Hearsay Horizons

 It is not that gods are greedy, or that they demand tribute from their followers. They would not be worth following if that were the case. But all the worlds and all the planes are so much to oversee; the stories say that the first voice was omniscient, but when it grew lonely and shattered itself for company, each child-sibling aspect was accordingly limited.              The gems and other ingredients are not tribute. They are beacons used up in the communing. I had neither, with the last of my lilies destroyed and the last diamond stolen by clawed paws.  Soon it wouldn't matter. I was bleeding out; Skadi had already bled out all over my quick camp. The air near the fire smelt like burnt hair and sour dampness. Mere curecraft mostly stabilized him, but there wasn't much to stabilize. So it goes when you expect kobolds and get their dragon.                "I am sorry, my love. For want of a lily, you'...

Most dogs in my Boston USA-area apartment complex have people names: Gracie, Willow, Brogan, Charlie, Stanley, Abbie, Frank, Anya, and my own Hector. There's more, but this post isn't a list of names I can't use for kids because they belong to dogs.                     Frank's cohort is Zero, and there's also Lady the pitmix next door. And there's a beagle, Spot.                     Hector is the first dog I've ever had as an adult; I wasn't bossing around Silver the mini schau when I was ten like I must the voracious, willful corgi now that I'm thirty.                     I wouldn't have the genuine monologues I have at Hector almost every minute we're together (it's dialogue if you count facial expressions)--praise, discipline, concern, information--if "Hey, Hector, does that squirrel look suspicious to you?" was instead "Hey, Spot." ...