TaintedMetal

This is a book with many storylines.  Well, bite sized that is. 

This large collection of stories is more than happy to explore the many different sides of fantasy, Some stories are dark while some are bright. Some are comedic while others have a serious tone (sometimes very serious). Some have mysteries while others have absurdity…..or maybe not. Depends on how you look at it really. 

Nimble, bite sized stories for you to read anywhere in a short amount of time.

Nimble

The 8-Ball felt cold and lifeless. It was in my hands as I held it like some fantasy hero holding a magic sphere. 


I had found the large billiard ball just outside the gate of my home, it was inside a box. Since it didn't have an address, it couldn't have been a misplaced package. No, somebody must have left it for me. I didn't think there was any point in solving such a mystery, since I would end up going in circles. Selling it to somebody would be tricky, so I guess I'm stuck with this. 


This 8-Ball had a small visible hole with blue triangles. Or was it indigo? I could never really tell since my eyes did not belong to an artist. Looking up on the internet I discovered that this was a smaller version of the magic 8-Ball that's mostly found in the West. The one I got just so happens to fit in my pocket. When I say "magic" I mean, it gives a sense of magic fortune telling by the time you shake it and after you make a question. 


I was in the park, essentially just chilling around. Fortune telling wasn't really something I'd believe in, since the last thing I need is going under superstition and then I become one of those people who starts to see weird things and then people like the police don't believe me. 


I say this because I've watched too many movies. My bad. 


But I figured it wouldn't hurt to try this pocket sized magic 8-Ball out. What could really happen? "Is it going to rain today?"


One of the many triangles in the 8-Ball said: Very doubtful 


The 8-Ball was right actually, seeing how the sun kept on shining in the sky, and how some people are feeling the heat, literally. One guy next to me was busy running around the park. Probably exercising. I wonder though.


"Will something bad happen to the man who just finished running and is a few inches away from me?"


I was doubtful at first but then I saw the man get struck in the head. I couldn't see what hit him, but he fell down quick, prompting the screams of some nearby witnesses. I approached his body. A rock apparently was wedged into his skull.


No, a rock didn't have this kind of shape. 


"Hey!" said a man in a uniform. It was an officer's uniform. "You there, with the 8-Ball!"


He was chasing me as if I did this on purpose. Of course I had to run! I went past through the various people, yelling out to them to get out of my way. Some obliged, while a person or two just had to be shoved by me. 


I turned to the 8-Ball. If it could predict things before then surely it would work now. "Is there an easy way out of this?"


I went on to a zebra crossing as I felt a force steel hit me from the side. I felt my world tipping away as I slammed head first onto the ground. My body felt like it wasn't moving. My eyes on the other hand, did see the 8-Ball which was now a few inches away from me. People were heard screaming and panicking from behind.


I didn't know whether I end up in a hospital or be dead. If the 8-Ball could hear me, then I would ask if everything is going to be alright after this, especially since a policeman was chasing me before. 


I spoke too soon, as the 8-Ball turned to its side to show me its answer: Ask again later.
