Victory

The last portion of the climb was the worst. In freezing cold, short on oxygen, struggling against ice and bare, vertical rock, the team persevered. Harris lost consciousness, his life simply slipping away like sand between their fingers. Guernsey fell to her death without even time to scream.

Finally, they crawled to the very summit, the highest point, and planted their flag. “I did it!” crowed Ellis. “We did it! We conquered the mountain!”

“Excuse me,” said the mountain. “There seems to be some confusion. I remain unfettered as ever. Which of us just dominated the actions of the other?”

Boredom

And so The Rest of July is Small Gods Month kicks off with hopefully a bang. Jim is one of my longer-term readers, and his blog is always insightful. Because I'm all about first-come, first-serve and Jim responded most promptly, he gets the first official Small Gods Month entry. Thanks for reading, everyone!

P.S. - I gathered entries from Facebook and other forums, too, so we've got a pretty hefty bundle ready to go. Might even carry us all the way to the end of the month, at least if some more entries keep trickling in. I do get notification when there's new comments here, so don't worry about commenting on old posts. ;-)

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He never meant any harm. He loves you.

He knows about time. That was the first thing he learned, actually. He knows that time is flexible. He knows how to bend it, twist it... and stretch it.

There are limitations, of course. Because of the entanglement of space and time on this level of reality, it works best when you're not moving. In waiting rooms, or on planes. Classrooms. At work. You've probably noticed it, though you didn't know to thank him. He doesn't mind.

He wants to keep you around for as long as he can.

He loves you.

Point of View

Truth walked on the stage, and the theater erupted in cacophony. Voices hooted, screamed, and cursed. Men stood on their chairs to shout pleas of love. Others turned pale and fell senseless to the floor. Everywhere, faces were twisted in shock, adoration, hatred, or revulsion.

"What's all the fuss?" asked Chesterton. He lifted his opera glasses. "She's not doing anything. Looks a bit plain, really."

"I think," said the Marquis de Rebeille, "that one's view of Truth rather depends on the angle."

"Blast and botheration," said Chesterton. He peered at his pasteboard tickets. "No wonder these seats were so cheap."

Outburst

"Told you we'd find him here," said Wes. He and Anders hiked up the hill to where the Ancillary Viyd perched on his stems, all his sensory nodules pointed at the landing planes.

"Watching the planes land?" asked Anders. He smiled, or at least showed his teeth.

"Yes," said the Ancillary Viyd.

"You're not supposed to leave the lab unescorted," Wes said.

"I know. I like to watch the light when they land. All those within, reaching out to those they could not touch in the air." The Ancillary Viyd gestured upward. "It is beautiful. Like spores in the wind."