Along Came a Hedgehog

by Paul Benson | Feb 10, 2016

Hey, Derrick's back! If you read last week's blog, it's no surprise to see him again.  And if you're a recent reader and have no idea who he is...well, you should go back and read the earlier strips! 

As promised last week, I'm also presenting some short prose for your reading pleasure.  Sadly, Jo hasn't provided any illustrations to go with it, so you'll just have to make your own pictures...with your mind!  Or with pen, pencil, paint...whatever.  Heck, if any of you out there get inspired to make any fan art, we'll happily publish it.

But here it is, the first part in a story that focuses on Derrick.  Hope you enjoy.

1.

            His ankles and wrists bound in a thick hemp rope, Derrick hung suspended upside-down over the pool of deadly werepiranha.  Occasionally, one of the hairy fish would leap out of the water, ineffectually snapping up at Derrick's head, which was as yet out of their range. 

            Not that it dissuaded these aquatic werecreatures.  If anything, the fact that Derrick was just out of reach seemed to goad the creatures into an even greater frenzy of effort to reach him, jaws of razor-sharp teeth gaping open at the apex of their leaps, as if they could somehow bite Derrick’s head off whole.

            And had Derrick been hanging just a little bit lower, that would have been far from an impossibility.  Once a piranha had been bitten by a werepiranha, under the full moon it not only sprouted hair(in a somewhat ridiculous and impractical fashion), but it also grew appreciably larger than the typical piranha.  So large that, as Derrick looked down at the latest piscine terror arcing up towards his head, he could imagine said head disappearing into that cavernous maw. 

            Not particularly the way he envisioned ending his career as an adventurer.

by Jo Roberts | Feb 10, 2016

Too tired. Need to get back to restoring a house. Have a great Valentine's Day!