Alfarell

A 296-post collection

Challenge #04351-K333: Help From Nowhere

She was alone in the ramshackle hut having a difficult birth, the last survivor of a caravan. Fortunately for her, the family of Brauniin heard her cries, and came to this woman in her hour of need. -- Anon Guest

The house barely had a roof left, more weeds and leaf litter than true thatch, nevertheless, it counted as a house. The Hidden Ones lingered there. A house wants its Faekindred. Brauniin or Nisse, some waited for the ruin to be a home again. Homes were where they did their best work.

There was no door. There were no windows. There was barely a hearth remaining in the ruin. Yet a stranger came to it in the midst of a wild storm. She used the door, more to keep her upright as she staggered to the vain shelter that the remains of the roof could provide. She was laboring, exhausted, and travelworn. Inches from her own demise.

If nobody acted, she could die. And yet... both Brauniin and Nisse prided themselves on remaining hidden. They had to make a choice.

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Challenge #04349-K331: Unappreciated Comparison

I feel utterly worthless.

"You're a weed waving among the brick and stone."

See? Worthless.

"You ability to thrive truly has shown."

What .. do you mean?

"Your strength, my dear, I'm so proud you've grown!"

There among the bare gravel, where there's very little that's green, a lone dandelion is visited by a butterfly. -- Anon Guest

It's easy to devalue yourself when nobody else finds you worthy. It's easy to not wish to be part of a world that hates you

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Challenge #04345-K327: Home of Contention

They lived in a land where polygamy was common. However, this trio was ... shocking for none had seen the like. They were human, one of their loves was hellkin, the other was halloblood. And all three loved each other almost more than life itself. Now if only outsiders would stop trying to rescue them! -- Lessons

Pax, Amity, and Grace lived out of the way from most residents of Lauthiraux. They had a happy life together, not that many in Lauthiraux believed

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Challenge #04342-K324: Giving a Hand

They wanted to be a Great Hero, wearing gleaming armor and recognized through the land.

They became a Great Hero, without fanfare or armor, the night they were willing to dislodge boulders which cascaded and jammed tight as the strongest brickwork ever known into the ravine, stopping a massive flood from destroying the city. Even though it cost them their primary hand. -- Anon Guest

Heroism only looks like a gleaming costume, a white charger, or a blazing sword. That's how heroes

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Challenge #04310-K292: Little Surprises

A mixed band of older adventurers came to the glade seeking aid for a comrade who had been badly wounded, lest the person, their dear friend, die. Due to their advanced ages, they asked if they could help by setting up a nearby hospital, so she didn't have to do all of this work alone. A peaceful life of aiding others in their golden years.

https://peakd.com/fiction/@internutter/challenge-04255-k237-unpaid-respect -- Anon Guest

In the world of Adventuring, thirty is old.

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Challenge #04309-K291: Oathbound Help

The human made a Heart-Sworn Oath that, as long as they lived, no matter who it was, they would help them. Then came the day one of the ones that cruelly bullied them for being kind to the unwelcome came for aid. But an Oath does not care if the person was a bully. The bully was shocked when this person also refused to break their word. -- Anon Guest

[AN: In my personal experience, bullies tend to crow about taking advantage

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Challenge #04305-K287: An Attempt to Learn

Anger, rage, sorrow, betrayal, resentment, these were all they felt. Bound tightly in the enchanted bonds, the young adult looked upon the wizard with hard eyes and said just kill me and be done with it, finish what THEY started.

The wizard looked sadly upon the youth stating they would not die, but it was time they started to heal, and learned there was a gentler path to life. -- Anon Guest

It's easy to be angry, to paraphrase wise sages, at

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Challenge #04303-K285: Backburning Request

A: Y-you bastard! You played us like a damn fiddle!

B: oh please, Fiddles are intricate instruments that take years to master.

I played you like the kazoo you are. -- Anon Guest

[AN: I've seen variants of this exchange where the kazoo is described as "cheap" too]

I believed it was for the greater good. I thought the things I was doing were necessary evils. Minor harms in the great, grander scheme. I could only see small fragments of the bigger

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Challenge #04302-K284: Desperate Need

They hated hellkin and others like them, and made it very clear, very publicly. Then the time came they were very sick, almost all healers had given up hope. It was a hellkin who saved their life. Sitting with them, talked with them, caring for them. It was then that the hatred learned at the knee of their parental, began to disappear beneath the weight of understanding. -- Anon Guest

There's many places like it. City-states, nations, minor polities all who made

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Challenge #04295-K277: Kindness Comes in Handy

The adult giant was nearly 10 ft tall, kinda short for their kind. Their parentals, humans, lived near the massive cottage where the giant lived. When asked by other giants why "bugs were allowed here", the giant angrily would state "Don't you dare insult my parents!" -- Anon Guest

Others of hir kind called hir 'Shrimp' because ze was only twice the height of the average Human. Small for Giantkind. Hir real name was Elianto, and her parents loved and cherished hir.

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Challenge #04294-K276: A Different Destiny

A: sometimes you fit perfectly, but it’s not the right place.

B: …what?

C: you’re a half empty bottle of coke screwed into a lightbulb socket

B: Oh I get it.

A:??? How the f- -- Anon Guest

[AN: There are so many ways this metaphor could be altered, but you chose a meme]

There were three jigsaw puzzles, and it was possible to put them together by feel. However, one needed vision to put them together properly. Each puzzle,

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Challenge #04290-K272: There's a Moral Somewhere

The sacrificial one was shoved into the chamber, the door behind them sealed. The gods demanded this, if they disobeyed, the city would be destroyed. The youngster, shakingly, put their hand on the door. "Shhhh, what the elders don't know won't hurt the rest of us. Let's go." -- Anon Guest

For centuries, it had maintained peace. In the town, there was a temple dedicated to the Established Order. The temple, partially carved into a mountain, had a portal that people only

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Challenge #04286-K268: For the Safety of Others

Those that discriminate against the unwanted races in this nation take a page from the lands of Whitekeep. They are not killed, instead sent to a large school where they are forced to learn about whom it is they hate. And the worst part is? The bracelets they must wear. Until they "graduate", they are no longer capable of telling any lies, especially, not to themselves. Kids are easy to teach lessons of kindness, respect, and diversity, it's the older teens and

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Challenge #04283-K265: A Start, An End

The burrow of kobolds found a nest of dragon eggs. The nest was still very warm, but the parent was not returning, as a cruel person that other humans were calling a "hero" had killed them. They took in these eggs to care for them, to raise them, those false "heroes" would not get their hands on these children, ever. Not if the borrow had anything to say of it! -- Anon Guest

Heroism is relative. For every victorious vanquisher of an

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Challenge #04281-K263: Little Mama Bear

You're bigger than me, you've trained longer than me, but, I assure you, if you try this, you won't win. You have your strength and military training. I've lived in the streets. I'm younger than you, but you touch these two teens behind me again, and I will snap you in half. -- Anon Guest

[AN: This almost turned into a Kosh story. Gotta remember those qualifiers you put in there, Nonny!]

They call me Maw, and they don't do that because

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