Anvil in a Lace Bootie

Steve Shilstone

@steveshilstone

The Queen returned from the Far Desert. She sat with the King each morning gazing at the sky. Sometimes the King said, ‘Five more years were all we needed to keep her.’ Sometimes the Queen nodded. Sometimes she didn’t.

10:52 am · May 17, 2022

Steve Shilstone

@steveshilstone

Had she not pried the knowledge from one of the young supply caravan attendants? She had. Red was the magic ivy embracing the castle. Dawn broke. Lady Fair stared. Oh, glory! Red of red! The world trembled. The wings sprouted. Lady Fair was Lady Fairy. She flew off into the sky.

10:52 am · May 17, 2022

Steve Shilstone

@steveshilstone

Princess pretended to be content and played at hiding the bowl in sand with clever sparkle. That night, however, after waiting to hear the Queen snore, little Lady Fair burrowed under the tent and ran free in thrill. She headed straight for the distant castle. She knew the way?

10:52 am · May 17, 2022

Steve Shilstone

@steveshilstone

he was talking about.’ The Queen reasoned with her daughter, as she had done since Lady Fair had learned to talk at the age of one. And when she felt that her well respected and admired serenity had once again won the day, she said, ‘Let’s play hide the bowl in the sand.’ The

10:52 am · May 17, 2022

Steve Shilstone

@steveshilstone

Lady Fair was ten years old she strode up to the palm tree in the oasis where the Queen sat and announced, ‘This is ridiculous. I can’t wait five more years before seeing the magic ivy on my own castle home. Five years is way too long. The sayer of sooth probably didn’t know what

10:52 am · May 17, 2022

Steve Shilstone

@steveshilstone

when they learned that they would lose their Queen and Princess Fair for fifteen years. And though, as the years passed, they maintained the castle with brush and broom for the lonely King’s sake, whenever they gazed up at it from the village and fields, it was with sorrow. When

10:52 am · May 17, 2022

Steve Shilstone

@steveshilstone

sooth. The Queen’s mind whirled first in dismay and then in orderly contemplation. ‘So,’ said the Queen, betraying no sign of alarm. In truth, she stifled a yawn. ‘I shall raise Lady Fair myself alone until her fifteenth birthday in the Far Desert.’ And the people saddened

10:52 am · May 17, 2022

Steve Shilstone

@steveshilstone

at the castle’s beauty. And when the Queen gave birth to a Princess their joy was complete. How soon was joy complete to be snatched away? Within a day. ‘Until the Lady Fair reaches her fifteenth birthday, she must never know when the red leaves show,’ proclaimed the sayer of

10:52 am · May 17, 2022

Steve Shilstone

@steveshilstone

LADY FAIR #fairytaletuesday #fairytaleflash The castle on the hill wore a mantle of magic ivy. In winter the leaves were white. In summer and spring they were green. In autumn they blushed red. The people in the village and fields below paused from time to time to gaze with pride

10:52 am · May 17, 2022

Steve Shilstone

@steveshilstone

splendidly hideous appearance and gratified that the tree would continue speaking to her, Wini granted Balt’s request with a muttered spell. ‘Let that be a lesson,’ she said. ‘What sort of lesson?’ asked the tree. ‘Never you mind,’ said the chuckling crone. ‘Never you mind.’

10:54 am · May 16, 2022

Steve Shilstone

@steveshilstone

eye for Balt Embolism, she positioned the giant magnifying glass in front of her face. ‘Oh, most hideous Wini, though your face curdles my very sap, you’re still my friend and I will talk to you, but please have pity, strike me blind!’ pleaded the tree. Secretly pleased at her

10:54 am · May 16, 2022

Steve Shilstone

@steveshilstone

the crone one day. ‘Poff,’ retorted the tree. ‘A friend now is a friend forever in spite of any grotesquery involved.’ ‘I will test you,’ promised the crone. And so she did, returning the following day with a giant magnifying glass and an eye inducing spell. After inducing an

10:54 am · May 16, 2022

Steve Shilstone

@steveshilstone

WINI SNOWE AND THE TREE #fairytaleflash Balt Embolism was a tree growing in a wood. On many afternoons, Wini Snowe, local crone, visited the tree’s glade and engaged Balt in conversation. ‘Oh, Balty, you would never speak to me again if once you gazed upon my face,' said pic.twitter.com/h4ZpSRre98

10:54 am · May 16, 2022

Steve Shilstone

@steveshilstone

3 of 5 stars to The Trip to Echo Spring by Olivia Laing goodreads.com/review/show/47…

8:54 pm · May 15, 2022

Steve Shilstone

@steveshilstone

ONE TRUTH AND 3 LIES ABOUT EVELYN NESBIT #lies #truth Evelyn Nesbit, the girl on the red velvet swing, was: a. very pretty indeed. b. a trapeze artist of note. c. head of the cult Amazon Queens. d. a bank robber. pic.twitter.com/ZEs9Riw3lF

10:40 am · May 15, 2022

Steve Shilstone

@steveshilstone

and efficiently straitjacketed and removed Perkins to the waiting ambulance. ‘What was that all about, I wonder? Poor girl sitting there alone not bothering anybody,’ said one Automat diner to another.

10:42 am · May 14, 2022

Steve Shilstone

@steveshilstone

is pretty much overrated as a living environment. I can take it or leave it. I mostly leave it, as you can see. I’m in the insurance game. Why? I worry about people like yourself, young women on the go, rush, rush, who knows …’ The attendants, clad in white, entered the Automat

10:41 am · May 14, 2022

Steve Shilstone

@steveshilstone

of conversation here large as life in the Automat. My name is Puffer, by the way,’ said the blowfish, nodding. ‘I’m Gale?’ said Perkins, uncertain about the status of her sanity. ‘You’re not in water. How …’ ‘Well, Gale, pleased to meet you, and let me say it like this. Water

10:41 am · May 14, 2022

Steve Shilstone

@steveshilstone

be lovelier. The weather couldn’t be nicer. I thought I’d join you for no other reason than serendipity. In short, you look pleasant to me,’ said the blowfish. ‘Thank you?’ Perkins managed to say. ‘I know, I know. Surprising, what? To see a blowfish not unfamiliar with the art

10:41 am · May 14, 2022

Steve Shilstone

@steveshilstone

THE BLOWFISH #flashfiction The last thing Perkins expected to see was a mild mannered blowfish sitting across the table from her in the Automat. Therefore, she froze in place with loaded fork midway on its journey to her mouth. ‘Don’t be alarmed, young lady. The day couldn’t be

10:41 am · May 14, 2022

Steve Shilstone

@steveshilstone

kirk

4:47 pm · May 13, 2022

Steve Shilstone

@steveshilstone

garding

4:44 pm · May 13, 2022

Steve Shilstone

@steveshilstone

Mildred weighed a life in the swamp gathering information against a ride in a shiny new talking car. Without a look back, she rode off in the Studebaker and was soon known as Mildred, the Platypus With The Nifty Flying Studebaker.

10:45 am · May 13, 2022

Steve Shilstone

@steveshilstone

when she noticed a cream colored 1948 Studebaker automobile hovering nearby. ‘Here now,’ she said. ‘That’s right,’ said the Studebaker. ‘And not only am I here now, but I’m here then, and I’ve been authorized to offer you a ride to Serendipity. Care to accept?’

10:45 am · May 13, 2022

Steve Shilstone

@steveshilstone

MILDRED #scifi Mildred, the Information Gathering Platypus, waddled into the swamp, gathering information as she went. Water density, insect count, and slop distribution were among the items she tallied and tucked away into the folds of her efficient mind. She paused in alarm pic.twitter.com/RF64RUwOXo

10:45 am · May 13, 2022

Steve Shilstone

@steveshilstone

A TOUCH OF RED #photography #art pic.twitter.com/d6xomdHxNl

10:39 am · May 12, 2022

Steve Shilstone

@steveshilstone

TITLES BEFORE EDITING #dada #literature War And Peace And A Lazy Summer Afternoon The Sound And The Fury And A Nice Cup Of Tea The Naked And The Dead And A Loaf Of Bread Gone With The Wind, Returned With The Rain From Here To Eternity And Back Again

10:41 am · May 11, 2022

Steve Shilstone

@steveshilstone

of her slippers and grew in length, branched, slithered under and up, crawling to cover the walls on the outside of the brick cube. Leafy the green ivy grew in embrace of the cube. And not one man, woman, or child ever saw it, for the Queen, Gaia, had cured the world of humanity.

10:56 am · May 10, 2022

Steve Shilstone

@steveshilstone

by, rains returned. A wind attacked with seeming purpose the sand covering the brick cube. When the cube stood fully exposed in rigid splendor, the wind retired. The Queen inside awoke from a long dream. “Ah, time to try again,” she muttered. Roots punched down through the soles

10:56 am · May 10, 2022

Steve Shilstone

@steveshilstone

became rubble, then disappeared under sands. Buried, too, but perfectly preserved, was the giant brick cube. It possessed a secret hidden inside. The Queen, now aged 800 or 8,000 or 80,000 years, sat sleeping. She was the secret hidden inside. After a great span of time crept

10:56 am · May 10, 2022