Story recorded by bard Jim Snyder.
Illustrations by artist M. Elizabeth Sharma. Instagram: mary_elizabeth_sharma, Twitter: @DndQu33n
“So you want a story?”
Bluud was making a sand castle on the spare room floor, but it wasn’t very good. It was just a circle. The wall wouldn’t stand up by itself, even; he had to shove more sand against it all around the inside. It looked like a big ramp with a flat oval part in the middle.
I had drawn a bright yellow sun on a piece of parchment to put behind it, and a blue sky, and some birds flying around.
One of the birds was pooping.
“Yes, Bluud, I would like a story, thank you very much.”
“I only know one.”
“Then you can tell me that one. But it better be good.” I stuck the parchment into the sand. It fell over. I pushed a chair behind it.
“It’s the only one I know.”
“Then,” I said, with my finger in the air, “you may proceed.”
“Ok,“ he said.
“There were two Minotaurs. A girl and a boy. They were from another place, far away. They were stolen when they were kids.
They met in the cages.
“Minotaurs are good at fighting. That’s why they were stolen. Men trained them, and they got real, real good. They were allowed to be…friends, because the men knew they would fight even harder.
“One day, they got tired of fighting other things for other people. They decided to fight for themselves. So Bluud…”
“Wait, the boy’s name is Bluud, too?”
“Yeah.”
“Is he you?”
“No.”
“Are all boy Minotaurs named Bluud?”
“No.”
“The girl better not be named Bluud, otherwise your story will lose some points.”
“Her name was Kaiola.”
“That is ok then.”
Bluud snorted. He poked his finger in the sand in the middle of the castle.
“Bluud and Kaiola waited for the next fight day. The men let them out. They…got past…the men.” He dragged his finger down to one of the castle walls. “There was a door with some guards. They got past them too.” He poked a hole in the wall of the castle and made another little line on the outside.
“They blinked in the sun. ‘Perfect day,’ said Kaiola. ‘No clouds, no rain. So much blue in the sky.’
“There were sounds behind them. The men were coming. Lots of them. Too many for two Minotaurs in the open. But maybe not so many for one, and one small door, for a short time.
“They looked at the door. They looked at each other. They pressed their heads together.
“Bluud said, ‘When it’s time, I will say your name. Seems a good thing to say, at the end.’
“‘I will…see things through.’
“‘That is good.’ Bluud stood. ‘Now run.’
“Kaiola ran. At first through streets and people. Then fields and wheat. Then forest and scrub and stones. Then, far in the distance, she heard Bluud call, ‘KAIOLA!’ and she knew her…friend was gone.
“She ran a long, long time.”
“Did she get away, Bluud?”
“Yeah. She decided to leave her name behind though. She didn’t want to be reminded of the last thing her friend said, every time someone called her.”
“What new name did she choose?”
“Urdine. Means blue.”
“Ooor-DEE-nay.” I thought for a while. “You know, Bluud, that’s a pretty good story, I think.”
“Hope so. It’s the only one I got.”
We spent the rest of the afternoon knocking over the castle. Bluud’s a pretty cool guy.
Ephemera
Many Paths Bakery Wrapper
This wrapper from Nicodranas’s Many Paths Bakery is slightly greasy and sticky. It probably once held a huge bearclaw, but the only evidence left of that is sugar and the strong smell of cinnamon.
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