Thirty Seventh Friday Flash: The Bathroom

Lucy waddled into the bathroom with a mug of coffee in her hand, her pink fluffy slippers slapping on the floor. She placed it down next to her husband's DIY handbook.

“Much luck?”

“Still leaking, pass me the spanner.”

“Yes, dear.” She leaned down, her dressing gown getting a little wet.

“Don't dear me, if you didn't spend all our money on those stupid shoes we could have had that new bathroom fitted like we had planned.”

“They were on sale, besides I earn more than you and you know it.”

Her husband grunted something and mumbled under his breath.

“What did you say?” Her hands shaking, she was so sick of all the fighting.

“I said you're just as useless as your mother.”

Lucy kicked the steaming mug of coffee over.

“Ah!” There was a dull thud. Her husband's legs twitched, then there was utter silence.

Blood mixed with the spilled coffee, with trembling hands she checked for a pulse. There was none. She plopped down on the wet floor, quietly sobbing.

Would they believe it was an accident? Would they let her wear her new shoes in prison?

A short excerpt from Zoolin Vale and the Chalice of Ringtar

Just two weeks away from the release of my 2nd novel Zoolin Vale and the Chalice of Ringtar.

Here's a little excerpt from the book. Let me know what you think.

Berrinn took the liberty of flying faster this time. When they were about halfway, Berrinn came to a sudden and abrupt halt. The dragon roared in surprise. Something in the water had shot up and grabbed his leg. Captain Norton was seated at the back not holding on very tight. He lost his grip and flew forwards. Berrinn’s back suddenly tilted precariously. Captain Norton flew over Rimotar’s head and over the side. At the last possible moment, Tennen grabbed his arm and a loud cracking noise echoed through the air. He slammed into the dragon’s side. Tennen leaned over and pulled Captain Norton back onto the dragon’s back. Berrinn was doing all he could to stay airborne.

“Hold on!” Tennen had been shaken to the core by the sudden stop.

More tentacles emerged from the water. The strong, slimy appendages snaked around, trying to get a hold of them and pull them to the murky depths below. Berrinn had a monstrous time keeping them up in the air. The tentacles were a dark putrid green with even darker green spots. The water below swirled and turned into a whirlpool. Sharp teeth surfaced out of the water, these teeth belonged to a big round gaping mouth, which opened and shut thunderously. The lake monster sucked in tremendous amounts of water and pumped it out of its massive gills, producing jets of water that flowed out from its sides.

Tennen unsheathed his sword and maneuvered himself to cut them away.

One of the tentacles reached for Rimotar. It was as if the tentacle had eyes of its own. Undaunted, Rimotar pushed it away with his wizard's staff. The tentacle wasn't deterred and returned for more. Using a quick spell Rimotar turned the tentacle into ice; taking a mighty swing, he smashed it to bits. There was a slight utter of annoyance from the mouth below.

Tennen maneuvered into a better position and managed to cut one tentacle in half. More rose up to try to pull them under. With every limb that was bashed or cut away the creature got more agitated and its attack more frenzied.
Captain Norton was clutching to Rimotar’s robe with his one good arm and gritted his teeth over the pain in his other.

“Berrinn, this isn't looking good,” called Tennen.

"Don't worry, nothing that we can’t handle," the dragon replied confidently. Tennen couldn't help but notice that Berrinn didn't fully believe his words. In that an emotion of fright had been transferred between them and the mind link. Tennen gritted his teeth, he was determined to not let his friend down.

A tentacle grabbed Berrinn’s other leg. The dragon flapped his wings harder, stretching the arms of the gaping mouthed monster. Berrinn wrung out every ounce of energy he had left. They heard and felt a horrendous tearing as if the monster had been torn from its hold to the bottom of the lake.

The dragon hoisted the lake creature into the air. Its body was egg shaped with green tendril like roots that must have clung to the lake bed. These roots were torn to shreds.

The creature wheezed like an old windbag. They rose higher and higher into the air. The creature, enraged and dying, pulled closer towards Tennen and the others.