Dec. 13th: 12-Days Before Christmas (2022 Story Relay Marathon)

Dec. 13th: 12-Days Before Christmas (2022 Story Relay Marathon)

Hi, kindred souls! This is the very first story relay of a 12-day story relay marathon I endorsed to my friend, ShiaraS (Discord: Shiara#5382) , that we will be doing from Dec. 13th to Dec. 24th—AKA 12 days before Christmas!

Since this is a marathon of sorts, we decided to lay some ground rules so we can "finish" each relay for each day. It would start with me drawing a prompt every morning from a plastic container that will serves as our bowl for this occasion. These prompts were collected by us from different sources (I will do my absolute best to give appropriate credit for the original creators/source material).

The story relay would then consist of 5 turns for both of us with a max. of 10-15 sentences each turn. After these, the story relay for that day would be considered "finished". THERE WILL BE NO EDITING DONE FOR ALL STORY RELAYS.

These rules were placed since ShiaraS' exams were also scheduled during the set week.

HERE'S THE WRITING PROMPT FOR TODAY'S STORY RELAY:

You just finished the ritual to summon a demon. However, your sacrifice was insufficient. Instead, they sent you their intern. (via @writing-prompt-s as submitted by @gearboxwritesbooks)

START OF STORY RELAY:

I furiously flipped through the grimoire trying to find out what I did wrong and how I could fix things. Because this is not what I wanted. I wanted to make a deal with a real demon, not his intern! This scrawny, over-gelled teenager in a beat up leather jacket who was trying very hard to look intimidating and failing by a mile. "What happened?!" I screamed at her, "What did I do wrong? How come I get you?" The intern rolled her eyes and walked to the edge of the pentagram on the floor. She swiped her finger on the line and put it in her mouth. She grimaced and spit it out. "Did you even check the blood you used? You think a demon will come for some cheap rat blood?" "Rat blood?!!"

"You know those cute fluffy dark crawling mammals with long thin tails and pointy noses and severe overbites? The ones that like to munch on substandard rotten earthly substances?" she explained as she flicks her porcelain pointed tail. I stared at her disgusted with how smooth and pale her tail and nails are. Definitely not a demon. "Those are rats," she finished with a flat dried-lipped smile. "I didn't use a rat blood. It's supposed to be a gallon of black stallion's blood." "Oops, I guess..." The intern shrugged and raised her brows. "How do I return you back? I want a REAL demon." I replied as I looked for an instructions— —"Hmmm... do you have a book about a botched summoning ritual?" "It's evocation for high ranking celestial entities. Summoning is only for spirits and lower class..." She grabbed the book I am scanning and smirked, "You're below an amateur then for summoning a demon intern."

I blushed a furious red. "Fine! I got the wrong book and the wrong blood but I'm still making a deal." She stared at me and the ... She laughed. The lights flickered. The dogs in the neighborhood started howling. "For an amateur who knows absolutely nothing about rituals and spells, you're pretty funny. So, for that, I will do you a favor by not killing you where you stand. Which, by the way, is the usual consequence for botched rituals." I know I should take the win and let the infuriating intern climb back down to hell. I shouldn't push my luck against her. ... ... But I'm desperate. One way or the other, I need to get something out of this whole mess. I've done too much to give up now. "If I can't make a deal with a real demon, can I make a deal with you? I'll do anything."

"You'll... do ... anything...you say," she folded her arms and her tail twirled glistening under the room light. "Y-yes." "You're that desperate huh," she turned her back and looked down at the pentagram on the floor. I bit my lip. I'll take it since I AM desperate. "So what can you d—" she cocked her head to the side still not facing me but her tail stopped moving and pointed at me "—I mean, what do you want in return" "Depends."

"De-depends on what?" "On what you want and how badly you want it." She smirked and for the first time that whole afternoon, I questioned whether what I wanted is worth whatever this creature from hell asks of me. My hand begins to shake and I make up my mind. "I... I'm a writer. I have good stories and I know I'm better than half the published authors out there but no one wants to publish me." "And let me guess, you want to be famous." "I want to be published. I want my words to reach millions of readers. I want my life to mean something." She stepped closer to me. As close as she can be while still being in the pentagram. Her forked tail rose and swept the braid off my shoulder. "That's easy enough. I don't even need to be a high level demon for that."

"H-How?" "First things first. You need to gather a handful of stuff before I explain it to you.", a dried pig's ear appeared in front of my face. I grabbed at it and could see scribbled list on it. I gathered my bag and keys and went for the door. "When you come back, I will give you my asking price for our deal." I nodded and closed the door locking it. I checked the list once again. It's a very short list, and a bizarre one. .... 10 gallons of blood from several sleeping beauties 2 Fountain pens from a dead holy servant 5 pounds of powdered gold fish scales .... I may be "below amateur" in demon casting but I am a veteran for scouting for what I need.

Whenever anyone read my work, I always felt a anxious over their opinion, that feeling multiplied ten times when I came back to my little apartment a couple of hours later and discovered the intern lying on her back while one of my manuscripts floated above her head. "That's my manuscript!" "Relax, I'm just reading it. If I'm going to make this world famous, I should at least know if I'll be torturing the rest of humanity with it. It's not bad, the bare bones of a good story are here but some of your metaphors fall a little flat." I bit my tongue, not wanting to say anything to offend the mercurial little demon. "I'll speak about it to whatever editor you get for me. I got everything on your list." She jumped to her feet, my manuscript following her movements. "Excellent. Now, in exchange for turning your little book into a best seller, you will work for me for 6 years. You will get me desperate souls willing to make a deal. One soul for each week your book is number one on the best sellers list." I paled. This wasn't what I wanted. I thought I would have to sell my soul, not drag others to hell with me.

"Are interns allowed to do that? How am I to know you're not using me to bypass any demonic rules for promotion?" I don't know what came to me but I feel almost confident to question this subrace of an evil entity. "For your information, despite the disastrous ritual you just did only demon interns who have been serving the longest and received the most merits would appear in place of a REAL demon. Hence, the lack of horns." She pointed to her head. "Sooo...", She continued, "you are in the presence of someone who is about to get her Horn of Demonic merit. Making you almost my very first human contract as a demon." "If you say so. I am just making sure I get the whole picture of this negotiation." I gave her a wry smile. This was even better. Way better than my initial plan. This was the moment I knew I didn't fail. I can now have my own demon slave for 6 years. Interns are still naive and this particular intern was too confident for her own good. I started to prepare all the ingredients she asked.

"I said fine powder. If you can't tell the difference between coarse and fine, no wonder you need to make a deal to sell your books." I gritted my teeth as I ground the goldfish scales some more. The intern, did not have faith in my potion making ability and it took it upon herself to watch over my shoulder. I ignored her as best as I could. I just reminded myself of the 6 years I would potentially have a low level demon in my pocket. Together, we finished the potion and under the light of the full moon, I soaked the pens in it as the intern chanted in an unfamiliar language. There's a bright burst of light and a shockwave that knocked me off my feet. When the light faded, the pens floated to me looking completely unblemished. "One of these pens is for you. Use it to write your stories by hand and they'll be a guaranteed hit." "By hand?" "Only the first draft, the copies can be printed if you're feeling lazy. But do not lose that first draft or let it be destroyed." I grabbed the first pen, anticipating the hand cramps to come. "And the second one?" "That is for the people you give me. They sign their contracts with this pen and their soul is mine."

1 week has passed and I had just submitted my manuscript earlier this morning. Each day for 5 days, I would led one person to see the intern and I arranged for them to discuss their desires & sign their contracts on the day I submitted my manuscript. The intern agreed to this arrangement given since they will make the transactions all at once. "It's one way to start your writing career with a bang, I guess", she chirped as she watched me rewriting my manuscript away from her. Few hours later, all the 5 people stood infront of each of the pointed corners of the pentagram while the intern stood at the center observing them. They each wrote their names on the dried pig's ear the intern provided. They then pricked their thumbs and put a bloody stamp of their fingerprint on the paper. The guileless intern's stature perked up. "There's no need for a blood pact. I am not yet allowed to do that anyway." "You are now to declare your desire to this lowlife." she whipped her head towards my direction in annoyance which instantly melted into alarm. "What are you doing?!" "By the remaining celestial hierarchy I still hold in this form, I command you to cast a binding spell tying this demon upon earthly planes!" Five glowing halos appeared above the head of the 5 fallen angels I located throughout the city. They then raised the blood-marked parchment and chanted an old Abrahamic prayer. "You tricked me!" "Oh dearie, didn't they warn you?" "You—"

THE END. OR IS IT?

Please stay tuned for the rest of the story relays we will be doing!

Alejandra Pizarnik, tr. by Yvette Siegert, Extracting the Stone of Madness: Poems 1962 - 1972

Sonically

everything's muddy

soured yet longed for

Perhaps

it's these crazy gaps

seeping up all the gore

“Stop comparing yourself to other people, all it does is hurt you. There’s no correct way to exist in this world, so just be who you are because it’s enough. You are absolutely perfect the way you are.”

— Unknown

Dec. 14th: 11-Days Before Christmas (2022 Story Relay Marathon)

Hi, kindred souls! This is the second story relay of a 12-day story relay marathon I endorsed to my friend, ShiaraS (Discord: Shiara#5382) , that we will be doing from Dec. 13th to Dec. 24th—AKA 12 days before Christmas!

Since this is a marathon of sorts, we decided to lay some ground rules so we can "finish" each relay for each day. It would start with me drawing a prompt every morning from a plastic container that will serves as our bowl for this occasion. These prompts were collected by us from different sources (I will do my absolute best to give appropriate credit for the original creators/source material).

The story relay would then consist of 5 turns for both of us with a max. of 10-16 sentences each turn. After these, the story relay for that day would be considered "finished". THERE WILL BE NO EDITING DONE FOR ALL STORY RELAYS.

These rules were placed since ShiaraS' exams were also scheduled during the set week.

HERE'S THE WRITING PROMPT FOR TODAY'S STORY RELAY:

He was tracking a reindeer through the woods and came to a clearing. As he walked through the trees a hand pulled at the hem of his shirt. "Finally, we've been waiting for you," said the red and green clad elf. (via Pinterest link by bibliomavens.wordpress.com)

START OF STORY RELAY:

"Let's go. We are way behind schedule already." The tiny creature shuffled to his left. "What? Wh-why?" the man stammered as he tried digged his thumbnail to his index finger. "Hurry. Eric thinks this is not the time for your silly jokes," the elf demanded while wriggling its toes "Who's Eric? And I am not coming with you. Who do you think I am?" "I am Eric." pointing its tiny fingers right in front of its eyes, "You are Leo the Understudy", pointing at the man. "Well, Eric—", Eric the elf waved both of his hands, "—Hi. I am Leopold NOT Leo and I am not an understudy. I am a wildlife photographer.", Leopold showed his camera and Eric looked at it for a few seconds and shook his head with his hands on his waist. "No. No. Eric knows you are Leo, Santa's Understudy."

The man's eyes grew as big as the moon, "Santa's what now?" Eric the elf growled impatiently and pulled on the man's arm again. "We don't have time for your jokes, Leo. Santa needs help right now or the children of the world will wake up very disappointed tomorrow morning." Still dazed by all this, Leo let the little elf pull him through the trees. He had no idea what was going on. He came out here to get some shots of wild reindeer in the snowy forest floor, a sure winner for holiday magazines, and now an elf was telling him he was Santa's understudy? The only thing that made sense was that the eggnog at Chris' party had hit him harder than he imagined. Eric the elf pulled Leo for a long while until they Leo heard the sound of a man's voice not far from them. "Come now, Rudolph, don't be like that." The duo broke through the trees and Leo faced another shock as he saw Santa's sleigh parked feet away from him. But that wasn't what what shocked him, no, it was the sight of a sulking, red nosed, reindeer up a tree branch while Santa Claus tried to lure him down with some carrots.

"Oh Santa, what has gotten to Rudolph this time?" Eric wobbled towards the old man who even with him slouching trying to lay pieces of carrots in a comical pattern still towered over him tenfold. Leopold transfixed for a minute with the scene before him, still managed to whip his camera out and took a handful of shots. He decided that even though a bout of sugar rush from two glasses of eggnog gave him this improbable delirium, he will make the best of it by taking as many photos as he could. Perhaps in the morning, it will result in acceptable nightly pictures. He was so focused on doing so that he failed to observe the jolly tall bearded man who started to walk towards him. "It's been a long time Leo. You've grown!" "You know me?" queried Leopold after taking a portrait of Santa Claus. "Very well! I remember when you were a foot taller than Eric here but now voila!" claps Santa as he peered through his half-moon spectacles. "Who would have thought you'll return?" "Eric did! So as Martha, Lily, Lydia, and many more!" chimed Eric behind Santa Leopold bit the inside of his cheeks. "I'm sorry who are you, really?"

"Come now, Leo," Santa laughed, "Enough with the jokes. I know you had to blend in with the locals but I really do need your help with Rudolph." "I really have no idea what you're talking about! Who are you and why do you keep acting like you know me?" Santa's laughter stopped and he stepped closer to Leo. Leo backed away, uncomfortable with how close Santa was. "You really don't remember?" Santa said morosely. Santa looked defeated as he backed away and sat on a nearby boulder. He looked so sad and hopeless that Leo couldn't help but feel guilty even though he shouldn't. Eric the elf patted Santa's knee in comfort, all the while glaring at Leo. "Look," Leo started, "I'm sorry about all this but either I'm hallucinating or you have the wrong person. Up until today, I thought you were just a fairytale." Santa winced and Leo felt the guilt grow some more. "I am very real, Leopold." Said Santa, "All this is real. I do not know what happened to your memories but if you help me tonight, I believe I can help you restore your memories." Leo frowned. He would be lying if he said something about all this didn't feel right. It's weird and insane but it felt right, more than anything had the past 10 months. There weren't any gaps in his memories, he could tell you where he was born, what day, where he grew up, his first school. He could say it all. But, he would only be saying it. Everything from his past seemed so factual, so devoid of emotion as if reading someone else's biography. He remembered where he grew up but he couldn't remember what game he liked to play when he was a kid. He knew all the subjects he took in school, yet nothing in his memories told him who were his closest friends. Still, is all that enough reason to give in to this madness?

Leo looked over at the reindeer sniffing the air up above the tree. As crazed as anything that happened the last hour or so, he at least was near a reindeer albeit a different one from what he was following earlier. For all that, he could at most help the fabled old man and his overpassionate elf. Never mind how much absurd the situation was. He stepped forward and slowly picked four pieces of carrots off the snow-covered grass which was somehow arranged by Santa into a poor attempt of imitating a wink emoji. The creature was observing him with a look of annoyance, almost challenging him. "Hi, I'm Leopold but your friends here keep calling me, Leo. I guess you could call me that as well if you wanna be friends." Rudolph batted his eyes unbothered. "I hear your name is Rudolph. Can I call you, Ru-Ru?" its antlers gave a slight movement. "Do you like it? I like it enough for you. It suits you. But I gotta say having a tantrum and climbing up trees is definitely not on-brand for your name, Ru-Ru." Leo quipped munching on a carrot. The sound and the look Leo has been showing perked Rudolph's interest. "Oh do you want a carrot?" it started snorting in protest. "You do, do you?" Leo started munching more carrots. "You better hurry getting down here or else I would devour all of these carrots. Nom nom" Rudolph grunted and leapt straight towards Leo. "Woho ho ho! You did it, Leo!" exclaimed the now hopping and clapping Santa followed by Eric's shrill cheers, "Leo The Understudy!"

The next few moments were a blur. As soon as Rudolph had gotten his fill of the carrots, Eric hurried them along to get back to delivering presents. And, before he knew it, Leo was sitting next to Eric in the back seat of Santa's sleigh as the man himself urged the magical flying reindeer to soar higher. The air above the ground is colder and more biting, and yet Leo couldn't feel too unbothered by it. Up here, the clouds were within reach feeling like lightest water between his fingertips, the moon was bigger too, but even more amazingly, the lights from the towns below made it all look like another group of stars on the earth. "This is incredible." Leo gasped. "Still think this is a dream?" Eric asked him and Leo could only shake his head. No, this was definitely not a dream, he couldn't come up with half the amazing things around him. Because of his apparent memory loss, he never got to join Santa and Eric in actually delivering the presents. Instead, he had to stay by the sleigh and keep Rudolph from having any more tantrums. He did learn that when in flight, the reindeer moved so fast that it was impossible to see them unless they wanted to be seen. Anyway, when Santa had delivered his last present to a little boy in the Philippines, they all flew back to the North Pole. "Memories are special." Santa said, "They mold and shape us. Without the right memories, you would be a different person. So, your real memories can't be gone. They're still inside you, just buried." "And if that's true, you can help me? How?" "Every gift I deliver is unique and special. Each one holds a memory. Hopefully, that can help unlock your memories." Leo was unconvinced, "My old gifts?" Santa laughed, "Don't be silly. Not the gifts. The gift wrappers."

Leo stared incredulously at Santa, "Who keeps the wrappers or bags that came with each gift they ever received?" The old man sighed, "I take it you didn't keep any of yours?" "No. Not that I know of." Santa glanced at the young man and gestured towards his camera. "That camera, how long have you been using that?" Leo instinctively clutched his camera and recalled the day he first saw it. It was seven years ago. It was the year all of his classmates and neighbouring kids started to be preoccupied with individual hobbies and clubs of interest. He never really quite understand why it felt like he couldn't find a single interest he could spend hours doing except one thing, observing those that are around him. He was climbing up the bus on the very last day of school before Christmas break. He saw the driver clutching a worn-out bag. He remembered asking about it as he took his seat behind them. It belonged to the lady driver's father who passed away last summer. She found the bag with the untouched camera inside. It's unused by her father and did not have any sentimental value for them. She was contemplating dropping it off at the pawnshop but went against it when she saw how curious and fascinated Leo was. She gave the bag to Leo when then arrived at his stop. Since that day, Leo never went anywhere without it. The lady bus driver, always beamed whenever she saw Leo carrying it and mostly, especially when he was using it. "It's a long time ago. Feels like ages. It came with a bag." Leo saw Santa grinning. "It wasn't from you, it's from my old lady bus driver. Just so you know." "I didn't say it came from me...but the contents, some of it possibly." Leo gaped at him in confusion, "What? There was nothing inside the bag except the camera." " Did you check for other items other than the camera?" "What's in the bag?" Eric poked his knee, "Santa's gift for that year, dippy."

Leo frowned, "Even if any of that's true. We're on our way to the North Pole and that bag is in my apartment. I have work tomorrow." Eric scoffed, "Human brains." "What Eric means to say is that we are currently on the fastest transport in the world. We can stop by your apartment and make it back to the North Pole in no time." Before Leo could protest or agree, Santa had already flicked the reins again and the reindeer sped off into the night. True to his word, they reached Leo,'s apartment in what felt like seconds. Eric went with him while Santa combed the reindeer. Luckily for him, Leo was a bit of a pack rat and the bag was tucked away in a battered box in his storage closet. It was dusty, the leather was all but peeled off, the strap was torn, and the buckle was rusted shut. If Santa was right and gifts told stories, this bag would have a lot to tell. The trip back to the North Pole was as quick as Santa promised and when they got there, they were greeted by cheerful, excited elves. They shot confetti into the air that sparkled like little stars. There was an actual marching band and even jugglers! "Welcome home Santa!" "Ho Ho Ho," Said Santa, "Thank you all for this welcome! It was a long night but I'm glad for it all." "Movie! Movie! Movie!" The elves cheered. Santa laughed as he approached them. "You know the rules everyone. No film until Christmas morning." Leo whispered to Eric, "Film?" "The elves remember every toy they make. When Santa visits a house, he asks the Christmas ornaments to record the kids' reaction to their gifts. We watch them on Christmas morning." Leo looked amazed, "I didn't know that." "Come on, follow me and grab your bag." Eric said. The elf lead Leo to a house at the end of the street.

Before they entered through the door, Leo noticed how this house was different from the ones they passed by. Most houses had twinkling lights and polished finished while this one only has a wreath made from ivory vines and adorned with lilacs and one glowing star. Inside, a series of chimes echoed as they walked to the center where a huge round wooden table stood. Eric nudged Leo towards it and pointed to the bag. Leo placed the bag on the table and watched as Eric climbed on a stool he dragged towards the table. Then he began sniffing and patting the bag all over. His saucer-like wide eyes blinks furiously as he did this for a minute. Suddenly, he giggled and open a flap at the bottom of the bag and revealed a royal blue envelop neatly tucked below. Eric excitedly give the envelop to Leo. "Is that it? I thought there would be some whooshing sound or bright light. I still don't remember." Eric rolled his eyes, "You open it, receive the gift then place the envelop with your both palms on the table." Leo opened the envelop and saw what lies in it, a plastic card. He looked closely and it seems to be a credit card of sorts. It has his name on it written in gold lettering as well as his other personal details. "What is this?" "Oh you got the card all these times and didn't use it! It's a card of all wishes!" cheered Eric who somehow managed climbing on top of the table. "If a child wishes for a thing, you as the Understudy will see a vision of that wish above the child's head like a hazy gray cloud—if the kid was nice but not jolly, and unhappy. A bright red if that kid was naughty but still jolly. Blue, if a kid is both naughty and unhappy. Those are only the things that I know of." "So I grant wishes by swiping the card?" Eric took off his hat and became somber, "No, you do it before and after Christmas only. And you use to buy it anything you think a kid will need to —" Eric air quoting, "—survive so they can last until Christmas for Santa to come to give them presents." "I can do those things?" Leo was incredibly awed by the prospect "Not only you, dippy. There were others you see before you but they chose to live by human rules that they also perish by human ways." "There were others?" "Yes. I believe the owner of this bag and camera was an Understudy." Eric pointed out nonchalantly. Leo gaped and stared at his camera, the bag, and the card. "Why else would he have a brand new camera he didn't use placed inside a wornout bag before he died? It's his last attempt to pass along the torch to you together with Santa's gift."

The gift and seeing the North Pole went a long way to convincing Leo that some of this was real, but he wasn't quite there yet. "I still don't understand what you want from me." He said, "If I'm supposed to be the Understudy, it's pointless now that Christmas has gone." "Weren't you listening? You arrived late. You should have read the card when the former understudy, that bus lady, gave it to you. But you didn't so we had to build extra special toys to make up for your absence." Leo was silent. What else could he say? Who even reads the cards anymore? He didn't even know those were still popular. "I'm sorry ... I..." "Don't be sorry." Eric said and handed Leo a thick brown book and a candy cane. "Just read this." Leo frowned and sniffed the book. "Is this a gingerbread book?" "Of course it is. Did you think it would be leather?" He almost said, yes, but with how Eric laughed at the word, leather, he figured it wasn't important. He was currently talking with an elf in the North Pole after getting a lift on Santa's sleigh. The book was indeed made of gingerbread and right in the middle of the book was an empty space in the shape of a candy cane. Leo looked at the candy cane Eric gave him and placed it in the space. The effect was immediate and the book opened before him. The pages inside were, thankfully, made of regular paper. "The Understudy" He read aloud. "This is the story of every understudy that came before you." Eric explained, "Read this to know more about who you are and why the children of the world need you." Leo gulped, he considered closing the book and running to the sleigh, flying back to his apartment, and forgetting all this madness. But something stopped him. Call it fate or magic, whatever it was, Leo decided to trust it and read the book.

THE END. OR IS IT?

Please stay tuned for the rest of the story relays we will be doing!

Pages of Serene turned 2 today!