The Inkwell Prompt #58: Punished by the Cursed Windeku

Source: Splinterlands

Inkwell Prompt Link

February 3, 2022 9:30 PM
When my last monster threw a melee attack its way, it destroyed the Cursed Windeku’s remaining two lives. Right before taking its last virtual breath, it seized my monster with its robust thorns. An aggressive tearing sound roared from the computer, and my monster was left with only three lives. The Windeku turned gray as it keeled over, and I won the battle. I exited out of the game, and went to bed. Little did I know, this spiteful beast sought a reckoning with me and my victory.

February 7, 2022 12:00 PM
“...And I’ll have… The BLT with fries,” Kevin said, looking at the server. She nodded politely while collecting our menus, and walked away.

After a few seconds of silence, Kevin looked up at me. "My Dad's coming into town this weekend. He wants to go to that new golf course... ” he trailed off as he became distracted by the worried expression on my face. “What’s wrong?” he asked.

I hesitated to say anything at first. I couldn’t tell if I should mention it to him. “Oh, nothing, I --,” I stammered, “I’m just tired. Was up late last night.” I looked down. I could tell my facial expression was giving me away by the way he looked at me.

“What’s wrong, man?” he said.

“Okay, so -- well-- I uh--,” I continued to stammer. “Some-- uh -- Something happened the other day, but it’s really weird. And… I know you’re going to think I’m crazy for bringing this up.” I finally got the words out.

“Okay…” Kevin said, nodding, but confused. He was shifting his focus between me and sprinkling a packet of sugar in his coffee. I could tell the possibilities were running through his mind.

“So, a few nights ago I woke up in the middle of the night to this sound… it was like something banging on the door… but it wasn’t a person. It was like…,” I paused, trying to find the right words to describe it. “It was like… you know when it’s windy and tree branches scrape against the house?”

“Uh-huh.” Kevin nodded his head.

“It was kind of like that,” I said. “By the time I went downstairs to check it out, it stopped. So… I went back to bed. Next morning, I go outside and there’s these really intense scrapes all over the bottom of the door.”

Kevin’s eyes widened while giving me a bewildered look. “Maybe a raccoon?” he suggested.

“No.” I shook my head. “A raccoon couldn’t do this. I’ve got to repaint the door. There’s more to the story. So, you know that camera I have out front?”

“Yea,” he nodded.

“Well, it’s connected to my phone, and it has this glitch. When the camera is off and then switched back on, I open the app on my phone, and it shows me the last thing it captured before being switched off.” Kevin nodded his head while listening intently. “So, of course, the camera battery had died that night, so nothing was saved. But, when I charged it and switched it back on...” I paused. “It showed me a snapshot of one of the last things it captured before the battery died.” I reached into the pocket of my coat for my phone. “Look at this. I took a screen shot.”

Source: My own image Photoshopped with image from Splinterlands

Kevin went from looking bewildered to letting out a laugh as he looked at the screen shot. “Dude, I know you’re just messing with me. That monster is so creepy. But I do love using that one for my battles,” he said smiling as he sat back in the booth seat, looking relieved.

“No, no. I swear. I didn’t photoshop this,” I said. “And then, when I went to play, my Cursed Windeku card was gone.”

“Dude…” he said, smiling, with a slight eye roll in his voice. “Maybe you should stop playing that game so much. Maybe do something outside” He laughed.

“I’m going to my aunt’s place this weekend,” I said “We’re doing some hiking.”

“Oh,” Kevin said, “Is your one cousin going to be there? I thought it was supposed to snow this weekend, though.”

“Don’t know,” I said. “I’ve got four-wheel drive. It’ll be fine.” Kevin had changed the subject and we became distracted by the arrival of our food shortly after. I didn’t bring up the subject again.

February 12, 2022 4:00 PM

I stomped my snow-covered boots on an outdoor mat before stepping into my Aunt Sarah’s mud room. I slipped off the wet boots before following her into the kitchen. She was explaining something to me about my uncle working late that evening, but I was distracted by the quaint atmosphere of her old house. A wood stove charred away in the nearby living room as we passed the crockpot that was heating our dinner.

As we walked through the kitchen, she changed the subject and pointed toward the oven. “I’ve got the oven preheated to make some cornbread to go with our chili tonight,” she said.

“Sounds great,” I said, as I followed her up the creaky wooden stairs.

“I’ve got a towel for you in the bathroom.” She was reminded of this as we walked past the bathroom. We walked into the guest bedroom. “Oh yea, and if you do get cold, we’ve got some extra flannel blankets in that cupboard.” She pointed toward the old built-in cabinets.

“Okay,” I said, looking at some birds perched on tree branches, near a birdfeeder right outside the window.

“Can’t believe we’re going to get more tomorrow,” she said, looking outside at the snow. “Oh yea, and the weirdest thing happened. See those bushes a little farther out there?” She pointed farther outside past the tree.

I squinted a little and nodded. “Yea.”

“Those are the rose bushes that bloom really pretty in the Spring. The ones with the big thorns. Well, one of them bloomed. In the middle of Winter. How strange is that?”

“Very strange,” I said, as the hairs rose on the back of my neck.