The Slakrverse Tales - Ep. 10 - Little Pieces

Gryllarg prows the night looking for his next meal, but he isn’t the only hunter present.

Transcript

What’s up everyone? Welcome to this bonus episode of  the Slakrverse Tales! Each episode, we feature an original Fantasy or Science Fiction story from the Slakrverse! 

I’m your host, Mark Jefferson.

In today’s bonus podcast, I offer a short story that has nothing to do with the OVERSEER universe. 

Gryllarg, a baby monster, must navigate the treacherous world of men. Along the way, he may discover that things aren’t always what they seem.

The story is named “Little Pieces” and follows Gryllarg, a newly hatched monster who must hunt to survive. Unfortunately for him, he is not the only hunter stalking the night.

I produced everything you hear in this podcast at the Slakr studios. The only thing I didn’t create was the music and sound effects. Special shout-out to pixabay.com and all the wonderful contributors on that site.

Pixabay offers royalty-free photos, illustrations, vectors, videos, GIFs, audio and sound effects. I use their website and think they offer an excellent product. Check them out at Pixabay.com.

OK, on to the story. May I present: Little Pieces by Mark Jefferson.

From the time he hatched, Gryllarg hunted. Ravenous, he ate anything he found. Anything that moved.

The moon hung low in the sky, and he ground to a halt. Below him, a human outpost sprouted from the grass, surrounded by a silvery barrier. Gryllarg returned every night, searching for ingress. The fence bit whenever he touched it, leaving burn marks on his rough hands. He studied the fence, slinked to another spot, and watched movement through square holes in their wooden caves. Humans didn't come out at night.

Gryllarg didn't concern himself with humans. He held more interest in their pets. A large wooden cave held many chickens, and Gryllarg salivated thinking of them. Several weeks ago, a chicken escaped—and Gryllarg caught it. Since that time, he stalked the outpost every night hoping for more.

Gryllarg stopped, lifting his nose high. Something else hunted! He shrank into the grass, his skin changing color to match his surroundings. He heard something rustle nearby. 

Gryllarg concentrated, urging whatever it was to move away, to find another hunting ground. Something pushed back against his mind. He focused, and the presence backed away. Gryllarg shivered. Many hunters prowled the night, and he didn't want to become their prey!

Gryllarg circled the encampment, searching for a way in. He found nothing. His stomach gurgled, and he turned away. He needed to hunt for something tonight. His stomach would alert him to other hunters!

He padded across the hillside, angling toward his hollowed tree trunk. He noticed an indistinct cluck and tiny movements. Gryllarg slowed his pace, sneaking on his belly toward the sound. A chicken!

Gryllarg curbed his excitement, slinking towards his prey. He sent out calming thoughts, and the chicken settled down. He circled the area, finding the chicken staked near a small tree. Gryllarg approached on silent feet, moving into attack position. He coiled his muscles, then leapt forward, pouncing on the chicken! It loosed a tremendous squawk, and Gryllarg broke its neck with a quick twist. The bird jerked, then lay still.

Gryllarg took the bird in his mouth and took a step. Something snaked around his leg, jerking him high into the air! Surprised, he dropped the chicken and squirmed, thrashing in midair. He sensed several creatures approaching. Men!

He struggled harder, trying to dislodge his leg from the metal snake, but it held him. Gryllarg trilled in panic. He would die!

One man stood beside another, with a female youngling between them. All three wore black faces, covering their mouths. "Is this what you saw, Louise?" The voice sounded muffled.

The youngling nodded, pointing to Gryllarg. "I've seen nothing like it. What is it?"

The other man pointed a long metal stick at him. Gryllarg sent soothing thoughts toward them, thoughts of release, of turning away.

The female youngling placed her hand on the metal stick, lowering it. "Do you feel that, Dad? He's trying to convince us to leave! Have you ever seen anything like that?"

The man grunted. He studied Gryllarg for a moment, turning toward the other man. "What do you think, John? I say we kill it."

John scratched his ear, considering Gryllarg. "Maybe we can train it? We lost all our dogs and we need something to guard our food supply." He turned to Louise. "Do you think you can handle that? You've done a good job with the other monsters we've caught."

Louise cocked her head, watching Gryllarg. "I don't know. It would be a shame to kill it. I'll try."

She removed a long stick with a noose from her back. Gryllarg thrashed, trying to avoid capture. A few tries later, Louise wrapped the noose around Gryllarg's neck, and Dad raised his stick again. "If it escapes, I'm killing it."

Louise passed the stick to John, then removed a black bag from her belt. Gryllarg snapped at her, squirming and trying to escape, trilling the entire time. Louise opened the bag wide and threw it over Gryllarg's head. Gryllarg, terrified, chuffed even louder.

"We need to get back. This noise will attract other monsters."

They lifted Gryllarg, and he struggled to escape. Nothing he tried worked. They walked an interminable distance, and the smells changed. He heard many men chattering, and strange sounds assaulted his ears.

Something slammed with a metallic ring, and Gryllarg was free! He grabbed the bag covering his head and ripped it off. He found himself in a large cage, surrounded by several men. They ripped their faces off, exposing soft pale skin. They were more horrifying that he imagined!

John glanced around the room. "He's a little fellow, isn't he?" 

Louise turned towards John. "He's young. His scales are soft, and they changed color to match my skin. He's only a few months old. I've seen nothing like it!"

Gryllarg trilled, shaping his name. "Gryllarg! Free!"

Louise's jaw dropped, and several men wore surprised looks. "Did he just talk?"

"I—I think so!" John reached behind him, grabbing something soft and white. He glanced at Louise, who took it from him and placed it in a trap door. She opened his side, and Gryllarg crept forward, sniffing the food. He snapped it up, swallowing it in one gulp. "More!"

Louise glanced at John. He left the room, returning a short time later with the dead chicken. Louise took the chicken, placing it in the trap door, and opened Gryllarg's side. Gryllarg sniffed the chicken, then ripped it into little pieces, savoring every bite. He trilled, like a cat purring.

"Gryllarg. Louise. Friend." He sat, watching the crowd. "Gryllarg. John. Friend."

Louise looked at her father, then glanced at Gryllarg. "I want to sleep here tonight. This will change everything we know about these monsters."

"Gryllarg. Louise. Friend."

Gryllarg laid his head on his hands. For the first time in weeks, his belly was full. He felt safe. He closed his eyes in contentment, drifting into sleep.

I hope you enjoyed Little Pieces. I wrote this story as a contest entry last year. I heard about the contest before it actually launched, so I had time to conceive and write the story before the entry date arrived and I had it ready on the first day of submission.

You may notice this podcast is shorter than others in this season. I aim for about 20-25 minutes in a podcast because that is the average commute time for someone traveling to work. Since the story is short, the runtime is short as well. My goal is to subscribers listen to the story in one sitting, to get the full effect. If you’ve read any of my books, you’ll notice the chapters are short as well, for the same reason.

This was one of the more difficult stories I have written. It could be no more than 1000 words, and had to be a completely original story idea. The contest theme was “Monsters in post-apocalyptic earth”. I decided to turn this trope on it’s head and made humans the monsters (or not). The story is from Gryllarg point of view.

Why was this story so hard to write? 1000 words is not a lot of space for world-building, plot, character development, and description. My first draft was about 1800 words, which I thought was pretty lean considering all the elements I needed to develop for the story to be a success. I had to keep paring it down to meet submission guidelines, so I ruthlessly cut what few subplots existed, and economized the writing to fit everything in. After several drafts, the story came in at 998 words. It’s pretty bare, but I did what I had to do to make weight. 

I submitted the story, and for a time, the story trended number one. By the end of the contest, however, it had sank to number 4, just out of prize range. Needless to say, I did not win. That was probably an error on my part. If I had waited longer to submit, I believe the stores would have stayed higher in the ranks. Oh well, live and learn.

The events in this story take place at some unspecified time in the future. I never give a date, but I envision it being around 100-150 years from now in an ecologically compromised earth. In my mind, rampant genetic engineering, pollution, and war cause the rise of modern-day monsters. I delved into this a little, but I had to cut all these thoughts out of the story because of the small word-count limitation.

Unlike previous stories you’ve heard in this podcast, this story has no magic: it is straight-up science fiction. It is my vision of an apocalyptic future overrun by monsters. My daughter, in particular, was very excited about the story and wanted more, but I was limited in what I could write due to the contest constraints. 

I’ve actually thought of turning this into book. Gryllarg and Louise’s friendship gives me a springboard to talk about topics such as love, acceptance, bigotry, and survival. I’ve even thought about making this story the subject of a future podcast season! As always, I have so many pokers in the fire it will take some time to get around to this.a

Writing has always been my passion, and I’ve written several books. You can find me on amazon.com. Just look up Mark Jefferson Overseer. Select a book, then click on my name in the Author section.

You can view all my published books on that page. If you like this story, try reading some of my novels. I think you’ll enjoy them!

I’ve written many short stories that take place in this — and other — settings, and I may feature some of them in upcoming podcasts. Several of these short stories are in my published books as prologs or epilogues, while others are unpublished. Either way, I hope you’ll enjoy them all!

Some stories I’ve written use different and novel magic systems. In the Overseer universe, magic permeates everything and all people use it. In other stories, magic is science-based and only those trained can use it. One story I’m working on has magic in the water, and users store its power in silver and gold rings. The world is a mountain that floats on a sea of clouds, and metal is rare. It’s just a sample of what’s coming.

Thanks for listening to this bonus episode of The Slakrverse Tales. If you enjoyed this podcast, please subscribe and tell your friends about it. 

This is your host, Mark Jefferson, signing off.

Cheers everyone!