Drabble #110: Position

[jalenstrix]

...we had a quieter response to the drabble prompt of Drabble 109, with an entry by me (your intrepid drabble proposer jalenstrix).




For this prompt, we continue with our one-word/phrase drabble roots:

Position

What position? Who's in it? Or who's trying to get in it? Is this a literal physical position, or a job? Tell us all about it. Labyfic-style, of course.



Given our entries from recent months, let's continue with the suggested limit for this month of 500 words. Though remember that shorter pieces are most definitely welcome!

Your entry should take the following format, posted as a comment on this entry:
Word count: # of words
Drabble: $your_beautiful_drabble


I'll aim to get the next drabble challenge out on the first Friday of next month (December 3).

I'm also very happy to take suggestions if something in particular strikes your fancy -- comment on this post or PM me with your suggestions. You can see our current collected suggestions here.


Remember: Feedback is LOVE. So do reply to your fellow labyficcers' drabbles if so inclined. (Though be careful of concrit unless specifically okayed by the author beforehand.)

Comments

Orientation

[redwolf]

Word count: 500
Drabble:

When you had magic at your disposal as a weapon, mediaeval siege engines were likely to be viewed as a quaint human novelty beneath your interest.

So when Sarah explained the sport of pumpkin chucking, she was expecting an amused dismissal of the idea and did not anticipate the unholy glee with which Jareth had responded.

While Sarah had been attending her Underworld classes, Jareth had sequestered himself in the library for several days of dedicated research. His results determined that where a pneumatic cannon offered the advantage of greater distance, the appeal of a trebuchet had proven too great to resist.

Jareth had amused Sarah as he’d magicked his way through multiple miniature prototypes, before settling on a final design. This was how she found herself reclining against a tree by a field, observing an almost giddy Goblin King and several of his King’s Guard assembling the full scale model with all the delight of children with a Meccano set.

It wasn’t until it was complete when Sarah realised Jareth’s preferred projectile was unlikely to be pumpkins that she decided to step in for the safety of the kingdom's inhabitants.

“You plan on using this to launch goblins?” Sarah glared at Jareth, her arms folded across her chest.

“They’ll love it.” He ran a hand lovingly over a vine carved detail on his trebuchet. “It will give them a taste of flying.”

“And where will they be landing?”

Jareth blinked at Sarah in confusion. “The bog…”

“Of eternal stench,” she finished with a resigned sigh. While he was undoubtedly correct about the goblins enjoying their flight, she was a tad annoyed at the oversight in his plan. “Do you really want your test pilots tracking bog water through the Labyrinth? Or leaving its stink on your catapult when they queue up for another flight.”

If nothing else, Sarah knew that desecrating his trebuchet would give Jareth pause.

“The lake?”

Sarah took a calming breath. “Can goblins swim? And is there anything in the lake that would assume that they are edible?”

A slightly guilty look answered Sarah’s questions, but he really should have appreciated that she hadn’t shut down his fun.

“What do you suggest, my love?” Jareth asked with just a touch of condescension.

“Aim it towards that field,” she pointed behind them. “Run test shots with goblin weighted missiles and then set up a soft landing in the drop zone.”

Jareth grinned wildly. “You are a wise and benevolent queen.” He turned away to make final trajectory adjustments.

Shaking her head at his enthusiasm, Sarah refrained from telling him that her suggested safety protocols weren’t just for the goblins. She knew him well enough to know that he’d try to launch himself sooner or later and there was no guarantee his owl form would be able to assume flight prior to impact.

It didn’t seem to matter the species, boys really could be predictable at times and someone needed to ensure they survived their misadventures mostly intact.

Re: Orientation

[jalenstrix]

I love this So Much. Hilarious. Boys will be trebuchet-loving boys.

Re: Orientation

[redwolf]

While I'm unlikely to launch myself, I'd definitely be eyeing off all pumpkin sized objects as potential projectiles, regardless of their willingness to become projectiles. 🦊🧡