Speed Questing

by Mary E. Lowd

Originally published in Commander Annie and Other Adventures, November 2023

“The plesiosaur wasn’t showing up as an attackable creature. She flipped open her adventurer’s log and scanned through it, trying hurriedly to find the right quest text and read it.”

QuestCrusher20 zipped through the zone, zooming from one quest to the next without reading the text.  She didn’t need to.  Just follow the dots on the game map, and like breadcrumbs they led her from a cluster of satyrcorns to kill for their horns to an area strewn with mecha gears that the friendly robots of Robotica needed her to gather.  Quest after quest, she could figure them out on the fly, and it only slowed her down to read the flavor text or listen to the NPCs tell their backstories. Continue reading “Speed Questing”

Huckle’s Puddle

by Mary E. Lowd

Originally published in Commander Annie and Other Adventures, November 2023

“Who are you?” Huckle asked, almost flubbing the words and saying to the imposter-reflection, “Who am I?”

The water splashed under Huckle’s boot in the most satisfying way. Repeated little stomps made smacking sounds and rapid ripples.  Big stomps from running jumps made a slapping sound and spattered the water high enough to annoy his dad.

“Come on,” Terrence said, grabbing his eight-year-old son’s hand and pulling lightly enough to cajole the boy but not hard enough to hurt him.  “If we hurry, we can make it to both Arrin Abbey and the Westle Church before lunch.  Wouldn’t that be fun?”  Terrence spoke with the tightness in his voice that meant he was trying not to sound annoyed.  But he was.  Huckle could tell.  And Huckle decided to push at him. Continue reading “Huckle’s Puddle”

Greatest of Them All

by Mary E. Lowd

Originally published in Commander Annie and Other Adventures, November 2023

“She could be all the creatures the soul had seen and more beside.”

Once upon a time, there was a soul that wanted to anchor itself into the world.  The soul watched all the creatures in the world, trying to decide what shape its anchor should take.

The mouse was small and could explore tiny places.

The deer had long legs and could run through the woods.

The bird had wings and could soar through the sky. Continue reading “Greatest of Them All”

Otters In Space 4 – Epilogue

by Mary E. Lowd

An excerpt from Otters In Space 4: First Moustronaut.  If you’d prefer, you can start with Chapter 1 or return to the previous chapter.

“The dog’s tears had dried up. She had found a way to cope with learning that her gods… were only human.”

The Lucky Boomerang stayed docked at the interstellar space station for more than a month before it was time to head home to Earth, bearing a treasure trove of new knowledge, strange goods, and even one of the translator parrots who wanted to come along.

Trugger and the mice had become regular customers at several of the food carts during their month-long visit, and Kipper learned about interstellar law.  Most importantly, she learned that the humans running the space station — Crossroads Space Station — wouldn’t trade or deal with societies that didn’t afford equal rights to all their members.  This meant, if dogs wanted to oppress cats and ban them from traveling to space, then these humans wouldn’t want to have anything to do with them. Continue reading “Otters In Space 4 – Epilogue”

Otters In Space 4 – Chapter 28: Kipper

by Mary E. Lowd

An excerpt from Otters In Space 4: First Moustronaut.  If you’d prefer, you can start with Chapter 1, return to the previous chapter, or skip ahead.

“Despite all the strange things that had happened to Kipper in her life, none of them had prepared her for visiting a human space station and having a parrot laugh at her.”

Kipper watched Amelia walk away, back toward their spaceship.  It shouldn’t bother her to have the government dog who she’d never wanted on her ship leave her side.  But it felt wrong.

Kipper was just one cat.  A tabby who’d grown up in a cattery, poor and undereducated, without a real support system.  She had her siblings, and she’d made friends over the years.  But deep inside, she still felt like a lone cat who had to fight for herself. Continue reading “Otters In Space 4 – Chapter 28: Kipper”

Otters In Space 4 – Chapter 27: Amelia

by Mary E. Lowd

An excerpt from Otters In Space 4: First Moustronaut.  If you’d prefer, you can start with Chapter 1, return to the previous chapter, or skip ahead.

“The world was going to be out of order, everything discordant and confusing, and infinitely lonely for the rest of eternity. Because the humans here didn’t care that she’d come so far to see them.”

As all the rest of the crew absorbed the chaotic view of alien lifeforms on this interstellar space station, Amelia only had eyes for the humans among the crowd.  She wanted to rush toward the first one she saw — a human with pinkish skin and long black hair — and fall at the woman’s feet.  She wanted to forget everything about adulthood and civility and kiss the woman’s boots, touching the fabric that clothed her, rubbing her tongue along a surface that touched a human’s skin.  She wanted to roll on her back and laugh and bark and beg the human to tell her she’d been a Good Dog. Continue reading “Otters In Space 4 – Chapter 27: Amelia”

Otters In Space 4 – Chapter 26: Yvette

by Mary E. Lowd

An excerpt from Otters In Space 4: First Moustronaut.  If you’d prefer, you can start with Chapter 1, return to the previous chapter, or skip ahead.

“I could sneak you on the mission inside my space helmet if you’d like. I think you’d fit.”

While Sequoia piloted The Lucky Boomerang toward the mysterious, exciting space station, all of the engineers gathered around the deck of poker cards in engineering, breathless to find out which one of the mice would get to join the away mission.  The slots for cat and dog were already filled by Captain Kipper and Amelia.

Hedda shuffled the deck, and the four mice drew cards, nearly as large as themselves — high card wins — to decide which one of them would get to represent all of mouse-kind. Continue reading “Otters In Space 4 – Chapter 26: Yvette”

Otters In Space 4 – Chapter 25: Kipper

by Mary E. Lowd

An excerpt from Otters In Space 4: First Moustronaut.  If you’d prefer, you can start with Chapter 1, return to the previous chapter, or skip ahead.

“…they’d stumbled into a neighborhood with dozens of different alien races, what seemed to be sentient robots, and of course, the one that was most familiar and yet also most mythical of all: humans.”

Kipper was struggling really hard to make a decision that she knew would be unpopular with her crew when Amelia burst back onto the bridge, zooming like a fuzzy meteor, followed more sedately by Sequoia.  The squirrel looked much better rested now.  That was good.  Amelia looked… half-crazed.  There was a glittering gleam in her brown eyes that worried Kipper… but somehow felt inspiring too?  Like Amelia was one of those preacher dogs who could get a whole church dancing on their paws and howling like feral wolves, overflowing with a frenzied, communal joy. Continue reading “Otters In Space 4 – Chapter 25: Kipper”

Otters In Space 4 – Chapter 24: Sequoia

by Mary E. Lowd

An excerpt from Otters In Space 4: First Moustronaut.  If you’d prefer, you can start with Chapter 1, return to the previous chapter, or skip ahead.

“They’d turned toward each other like orbiting stars, like they were held together by each other’s gravity.”

Sequoia woke up from a sleep so deep that it was as if she’d disappeared from the universe for a while, blinked out of existence into an entirely separate realm of blissful unconsciousness.

The universe she woke up into felt like an alternate reality.  Sure, she’d been the first one to flirt with Amelia by braiding the curly fur on the dog’s face, and she’d been the first one to fall asleep in the dog’s bed, innocently sharing a pillow…  But now, she’d woken up with her red-furred arms tangled up with the mop dog’s blonde curls, and the dog’s arms wrapped tightly around her.  It was more.  It was different.  It felt like the beginning of something and not just a playful flirtation.  They’d come to each other when tired and overwhelmed.  They’d turned toward each other like orbiting stars, like they were held together by each other’s gravity.  Like they were building a relationship. Continue reading “Otters In Space 4 – Chapter 24: Sequoia”