Short Story: Downy Discovery

If man were meant to fly he would have been born with wings.

As of two hours ago, she could no longer use that excuse to get out of her friends’ weekly paragliding sessions.

She’d heard on the news recently of people randomly developing special powers, but that was like hearing someone win a lottery. Nice to fantasize, but unrealistic. So when her back started to itch, she just thought it was her eczema acting up again.

The scraggly down feathers that burst through her skin was definitely not what she expected in the middle of the night.

Fortunately, they were experiencing a cold snap for the rest of the week. As long as she layered up, no one would be able to tell that she had sprouted extra appendages. The ruse wouldn’t last forever, but it would buy her enough time to gather everything she needed to bribe her friends so that they wouldn’t celebrate the discovery by yeeting her off their favourite cliff.

She cracked her fingers and typed in her first search term.

Crocodile slippers for adults.

~End~

Genre: fantasy

July stories: 8/21

Short Story: Superhero Family Team

His sister has the power of superspeed. His brother can control shadows. His mother can fly. His father has super strength. All excellent qualities for a superhero family team.

Then there’s him… who can create magical tassels.

It’s not a bad ability. His tassels provide a wide variety of buffs and extra abilities to their wearers, but it’s not suitable for combat. So while the rest of his family fight crime on the frontline, he’s stuck waiting in the background. Everyone knows about his family, but no one knows he exists.

The lack of awareness turns to their favour when his whole family is captured on a mission. Their captors don’t expect any backup to ruin their plans. They’re going to be sorely disappointed.

He’s not as powerful as the rest of his family, but not every battle is won by strength. He arms himself with as many tassels as he can, from invisibility to sound dampeners to anti-gravity, and sneaks into the heart of the evil lair.

~End~

Genre: fantasy, superhero

Short Story: Cop and Robbers (Damage Control)

Robber (read this first) | Cop | Damage Control

This new superpower thing is troublesome.

His friends bond by chasing each other around. It’s not for everyone, but if it works for them, he’s not going to judge.

What he will do, is damage control.

While his friends play cop and robbers, he follows their tracks, leaving behind a name card and an apology letter at each venue. If he can, he’ll come back to replace what’s been taken. If he can’t, the victims can contact him for reparations. People are generally more tolerant of weird hijinks now that supervillains are a thing, but it never hurts to be generous.

He always makes sure to give them more than what is stolen, not only so that he and his friends don’t get sent to jail for breaking multiple laws, but so that people will come to look forward to receiving his letters.

They haven’t been arrested yet, so something must be working, right?

~End~

Genre: superpower, fantasy

March triplet story: 1/6

Short Story: Cop and Robbers (Cop)

Robber (read this first) | Cop | Damage Control

This new superpower thing is unfair.

She isn’t a detective, not officially, but she’s always been good at gathering clues and drawing the right conclusions. Every mystery she solves isn’t just a challenge, it’s an affirmation of her skills.

But now, all she needs to do is use her newfound clairvoyance to pinpoint her target in the blink of an eye. Even worse, it’s the only way she can make it in time to catch the thief in the act since he has no problems abusing his own special abilities.

“Stop right there.”

The thief makes the evidence of his crime disappear with a wave of his hands and sends her an innocent smile. “Stop what?”

“Return the cake.”

The thief opens the fridge and cocks his head to one side. “Don’t see no cake here.”

“You know what I’m talking about.”

“Nope. I’m just an innocent passerby with places to be. Toodles.”

With a snap of his fingers, the thief vanishes, and she’s left alone in someone else’s house.

She growls. He’s not going to get rid of her so easily. She activates her power and chases him to his next stop.

~End~

Genre: superpower, fantasy

March triplet story: 1/6

Short Story: Cop and Robbers (Robber)

Robber (read this first) | Cop | Damage Control

This new superpower thing is great.

With a snap of his fingers, the lock obediently springs apart, allowing the door to swing open with a gentle touch. Of course, he can pick the lock easily with his own skills, but he’ll never say no to shortcuts. The time he saves now means more time for chaos later.

He dashes down the corridor like a silent shadow, straight for his goal. According to his research, his target should be in the fridge.

And it is. Tiramisu with extra Marsala, extra mascarpone, extra everything. He scoops a big fluffy bite even before taking the glass container out of the fridge into the cooler bag he prepared especially for this occasion.

“Stop right there.”

He zips up the bag and vanishes it with a clap of his hands. He shows his grumpy pursuer his now empty palms.

“Stop what?”

~End~

Genre: superpower, fantasy

March triplet story: 1/6