July 1 2026
The Mists of Writers’ Valley
LadyRainStarDrago AKA Teresa Amehana Garcia
The mist rolls in over the hills. It would be so serene if you didn’t know what it brings.
The lookout sits in her tower, securing her corner of the compound. Whether the other three still retained their sanity Hera could never be sure. It’s not like they met in the mess hall. No, they had all long ago taken to having their meals in their towers and coordinating among themselves who would be on watch when.
They were all that was left. All that still stood between their charges and what had taken the others.
Her eyes narrowed at a movement within the mist pouring into their arm of the valley. Behind her, she knew, another mist was rising from the creek. A flash of green, and her eyes focused on it.
A tendril? A tail? A head on a long neck?
Red spots glowed, and the siren song of vintage typewriters being worked at speed filled her ears.
Ah, of course. Today, they came.
Hydra. Their compound’s muse. Their nurse. Their God.
Her fingers itched and she gazed into the visions flitting over her mind’s eye, scrying the mists just as ancient fortune tellers and Druidic bards once had long ago, far across the sea. Her hand drifted toward the silent alarm. It was time to release them.
The writers emerged from their cages, starved for sustenance and inspiration. It was time. Time to feed. Time to dream. Time to write. Only through the protective veil of the written word could the wisdom and folly Hydra sang and projected be safely allowed to come before those normies still used to traditional vanilla stories who hid in the labyrinth below.
Hera smiled. Things eldritch soothed her. She was going to hand on to this gig as long as she could, shepherding those writers seeking to dabble toes in waters outside their more comfortable genres. Other things stirred in the mists too. Zombies were not the way they used to be written of… Hydra would likely feed well on those who chose not to brave the new world and cling to the old way of things.
Writers’ Valley was a weird place, but she’d never felt more at home.
Also posting to my Deviant Art.
I'm so excited. One of my submitted prompt suggestions was actually chosen as one of the day's suggestions.
https://flashficmonth.wordpress.com/2026/06/30/ffm-links-1-july-2026/
Linktree: www.linktr.ee/Amehana
First Posted at Patreon https://www.patreon.com/Amehana/posts/ffm-2026-1-mists-162652710
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