Mary McCune Author

Work in Progress (Untitled) A story told using the daily #vss365 prompts 3/26/24-?

Jasper covered his ears to muffle the scream of the ambulance carrying the victims away from the scene of the crime: a fairy ring impaled by a rusted #iron railroad spike. Zipping up his hazmat suit, he stepped over the yellow tape and carefully fairydusted the spike for prints. #vss365 1 To be cont’d

The fairy dust coalesced over the spike, clinging to its pockmarked surface. With a fan of his hand Jaspar blew off the excess, leaving a web of lines behind that gave off a gentle green #light. “Dragons!”Jaspar hissed under his breath. #vss365 2

No sign of fairy remains. They must have got out in time, #deserted the ring before the iron had time to deconstruct their frames and draw the magic out of them. No time to leave a message behind. #vss365 3

Jasper’s walkie talkie rasped-the #captain wanting an update. “Look closer!!” iit hissed. “Wait. What?”Jasper stuttered. No one answered. The fairy dust peeled off the iron spike and spiraled into letters. “Find us!” #vss365 4

Jasper reexamined the crime scene. Fairy ring mushrooms doubled over in the grass, bent by the force of the dragon’s wings. Dragon prints on the iron spike. What was he missing? A #stone covered with scratches–GPS coordinates! #vss365 5

Just as Jasper leaned closer to read the numbers, the sun set, plunging the ring into darkness. Where were the will o’ the wisps when you needed them? He turned on the head #lamp of his hazmat suit and read off the numbers. #vss365 6

The numbers stumbled off his tongue. A dust devil #slithered along the ground and swept Jasper up with its tail. 7 #vss365

Clouds of grit and showers of pebbles collided with Jasper’s helmet, a deafening #cacophony. As suddenly as it started, the trip ended. The dust devil sunk into the ground, depositing Jordan an an empty dirt road. #vss365 8

Jasper saw no signs of life. He flung the stone with the GPS coordinates into the sky and shouted “Where are you?” into the night. A star flickered in the distance. #vss365 9

The light #percolated through the leaves of a tree bordering the road. Short burst long burst-Morse code. If only Jasper had paid more attention in Scouts. #vss365 10

Between the flashing starlight and the stale air inside his hazmat suit, Jaspar felt dizzy. He pulled off his helmet, #wheezing in the scent of jimsonweed. #vss365 11

The #speck of starlight beamed into Jasper’s left eye, found the section of his brain housing his forgotten familiarity with morse code and blinked its message. #vss365 12

Letters danced #lithely before his eyes, projected by his fusiform gyrus. “Turn in a circle widdershins and recite your name backwards three times if you want to see your friends alive.” Not a message from them then, a message from the kidnapper. “Repsaj, Repsaj, Repsaj,” Jasper intoned, rotating slowly. #vss365 13

Fireflies gathered from all corners of the meadow, lined up and flashing in sequence like a neon sign: “Bury 100 Gold #Coins under the hawthorn tree by 5PM tomorrow. Don’t say a word to anyone or your friends will vanish forever.” The fireflies circled and blinked one last time–a wink emoji-then dispersed. #vss365 14

Jasper slumped to the ground. The fairies were doomed. He’d never be able to find 100 gold pieces in time. “Did someone say gold?” a tinny voice whispered. A #clockwork leprechaun whirred towards Jasper. #vss365 15

“A ransom for abducted fairies,” Jasper responded.
“The perpetrator?” the clockwork leprechaun asked.
“Let’s just say #dragon wing prints were found at the scene.”
The leprechaun chortled. “I’m your man, or leprechaun as the case may be. A dragon’s responsible for my state. Follow me.” He rattled off, learning from side to side, a key turning in his side. #vss365 16