This week we've got a brand new Short Diversions for your enjoyment and a little break before the concluding part (maybe) of Riz's Wardrobe Confusion in a brand new Comic Tales of Brennan and Riz! There's also a slight update on things but it won't keep you long. Anyway, here's your favourite mismatched duo!
The Comic Tales of Brennan and Riz
So, my thinking here was to show what Riz was upto while waiting for Brennan to free him. Looking back, I think I should have made it clearer but the principle remains the same...Riz in costumes! The original line up included some different outfits, though disco Riz was always a constant. In the first draft, Riz offered commentary on the outfit, which a vestige still exists in the second panel dialogue. How the Red Dwarf one ended up there...I'm not sure, but it was fun to draw all the same, and who doesn't love Mr Flibble?
One more part...at least! Depends on what happens next week.
Update
I've not been working on the things I should have been this week, but there is a good reason for this. I can't divulge any information yet but soon...soon I can reveal all...and yes, it's related to something I said a couple of weeks ago.
Short Diversions: A Bad Dream
Today's short story features a character who has technically graced this blog before...some five years ago. However, I think this serves as a better introduction, and offers a glimpse at what I was trying to achieve.
Please enjoy!
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A Bad Dream
An alarm breaks the dreadful silence, its piercing wails causing chaos. A pair of bloodied hands are raised to an unforgiven sky as screams abound. A white flash in the distance and then…
Aldo woke up with a start, almost falling off the tree he’d been resting in. Despite the quiet nature of the Duskwuld, Aldo had never felt completely safe in having a nap at ground level. It had the additional bonus of making it harder for Dastun to find him when there was a task that needed doing. He looked up, trying to spot the sun through the black foliage, catching only the briefest glimpses of it. It was enough though to tell him that midday had since passed, and that he’d slept longer than he wanted, or wished for.
Listening to the gentle breeze, he tried to parse the dreams that had been plaguing him. The one that had woke him had been mercifully short compared to others. He went through periods where these types of dreams affected him, never knowing what the trigger was. It would have been easy to assume it was something going on in his day to day life, but he rejected the idea out of hand. He’d brought it up to his friends from time to time, wanting to gauge their responses but found a mixed bag. Lysa suggested that the dreams were trying to send him a message, a potential warning for the future. This didn’t go down too well with the others who offered more inane options, like the journals Aldo had been reading, or the constant murmurings of war from the neighbouring Kingdom of Jura.
Not able to come up with a satisfactory answer, Aldo tried to close his eyes again, wanting a bit more time to be alone with his thoughts, it was his natural state, he often mused to himself. A birdsong distracted him, and he turned his head slightly in its direction, catching sight of the little bird, almost blending in with the dark leaves it danced through. He could remember when it was far more rare to hear such a thing in the forest, and he was grateful that wildlife were making a home for themselves. His train of thought led him to think about himself and his own home.
He’d been staying with Datsun for a fair number of years now, the two related by blood. He jokingly called him ‘old man’ now, despite Datsun only being in his late thirties compared to Aldo’s own teenage status. The writing was on the wall though, he’d soon have to move on, most of his friends spoke about the same thing, wanting to find their fortunes outside the boundary of the village, wanting to see the world that lay beyond the black forest. While he didn’t know where he was going to go, he knew it would be a long time before he’d wind up back in Duskwuld. He wasn’t sure about the feelings that were running through him, the little bit of fear that was welling up. What was different this time?
The more he pondered, the more he became ever thoughtful of what Lysa had theorised about his dreams. That such a preposterous idea could be true would never be entertained in normal circumstances, but these were far from normal times. His train of thoughts were derailed when he heard the voices of children beneath him.
“Do you think he’s out here?” the boy asked.
“Hopefully, old Datsun sed so!” the other, a girl, replied. There were two of them, and Aldo knew both quite well. Zayn and Eri. A lively pair.
“Is that him up there?” Zayn said, and Aldo knew the kid was pointing at him. Aldo glanced down and saw Eri peering up at him, her hand above her eyes, as if it helped her focus.
“No! That’s jus Aldo! That’s not the Daemon Soul!” Eri proclaimed.
“Did old Datsun want us to find him instead?”
“Who knows…” Eri shrugged her shoulders. “We betta keep looking! Bye Aldo!”
“Yeah, bye Aldo!” both kids shouted up tp Aldo, who waved back from his position. He waited till their voices were a whisper on a breeze. The Daemon Soul…The legendary protector of the Black Forest and all who dwell within it. A story that was passed around the village from elder to younger. Few had seen them, but it was celebrated all the same. Aldo left such things to the kids, though his friends had made a tradition of doing a night search every harvest festival. No successful searches, but they had fun all the same.
Looking back towards where the sun was, Aldo wondered about other places, and what legends they had forged for themselves, and if any matched the ones in the books he’d read. While the village often had travellers coming through, for various reasons, such topics were not high on the conversation list.
Aldo sat in that same spot for a bit more, no longer thinking of anything and just enjoying the moment, and wishing it would last forever, erasing any of the bad dreams he was having, whatever their cause maybe. With a heavy sigh though, he knew it wasn’t possible, and that there were things to do. Carefully, he climbed down, and took in the view of the forest from ground level, the trees stretching out in every direction. He knew these trees had persevered through so much, the least he could do is attempt the same. With that in mind,he headed back to the village, putting his dreams behind him. For now.
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That's it for this week! Hope you liked the short and I'll be back next week (probably with a look at music and writing again).
Till then...
Keep on writing!
Peter James Martin
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