
"You've been back for weeks now. Are you ever going to tell me about your little misadventure with the time flux?" Death cocked his skull to one side and watched the tips of Chronos' ears turn pink. That happened every time he brought the subject up.
"Well?"
Chronos sighed, although he had a dreamy smile on his face.
"I told you, I ended up on a planet 3,000 light years from here. I'm not even sure what year I was in."
"Yes and that's all you've told me. I want details, my friend. I can tell you had a good time." Death lobbed a peanut in the air and missed. It ended up buried in the green shag carpet somewhere. And people called him anachronistic.
"All right." Chronos settled deeper into the sofa cushions. "The planet was inhabited by cat women—well, they were women but with long tails and pointy ears. And they had stripes of fur in, ah, strategic places."
"Go on," Death encouraged when Chronos stopped talking. His ears were a lovely shade of scarlet now.
"Well, they hadn't ever seen a man before. The way their tails wrap around—"
"No men? How do they—"
"I don't know."
"Well, did you—"
"Yes, but it was a matter of cultural exchange."
"And how many times did you have to exchange your culture?" Death's jaw dropped in a laugh as Chronos hugged a pillow to his mid-section.
"I didn't want to seem rude, you know. They were all very curious about me. I was Earth's ambassador, so to speak."
"When in Athens…?"
"Exactly."
©2010 Laura Eno
These are great characters, although I do worry about who is doing their day jobs whilst they are off enjoying themselves and socialisinig :)
ReplyDeleteA dream come true for the furry aficionados!
ReplyDeleteI'm with Clive, though... these guys must have astonishingly efficient staff to allow them to goof off so much.
That was fantastic! I love how quirky they are. Brilliant rendering. A very fun read! Now, if only I can land a nice, cushy job like that...
ReplyDeleteIt would have been rude not to! What a lovely time flux!
ReplyDeleteSimon.
Yes, the work of a diplomat is mysterious and never complete! Love the green shag carpet - nice touch!
ReplyDeleteyou wouldn't have the longitude and latitude? this is a classic!
ReplyDeleteGreen shag carpet? GREEN? huh. I was sure it was orange.
ReplyDeleteHe must have remodeled.
Loved the "stategic places"
oh and would you please explain the pillow hugging? That one went right over my head.
Snort. That peanut is lost forever in the shag. Good ambassador, Chronos. Peace, Linda
ReplyDeleteLaura! You reminded me of Star Trek where Kirk pinned anything that moved, and I do mean anything. lol. Catwomen. [snickers]
ReplyDeleteThe green shag was a nice touch. Who hasn't lived in an apartment with that! I'm loving this continuing saga, Laura!
ReplyDeleteI love these stories! No wonder my week has seemed so long -- Chronos goofing off again! I love it that he's so embarrassed by his adventure -- almost a gentleman, that Time guy.
ReplyDeleteCD
Another excellent one. Loved the details you used in such a few words. At least he had some fun, even if he won't say much about it...
ReplyDeleteI think I need to take a trip to Athens...
ReplyDeleteThank you all for the comments! They're great. :)
ReplyDeleteKaren - You must have read this late at night. Why would any man cover up his lap? ;)
This is so funny! Love, love them.
ReplyDeleteAlso laughed, a lot, over Karen's question. I mean, really... heh.
ROFL....um...I didn't expect you to actually answer it. It was meant tongue in cheeck. oh man...that's too funny.
ReplyDeleteI love it when an evil plan comes together.
And that's two count em TWO typos in your comment thread. I had a friend give me grief that I never ever make typos, so now, apparently I'm cursed.
ReplyDelete*sigh*
Never play checkers with a genie. They're sore losers.
Laura, you couldn't have painted a better picture with that green shag carpet - love that detail! And I can't believe he MISSED! So he's not so perfect after all.
ReplyDeleteGreat fun, these stories - keep 'em coming!
Another fun one! These characters are just hilarious. I like how Chronos was somewhere and didn’t even know what year it was. The description of the cat women, and the “culture exchange,” is classic!
ReplyDeleteWow, more Death and Chronos. Nice to find out how the little trip went. Chronos losing time is an adventure, but didn't expect cat women. Like the "culture exchange."
ReplyDeleteHa ha! So, how much culture was exchanged??
ReplyDeleteWhen in Athens, vote for tail-sex! That's the moral, right?
ReplyDeleteI always smile when I begin to read your stories. And I invariably get a good laugh. This is wonderful. Love how death has been called "anachronistic" by his friends. As for Chronos-I mean, he has to awaken consciousness of time! Knowledge of finitude as grounding for freedom. Or maybe not...
ReplyDeleteThese characters are hilarious, Laura. Carrie stole my comment that the cat women reminded my of a Star Treck episode. It's details like the green shag carpet (you would think they could afford better) that makes this really funny. :)
ReplyDeleteOMG have I been missing my Friday fix here, woman. You are so witty! A bashful ambassador and a peanut popper. Bwahahaha. :)
ReplyDeleteGood blog and layouts!
ReplyDeleteCultural/language exchange - nice touch.
ReplyDeletealso Chronos being anachronistic
Marc Nash
Laura,
ReplyDeleteI love these characters so much. I grabbed on to the green shag carpet too, looks like it was a big hit.
Death must be very overcome by his experience to miss his peanut - hehe.
What a great planet! I just want to know more details about how Death pleased them and what happened to them when they were done - my imagination is going wild! And, apparently so is Karen...
Lovely to find out what happened on Chronos' little trip and how bashful he is about it.
ReplyDeleteThese are great little vignettes. I hope you are building them into something!
I'm sure Athens was a lot tamer when I lived there...
ReplyDeleteI have been saving this story all day for reading with my coffee-after-pampering-bath after a long though admittedly not very hard day at work. As expected, it was worth the wait :-)
Green shag carpet! great touch
So, Chronos got some tail!! hahahaha
ReplyDeleteIt's also kind of funny that Death is aware of what we people say about him. Does that mean we can smhooze and/or bribe him??? :-)
I had a really good pun... but I'm not going to say it out loud because... well... it's bad, too. Besides, I worry about Karen asking for an explanation (!)
ReplyDeleteNice work, Laura, always a fan of this duo.
Love the shag carpet!
ReplyDeleteChronos, the cats' meow-
ReplyDeleteGreat visceral details; another classic!
Ha ha, Chronos meets Miss Kitty!
ReplyDeleteI’m joining the Green Shag Carpet fan club too! Fantastic and very funny :)
ReplyDeleteThis is either brilliant or totally silly. Brilliantly silly. And I'm joining the chorus -- big fan of the green shag carpet!
ReplyDelete"...The way their tails wrap around—"
ReplyDeleteDear me, whatever do you mean?
This was funny! And you painted the picture of Chronos' little adventure with so few words.
Excellent work. Many thanks for continuing with this unlikely pair.
superfantastic - Chronos gets some!
ReplyDeleteohhhhh, Interplanetary philandering in the name of diplomacy. Very good.
ReplyDeleteJust the right amount of allusion for us all. Though I must admit I had some devilish fun imagining strategic fur suspenders and stuff...;-)
ReplyDeleteThank you all! These guys are so much fun to play with, green shag carpet and all. I'm glad you're enjoying their little adventures. :)
ReplyDeleteLaura, you always achieve a most colorful and picturesque story in so few words. I love that you kept the the peanut throwing as one of his characteristics. And the green shag, OMG!
ReplyDeleteWhat a great, easy read. It also answers the age old question of how so many people who really should be Darwin winners are still around: Death is Chatting with Chronos:-)
ReplyDeleteLove the green, shag carpeting, too.
So he lands on a planet full of catwomen who've never seen a man before? Wow. Talk about male fantasy. Is he going to land on the island and have to choose between Mary Ann and Ginger next? j/k lol
ReplyDeleteI really love these characters. Their oddities are really endearing. Great read!
I love all of your comments! Thank you friends. :)
ReplyDeleteWhat is it about cat-women that get men and gods going? heh - Another great moment with these characters.
ReplyDeleteA masterpiece of concision. Textbook.
ReplyDeleteAll these comments are making me blush: pillows, tail? I'm shocked and appalled, shocked and appalled.
ReplyDeleteLove the green shag carpet and the anachronism. Who's place are we in exactly?
CJ - I'm not sure what it is about catwomen...I think it's because they're so flexible...
ReplyDeleteMark - I'm flattered, sir!
Kim - I can see you blushing. :) They sit around at Chronos' place a lot, apparently because he has a steady supply of peanuts...
Thank you all for reading and commenting. I really appreciate it!
Green isn't my color, but great detail! Loved this flash too, as always you're writing is wonderful :)
ReplyDeleteVery delightful. It's the parts you don't tell that make it so great.
ReplyDeleteEstrella - Chronos hasn't changed with the times, I'm afraid. He needs a nice, hardwood floor...
ReplyDeleteSheila - I like to let readers' imaginations run wild... :)
Funny stuff and a nice spare style too :)
ReplyDeleteThanks, Dan! I'm glad you liked it.
ReplyDeleteClive brings up a good point. At least my gods are on the job or honestly unemployed :P
ReplyDeleteI like reading these characters and they're becoming old friends. I'm going to be sad when you brutally murder them.
Dana - yeah, my gods are slackers. :) They've become old friends to me as well. Maybe I'll maroon them somewhere instead of murdering them!
ReplyDelete