboding relic of a home.
"It feels like a tomb," said the Plump Boy, his breath barely seen amidst the dust and musty air.
"Do not insult my home!"
The voice was warm and fusty. In candlelight, the Piper stood with red attire, a smile on his face as if he were a relation of Alice's Cheshire Cat. Beside stood an unnatural design, a mirror that gave not one single reflection but a multitude of sighs, kitten bone and kitten fur stitched to keep it put.
"What is your story?"
"I must have your pipe so that you will not steal our kittens away."
"But I like my kitten pies! Young girls should not have so many! And old women should not have so many so young! Fine, make me a plump boy pie!"
The Piper's eyes were ravenous under its red hat.
"I see your eyes! They will be mine."
The home went dark like the hollow eye of death. The Body Paint Man's bravery washed away with the rest of his colors as his skin turned white. The Plump Boy fainted at the sound of him in a pie. Natural light had no place to stay in the Piper's home. A vicious sound sought to fill the room and all the way to the pit of the three companions' hearts and stomachs. The fearful tune of the Piper's instrument!
"But your eyes! More precious than kittens! But as precious as what they hide! I will have them!"
But it was false, and as it charged like a boy in love, the Piper saw itself reflected in those eyes horrified. Its nature exposed, its features made apparent, it fell into them fascinated. The girl shut her eyes. Lost in the same darkness and chaos it had created for its would be captives, the Piper crashed through the fiendish mirror and its reflections, both fell shattered to the floor. The Piper would have no diamonds, no kittens, no pies and no eyes.
"Diamonds," said the girl, a piece of the broken mirror between her fingers.
The three left that cold home and parted ways where they had met. The Body Paint Man's colors were resplendent, the roses on his skin more alive for new women. The Plump Boy, determined to no longer be an ingredient for a pie, followed with the diamonds. They left her to walk home alone. But she had what she needed and would return with a story, more proof to claim her reward. Safely home with her prize, the little girl petted one of the kittens, producing a cool purr; she knew that it and each of its fellow kittens
would accompany her even when she would be her grandmother's age. The grandmother smiled, her granddaughter with diamonds in her eyes slept with a garden of kittens, each with a jewel kept safely hidden in their belly.
"And that my dear is the simple story."
"But grandmother, what was her name?"
"I will let you give it."
The little girl gave it some thought but sleep began to creep in.
"Did you like it?"
"I believe I can sleep now grandmother."
The little girl tucked herself in. The grandmother blew the candlelight out. As she walked back to her comfortable chair by the fireplace, the grandmother could feel a familiar tale brush past her leg. Old Henry
Cat was dead but here was his pregnant wife, ready to make a new litter to fill a garden meant for kittens to keep a child and eventually an old woman company on the most oppressive of nights. Her husband woke up, ah yes, there must be men, to protect if not to be temporary company. To grandmother, grandfather said, "Madame, your diamond."
And the fire crackled one last time before the evening fell to a hush, the last remaining cat purred last.
An End
Untitled
Lakan David Inocencio
It was a sad day, a day of woe and misery, a day of foiled plans and aspirations, a day of sad discoveries... You don’t believe me? Ah, but you weren’t there to see it happen. The horror, the… terror… Ah but I digress. Clearly I remember it, the long dragging of the day like ruined claws of rusted steel across the fragile tapestry of my innocent and unmarked flesh sweet and soft as a baby’s bottom. And at the end of it, was it over? Nay my friend, for locked up was I within the most horrid of horrids, the most putrid of putrids, the foul, the accursed, the dreaded Tomb.
Still you do not believe me my friend, but I speak it true. You say that I have been living in my own world too long, yet I say that ‘twas the foulest, the worst, the most trialing of tribulations. Yet still you do not believe me…
Brace thyself then thou sweet innocent child, for the horrors upon which I am to unleash upon thy most tender and uninitiated of minds…
It all started innocently enough… I woke that day, fresh, ready for a new day. I rose from my bed and approached the ornate full length mirror upon the wall and chanted my morning ritual:
Mirror, Mirror on the wall,
Am I hot, or not at all?
Am I handsome, dark and tall?
Or am I hindered by parts that are small?
True, often have I been accused of being but a good-looking pig with but a brain the size of a peanut, but I tell you sweet listener, that had all peanuts been the size of my brain, why, never would we see a hungry squirrel ever again. But I digress.
My mirror is holy to me. Every day I view myself and am filled with confidence knowing my brilliance. I become from coal, a diamond of purest attractiveness, the woman’s best friend, hard, untouchable, yet clear and without blemish. And like the diamond, I am rare and valuable, I am precious, I am perfect. Imagine then, the horror I was to face when this was put to test that one fateful day…
I set out that day upon my quest. I spotted comrades along the way and greeted them, yet as usual, they ignored me. I ignore them in kind. Peasants, little worth my time. I focused on the task ahead. It would mean the difference between the life and death. I went over everything in my mind. I had prepared well, my instruments were in my pack, the books stored within my mind, I was ready.
I hastened to the location and took my place amongst the others of my league. It began. The trial was simple enough to my mind, yet its application strained me. Before me, she stood. The temptress of the halls, the most insidious of snakes of serpentine sensuality: Pfeiffer… I spit out the name that had once been as sweet wine to my lips. I was unable to focus, to concentrate, too engorged were mine eyes upon the undulating movements of the charm she wore upon her body. A pink butterfly, tattooed indiscreetly on her waist, seeming to drift and sweep the room with its hypnotic sensuality.
I fought temptation, long and hard we battled. A clash of the wills it was, but simultaneously a battle fought with our bodies, hers enticing mine to abandon my goal and mine doing all it could to resist. I knew I was to her as she was to me. I could see it in her movements how she longed for me; how she too wished the trial to be over that she may have me. But it was not to be. We dueled long and hard, she moving deftly, subtly with a feline grace and beauty that unnerved me. I stared at her long and hard, following her movements, my quest nearly forgotten.
Then our eyes met, and I was undone. I drank the view of her in and was lost in the emerald green of her gaze. I know not how long I spent gazing at her feline grace and beauty, it may have been days, years, I know not, all I know is that my quest had been forgotten in her beauty.
The trial ended, and I knew I had failed. I scrambled with my tools to attempt a semblance of labor, yet all for naught. Her swift yet supple hand snatched the field of battle from me. Her emerald eyes looked upon me, not with the green caress of nature, but the jade stab of a coiled snake. She spoke:
Jonathon
For that was my name
You haven’t even written your name on this. And here I was thinking you had it all, yet it seems as if you really are just like all the rest.
Her words smashed into my like so many quarterbacks pumped up on steroids. I was nothing to her, I was just as anyone else. Normal. All had been for naught, all lost for a single tattoo of a pink butterfly on the most perfect of waists. I bowed my head in resignation, acknowledging my defeat, feeling the full impact of her words. How could I tell her she was the cause of my downfall? I couldn’t. I was lost to the world now, creating a cataclysm of unknown proportions. How many women would wail in despair knowing that I in my perfection am now lost to the world? Yet because of her words, I doubt even that now.
So here I sit now sweet listener, banished by her, Ms. Pfeiffer, to the Tomb. I gaze outside at the sun and wish things had gone differently, but alas, my quest is failed, my will is broken, and I am not the man I was. I have failed my Final Exam, and cruelly, I must next year repeat High School Literature… The horror… The terror…
Looking for the Soul of Kredos
Charisse Loraine Rivera
A gathering of adventurers anywhere?even in grand cities like Yggdrenya with its glass spires of blue and yellow, its bridges of marble and granite?will always be hot, sweaty, and complete, utter chaos.
Janus Therbore watched the milling crowd jostle their way towards through the streets, one hand swirling a glass of Solfuran brandy?expensive, but he got it at a bargain price of a kiss and a pinch from the innkeeper’s daughter. He was standing on the patio of the bedroom he rented, shaded from the midday heat with the help of a white cloth stretched overhead.
He was also here at Yggdrenya to participate in the Test of Strength; the kingdom had declared that a search was to be made for the Soul of Kredos, a diamond the size of a princess’s hand, and definitely much more valuable than a princess. It was a powerful artifact imbued with age-old magic, and since its mysterious disappearance three days ago, this was the first time the Yggdrenyan Council had resorted to hiring brigands and mercenaries to look for the diamond. The price? Five million Yggdrenyan gold coins. It was enough to attract every greedy bastard in the continent.
Janus studied the people below. Everyone had come sort of pattern tattooed on their skins?on their arms or legs, their faces or the napes of their necks, in certain patterns and colors that told where they were from. He spotted a group of Kredoan sorcerers with their foreheads painted in a silver and blue pattern of stars; there were gypsies from Oa, with their exposed backs painted bright orange and red; a small group of Solfurans were present, too, with their exposed arms tattooed in swirling patterns of green and white, glaring at anyone who dared touch them. Janus snorted at this; Solfurans were vain at best, narcissistic at worst, with prides the size of mountains. Janus looked at his own arms and pulled the sleeves; his skin had no mark or tattoo whatsoever to tell where he came from. He did not know it himself; but that did not matter now. It had not mattered for the past ten years.
His attention was caught by the arrival of High Lord Benathyl Dornham, and Counselor Elazar Rizber. They rode a gilded palanquin flanked by twenty Alliance soldiers. High Lord Dornham was quite old, his white hair kept short except for a lock that hung on his back; he was a Marynn?the last of his kind?the tribe of magic wielders who surpassed even the skills of Kredos. Janus had nothing but respect for the man, but his brow lowered at the sight of Rizber.
Rizber was a Solfuran?quite handsome?and Janus knew from past dealings with other mercenaries, that he was more dangerous than he looked; he was the power behind the High Lord’s seat, influencing people to his side by blackmail and deception. If Rizber is here, tailing Dornham, then the Test of Strength would have a catch in it somewhere…
Janus drained his glass and left the room, wondering if the innkeeper’s daughter wanted to have a kiss before he left.
* * *
“Give me the Soul of Kredos, Mr. Therbore, and I promise to spare you from quite a lot of pain.” Counselor Rizber’s voice was soft and clipped, but there was no mistaking those cold, pig-iron eyes.
Halfway through his search for the diamond, Janus had come across a dying Oa gypsy; she was older than him, her brown hair matted with blood, her eyes almost glazed over. As an Oa gypsy she had the ability to give a genuine fortune-telling, but Janus was surprised when she gave him one before she died. She told Janus to seek out the Tomb of Lost Kings north of the Solfur Ridge Mountains , where he would find what he was searching for.
Thinking she had pointed him in the right direction, Janus complied. But what he found in the Tomb was not the Soul of Kredos, but a large, man-sized mirror mounted in a frame of the deepest black stone. The mirror showed Janus himself, but with his arms and legs painted in an intricate black and red design. The tattoo of a Marynn mage. The mysterious mirror helped awaken his Marynn abilities, which in turn helped him find where the diamond was.
But now he was chained to a dungeon wall and under the mercy of the traitor Rizber. Who, if he guessed correctly, did not know that he was a Marynn.
“I’ve already told you, you goat-faced troll; I’ve got no idea where the diamond is,” Janus answered, and watched the Counselor’s face stiffen in anger. The jibe had its desired effect. And while Rizber was still recovering from the insult Janus concentrated hard; a huge blast of magical energy threw Rizber off his feet, his body slamming against the stone wall. Janus freed himself from the rubble that had chained him down moments before, and blasted another hole in the wall. He could hear soldiers coming. Janus grinned; he had a few seconds left to do something special for dear Counselor Rizber.
* * *
The soldiers were surprised to find one part of the dungeon wall obliterated, rubble scattered on the floor. They were more surprised to find Elazar Rizber?the cool, composed, Counselor Rizber?chained to the still-intact part of the dungeon, screaming with fury, spittle flying from his lips, all composure gone. They could not understand a word of what he was shouting, except for the part that he’d have revenge on the Marynn scumbag who dared insult a Solfuran and steal the Soul of Kronos, but that was impossible. The Marynns were extinct, and had not Counselor Rizber heard that the jewel had been given to the High Lord Dornham?
Hidden by magic, Janus Therbore was quite satisfied to hear Counselor Rizber’s screams of fury as the soldiers began to remove his chains.
Minsan may isang apo na napakahirap na pinamanahan ng lolo niya ng isang salamin bago ito bawian ng buhay. Sinabi rin ng lolo nya na sa takdang panahon sa ika-12 ng gabi pagkababang luksa nya sasabihin ang lihim ng salamin at kung papaano nito babaguhin ang buhay nito.
At dumating na nga ang hatinggabi pagka-babang-luksa at nagkaroon siya ng pangitain. nakita niya nagliliwanag ang salamin sa kanyang pagtataka ay nilapitan nya ito. Pagdaka'y hinigop siya ng salamin at dinala sa isang kakaibang dako. Tila sinaunang panahon ng gresya. Mahiwagang mahiwaga at doon nakita nya ang kanyang lolo na mas bata na tila 30 taong gulang lang. Ipinaliwanag nito na may malaking brilyante sa kaharian. Yun nga lang kailangang matalo nya muna ang mapagakit na matipunong lalaki na kayang akitin ang sinuman at magpanggap sa lahat ng tatangka sa pagkuha ng hiyas. Upang magawa ito ay kakailanganin niya ang tulong ng babaeng may pinta ng Jasmin at waling-waling sa kanyang likod na nagpapakita sa bukal sa ikapitong parang. At pinalalahanan na ang babaeng ito ay lumilitaw sa ganap na ikaw-4 ng hapon. At naglaho na ang wangis ng kanyang lolo.
Tumungo na ang lalaki patungo sa ika-pitong parang. Lingid sa kaalaman nya ay nalaman na ng kalaban niya ang kanyang pakay. Kaya sa bawat parang ay kanya itong nililito upang matagalan at di nito maabutan ang pagpapakita ng babaeng may pinta. Kagaya ng paglilito sa kanyang daraanan, pagsugod ng pulutong ng alilingas sa ikatatlong parang. Hanggang sa iligaw ito sa bukana ng ikapitong parang. Mabuti na lang ang bida ay sanay sa gubat at natandaan nya ang pagbabaliktad ng damit kapag naliligaw. At kahit papaano ay nakasapit na siya sa bukal ng ikapitong parang.
Halos limang minuto na lang at ikaapat ng hapon na. Ngunit nagpakita na kaagad ang isang babae parang katulad ito ng isinalarawan ng kanyang lolo. May pintura sa kanyang likod. Sa kanyang pagmamadali ay di niya namalalayan na huwad ang babae at likha lang ng kanyang kalaban. Sa ganda nito ay hinangad nya itong mapa-ibig at pumayag kaagad ang babae. At maya-maya ay may lumitaw ang isa pang mas magandang babae. Palibhasa chick-boy itong bida kaya ginusto rin nya ang isa pang babae. Dahil sa kahumalingan sa dalawang babae ay tila nalimutan nya ang kanyang misyon. At dahil dito sinamantala ito ng lalaking matipuno at unti-unting nagbago ang anyo ng dalawang babae. At naging isang lalaki na ubod ng laki ng katawan. Dibdib na kasing lapad ng dalawang kawali. Mga hitang kasing laman ng punong mangga at mga matang mapang-akit. Oo nga at sa bawat galaw nito ay kayang mapahinuhod ang sinuman. At sa kahibangan ng bida ay nabitag siya ng kalaban at dinala sa kanyang kuta sa pinakamataas na tore sa kabundukan.
Naiwan ang salamin sa may bukal. Lumitaw ang tunay na mahiwagang babae at namangha sa salamin. Napag-tanto nito na dumating na ang kanyang makakatulong sa pagtalo sa kalaban. Kaya kinuha nito ang salamin at ito ang gumabay patungo sa kuta ng kalaban.
Sa kuta ng kalaban ay halos mabaliw na ang bida sa ilusyon na ginagawa sa kanya ng lalaking matipuno. Pilit siyang lumalaban at tila ba ang pagkabaliw ang ginagawa ng kalaban upang mapasuko ang kanyang mga kaaway. Napansin nya sa wakas ang brilyante na nasa gitna ng sala ng kuta. Pero tinatalo ito ng ilusyon ng kalaban.
Sa wakas dumating na ang babae sa kuta. Nakita ito ng kalaban at inumpisahang akitin ang tunay na babae. Batid ito ng babae kaya inakit din nya ang kalaban gamit ang pinta sa kanyang likod. Mahiwaga ang pintang ito dahil tila ito ay may buhay. Nahumaling sa pagtingin ang kalaban sa babae at sinamantala ito ng babae upang buksan ang mga bintana upang pumasok ang liwanag. At gamit ang salamin ay pumasok ang liwanag sa kuta at itinapat sa lalaking kalaban. Nasilaw ang lalaki at unti-unting natunaw. Nagliwanag sa buong kuta.
Nang gumising ang bida ay laking pagtataka nya ang ang kuta ay isang magandang palasyo na lantay ng mamahaling bato. Lumapit ang babaeng may pinta at ito pala ay dating sinumpa ng lalaking matipuno. Dahil sa kabayanihan ng lalaki ay pinagkalooban ito ng baul ng mga brilyante. Matapos magpaalam ay ihinatid na siya ng bayan sa daan patungo sa daigdig ng mga taga-lupa.
Dinala ng lalaki ang baul sa mundo mga tao at siya ay yumaman. Di na muli siyang naghirap.
Minsan habang nagbabakasyon sa boracay ay napadaan siya sa isang bodypaint shoppe at nakita nya muli sa isang babae ang disenyo ng pinta sa likod ng babae sa kabilang daigdig. kanya itong tinawag.
Laking gulat nya na ito ay kamukha ng babae na nakita nya. Sinabi nito sa kanya "pwede ba bang magbakasyon dito kasama ka?
Alexandre Moreau - the rich heir of the fabled Van Geiser Fortune - , young, adventurous, was a man no woman could resist. Rich, yes, he could have everything he wanted, yet not what he needs. As his
great-grandfather had told him once, "Look to the mirror and see who you really are." So the young
Alenxandre looks at himself everyday, yet only sees life as a game.
Bored and weary of the town he lives in, his life changes when the beautiful Emeraude Alferia appears in a ball. Alexandre and the males in the town were so caught in the rapture of a beauty so fair, they began to fight among themselves to be the one to give the Lady Emeraude the most beautiful and most expensive gift they could ever find. The young Moreau used all of his charms and lavished the lady with expensive gifts, but Emeraude cast him nary a glance. The men, too were downcast in defeat, as the lady would not even stand close to them, always keeping her distance. Who was to win and wed this fine beauty? "Why, whoever would be able to give me the finest, most beautiful gift a woman could ever have, of course! A test, my dear lords, pass it and my hand will be yours" announced Emeraude. And Alexandre immediately knew what he had to do.
Far deep into the south lay the ancient Van Geiser castle. And according to legend, buried deep
underneath the tombs of his ancestors lay the Van Geiser's most legendary piece of treasure - the Van
Geiser diamond, the largest diamond in the whole world. The diamond, if he found it, would be
Alexandre's finest gift to the beautiful Emeraude.
Off he left for the castle, traveling alone, spurred on by the challenge of winning the heart of the
beautiful lady. But he was not alone on his quest. One of his rivals picked up news of his plans and rode
after him with his men. If he could catch Moreau, he would be able to lead them to the Van Geiser diamond, and he would have Emeraude Alferia. But Moreau was smart, knowing the land like the back of his hand. He kept on his journey, avoiding, escaping, and fighting - if it was deemed necessary - until he reached the castle of his ancestors. From there he sought the very foundations of the castle, reaching down to the tombs of his forefathers, searching for the legendary diamond. If it was real and he found it, then he would wed the most beautiful woman in the world. If it was not, however, well, there will always be other women.
And so it was on the dark and stormy night when a grand ball was held for the returning suitors, that the weary Alexandre Moreau returned. The crowd parted as he came up to the lady seated on the throne, and revealed the Van Geiser diamond. He had found it, and won. The people cheered, save for the men, but gasped as Alexandre threw the diamond at the lady's feet."I have found the finest gift in the world. I have won. You can have your diamond and pick another man. It does not matter to me, I have won your test, and whomever you pick will know for the rest of his life that he is second. You are but one woman, m'lady." Alexandre wiped a falling tear from Emeraude's cheek and gave a gentle squeeze on her arm as the lady withdrew and ran down the stage. The crowd cheered at Alexandre's decision and were soon offering more gifts to the lady, but Emeraude was not paying any attention to them, walking straight out with the Van Geiser diamond. But as the woman passed by the mirror of the hall, Alexandre noticed something on his hands. Paint. Heavy. Masking. Concealing. On her face, yes. But on her arms? Through the reflection of the mirror he discovered the truth about the beautiful woman they had so desperately sought. The mad grin hidden in her paint-smeared face and body. Body paint. A fake. Charlatan. Impostor. Lightning cracked and Alexandre saw the horrid face of the real Emearaude. A gaunt,
horrid-looking witch of a woman, she did not want any man's hand. She wanted the treasures. And she had it in her hands. The great Van Geiser diamond. What fools they have been!
The young Monteau dashed down towards her as she ran, unsheathing his sword. As one, the people shriekd as the blade thrust through the fleeing woman's heart, stopping her dead in her tracks. Only when Alexandre wiped away the paint that concealed her real face did the poeple calm down. Only when he showed them the truth did the people awake from Emeraude's wonderful charm. And so it was that Alexandre Moreau saved their treasures, and found his family's long-lost treasure. He may not know it, but he has passed the greatest test of his life. END.
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