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| Prompt: Start your story with the line 'It was a dark and stormy night...' “It was a dark and stormy night when the spacecraft Scorpio fell from the skies.” Vila looked down; ah, that had their attention. The kids could never resist a story. “The pilot, brave Captain Tarrant, and the soul of the ship fought to keep Scorpio above the clouds. But Captain Tarrant and the soul were not strong enough, so the evil Prince Avon magicked the Princess Dayna and Lady Soolin to safety. He even took pity on the poor Jester and sent him with the Princess Day …” “What about Cally?” Dayna demanded; she glared round at her brother and sisters until they too were all clamouring to know what had happened to the alien empress. Vila bit back a retort, it had been Cally herself, the real one, not his made-up one, who had once told him, many life-times ago, that names are important. That a child will grow to fill the name. There were times when Vila sincerely wished he’d remembered that when naming his eldest daughter after the beautiful, but extremely headstrong warrioress. Only a year older than her next sibling, Dayna was always in charge. “Cally was dead,” there, he’d said it. He caught little Tilla’s eyes and knew that wasn’t the right answer. “Of course, being an alien, that wasn’t a problem,” he amended. “She just returned to her people in the sky.” “Never to be silent and alone?” Dayna’s jaw was set. “Never. Now look, the soul of Scorpio is dying and Captain Tarrant and evil Prince Avon are still aboard. Wanna find out what happens or not?” There was a murmured yes and Pael even risked a jab at Dayna’s ribs. A few more years, thought Vila, and there’ll be a right old power struggle there. “The evil Prince Avon then magicked himself and his familiar, Orac, away from the ship. Leaving heroic Tarrant and the dying soul to crash into the Enchanted Forest. Tarrant was badly hurt, but a sorcerer found him and made him well again. Now the sorcerer was an enemy of the witch, Servalan and he didn’t know if he could trust Tarrant. So he wore a magic mask that made him unrecognisable; even his friends couldn’t recognise him, and he took Tarrant to his castle. “Now the Princess Dayna and Lady Soolin and the poor Jester were also in the Enchanted Forest, for that was were the evil prince had sent them. And it was cold, and the rain lashed down and the wind howled and the Princess Dayna and Lady Soolin and the poor Jester found an abandoned hut to sleep in. But the evil prince found them and said “look, I’ve found the sorcerer’s castle.” So they went out into the night and…” “And bed! Vila! The children have school tomorrow.” A tall woman stood in the door. Golden threads still flashed in the grey, but the hand running through the hair was old. With resign she shooed the children past her. “A dark and stormy night? I remember sun and blue skies, Vila.” Vila slowly got up, and pulled Soolin close, murmuring; “ah yes, but what self-respecting storyteller would ever start a scary story with sun and blue skies?”   |
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