DUTIES was and is not a bad idea, so to speak — but the theme wasn’t gelling at this time. But REVISIONARY (horror, Mythos-friendly) is going along a lot more smoothly. I’m already at 24300/32000 for the text itself, and the stories that I’m expanding really badly need expansion anyway.
These are all stories on my Patreon, by the way:
- Wicked Why
- Polly Want
- Simmon’s Book
- Impurities (forthcoming)
So feel free to check them out.
A snippet from the POLLY WANT revisions:
Blid had been in Mensah’s office before; it was large, like Terrans, and alien, like Terrans, but there was human-sized furniture and the usual heady atmosphere from all the flowers. Terran plants grew well, off of their homeworld; well enough for there to be rules about exporting viable specimens. Blid always still found the scent enchanting, in its way.
Only now… only now there was another smell in the office.
It wasn’t overpowering. In fact, it was initially faint. But it was also pervasive. Once Blid noticed it, he couldn’t stop noticing it — and it almost seemed to grow in intensity, the more he concentrated. He had never smelled anything quite like it before, and he never wanted to smell it again. It smelt like vicious death in the night. Vicious death, looking for him.
Blid must have swayed, slightly, because Mensah suddenly looked worried. “Oh, dear, my friend!” he said, in what he thought was a low voice. “Do you need to sit? A drink of water? Assistance?” The consular officer very properly did not offer the assistance himself, instead reaching for a button on his desk.