Story Snippet for Musemuggers Prompt #473
musemuggers prompt: catching your death
The prompt reminded me of the Cluracan and his nemesis from The Sandman, so this snippet kind of echoes that.
I slice off a piece of my heart and lay it on the doorstep. It burns with a portion of my inner fire for a few beats, then slowly softens into a glistening lump of red muscle. Though it is no longer connected to me, it still bears traces of my life force; my Nemesis will home in on it like a fly to a recently deceased carcass.
"Did you have to do that?" says Buhawi. Buhawi's natural form is a tornado; his confrontations with his Nemesis involve a lot of shouting and fighting, and often result in the destruction of crops and manmade structures. His human manifestation is tall, bulky, and prone to anger, which is why he doesn't understand my motivations for baiting my own Nemesis. I clean my knife and put it away before attempting another explanation.
"You're a force of nature. You can afford to meet your enemies with brute strength; in fact, that's your preferred method. I, on the other hand, do not have that option." To emphasize my point, I indicate my skinny body with a sweep of my bony hand.
Buhawi snorts. "Are you saying that instead of beating your Nemesis, you're going to capture it? What's the point of that? A Nemesis is meant to be battled to the death; there's no glory in trapping it then escaping."
"I'm not going to capture it, and maybe I won't escape. I intend to have some fun with my Nemesis."
"Why do you have to make everything so complicated, Pilandok?"
My eyes twinkle as I smile. "Who says I can't have fun with my own death?"
* * *
Notes:
Buhawi literally means tornado in Filipino. Pilandok is the Philippine mouse-deer, often portrayed as a trickster figure.
The prompt reminded me of the Cluracan and his nemesis from The Sandman, so this snippet kind of echoes that.
I slice off a piece of my heart and lay it on the doorstep. It burns with a portion of my inner fire for a few beats, then slowly softens into a glistening lump of red muscle. Though it is no longer connected to me, it still bears traces of my life force; my Nemesis will home in on it like a fly to a recently deceased carcass.
"Did you have to do that?" says Buhawi. Buhawi's natural form is a tornado; his confrontations with his Nemesis involve a lot of shouting and fighting, and often result in the destruction of crops and manmade structures. His human manifestation is tall, bulky, and prone to anger, which is why he doesn't understand my motivations for baiting my own Nemesis. I clean my knife and put it away before attempting another explanation.
"You're a force of nature. You can afford to meet your enemies with brute strength; in fact, that's your preferred method. I, on the other hand, do not have that option." To emphasize my point, I indicate my skinny body with a sweep of my bony hand.
Buhawi snorts. "Are you saying that instead of beating your Nemesis, you're going to capture it? What's the point of that? A Nemesis is meant to be battled to the death; there's no glory in trapping it then escaping."
"I'm not going to capture it, and maybe I won't escape. I intend to have some fun with my Nemesis."
"Why do you have to make everything so complicated, Pilandok?"
My eyes twinkle as I smile. "Who says I can't have fun with my own death?"
* * *
Notes:
Buhawi literally means tornado in Filipino. Pilandok is the Philippine mouse-deer, often portrayed as a trickster figure.