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30DW2-2 - Day 23: Absurd


On the highest branch of a barren tree, high upon a rock-strewn mountain I sat taking in the view below. I had retreated to my perilous perch after having waged a weary battle with the inhabitants of the village below. Many of their bodies now lay strewn throughout the muddy streets where, not more than twenty minutes ago their blood curdling screams filled the air in an attempt to first frighten, then, slay me. But their efforts were all for naught. And now their bodies and abodes lay smouldering, smoke wafting gently in the soft blowing breeze.

I don't know for certain what possessed them to turn as they did upon me. I was only seeking sustenance after my long and laborious flight from a similar village many miles away. And in that village, as with countless cities and towns before it, their townspeople turned in tyrannous fashion against me.

It wasn't always like this. Many moons ago the humans that walked upon the earth worshiped me, my large leathery body, my wondrous and majestic magenta wings, my gravity defying deftness and of all things my burning breath.

However, one day as I soared in a circular fashion in the bight blue and cloudless sky voices from below and above called to me.

The sound was relentless and hasty insults were hurled at me that carried capriciously in the wistful wind. The words were hurtful; they stung me like nothing before. And they made fun of my faceless visage.

Let me tell you, if you'd blown fire every day for forty years your face would be a little worse for wear too.

And I'd blown some serious fire over the years. Not merely smoke like some precocious pretenders have done that some may have read about over the last twenty-three days.

Often times I've had to fight with flames to defend myself against large winged creatures hell bent on poking out my eyes. Charred cheeks is the price one pays for a dragon defending itself.

And it was an accident that I set that village on fire many, many years ago while I was toasting a flock of pheasants who had come after me with their eyes on the prize, their talons attempting to tear out my  pupils.

Alas, now my reputation precedes me everywhere I go. I was only protecting my eyes from those blasted birds in that fateful fight. Maybe things would have been different had I worn protective eyewear.

Instead, though, I made a spectacle of myself.

And if you think this tale is absurd wait until you get a whiff of the rest of the stories accessible via We Work For Dragons. My apologies to MikeWJ who, while he does blow smoke from time to time, really isn't a precocious pretender. And my apologies to Nicky. Just because.



Comments

Barb Paige said…
This was great dufus! Your poor dragon is so misunderstood :)
nonamedufus said…
Thanks, Barb. There was no way I was gonna be accused of draggin' my ass today.
Shawn Ohara said…
Smaug: An Autobiography
nonamedufus said…
Ha, it could be! But I completely made this up. I had to Google this. I hadn't read The Hobbit since high school, well over 40 years ago.
Shawn Ohara said…
Light My Fire, My Autobiography,

By Smaug, with Ray Manzarek
Nicky said…
Apology accepted, just because. Not that it was necessary, at all. :-)

This was a thoroughly enjoyable tale, mon ami. Nicely done!
nonamedufus said…
You know this dragon's from Britain, eh? Have you read Smauggy day in London town?
nonamedufus said…
I thought I'd apologize now because you may not be speaking to me later. (Ooo, ominous.) I'm glad you enjoyed the dragon tale, Nicky. It sure beats going down in flames.
Boom Boom Larew said…
I, on the other hand, AM draggin' my ass on this prompt today. The rest of you aren't helping. The more I read, the less I can think of that might be deemed absurdly original.
Linda R. said…
Love your dragon tale. This was the perfect prompt for creative expression. To bad I wasn't up to the challenge today.
nonamedufus said…
C'mon, Boom Boom, that's absurd.
nonamedufus said…
You'll get your mojo back, Linda, I'm sure.
Jayne said…
Poor misunderstood guy. I loved our dragon tail, uh, tale.
nonamedufus said…
Dragons always get a bad rap.
Ziva said…
Oh, that poor, misunderstood dragon. I kinda want to take care of him and let him come inside, maybe play with some matches, but fire isn't really my friend...
nonamedufus said…
Oh my. there's a spark of something there.
If I were Pretending... said…
So... the rest of us ARE precocious pretenders?
nonamedufus said…
Um, I dunno. Who are you pretending to be?
Laughing Mom said…
poor dragon - those pesky birds!
nonamedufus said…
They'll poke MichaelWJ's eyes out.
Indigo Roth said…
So what, no apology for me? I don't need one either, but still... This was a curious tale, Dufus, but an enjoyable one. Indigo
Wow that was fascinating! You have such a wonderful imagination and wrote it so well!
MalisaHargrove said…
What? What? A Dufus post without puns? I don't know if I can make it through the day.


Those who breathe fire are bound to get burned. A hard lesson learned.
nonamedufus said…
But you weren't in the story today. Your turn was the last train day. And I'm sorry about badgering you.
nonamedufus said…
You are very kind Katherine. Thanks.
nonamedufus said…
No pun? Read the last two paragraphs. I wouldn't want to disappoint you.
mikewjattoomanymornings said…
Ooh! This reminded me of a brilliant little book called Grendel, which was written from the monster's point of view.

But I don't get the ending. There's not absurd about being afraid of birds pecking your eyes out. Because that's what birds do. They peck your eyes out.
mikewjattoomanymornings said…
Exactly.
KZ said…
Haha you just couldn't walk away without throwing in your signature pun. The story was sounding pretty somber until the last paragraph. This was a really clever post, by the way. I like where you went with the story.
Indigo Roth said…
Stop that! But there's a good badger gag here mind. Roth
nonamedufus said…
I'll have to look for that book. The ending wasn't absurd. The whole story was a little absurd. Sorry. Oh, I already did that.
nonamedufus said…
With this one I just started writing and let my mind wander. Although when I reached the part about the dragon burning it's face the reference to MikeWJ just came naturally.
P.J. said…
Here I thought we were going to make it through an entire, well-written post, without 'em... then I get to the end and said, there's the dufus we all know. :)
nonamedufus said…
I know, eh. I'm on fire!
Linda Medrano said…
Fire breathing dragons are wonderful. The birds can be worrisome though, you are so right. This was a very fun flight of fancy!
nonamedufus said…
Fantastic! Birds might poke out your eyes but a dragon could result in you making a real ash of yourself.
meleahrebeccah said…
"Let me tell you, if you'd blown fire every day for forty years your face would be a little worse for wear too." - that made me laugh.
nonamedufus said…
Well, it would, don't you think?

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