Christian's Sanctuary of Succinct Fiction

       The story of 'Silly' Jean Muckelberry's death is a tricky one to tell. On the afternoon of August 18th, 20XX, 'Bigman' Royal Doyle entered the town of Rickety hoping to sell a sizable dust rat he had trapped. Doyle had recently been run over by a car and was experiencing multiple symptoms of an untreated concussion.      In the market square, the nephew, Rick Rickety, of the mayor had tripped and fallen, seemingly dying in the process. This happened just a few minutes before Doyle showed up. In the crowd was 'Silly' Jean Muckelberry, wearing his signature huge cowboy hat.      Jean Muckelberry was a well-known scout in the area. His most famous escapade was when he intercepted the small army of Las Vegians led by the relatively obscure 'Las Vegas' Tom. At one point Muckelberry was the best, but as of late, he had taken up painting instead.      Accounts vary on why, but Jean was very fond of Rick Rickety, the mayor'...

  The Funeral of a Viking (1893) by Frank Bernard Dicksee      We stepped inside the doctor's cozy practice. There was someone inside, gloved up, wiping down the chairs with an alcohol-soaked rag.      Dr. Whitlow turned to us. "Had someone in here, had an awful cough. We're just being careful."      I nodded and took a look at a plaque on the wall. Outstanding service? Ah, during the siege on Norta. Did that make Dr. Whitlow a Nortan refugee? "Doctor, I don't mean to pry, but are you from Norta?" He neglected to give a response. "I see. I won't press you further." "Thank you, Inquisitor."      His assistant stood up. They were evidently done cleaning, and… good gods! How tall was this person? She stood a little higher than me, and I was almost six feet.      They lowered their cloth mask and I saw their face for the first time. It was sharp, and… what was wrong with their ears? They were long, and ended in...