Drabblerotic 2014 - R is for Roundabout

Title: How To - Done Indirectly (Academic)
Author: charisstoma
Word count: 400
Prompt: R is for Roundabout
With thanks to thwax for: The revenge of the writer is sweet, … 'be nice to me or you'll be in my next book.' and meep for her example on how to use real life events.




He was the dragon who guarded the restrooms, ensuring that no one talked to another about the all important epic test while in his lair and chasing them away as soon as possible. He huffed in amusement. Hopefully after washing their hands.

It wasn’t his job to monitor the hallways where on the return journey, voyagers might share information. That was for other dragons and there was solace in that.

The dungeon master approached, her bright red athletic shoes contrasting with perfect gleaming blond hair. Surely biting her was permitted.

He turned his plain brown paper covered booklet face up where the title was scrawled in bold block lettering, BDSM: Taking Control. Carefully he hid his smile at the repressed gasp and pulled out his pen as if to start taking notes.

“What the Hell!!”

His smile grew, there was a 6th grade student inside the restroom and the sound of running water had shut off suddenly. Little ears were listening. The same little ears whose parent had gotten a substitute teacher fired by that self-same Dungeon Master the week before.

The other restroom monitor watched with rounded eyes and a visiting testing administrator from the state increased their gait to intervene.

“May I?”

The Dungeon Master handed over the manuscript that she’d done an act of confiscating to, to the administrator as Damien said quietly, “I’m writing a self-help book.”


The cover was explanation enough, the rest of the wording small, written in normal script in pencil:
B -eautiful
D -amsel :Taking Control of your fears.
S -lays
M -onster

“It’s for children who have nightmares,” Damien explained, “there’ll be illustrations. It’s kind of like Paper Bag Princess in genera.”

“Looks interesting. I’d like to read the finished product,” the administrator handed the manuscript back to Damien, turning to the School’s Principal just as the student exited the restroom.

Damien smiled at the student, “Charlie, you need to return to your testing room.”

There was a run on requests for a certain book in the Library for weeks after and the school finally settled in comfortably with the Vice-principal in her new position.

When Damien’s book was released, there was a lovely picture on the cover of a night gowned child with a wimple on her head standing up on her bed, grasping a book and hitting over the head a blond haired monster in red athletic shoes.

A Manul, otherwise known as Pallas's Cat. Were-feline?

Took me a bit. It's the eyes.( Read more... )

Have you ever wanted to take a trip through time to see what animals looked like millions of years ago? When it comes to cats there is little or no need. This beautiful specimen is a Manul, otherwise known as Pallas’s Cat. About twelve million years ago it was one of the first two modern cats to evolve and it hasn’t changed since. The other species, Martelli’s Cat, is extinct so what you are looking at here is a unique window in to the past of modern cats.
Take a close look at the eyes of the Manul. Do you see a difference between it and the domestic cat? That’s right, the pupils of the Manul are round, not slit-like. Proportionally too, the legs are smaller than cats we know and they can’t run anywhere near as quickly. As for the ears, well, when you actually can catch sight of them they are very low and much further apart than you would see in a domestic cat.

The Manul is a solitary creature and individuals do not tend to meet purposefully when it is outside the breeding season and will avoid the company of others of its kind where possible. When it is threatened it raises and quivers the upper lip, Elvis like, revealing a large canine tooth.
When breeding does happen the male has to get in quickly as oestrus usually only lasts just under two days. It usually births up to six kittens, very rarely a single one, and it is believed that the size of its litters reflect the high rate of mortality the infant cats can expect. Yet they are expected to be able to hunt at sixteen weeks and are very much on their own and independent by six months. Although their life expectancy in the wild is unknown in captivity they have lived to over eleven years.
Don’t rush to your local pet store, however. The Manul does not domesticate and even if it did they are incredibly hard to breed in captivity with many kittens dying. This is thought to be because in the wild, due to its isolation, the cat’s immune system did not have a need to develop and so when they come in contact with us and other species, this under-developed immune system lets them down.