#TimeTravelingGhost EP 9: Post 93: 1912, Titanic Part 2 of 2

#Wss366 Hamlet #TimeTravelAuthors 04/23. Do your characters test time travel?

[Continued from previous post]

“Look over there,” Emily said, pointing across the room to a man in a slightly rumpled ship’s uniform.

“Yeah?” I replied, not sure of the significance.

"I think he's a ghost. See how everyone is ignoring him? Good heavens! That person just passed right through him.”

Sure enough, as he stepped away from the wall and headed toward the band, no one paid him any attention, not even when they brushed into him.

“Another ghost,” I thought. “So, there’s something to learn on the Titanic.”

I sat and watched as he reached his destination: a woman in a gauzy pink satin dress. The deep rose bodice complemented her complexion. She smiled and nodded as he approached. Despite the distance, I could see her speaking excitedly, eyes sparkling. This garnered a few stares that they both ignored.

“She can see him,” I said.

“Uh-huh. Perhaps she is a spirit, like you.”

The man offered his arm, and they walked back across the floor to an exit leading to the promenade deck, where they stood and talked.

I could tell at a glance that she didn’t belong in first class. She displayed too much uncultured enthusiasm for the band’s performance. Her unrefined gait caused her floor-length skirt to swish “unbecomingly.” I hoped I didn’t stick out as badly.

“Shall we join them?” I asked. “We might learn something.”

“Wait! Look!”

A steward had joined them and was talking to the woman, while the man hung back and watched.

“Behind the steward,” Emily said. “In the shadows.”

I looked past them to the silhouette of a rabbit in the passage beyond.

“I don’t think that it’s with them. It’s observing,” Emily continued.

“Why?”

“To see if they’re a threat? To assassinate them if they’re going to cause trouble, like Miss Dubois.”

“Should we warn them?”

“It doesn’t seem to be threatening them, but if the rabbit spots you, we’ll be in a real jam. Let’s just get out of here.”

#TootFic #MicroFiction #NMFic #TimeTravel #HistoricalFantasy #UrbanFantasy #Mythpunk #Serial #Slowburn #Yuri

#TimeTravelingGhost EP 9: Post 93: 1912, Titanic Part 1 of 2

#Wss366 Hamlet #TimeTravelAuthors 04/23. Do your characters test time travel?

The reception area was at the foot of the grand staircase. Since the dining room was closed, people stood about or sat in small groups, socializing and listening to the ship’s band. Polite applause broke out after each number: refined, but not tastelessly enthusiastic.

I found two wicker seats where Emily and I could talk quietly. I sipped my second cocktail, brought from the café, and listened to the soft jazz. It was music for genteel society, not for enthusiasts. I couldn’t picture Sidney Bechet or Bunny Berigan playing here, let alone Billie Holiday or Ella Fitzgerald.

Nearby, a couple discussed a production of Hamlet they had seen in London. They went on to debate whether Sir Francis Bacon had written it, which drew a quiet scoff from me.

“You know we could see #Hamlet at the Globe and meet the real playwright,” Emily said. “While we check if a simpler conditional would work.”

I nodded and said, “#Shakespeare at the original theater would indeed be interesting, but let’s stick to our plan.”

#TootFic #MicroFiction #NMFic #TimeTravel #HistoricalFantasy #UrbanFantasy #Mythpunk #Serial #Slowburn #Yuri

#Airisu: The Crow and the Witch

Mikaeri Zaka/Look Back Ridge (Airisu POV) Post 30
#Wss366 Verdant #EarthDay edition

“So that’s the story of my first visit to the shrine,” Sumika said, finishing her saga.

I looked up from my hunt for cracker crumbs that had fallen between the car seats to reply, “And that didn’t clue you in that the kami there had an interest in you?” I asked, cocking my head and giving her a one-eyed examination. What kind of bubblehead had I hooked up with?

“I thought it was just some guy who’d come to our rescue.”

“Just some guy!?”

“Well, initially I believed it was a kami, but as I got older, I convinced myself that it was superstitious nonsense. Sis said they were both a couple of crazies.”

“You’re the weirdest witch I’ve ever heard of!”

“And you are the rudest crow ever to exist.”

“Clicky, crack. Don’t bet on it.”

At that moment, we pulled into a gravel turnoff and parked.

“We’re home,” she said. “My father owns it and rents it to me cheaply.”

We’d arrived at a rundown house surrounded by a surprisingly #verdant herb garden. Someone had put a lot of work into it. There were rows of rosemary, thyme, sage, and a bunch of Japanese herbs I didn’t recognize.

“Your garden?” I asked.

“Yeah, it helps me relax, and I use them in my magic. I told you I’m a whiz at potions.”

As soon as we were out of the car, I started hopping around the plants. “I’m impressed,” I cawed. “Why so many European species?”

“Those are the herbs Ariel-san is familiar with. She has been teaching me.”

“What’s this one?” I asked, pecking at a parsley-like leaf.

“Mugwort.”

“And this one?”

“Don’t peck at that! It’s devil’s trumpet, datura, jimsonweed.”

“Ack!” I called and hopped away. “Poison, poison; You are a witch!”

“You sound proud of that.”

“I am. You’re my witch. A witchy witch. Where’s the nightshade hedge?”

She looked troubled by my comment, but just said, “Let’s go inside. I’m tired, and we need to eat.”

“Chicken Nugs!” I crowed, flying up to Sumika’s shoulder.

#TootFic #MicroFiction #NMFic #Crows #Otherkin #Fantasy #UrbanFantasy #SlowBurn #Yuri

#Airisu: The Crow and the Witch

Mikaeri Zaka/Look Back Ridge (Sumika POV) Post 29
#Wss366 Pod

“Desist,” said a new, deep, commanding male voice.

Silence descended in the ginkgo grove. The woman’s harangue ceased; my sister’s mouth gaped, but no sound came out; and my screams froze in my throat.

Our rescuer continued, all the more frightening for his calm, stern tone, “You have brought violence to my shrine, desecrated it with your grudges, and assaulted a samayō miko. She has honored me with an offering and promises to dance for me, while you have nothing but venom.”

There was the snap of a fan, followed by the quote: “If a man has no reverence, what has he to do with ritual?”

I staggered as the woman let loose of me. I righted myself and turned to see who our rescuer was. There, in the ginkgos’ shadow, I saw a hawk-faced man, holding a fan. His dark, austere robes blended into the darkness, but his face and hands were visible.

“Depart and prepare yourself,” he said, “for those who are seen at the ox hour need only one grave.”

He must have been referring to how, if there was a living witness to your performing the Ushi no koku mairi, you would perish, your curse unfulfilled.

Without a word, the woman slunk away and disappeared into the darkness.

“Reibaku-sama,” he said, addressing me. “I am honored by your presence, but you are yet a green gagaimo #pod. Come back when the seeds have ripened and are ready to fly.”

Sis and I bowed and silently fled.

#TootFic #MicroFiction #NMFic #Fantasy #UrbanFantasy #SlowBurn #Yuri