Wednesday, April 4, 2012

Creepy Hollow Fae: Dryad


Year of study: fourth
Assignment type: paired (without mentor)





“I thought dryads weren’t dangerous,” says Aria, leaning back against the Guild’s central staircase. “Are you sure the briefing said ‘dryad’?”

“No, Aria, I just made it up.” She looks at me as though trying to figure out whether I’m being serious. “Of course I’m sure. Didn’t you read the briefing yourself?”

She shrugs. “Why should I? I knew you would.”

“That is so not the—oh, just come on. We’re going to be late and some poor human will wind up prey to a group of dancing dryads.”

The faerie paths take us directly to the willow grove of Pontolion Botanic Gardens. It’s late afternoon, and orange-gold beams of sunlight filter through the trees. An enchanting melody reaches my ears. Not too far away, a group of dryads are dancing in a circle. They’re strangely transparent, seeming to barely touch the ground as they twirl about. Flowers adorn their hair and they’re clothed in simple dresses. In the center of their ring is a young man. Dancing. Like an idiot.

Aria’s right that dryads aren’t really dangerous, but they do love their dancing. And any human caught under the spell of their music will keep dancing until the music ends. Which could be days from now. And that would be bad for this human. Very bad.

“See?” I say to Aria. “We’re already late. Now we have to contact a mentor and get someone to come clear his memory.” Aria rolls her eyes and mutters something under her breath. It takes a lot of patience not to snap at her. “Okay, you distract the dryads. I’m going to take out the source of their music.”

~  ~  ~

Like this flash fiction? Find out more about the Creepy Hollow series.
If you'd like to know more about my A to Z flash fiction pieces, read my A to Z Challenge Theme for 2012 post.



P.S. Don't forget the giveaway happening here till the end of Friday (EST)!

21 comments:

J.C. Martin said...

Poor dancing man, he must have looked a funny sight!

J.C. Martin
A to Z Blogger

Sheena-kay Graham said...

This was some nice flash fiction. Just letting you know I finished Labyrinth minutes ago. Gave it four stars.

Unknown said...

J.C. - Yeah, some boys just don't have rhythm!

Sheena-kay - Thank you!! I just saw your rating on Goodreads :-)

Mina Burrows said...

Very cool. I love that you're doing the A-Z with your CHF. Looking forward to reading more. :)

Cherie Reich said...

Poor guy! And I love the dialogue between Aria and Vi. :)

Unknown said...

Love the back and forth. need to grab me those stories...
Look forward to your challenge run… :)
--Damyanti, Co-host A to Z Challenge April 2012

Twitter: @AprilA2Z
#atozchallenge

Morgan said...

Awwww... love it, Rach. You rock :D

Carol Riggs said...

Cool--dryads! Dancing is a fun way to go. LOL Love your D and your excerpt!

Gwen Gardner said...

Well, if ya gotta go, may as well be dancing, lol. Love love loved your scene, Rachel!

Jessica Marcarelli said...

I'm loving your flash fiction. I also checked out your books and have to say that I have two new reads to add to my to-read list.

I'm adding my face to your followers and will definitely be back for more.

Jessica
A to Z Blogger & SF/Fantasy Writer
Visions of Other Worlds
Twitter: @jmarcarelli

A Tarkabarka Hölgy said...

I'm really enjoying your A to Z theme :) Thank you!

Nyrae Dawn said...

Very nice!

Fairview said...

Love this piece. We humans are so blind to the magic around us.

J. Cheney said...

NIcely done!!!

Jessica Salyer said...

Nice job. Are your books on iBooks?

Anonymous said...

I agree as above comment, do you have an ebooks which I can read? Good post for a-z challenge. Do check my D at GAC a-z.

Jessica Ferguson said...

This was great. I just bought books one and two.

Cynthia said...

Now I am curious to know how the dryads' music sounds like!

Anonymous said...

You've got me wondering - what (or who) is the source of their music??? Anticipating E...

Unknown said...

Thank you for all the comments! My books are not yet on iBooks, but they should be soon! (I thought they would be by now, but I guess I've got to wait a little longer...)

Sarah Tokeley said...

Aria made me laugh. Everyone knew someone like her at school :-)