Art-to-Fic Preliminary Poll - 1

[Velox]

 

Vote here for your favorite Art-to-Fiction story; entries have been randomized. Please MAKE SURE YOU READ ALL ENTRIES BEFORE VOTING.Voting begins now and will end on July 9th at 11:59 PM EST. Entries that do well will move on to Art-to-Fiction Final Poll, which will be posted at the conclusion of the 10th round preliminary poll.

 

Choice #1:

 

"The Treasure"

Almost there… I thought Soon I’ll confront the dragon to seize the rubies of power.

I had been scaling this mountain for days and never seemed to get any closer to his destination, but now he could see the rocky outcropping clearly.

Made it! I thought when I finished scrambling over the last few boulders. The view was extraordinary, I could see the entire kingdom from my vantage point. “I made it!” I yelled. I then heard a distinct growling behind me. My eyes were wide with fear; the monstrous lizard was behind me, preparing to strike. I readied my sword, spun around and was greeted by a large mass of bones. None of which were the dragons’. I walked inside carefully and immediately spotted the rubies, they were stuck in a small crevice and I could not reach them.

The growling continued…

I ventured further into the cavern; Finding other long lost treasures. I eventually made it to the center of the large cavern and was greeted by a large pile of gold, silver, and gemstones. I looked around, but found no sign of the dragon that supposedly guarded this trove.

Where is it? I thought, then I found the answer; there was a large bronze door on the other side of the very large room, but it was locked. I dug out the key that I had found at the foot of the mountain and put it in the lock, I turned it, and the door responded with many clicking sounds as it opened. I walked inside, and there I found the dragon, asleep. Dragons never sleep. But that wasn’t the strangest thing, I saw that the dragon was made entirely out of rubies! Experimentally, I grabbed one and yanked it off of its body. The opening was not one of flesh, but rather one of bones. It’s dead. I thought.The mighty beast died of old age. That makes things easier. And it’s encrusted in rubies!

I pulled more and more off and stuffed them in by bag, selfishness and pride overwhelmed me as I continually grabbed more and more. Then I noticed a slight change in my hand.

Since when do I have claws? I thought. But it was more than that, my whole body was changing. I grew larger, scalier, and more dragon-like. Then I made the connection: The rubies of power referred to the dragon, it possessed power like nothing else. And I was the one growling!

By the time that I had emptied my bag of the treasures that I had collected, it was too late. The conversion had finished, I let out a mighty roar and left this room to guard my treasure, not knowing who I was, or why I was here. There was one selfish, prideful thought that dominated my mind:

My treasure.

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Choice #2:

"Refuge"

Everyone's a refugee at some point in their livesIt takes a lot less than war and famine to drive you out of a home, in search of something better,Sometimes we all overdose on life a little, or a lot,Sometimes we need to escape the pain of heartbreak, but mostly it's the pain of hiding behind a mask,Watching from behind a window, pawing at the glass and wishing you could get out there and be free.Life doesn't happen, it never does except to those who don't want it.Here I am hiding behind my walls hearing the muffled joy, wanting to reach out,But I'm blocked by wood and paint, in my little office,Chained to my doghouse. Today is the World Series of repression, and I'm a proEveryday is a fresh start that starts as a beautiful fruit, rotting from the inside,Until tonight I peel the orange and find the flies have got to it,And it has me going bananas. How I can't CHANGE!What if I never do, what will I ever do?God, help me from my hospital bed, spread the sheets and sign the cast no more,Cause I'm breaking free!I'm going, away from this pressure cooker and into the fire!No stress in this frying pan though, it's all hot and coolIn the kitchen where I belong. No living dead where I'm going,No zombies of the first world will feast on my brain today,No more vampires sucking all my blood away!To say nothing of the Mosquitos.No more nonsense, I'm combing it all out like the tanglesThat flee from the no more tangles conditioner, today there shall beNo more tears!No red eyes or tired minds in my refugee camp,I don't want any piece of your mind where I'm going, justPeace of mind.I'm going to the red tents in the green hills, the shades of a bouquet,That sits like a blossom pollinating my life, welcoming the overworked beeTo feast on some honey, no price, no fee.I'm a wise old man with my life blowing away,And I'm sitting in my tent, just waiting to sayTo all those lost fools how I broke freeFrom my life and battles plaguing me.Today I'm a refugee.

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Choice #3:

"On the Edge of Existence"

I was running through the woods. It wasn’t a day for walking. With each exhilarating breath I felt the power of life tingle throughout my body. I was breathing heavily, feeling all the more, living all the more.As each step fell on the soft, spongy mosses and leaf-molds of the forest floor, I thought I was walking on clouds, flying through the forest, flying through life, flying through the world.I had never lived before. I realized that then. Here, lost in Nature, lost in my own spirit, I had found true Life. And I never wanted to let go of it again.Unfortunately, Reality has a way of forcing itself back into your hands whether you want it or not. Reality, not life, gives you lemons. And sometimes, it throws them at you hard.A celestial being, with wings of ether and sunlight, soared through the heavens until his foot got caught on a tree root and he fell flat on his face.Ah, but Reality, he didn’t want your lemons! You can keep them!I picked myself up. The angel in my heart spread his wings and prepared to fly again when I distracted him by taking notice of a pale, multicolored light through the trees. At first I thought it might be the setting sun, but there was a strong, definite tone of blue in it. When you’re Living for the first time, you don’t balk at making new discoveries. Curiosity is as much your ally, your tutor, and your guide as it is a newborn babe’s.I immediately followed the light. But it was not a goal, it was not an end, merely a means; it was the path that led me through the trees only. The trees, covered with moss and mushroom; the birds, singing sweetly in the trees; the babbling brooks, I passed, the gentle breeze that swept my face; this was the reason I was here, the reason I was Living, and not even curiosity gave me any other reason to walk through that forest.Which I found the source of the light, it was not a source of shock or surprise, only of wonder. I had left Reality far behind me. And, so, as to the possibility of what I saw, Why not?I pushed my way through the hanging tendrils of ivy and moss and lichen, and there, nestled in a hollow between an oak’s embracing roots, sat a gap in the world.It wasn’t a hole, or I didn’t think it was; it couldn’t be, unless it was the Rabbit Hole that leads to Wonderland. But it wasn’t anything, because it just wasn’t there; it was an emptiness, glowing brightly with mingled oranges and blues; it was a seam between the stitches, or a part of the world that had accidentally been left out. Whatever it was, it was a gap torn in Reality itself, and why not?Any other day I might have hesitated. I might have thought of all the things I was leaving behind. But that day, I knew what was behind me; Reality, cold, harsh, and forever dull.I didn’t know what lay ahead. But I was ready to find out.It was one small step, or a flying leap of faith into the unknown. I walked, I flew through that portal; or perhaps I had always been on the other side, and I was just waking from a strange dream.Wherever I was going, I knew this: I was leaving Reality, and stepping into Life, the greatest unknown.

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Choice #4:

"On a Mission"

“Tell me again why we’re trekking through the middle of nowhere,” said a short young man with scruffy brown hair as he nearly tripped over a log. “Because, if you want to keep flying those solar-sailers hither and yon, we need powerstones,” replied his companion, a seven-foot-tall automaton clad in stark-white armor, with ‘ZAG’ plastered across the right pauldron in black. “Besides, you hardly do anything around the ship. About time the Captain gave you a field-mission.” The young man – known simply as Tobi by the crew of the H.M.S. Thunderhead – rolled his eyes and quickened his pace. The sooner they got this over with, the sooner they could get back to the airship and get out of this blasted jungle. “Shouldn’t be too much farther,” Zag said after a time as he glanced down at the device in his hand: a brass box with various gauges on its sleek face; some newfangled device for tracking energy-signatures, apparently. “Good; I’m getting tired of seeing nothing but trees,” Tobi replied, eyeing a gnarled ficus as though it intended to harm him. “Tobi, watch were y—” Too late. Tobi had already fallen, and was now lying face-first in the mud. He scrambled about and slipped repeatedly before finally regaining his footing, standing as still as possible with his arms stretched out to the sides to steady himself. The automaton couldn’t resist. From his perch atop a massive log alongside the pool of mud, he leaned over and poked Tobi’s shoulder, sending the poor boy flailing into the mud again. “Are you kidding me?!” Tobi spat as pulled himself out again, cursing along the way and trying to wipe the mud from his face and trousers. Zag simply chuckled and followed his companion without a word, for he considered it well-deserved payback for the energy-viper he’d found in his satchel this morning. Were it not for the tree-hour recharge he had to go through, their little mission would have been over with already. Zag looked away for only a second, and suddenly Tobi was nowhere in sight. The automaton glanced around and picked up the pace, muttering “darn it, Tobi…” as he went. The boy was notorious for getting lost, even on their own ship, and Zag was convinced it would one day be the death of him. “Hey! Zag! Come ‘ere!” The automaton backtracked a bit, and after squeezing through a rather thick clump of foliage, he finally found Tobi sitting at the edge of a small ravine, looking at something below. “Don’t do that again,” Zag warned. “Now, what did… you…” They found themselves looking down at what appeared to be a cluster of powerstones, but these were bigger than any they had seen before; the largest of them the size of a skiff at least, by the looks of it. Tobi glanced down at his bag. “We’re going to need a bigger satchel.”

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Choice #5:

"The Forest"

A dense fog shrouded the Forest, clinging to my skin and soaking into my clothing. The branches of the gargantuan trees were slippery beneath my feet; even after years of travelling this way, it was still a challenge to find my footing in these conditions. It was difficult too to find my way forward – not only did the weather severely limit my vision, but I hadn’t come this way in… how long? Months, at least.

Why I chose to travel here, I can’t quite say. Maybe I just wanted a change of scenery. Perhaps I was guided by my subconscious or some other force beyond my comprehension. Whatever prompted my journey, though, one thing was certain – I was really starting to regret it. Wandering aimlessly through the Forest in a fog such as that one is rarely a wise idea.

I suppose I should introduce myself: I am the Man. Once, perhaps, I was called something else, but whatever that name may have been, it means nothing now. The inhabitants of this place know me as the Man, and there is no one to call me anything else. They refer to me as such because I am the only human being to live here, on this planet known to us as the Forest. Perhaps, in the distant reaches of space, there are those who refer to it in another way, but none here could fathom what that might be, nor do we care to.

Of course, “we” is a relative term. There are several species in the Forest that whose intelligence equals mine, certainly: the apes, the wolves, the cats. The birds, too – some of them, at least. And, of course, surpassing us all is the Lord of the Forest himself. But none of these associate with me, nor I with them. Occasionally we make contact, interact in some way, sometimes as friends, others as enemies. But rarely is it long before we part ways.

My foot slipped on a knot in the branch that I hadn’t seen; I lost my balance despite a quick attempt to right myself. My fingers caught a groove in the bark and for a moment I hung there, suspended in fog. Then they slipped out.

Time slowed as I fell. It was surreal – all around me there was gray, gray, nothing but cold gray fog. It was impossible to tell which way was up, which was down; I has no reference point of any kind.

And then I felt hard wood beneath me as I collided with another massive tree branch, this one even wider than the first. With some difficulty, I pushed myself to my feet and glanced around.

Surprisingly enough, I could actually see something – off to my right, the colorless fog transitioned seamlessly to a dull reddish glow. Intrigued, I stepped forward, though I did so tentatively. I wasn’t sure how badly I’d been hurt in the fall, and on top of that, well, the Forest holds many dangers. I’d never seen glowing red fog before, but it could easily be one of them.

Within moments the source of the light came into view: in the branches of the tree was nestled a nest, a nest so massive that it looked to be constructed of saplings rather than twigs. And within the nest lay three eggs, nearly identical, their coloration a beautifully marbled red-orange-purple. From each egg radiated a dull light, illuminating the nest and refracting through the fog that surrounded them. I stared at the sight before me in awe. Only one creature in the Forest could have produced such a marvel.

A faint rustle of leaves reached my ears, and I slowly turned. Staring out of the fog was a single massive eye, a vibrant orange ring surrounding a pupil bigger than my head and darker than a starless night. Immediately I dropped to one knee and bowed my head. The eye blinked and moved in closer, bringing with it a beak that looked sharp enough to slice me in half with the barest scratch.

Fortunately, though, the Lord of the Forest didn’t seem to be in a slicing mood. Instead, he clucked softly, offering a greeting and not a threat.

I rose. “It is an honor, my Lord.” Only thrice before had I ever laid eyes on the great bird, and never had I seen him so close.

He clucked again.

I nodded silently and turned back into the fog. Within moments I could see nothing but gray.

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[Excelsior]

I liked #4 the best. #2 was probably my second-favorite.

 

May the best story win!

 

-Excelsior

[BBBBalta]

I voted for my own (5). The others were pretty good, too - I especially liked number 2, though it seemed only vaguely related to the theme.

[Velox]

Polling period over; topic closed.

 

The Theme Final Polls should be up tomorrow.