Woe climbed into her apartment through the window. She looked around to make sure nothing was out of place, except for everything that was supposed to be. One of her daggers was on the floor… a man was coming to see her?
Or had that already happened?
She was losing track of things again, and that was a sure sign that a chapter was ending. Whatever had happened, whatever events had stirred her to action and pulled her forth from her cozy, untidy nest in the heart of Munchkin Country, had drawn to a close. Now it was time for her to rest and recover, and to wait until she was needed again.
She went over to the toilet and lifted the lid, then pulled the jar of water out of her jacket. She held it up in front of her face and examined its occupant, who gazed back at her with one unblinking eye and then the other as she rotated the jar in her hands.
“Fishy,” she said, smiling. She twisted the top off the jar and dumped the contents into the bowl, then watched Herman get his bearings. He was a very old fish, and she didn’t like to move him too much or too often… but she couldn’t bear the thought of leaving him behind, either. Not when somebody was looking for her, somebody who would almost certainly want to kill her now.
Had that already happened?
It seemed like something that would be worth knowing…
Of course, there were other, equally weighty questions weighing on Woe’s mind at that moment. She picked up the canister of fish flakes and stared at it, considering. Had she fed Herman recently? She thought that she might have but she wasn’t sure. Well, she hadn’t kept a goldfish alive for fourteen years by overfeeding him… she’d play it safe and wait a few days.
She peed in the corner, shifted some books off of the rug, laid down, and went to sleep.
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(No, the “et fini” does not count against the word total.)
That’s the end of the first story arc of Tribe: Fantasy In Miniature. Suggestions for the title of the arc are being accepted at the forum.
It’s getting extrememly interesting… I wonder why she refers to things in terms of the land of Oz.
Just thought I’d mention the little typo I saw: “she rotated jar” – missing “the” maybe? Can’t wait for the next arc to go and to see what happens with this world you have here.
To Kay: I’ve noticed references to Oz, too. Wow and Woe are both witches; Wow says, “Ever since the house fell on her,” which must be an allusion to Dorothy’s house falling on the Wicked Witch of the East. And the Wicked Witch of the East ruled the Munchkin land, like how Woe refers to her apartment as “the heart of Munchkin Country.”
I usually don’t like posting my theories (because I have this horrible feeling like I’m ruining the author’s element of surprise by guessing correctly), but after Kay’s comment, I felt the need to post my thoughts.
@Kay and Cara,
It’s been discussed before…
WOE (probably) stands for Witch Of the East (the one that Dorothy parked her house on) and WOW stands for Witch Of the West.
I do like how Woe can tell when the story ends
I liked it.
A 14 year old Goldfish. Wow. A Goldfish as a witches familar.
Will the second arc be using the same characters or new ones?
The 14 year old goldfish is Inspired By Actual Events.
If you don’t overfeed goldfish, expose them to temperature shocks, etc., they can live for-freaking-ever.
Of course, pets that live for-freaking-ever don’t make anybody money, so the instructions provided with most commercially available fish foods instruct you to kill them.
My father has a pond that has some goldfish in it, along with several other types of fish. Goldfish can get fairly large if they have plenty of room to grow, and I’m reasonably sure that some of the ones in his pond are over 25 years old.
Heh, yeah, it’s amazing how petstores can make such a profit off telling you how to kill your pets… And no one notices because few people know proper fishkeeping methods (Bettas and goldfish seem like the most common victims nowadays). Telling someone a goldfish is fine in anything less than at least twenty gallons without substantial filtration methods and no green foods… Is like telling someone their puppy will do better if you add some arsenic to their food bowl every other morning.
Ahem, end rant. And back on track with the actual commenting on the story.
Love your perspective on things, AE. Especially like how things keep subtly bringing WoO into play. I look forward to seeing just what sort of world you’ve got here. Fantastic storyarc… Knew he was going to end up killing his daughter, but it was like those serial killer movies where you know where the killer is, and can’t help but scream at the stupid girl on tv who runs upstairs instead of outside. You know she’s gonna die no matter what, but you can’t help but yell anyways.
RE: Bill, It’s true. We have a large pond and we put Koi in it. (Koi is large Japanese fish.) One died, but the other is now over 2 feet long and is 10 years old. She stays out there in the winter, but every year she’s still around.
RE: Luna, I believe that goldfish can do fine in smaller tanks without filtration. I’ve had mine for several months in a 5-gallon tank. I change half her water twice a week, though, and only feed her once a day.
Re: Goldfish.
My experience has been that goldfish do not like clean water. My fishies always lived longer, and grew bigger, if we didn’t clean their tanks regularly.
Filthy fishies make very bad first pets.
i have a pet frog like that. Got Herman (my actual frogs name, thought it was awesome with the fish also being named that) when he was at least a year old and I was 9. I am now 22, took him with me to school, and he’s as vivacious as ever. I’ve come to the conclusion that he will never die. Also, my family tells me that he only really eat for me. When I go on a trip or something, and my family tries to feed him, he mostly ignores it and stares listelessly into his reflection.
End rant. Sorry, loved that the fish is named the same as my frog and pretty much the same age too. I love coincidences like that.
We have a goldfish that we inherited off an old friend. I say we, but I mean a flatmate of mine.
It has a disease called Blue Fin which usually kills goldfish. Somehow it has managed to become a carrier of it however, so has survived merely killing 5-6 other goldfish before it was discovered.
It was about 3 years old when we got it, and its been alive for 2 years since.
Craziest goldfish ever… If someone gets changed in a room with it it pervs on them. I’m not joking. Almost any other activity it will ignore you or do its other trick (lying completely still on its side until you want to tap the tank to check its alive) but start stripping and he will be at the side of that tank gawking away.
The original owner moved it into another room when it started ‘creeping her out’. lol.
Gripping… Like the hands of a Igor..
Tins…
Well, guess I’m kinda late to the party on this one. Almost a year late in fact. Anyway, I just started reading this story a couple days ago and I’m loving it! ^_^ If you’re still looking for chapter title suggestions how about calling this one “A Tale of Woe”? =D
I wish I could go back and add Tribe to things I’d like to see continued, but I already took that poll. I’m just finishing arc 1, but I’m riveted already. and I’m a year and a half late, haha!