This one was weird, and rather difficult to execute, as it just felt wrong – like I was breaking the rules.  I was supposed to write from the pov of a close knit couple, where you couldn’t tell which one of them was narrating the story, because they both were.  I was not allowed to refer to either one in first person singular, but I had to refer to both in first person plural. 

This one involves a pair of Kobolds (the D&D interpretation of them, not classical folklore.  In this story they are little reptile creatures who serve a dragon).  My D&D group may recognize one of them from our recent campaign 🙂  Well, here you go, a much cuter story than my previous ones…haha

 

    We had been at it for hours – this search – and there was still no sign of what we were looking for.  Boogerdeep was losing patience, and Jory was bored.  Jory kicked a can; it skidded across the damp pavement and, with a ping, bounced against the metal lamppost.  Boogerdeep leapt at the noise, and turned to glare at Jory. 

    “Jory!”  he yelled in a whisper.  “Be quiet!  You know what our orders are.”

    “Sorry,” Jory answered.  “I didn’t mean to do it.”  The color rose in Jory’s cheeks.

    Our orders were specific:  find a good treasure, and don’t let anyone see us.  The second part was particularly important, if the humans discovered us, even if we made it back to the cave safely, the master promised to roast us and eat us for his next dinner.  Even though we knew he didn’t like the taste of kobold.

    Another noise, and Boogerdeep turned with arm raised, ready to bop Jory square on his little green head.  Jory didn’t see Boogerdeep’s threat, instead he had seen the dark blur dart between the trash cans. 

    “Did you see that, Boogie?”  Jory asked.  “Something’s over there.  It knocked the bottle over.”

    “Don’t be silly.”  Boogerdeep scoffed.

    Something rattled from the direction across the street and this time both of our attentions focused on the source of the sound.  A tiny, furry creature poked its head out from behind some garbage.  It blinked at us once, then opened its mouth and squeaked out something that sounded like “mew”.

    “What is it, Jory?”

    “I don’t know.  But look, it’s got eyes like us.”  The creature squeaked again.  It had pointy ears that stood straight out of its head, and a small, triangular nose, with long, wispy hairs sticking out of it.  Jory thought it was cute.

    “Do you think it’s hungry?”  Boogerdeep rustled through his pockets, digging until he produced a scrap of dried meat.  He held it out towards the creature.

    It sniffed the air, then leapt out and trotted towards us.  Jory’s eyes narrowed as it approached, but Boogerdeep wasn’t afraid, he gave the offering with a steady hand.  The creature accepted the gift and tore into it, gulping it down as if afraid we would change our minds and take it away.  When finished, it rubbed itself along Boogerdeep’s leg.

    “Look Jory, I think it likes me!” 

    Jory knelt down to examine it closer.  He wanted to touch it, so he held out his hand.  The creature inspected it, but discovered it contained no food, so it nudged him with its head.  Jory took a risk, and ran his fingers along the creatures back.  It didn’t object, and Jory learned it was covered in soft fur, much different than our own scaly hides. 

    A low rumbling sound frightened us both, and we drew back, looking at each other with furrowed eyebrows.  The creature closed the distance between us, and this time wove itself around Jory’s legs.

    Jory felt vibrations on his foreleg.  They matched the rumbling that had scared us.  “The sound is coming from it,” he realized.  “I think it means it’s happy.”

    Boogerdeep nodded.  He reached out his hand to pat the creature.  It welcomed the affection, and gave him a gentle lick as thanks.

    We watched it silently, trading turns giving it attention.  After awhile, we looked at each other and spoke in unison.  “Do you think we can we keep it?” 

    Laughing, Jory pocketed something small and shiny to give to master.  It probably wasn’t anything special, but we were kobolds after all – how were we supposed to know real treasure? 

    Boogerdeep picked up the creature, who settled into his arms and closed its eyes.  Jory gave it another soft pat, and we set off towards home, smiling at each other.  This treasure we would keep for ourselves.