Meeting an Ally
By Dialecticdreamer/Sarah Williams
Part 2 of 4, complete
Word count (story only): 1803
[Tuesday, May 5, 2020, midday]


:: Meeting new people is seldom easy, but the situation is complicated by several factors, leaving Aidan, Vic, Ed, and Mac trying to break several boulder-sized problems into gravel that they can move more easily. Part of the Edison’s Mirror arc. ::


Back to Meeting an Ally, part 1
To the Edison's Mirror Index
On to Meeting an Ally, part 3




The champagne-colored house, screened by trees, held rows of four-paned windows trimmed in bold white, clustered in sets of three. An English-style garden stood in a circular fieldstone wall in the center of the driveway loop. The wall stood knee high and as wide as an adult’s palm, while the plants crowded it as if rushing to escape into the cool, rainy forest that surrounded the small clearing.

Henry parked the van. “We’re here,” he offered, grinning wryly.
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Meeting an Ally
By Dialecticdreamer/Sarah Williams
Part 1 of 4, complete
Word count (story only): 1743
[Tuesday, May 5, 2020, midday]


:: Meeting new people is seldom easy, but the situation is complicated by several factors, leaving Aidan, Vic, Ed, and Mac trying to break several boulder-sized problems into gravel that they can move more easily. Part of the Edison’s Mirror arc. ::


Back to Interference, part 4
To the Edison's Mirror Index
On to part two




Vic fluffed the pillows on the unused sofa, then checked the visible areas of the main room. “Are we ready to go?” At the words, Mac insisted on coming with them, to the point of yowling angrily when Vic tried to close her into the bathroom. “We’ll be back,” he insisted to the kitten.

Henry Spracher chuckled as the kitten took a swipe at Vic’s ankle that missed by several inches. “Either she wasn’t aiming to injure you, or she needs a lot more practice!”
( Read more... )

Hunting Together
By Dialecticdreamer/Sarah Williams
Part 1 of 1, complete
Word count (story only): 1374
[Fall of 2016]


:: Shiver was born in the upheaval of the Quake. As the fall stalked toward her, she stalked prey of her own: warmth. What she finds might just be better than she’d ever hoped. Set in the Polychrome Heroics universe. This story was written for the September of 2025 Magpie Monday prompt call, from an idea suggested by siliconshaman, with my thanks. It was chosen to post for everyone to enjoy because mama_kestrel’s prompt became its immediate sequel, and is available to sponsor. Thank you to all my wonderful readers! ::




Shiver had been born as the big shaking ended. She was the smallest of the litter, and her bigger, stronger littermates had tried pushing her around even before they could see the world, only touching, hearing, and smelling it.

That’s when she learned two brilliant, unassailable facts. She had dewclaws that curled deeper than her siblings', and she could sense warmth that her siblings seemed to ignore. As soon as she could move about beyond the nest, mercifully away from her siblings, she began hunting in earnest for the warmth that they couldn’t seem to find.

Then again, her siblings were, all of them, easier to stalk and trick than her first mouse had been. The delicious, well-earned feast might have been taken by Rrrrohr, the largest of the litter, but Shiver dragged it back, paw by delicate paw, until her brother stood on the abandoned strings that she’d used to slow the mouse just long enough to pounce upon it.
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Welcome to Feathering the Nest, a prompt call for September of 2025!

For my usual readers, welcome back! Let’s have some fun!
( Read more... )

Interference
By Dialecticdreamer/Sarah Williams
Part 2 of 4, complete
Word count (story only): 1818
[May 5, 2020, midday]


:: The trio’s plans to be invisible are shattered when a deputy in uniform knocks on the door. Chaos ensues. Part of the Edison’s Mirror arc. ::


:: Pay Special Attention: Ed has a severe panic attack, and Vic basically uses magic to sedate him. Heavily. It doesn’t help enough. The deputy calls in a doctor, but travel takes time. ::


Back to Interference, part one
To the Edison's Mirror Index
On to Interference, part three




Aidan cleared his throat. “Excuse me, madam, but did our presence bring you here, or something else?”

“You mean, am I here to arrest you for trespassing?” Win sighed, her eyes on Ed’s limp form. “I’m not sure yet. Actually, I was checking all of the empty homes in the area because there was a break-in last night. If it was you three, it was the complete opposite of what’s going on here, and left a terrible mess.”

She raised a brow. “What were you doing last night?”

Aidan gestured toward the kitchen. “The doors on the cabinet under the sink were misaligned. I took them off the hinges, filled in the holes with a mix of glue and wood shavings, and reseated the doors.”

Her expression flattened to complete blankness. “What?”
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The Edison’s Mirror Index

This arc began as an AU, an answer to a prompt idea from a reader. Three years later, I am shaping a novel-length arc to show the readers the characters' hard-earned happy ending.
( Read more... )

Settling Down
By Dialecticdreamer/Sarah Williams
Part 1 of 1, complete
Word count (story only): 1712
[May 4, 2020, night]


:: Back to the cabin where Ed an Aidan are waiting, the next challenge is that Ed is petrified of sleeping alone. Part of the Edison’s Mirror arc. ::


Back to Unfamiliar Terrain
To the Edison's Mirror Index
On to Determined Explorations




After their supper of mostly foraged vegetables, Vic helped to dry the dishes and put them away while Aidan grumbled his way to the large bedrooms. “The only fireplace is desperately undersized. The kitten needs more warmth than the bedrooms have right now, and…” He passed out of Vic’s hearing range.

Ed slipped close, pressing against Vic’s side. He took the towel and began drying the next dish. “Aidan is trying to make everything ‘normal’ for us,” the boy whispered hoarsely. “Nothing is normal. Nothing can ever be normal again.”

Swallowing hard, Vic nodded as he accepted a mug. “It hurts. It’ll hurt a little less a bit at a time, and… And then there will be bad days that hurt just like it’s all brand new, but those days will get farther apart,” he murmured.
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On to Determined Explorations

In starting the next story arc, would readers prefer that I simply number the posts, keep to naming the individual sections, or something else?

I could assemble an index page right away, but it will probably be updated in fits and starts as I have the extra energy to get the HTML put in correctly.

Since this is going to be another 70k of storytelling, AND it ties into a couple of already posted pieces, I'd like readers' input on the best method to keep them motivated and engaged.

Time to Rest
By Dialecticdreamer/Sarah Williams
Part 1 of 1, complete
Word count (story only): 1910
[End of March 179-]


:: After returning to the village, Rebeka and Laszlo are finally getting some much-needed rest. Part of the “Lost Son” story arc in the Frankenstein’s Family universe. ::


Back to part thirty-seven
To the Lost Son Index
On to part thirty-nine




“Vladimir is brilliant in his own way,” Laszlo mused. The awning shaded their area from the afternoon sunshine, and the positioning of the pair of hammocks, mounted to posts dug into the side yard minutes after Vladimir had hurried out of Victor’s study, allowed Laszlo and Rebeka to look down the mountain at the carpet of trees that separated them from the village. “Your hammock will hold you, I promise.”

Rebeka tried to sit up, but the knotted ropes conspired to make her lean back, conforming to the long curve of the hammock. “It’s very strange,” she mused. “But David loves it. He’s slept longer in the hammock than he ever has before.”
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