IAIN KELLY

IN THE LAND OF THE GIANT GERBILS

Floating along on a bed of epicurean marshmallows, Malcolm IV, king of the giant gerbils, nibbled on a lovely stilton and ordered the destruction of Paris by his army of flying pigs armed with lances and flame throwers.

In the Kingdom of the Glowing Eggs, the latest crop of chimeras – half voluptuous maidens, half capybara – hatched and sucked on the teats of the mountain gorillas, who whispered immutable songs of myth and lore.

A giant ant, pink and blue and spraying formic acid from it’s stomach, tore him limb from limb.

He woke up shrieking.

‘Nice trip, Malc?’

‘That’s some bad stuff, man.’


Copyright David Stewart

Written for Friday Fictioneers hosted by Rochelle Wisoff-Fields (more details HERE). The idea is to write a short story of 100 words based on the photo prompt (above).

To read stories of 100 words based on this weekโ€™s prompt, visit HERE.

Also linking with #FOWC – Fandango’s One Word Challenge. Today’s word was: Immutable


For the month of April I am taking part in the A-Z blogging challenge, and am posting about my State Trilogy novels each day, including plots, themes, characters and the writing and publishing process. So if youโ€™ve read the books, or havenโ€™t but might be interested in them, I hope it will be of interest to some of you. All the posts published so far can be found HERE.

77 responses to “IN THE LAND OF THE GIANT GERBILS”

  1. neilmacdon Avatar

    A lovely dream (until the end) ((unless you’re French))

    Liked by 2 people

    1. Iain Kelly Avatar

      If only it had stopped at the marshmallows.

      Liked by 2 people

    2. ceayr Avatar

      Most of France would dance at this, assuming that M. Le Prรฉsident was at home!

      Liked by 1 person

      1. neilmacdon Avatar

        please donโ€™t leave. Your stories are brilliant. They have a recognisable voice and genre, yes. But theyโ€™re far from repetitive

        Liked by 1 person

      2. Iain Kelly Avatar

        I agree with Neil, it will be a huge loss if you depart FF, and I always enjoy your work, but at the same time it should never feel like a chore. I hope after a break you might feel inspired again and return – and in the meantime I hope you will still be writing other bits and pieces on your blog and elsewhere to keep the creative mind ticking over. Take care.

        Like

  2. Sandra Avatar

    That’s probably too close to the truth for comfort. Good one.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Iain Kelly Avatar

      Thanks Sandra

      Like

  3. trentpmcd Avatar

    So most likely Lysergic acid instead of formic acid? Sounds like some nasty trip that even Lewis Carroll would shun.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Iain Kelly Avatar

      He would have made it into a much more meaningful allegory I’m sure! Thanks Trent

      Liked by 1 person

  4. GHLearner Avatar
    GHLearner

    ‘What’s Iain on?’ I was asking myself while reading and then I laughed out loud. Still chuckling… what an imagination you have.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Iain Kelly Avatar

      Thank you, I decided to just go for whatever nonsense came to mind!

      Liked by 1 person

  5. justjoyfulness Avatar

    Wow! Gosh! I would be scarred for life from that dream ๐Ÿ™‚

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Iain Kelly Avatar

      It’s one to remember for sure!

      Like

  6. rochellewisoff Avatar

    Dear Iain,

    That last line had me laughing out loud. Bad acid trip for sure. Bravo!

    Shalom,

    Rochelle

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Iain Kelly Avatar

      Thanks Rochelle ๐Ÿ™‚

      Like

  7. Mason Bushell Avatar

    That’s a trippy fun tale which fits the prompt well. Well done.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Iain Kelly Avatar

      Thanks Mason

      Liked by 1 person

  8. Tannille Avatar

    I want a picture book!

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Iain Kelly Avatar

      There are stranger cartoons and merchandising toys for kids out there, so why not!

      Liked by 1 person

  9. Bear Avatar

    That was some acidic trip. lol! Poor guy, to be dissolved by ant puke… that’s baaad! Hehe! Great story this week.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Iain Kelly Avatar

      Thank you so much – not a fate I would like, even if it was just a dream!

      Liked by 1 person

      1. Bear Avatar

        I took a trip once, via peyote in a Native ceremony… NEVER again! It wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t good either. Just extremely whack!

        Liked by 1 person

      2. Iain Kelly Avatar

        Sounds interesting! ๐Ÿ™‚

        Liked by 1 person

  10. Dave Williams Avatar

    You have a vivid imagination to come up with all that ๐Ÿ™‚

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Iain Kelly Avatar

      Thanks Dave, sometimes you just have to run with it!

      Liked by 1 person

  11. D. Avery @shiftnshake Avatar

    I am speechless. I don’t get this, Man, but I’ll just go ask Alice when she’s ten feet tall.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Iain Kelly Avatar

      Sometimes there is nothing to get, just enjoy the trip! ๐Ÿ™‚

      Liked by 1 person

  12. Keith's Ramblings Avatar

    A bit like drinking too much Coca Tea in Peru! Delightfully different Iain.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Iain Kelly Avatar

      Thanks Keith, I’ll have some of that Coca!

      Like

  13. pennygadd51 Avatar

    Teehee! We humans love our psychotropic drugs, don’t we? (She said, sipping her wine…) Fun story, Iain!

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Iain Kelly Avatar

      Thank you Penny – enjoy the wine ๐Ÿ™‚

      Liked by 1 person

  14. Prakash Hegade Avatar

    Spooky dream. Awesome job for the image. ๐Ÿ˜€

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Iain Kelly Avatar

      Thank you Prakash

      Liked by 1 person

  15. Nobbinmaug Avatar

    That’s why people do drugs. It seems pleasant compared to reality. Maybe not for Parisians.

    Liked by 2 people

    1. Iain Kelly Avatar

      It’s certainly one way to escape a lockdown.

      Liked by 1 person

  16. Dale Avatar

    I definitely do NOT want to have what he’s having! What a fun take, though.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Iain Kelly Avatar

      Thanks Dale, that’s the trouble – no guarantee the trip will be a good one!

      Liked by 1 person

      1. Dale Avatar

        Bloody hell. They ain’t no one giving guarantees!

        Liked by 1 person

  17. jenne49 Avatar

    Love it, Iain. What fabulous imaginings. I particularly liked the giant gerbils nibbling on the stilton. A great take on the photo.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Iain Kelly Avatar

      Thank you Jenne, so pleased you approved ๐Ÿ™‚

      Like

  18. Susan St.Pierre Avatar

    Humorous, bizarre, creative, but not as frightening as my post. ๐Ÿ˜‰

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Iain Kelly Avatar

      Try telling that to this guy ๐Ÿ˜‰

      Liked by 1 person

  19. msjadeli Avatar

    I don’t want any of what he had. All I could think is which half was voluptuous maiden and which half was capybara lol Great trip, Iain but only on the page ๐Ÿ™‚

    Liked by 2 people

    1. Iain Kelly Avatar

      Perhaps they mixed and matched ๐Ÿ™‚

      Liked by 1 person

      1. msjadeli Avatar

        ๐Ÿ™‚

        Liked by 1 person

  20. Shari Elder Avatar

    I came over for the A to Z Challenge but I could not resist this. Very charming!

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Iain Kelly Avatar

      Thanks so much for visiting and having a read Shari, much appreciated and glad you enjoyed it ๐Ÿ™‚

      Like

  21. Susan Joy Clark Avatar

    The comments on this are quite funny. ๐Ÿ™‚ What strange, unusual but creative images.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Iain Kelly Avatar

      Thank you Susan! It’s always fun when a story manages to get some engaging funny comments ๐Ÿ™‚

      Liked by 1 person

  22. draliman Avatar

    I dunno, I might give it a go. I’m intrigued by the chimeras ๐Ÿ™‚

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Iain Kelly Avatar

      Step right this way, sir!

      Liked by 1 person

  23. ceayr Avatar

    Fun and imaginative piece, Iain.

    I am currently reading your excellent Collected Sketches.
    Keep writing, it’ll happen.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Iain Kelly Avatar

      Thanks for the encouragement CE, means a lot. Who knows? Currently trying another round of literary agent contacting with my latest book, with not much hope of success, but you never know. Glad you are enjoying the small volume, it seems so long ago now that I wrote most of them.

      Like

  24. earthskyair Avatar

    Wow. That’s letting your imagination have its way. Great ending, too.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Iain Kelly Avatar

      It’s nice to just let go sometimes and see what springs forth! Thank you ๐Ÿ™‚

      Liked by 1 person

  25. ahtdoucette Avatar

    In his defense, Paris was already pretty messed up before he got there. Agreed, might not want to hit “that stuff” again. Love the absurdism of this one.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Iain Kelly Avatar

      Thank you Anne ๐Ÿ™‚

      Like

  26. Elizabeth Young Avatar

    Another good reason for me never to try drugs!

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Iain Kelly Avatar

      It’s not a good advert, is it?!

      Like

  27. elmowrites Avatar

    What an imagination you have to create this trip… what did you take first?! I loved this out-there response.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Iain Kelly Avatar

      Thank you, sometimes it’s good just to let go!

      Like

  28. plaridel Avatar

    he must be happy to wake up from this kind of dream. ๐Ÿ™‚

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Iain Kelly Avatar

      At least it wasn’t real!

      Liked by 1 person

  29. Brenda's Thoughts Avatar

    The photo is trippy like Malcโ€™s hallucinations. I loved the descriptions. A Terry Pratchett feel to me. =)

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Iain Kelly Avatar

      Ah, that means a lot to me, I love his books ๐Ÿ™‚

      Liked by 1 person

  30. Laurie Bell Avatar

    Now there’s a crazy trip…
    But hilarious too. Ha!

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Iain Kelly Avatar

      Thanks Laurie, lad you enjoyed ๐Ÿ™‚

      Like

  31. David Stewart Avatar

    Haha, wow that was trippy just reading that. I guess you’ve got some good psychedelic marshmallows there. ๐Ÿ™‚ I was thinking how entrancing yet terrifying it would be to live there, so I think you captured the right tone pretty well.
    -David

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Iain Kelly Avatar

      Thanks David, it’s a great photo.

      Like

  32. Dora Avatar

    The horror! Maybe he needs to stay off that stuff, but maybe reality is worse?

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Iain Kelly Avatar

      True, what is e escaping from? Thanks Dora

      Liked by 1 person

  33. granonine Avatar

    You’ve outdone yourself with this one :). One shock after another–I think you need to go take a rest ๐Ÿ™‚

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Iain Kelly Avatar

      A long lie down could be just the answer! Thanks Linda

      Liked by 1 person

  34. Patricia Clair Avatar
    Patricia Clair

    Ha! You had me going…loved the twist. Personally, I’d want my money back for that trip – frightening myself is not recreational in my book! ๐Ÿ˜‰

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Iain Kelly Avatar

      I agree – I can’t even understand people who want to watch horror films! ๐Ÿ™‚

      Like

  35. subroto Avatar

    Ha! Ha! Fun story! Now that’s a trip to remember (or forget).

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Iain Kelly Avatar

      Thanks ๐Ÿ™‚

      Like

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