Status Report: Week Twenty-Four

SUCCESS!

Word Count: 2273
Subjects: Epic singing robots, Yuletide Madness, Secret Santa

Excerpt: In the castle are three secrets that will never become rumors, because they are protected from the eyes of the servants more jealously than any other.

First: there is a small shack at the very, very back of the thorn-gardens. It is very well-hidden by the careful planting of bushes and briars; unless you knew what you were looking for, you couldn't find it unless you stumbled upon it directly. Most people don't go this far back: the thorn-gardens are what stand sentinel to the Dragon's Mouth, and it's said that the ghosts of all the previous utahime haunt this place, sad and pale and singing soundlessly for the rest of eternity. It's said that their presence is what keeps the dragon placated and bound when there is not a living girl there to sing.

So: no one goes back there, and no one sees the tiny shack that is hidden by the tall foreboding gates of the Dragon's Mouth. Only the the high priestess ever goes, and then only twice a day: precisely at noon, and precisely at midnight. There are stories about that, too: rumors say she prays to the dragon itself, or that she goes to make sure the shackles that bind the dragon's oracle and its utahime are still securely in place (and they must be bound, the both of them--why would anyone willingly stay in the dark and the cold, in the shadow of the giant dragon, your entire life bartered away?).

Thoughts: I REMEMBERED TO POST THIS BEFORE THE END OF SUNDAY!

In theory I was going to do writing this weekend. Instead, I played a lot of silly hidden-object games, because I discovered my favorite had others in the franchise. (And now suddenly they have other puzzles and plots?! What is this madness! EITHER WAY, IT WAS FUN.)

This upcoming week will be Imaginary Beasts and YC. :|a