Durga Killed the Bunny
Ever wonder why there’s no magic in the world? It’s all the Durge’s fault.
On Wednesdays I like to promote other people’s work Today I’m promoting Rarasaua. It’s an interesting blog filled with geeky articles and Weekly Photo challenges and in this case a sort story explaining the disappearance of magic from the world. The Durga killed the bunny. I know, it’s a bit sad, but you needed to know.
While on Rarasaur’s site you can take a test to see your blogging type. She and her husband did extensive research and created a Blogger Personality Profile. I’m egsc and I like cookies, but that was a given.
Other promotions ae found under Categories: Guest Blogger
Here is The Durga by Rarasua
Dedicated to Durga, my little sister, who always wanted to read a not-quite-children’s story with a hero who shared her name.
chapter 1
what this is.
________________________
there was a bunny.
he died.
boo-hoo.
cry tears for the bunny.
this isn’t about the bunny, though.
this is about durga…
who didn’t die.
who is still living
and still dying.
she killed the bunny.
this is about why.
________________________
chapter 2
short beginnings.
________________________
durga was a short, insignificant creature.
she wasn’t a human, she wasn’t an animal– she was a durgle.
a relic of the past.
durga remembered the days of dragons,
the taste of burnt knights,
the sounds of crunching bones,
the power of evil witches,
the feel of magic.
she was part magic.
she was part dragon.
she had survived.
but because she was so short, and because she seemed so insignificant, no one questioned her as she walked about villages. the townspeople assumed she was just a dwarfed human. some would give her food. some would throws rocks. humans are unpredictable like that.
but durga walked on because she was a survivor and she was looking for others.
she remembered the day that it all happened. the day magic dissolved from this earth, and took with it all the animals that believed in it.
________________________
chapter 3
the end.
________________________
it was roughly 16 billion years ago when magic landed on a lonely planet and gave birth to a mirage of creatures, who co-inhabited peacefully.
the dragons lived in the valley. the durgles in the prairie. the birtrese tribeselves had small villages, where they specialized in properly training and domesticating magic creatures. it was roughly 12 billion years later when the first mistake was made.
they called it “humankind”.
no one was quite sure where they came from or how they managed to be manufactured without any magic at all, but no one really minded because humankind didn’t mind staying hidden in the caves.
no respectable magicfolk lived in the caves anyway.
the magicfolk were confident that humankind was unimportant, and so made a series of assumptions which led to the second mistake.
they allowed a group of non-magical creatures to be influenced by only the most disreputable magicfolk that ever existed.
there was larko, the outcaste dragon, fruham, the hermit elf, and there was durga– a small, half-breed durgle-dragon who ran away from home.
they lived in the caves because it suited their personalities.
it was an area of the planet where darkness and confusion reigned.
it was an area of the planet where splashing in puddles was okay.
it was the only area of the planet where there was no judgment.
they lived in the caves because they weren’t wanted anywhere else.
they stayed until the day the bunny came.
they stayed until durga killed it.
they all saw the bunny, they all witnessed the murder, and they were all carried off in a blast as magic was wiped from the planet.
they had a lot of practice with bad moments.
they were prepared, and they expected it.
that’s how durga survived. that’s why she thought others might have, too.
________________________
chapter 4
elfish expectations.
__________________________
fruham was born an elf.
he was also born a hermit.
his parents knew there was something funny about their only son and, in a manner given to all birtrese tribeselves, took him to a river to drown him.
what they didn’t know was that fruham was also born a swimmer.
they threw him in and walked away without looking back– never seeing little fruham snuggle out of his bundled blankets and swim towards shore. they never saw him shake dry and walk towards the caves.
it wouldn’t have mattered if they did.
the caves called to fruham. he was a hermit and the isolated caves felt like home.
he made his own clothes out of tree bark and sat in the very corner of a cave.
and, in a manner given to all hermits, he smiled to himself and babbled to sleep.
this went on for years and fruham was very pleased with his life.
he had a garden and a nice home, and never ever had to see anyone at all.
he ate fishies and birdies.
he played the bourgdren, a small stringed instrument he made from vines and tree fiber.
and, in the true manner given to all hermits, fruham wrote songs about himself.
he was chewing a fishie one day, when larko invaded.
perhaps it couldn’t be called an invasion because there was only one dragon.
but only one dragon is still enough to disrupt a village, and certainly enough to disrupt one hermit elf.
and larko was not a subtle dragon. he was a dramatist.
it was his very un-subtleness that had him banned from the dragon valleys.
it was his sense of drama that drew him to the desolate caves.
larko took a look at fruham’s small home and made himself comfortable nearby.
fruham looked at larko and found understanding in the odd coloring of the dragon’s scales and the scars all over his face.
larko didn’t mean to be different anymore than fruham did.
they were born different.
they weren’t ashamed of it,
just resigned to it.
the caves called to them when no one else and nothing else did.
so to them, the caves would always be home.
________________________
chapter 5
a delivery.
__________________________
the day larko and fruham created their chess set was the day durga the durgle dropped her muddied, miniature self into the caves.
it wasn’t a good day for the lonely durgle.
she had been attacked in her village for being different.
for being a half-breed.
for not having normal powers.
she ran as long and hard as she could.
away from home.
towards the caves.
as her small, crumpled body flopped on the cave floor, larko realized he was hungry.
it wasn’t a good day for durga at all.
without looking at fruham, whom larko knew was a vegetarian, larko stalked towards durga the durgle.
he stopped midway at a horrible odor coming from the crumpled body.
“is it dead?”, larko asked aloud.
the words were the first that fruham had ever heard. he didn’t understand what the sounds meant, but had a good idea of what larko meant. he shook his head and prodded the durgle.
she moved.
she moaned.
she stood up…
and screamed.
dragons frightened durgles.
larko, excited by her fear, blew a steady stream of fire to further impress. fruham was uninterested and went back to his chess set.
durga passed out.
on her descent to the ground, larko once again smelled the durgle and lost his urge to eat. he returned to the game board and pondered a strategic move.
when durga woke up,
that’s how she found them.
she also found that a small tub in the middle had been filled with water.
she climbed in and rested with a smile as she watched fruham and larko contemplate. they were like her.
at once, she felt a comfortable ease unknown to her before.
yes, she thought.
this would be home.
________________________
chapter 6
the lessons.
__________________________
the three lived together happily.
larko and durga did the talking.
fruham and larko did the thinking.
durga and fruham did the creating.
they were a very good team.
and then the humans came.
they came with evolved brains,
opposable thumbs,
and no magic power at all.
they couldn’t zip through time
like an elf.
they couldn’t fly or blow fire
like a dragon.
they couldn’t heal like a durgle.
it seemed, to the trio,
humans weren’t much good at all.
this realization saddened.
after all, they were pushed away for the same reasons.
magicfolk weren’t willing to look for the good in any of the three creatures.
they weren’t willing to nurture the good, or even to assume that good existed at all.
durga, fruham, and larko had long since separated themselves from other magicfolk and, with the appearance of humans, they disassociated their thoughts as well.
they decided to teach the humans.
basic lessons were instituted– how to create tools, develop language, and survive on what the planet provided. all three soon realized they had much to learn from each other, as well. durga leaned to play the bourgdren. fruham learned to speak. larko stopped trying to eat durga’s tail.
the caves became a hub of development and everyone was focused on sharing and self-improvement.
this continued until the day the bunny came.
________________________
chapter 7
the bunny.
__________________________
fruham was teaching when a human boy brought the bunny to class.
it was small. it was stupid.
it seemed innocent enough…
and so fruham allowed it to stay.
all day, the kids played with the bunny. all night, larko taught the bunny basic rules of etiquette and behavior.
by the end of the week, the bunny had become the cave’s first domesticated pet.
it was well-loved by all members of the cave.
and then it happened.
a boulder fell and hit the bunny…
and durga was forced to test her powers.
her mixed ancestry had always put her powers into question.
she had never tried to heal before.
the bunny was wounded, though, and the little durgle could not turn her back on those who had quickly become her family.
she looked at larko and he nodded.
there was no better time to see
if her powers could save a life.
there was no better,
more selfless life to save.
durga murmured prayers of the durgle clan that she had believed long-forgotten.
she took a deep, steady breath.
larko, fruham, and the humans watched intently.
she put her hands to the bunny and closed her eyes.
________________________
chapter 8
the explosion.
__________________________
magic oozed from her hands into the bunny and it began to glow with a bright light.
it rose from the ground, with durga’s hands still pressed firmly to it’s skin.
power flowed and flowed.
durga couldn’t remove her hands.
the magic came from the depths of the earth at durga’s calling and vibrated through her body into the soul of the little bunny.
the bunny grew brighter until there was nothing to see but light.
the room was white with the glowing aura of magic by the time durga was able to remove her hands.
then the light disappeared
with a resounding crash.
and the world, as it was known, tumbled to it’s death.
durga killed the bunny.
but more importantly,
she killed the world.
the magic she was not able to control had been sucked from the very depths of the earth, and the very souls of every magicfolk existing.
there were no survivors.
save, durga herself.
and the humans.
________________________
chapter 9
discovery.
__________________________
for durga, finding another survivor was simply a matter of searching.
she searched for millions of years and watched with an odd sense of pride at the developing nations of humankind.
yes.
they had been taught well…
even though they had forgotten their very first teachers. it was 10 million years after the explosion when durga gave up.
she went to an isolated area of the world and leaned against a rock by a stream.
she cried, letting the tears flow…
for friends lost. for powers unknown.
for the end.
and the wind blew. and the tears dripped into a stream.
durga was startled.
the sound of rippling water was the sound of the bourgdren.
she listened more closely.
the sound of rustling leaves was the sound of dragon-wings flapping.
her search was over.
fruham and larko had been here all along.
she smiled to herself and sighed happily.
she closed her eyes until a bright light started filling her body.
she nestled close to the rock as her entire self disappeared into a bright light.
________________________
chapter 10
a proper ending.
__________________________
it snowed that night on the planet.
and, although no human noticed,
if one listened very carefully
to the sound of each snowflake
hitting the ground,
they would have been able to hear
the sound of a durgle-dragon
breathing.
very softly
. It’s an interesting blog filled with geeky articles and Weekly Photo challenges and in this case a sort story explaining the disappearance of magic in the world. The Drugle killed the bunny. I know, it’s a bit sad, but you needed to know.
While on rarasaur’s site you can take a test to see your blogging type. I’m egsc and I like cookies, but that was a given. Here’s the link.
Here is The Drugle by
Dedicated to Durga, my little sister, who always wanted to read a not-quite-children’s story with a hero who shared her name.
chapter 1
what this is.
________________________
there was a bunny.
he died.
boo-hoo.
cry tears for the bunny.
this isn’t about the bunny, though.
this is about durga…
who didn’t die.
who is still living
and still dying.
she killed the bunny.
this is about why.
________________________
chapter 2
short beginnings.
________________________
durga was a short, insignificant creature.
she wasn’t a human, she wasn’t an animal– she was a durgle.
a relic of the past.
durga remembered the days of dragons,
the taste of burnt knights,
the sounds of crunching bones,
the power of evil witches,
the feel of magic.
she was part magic.
she was part dragon.
she had survived.
but because she was so short, and because she seemed so insignificant, no one questioned her as she walked about villages. the townspeople assumed she was just a dwarfed human. some would give her food. some would throws rocks. humans are unpredictable like that.
but durga walked on because she was a survivor and she was looking for others.
she remembered the day that it all happened. the day magic dissolved from this earth, and took with it all the animals that believed in it.
________________________
chapter 3
the end.
________________________
it was roughly 16 billion years ago when magic landed on a lonely planet and gave birth to a mirage of creatures, who co-inhabited peacefully.
the dragons lived in the valley. the durgles in the prairie. the birtrese tribeselves had small villages, where they specialized in properly training and domesticating magic creatures. it was roughly 12 billion years later when the first mistake was made.
they called it “humankind”.
no one was quite sure where they came from or how they managed to be manufactured without any magic at all, but no one really minded because humankind didn’t mind staying hidden in the caves.
no respectable magicfolk lived in the caves anyway.
the magicfolk were confident that humankind was unimportant, and so made a series of assumptions which led to the second mistake.
they allowed a group of non-magical creatures to be influenced by only the most disreputable magicfolk that ever existed.
there was larko, the outcaste dragon, fruham, the hermit elf, and there was durga– a small, half-breed durgle-dragon who ran away from home.
they lived in the caves because it suited their personalities.
it was an area of the planet where darkness and confusion reigned.
it was an area of the planet where splashing in puddles was okay.
it was the only area of the planet where there was no judgment.
they lived in the caves because they weren’t wanted anywhere else.
they stayed until the day the bunny came.
they stayed until durga killed it.
they all saw the bunny, they all witnessed the murder, and they were all carried off in a blast as magic was wiped from the planet.
they had a lot of practice with bad moments.
they were prepared, and they expected it.
that’s how durga survived. that’s why she thought others might have, too.
________________________
chapter 4
elfish expectations.
__________________________
fruham was born an elf.
he was also born a hermit.
his parents knew there was something funny about their only son and, in a manner given to all birtrese tribeselves, took him to a river to drown him.
what they didn’t know was that fruham was also born a swimmer.
they threw him in and walked away without looking back– never seeing little fruham snuggle out of his bundled blankets and swim towards shore. they never saw him shake dry and walk towards the caves.
it wouldn’t have mattered if they did.
the caves called to fruham. he was a hermit and the isolated caves felt like home.
he made his own clothes out of tree bark and sat in the very corner of a cave.
and, in a manner given to all hermits, he smiled to himself and babbled to sleep.
this went on for years and fruham was very pleased with his life.
he had a garden and a nice home, and never ever had to see anyone at all.
he ate fishies and birdies.
he played the bourgdren, a small stringed instrument he made from vines and tree fiber.
and, in the true manner given to all hermits, fruham wrote songs about himself.
he was chewing a fishie one day, when larko invaded.
perhaps it couldn’t be called an invasion because there was only one dragon.
but only one dragon is still enough to disrupt a village, and certainly enough to disrupt one hermit elf.
and larko was not a subtle dragon. he was a dramatist.
it was his very un-subtleness that had him banned from the dragon valleys.
it was his sense of drama that drew him to the desolate caves.
larko took a look at fruham’s small home and made himself comfortable nearby.
fruham looked at larko and found understanding in the odd coloring of the dragon’s scales and the scars all over his face.
larko didn’t mean to be different anymore than fruham did.
they were born different.
they weren’t ashamed of it,
just resigned to it.
the caves called to them when no one else and nothing else did.
so to them, the caves would always be home.
________________________
chapter 5
a delivery.
__________________________
the day larko and fruham created their chess set was the day durga the durgle dropped her muddied, miniature self into the caves.
it wasn’t a good day for the lonely durgle.
she had been attacked in her village for being different.
for being a half-breed.
for not having normal powers.
she ran as long and hard as she could.
away from home.
towards the caves.
as her small, crumpled body flopped on the cave floor, larko realized he was hungry.
it wasn’t a good day for durga at all.
without looking at fruham, whom larko knew was a vegetarian, larko stalked towards durga the durgle.
he stopped midway at a horrible odor coming from the crumpled body.
“is it dead?”, larko asked aloud.
the words were the first that fruham had ever heard. he didn’t understand what the sounds meant, but had a good idea of what larko meant. he shook his head and prodded the durgle.
she moved.
she moaned.
she stood up…
and screamed.
dragons frightened durgles.
larko, excited by her fear, blew a steady stream of fire to further impress. fruham was uninterested and went back to his chess set.
durga passed out.
on her descent to the ground, larko once again smelled the durgle and lost his urge to eat. he returned to the game board and pondered a strategic move.
when durga woke up,
that’s how she found them.
she also found that a small tub in the middle had been filled with water.
she climbed in and rested with a smile as she watched fruham and larko contemplate. they were like her.
at once, she felt a comfortable ease unknown to her before.
yes, she thought.
this would be home.
________________________
chapter 6
the lessons.
__________________________
the three lived together happily.
larko and durga did the talking.
fruham and larko did the thinking.
durga and fruham did the creating.
they were a very good team.
and then the humans came.
they came with evolved brains,
opposable thumbs,
and no magic power at all.
they couldn’t zip through time
like an elf.
they couldn’t fly or blow fire
like a dragon.
they couldn’t heal like a durgle.
it seemed, to the trio,
humans weren’t much good at all.
this realization saddened.
after all, they were pushed away for the same reasons.
magicfolk weren’t willing to look for the good in any of the three creatures.
they weren’t willing to nurture the good, or even to assume that good existed at all.
durga, fruham, and larko had long since separated themselves from other magicfolk and, with the appearance of humans, they disassociated their thoughts as well.
they decided to teach the humans.
basic lessons were instituted– how to create tools, develop language, and survive on what the planet provided. all three soon realized they had much to learn from each other, as well. durga leaned to play the bourgdren. fruham learned to speak. larko stopped trying to eat durga’s tail.
the caves became a hub of development and everyone was focused on sharing and self-improvement.
this continued until the day the bunny came.
________________________
chapter 7
the bunny.
__________________________
fruham was teaching when a human boy brought the bunny to class.
it was small. it was stupid.
it seemed innocent enough…
and so fruham allowed it to stay.
all day, the kids played with the bunny. all night, larko taught the bunny basic rules of etiquette and behavior.
by the end of the week, the bunny had become the cave’s first domesticated pet.
it was well-loved by all members of the cave.
and then it happened.
a boulder fell and hit the bunny…
and durga was forced to test her powers.
her mixed ancestry had always put her powers into question.
she had never tried to heal before.
the bunny was wounded, though, and the little durgle could not turn her back on those who had quickly become her family.
she looked at larko and he nodded.
there was no better time to see
if her powers could save a life.
there was no better,
more selfless life to save.
durga murmured prayers of the durgle clan that she had believed long-forgotten.
she took a deep, steady breath.
larko, fruham, and the humans watched intently.
she put her hands to the bunny and closed her eyes.
________________________
chapter 8
the explosion.
__________________________
magic oozed from her hands into the bunny and it began to glow with a bright light.
it rose from the ground, with durga’s hands still pressed firmly to it’s skin.
power flowed and flowed.
durga couldn’t remove her hands.
the magic came from the depths of the earth at durga’s calling and vibrated through her body into the soul of the little bunny.
the bunny grew brighter until there was nothing to see but light.
the room was white with the glowing aura of magic by the time durga was able to remove her hands.
then the light disappeared
with a resounding crash.
and the world, as it was known, tumbled to it’s death.
durga killed the bunny.
but more importantly,
she killed the world.
the magic she was not able to control had been sucked from the very depths of the earth, and the very souls of every magicfolk existing.
there were no survivors.
save, durga herself.
and the humans.
________________________
chapter 9
discovery.
__________________________
for durga, finding another survivor was simply a matter of searching.
she searched for millions of years and watched with an odd sense of pride at the developing nations of humankind.
yes.
they had been taught well…
even though they had forgotten their very first teachers. it was 10 million years after the explosion when durga gave up.
she went to an isolated area of the world and leaned against a rock by a stream.
she cried, letting the tears flow…
for friends lost. for powers unknown.
for the end.
and the wind blew. and the tears dripped into a stream.
durga was startled.
the sound of rippling water was the sound of the bourgdren.
she listened more closely.
the sound of rustling leaves was the sound of dragon-wings flapping.
her search was over.
fruham and larko had been here all along.
she smiled to herself and sighed happily.
she closed her eyes until a bright light started filling her body.
she nestled close to the rock as her entire self disappeared into a bright light.
________________________
chapter 10
a proper ending.
__________________________
it snowed that night on the planet.
and, although no human noticed,
if one listened very carefully
to the sound of each snowflake
hitting the ground,
they would have been able to hear
the sound of a durgle-dragon
breathing.
very softly
***
If you like please stop by Rarasaua‘s and tell her.
