Visual Prompt 2 -- Title and Artist Unknown
I was working on the continuation for Darknesses Favorite Woman but woke up this morning with this story in my head compelling me to write it out. It is something different for me in a way, fantasy is not something I’ve written before, but when a story shouts at you, you must obey. Initially I intended to leave it open-ended for someone else to complete. If someone wants to continue the story, be my guest. Looking forward to the reactions, enjoy!
The desert dunes rippled in waves of burnt umber. The wind whipped the sands into swirls of sienna and gold. The trading market snaked through silky hills of sand and the Portal glimmered as the wet oasis as its head. Kria hated the desert but this was the most profitable market in the world and she was the most profitable merchant.
The heat was bad enough but the blast of abrasive sand from high wind storms made Kria curse the day she was born. Her tents were rich, luxurious, filled with soft carpets and spice scented candles to intrigue the nose and attract the eye. The jars all glittered in the flickering candlelight making them even more mysterious, more desirable, and completely irresistible.
Unfortunately, she had to stand just outside to hawk her wares causing her to suffer in the heat and sand. Kria wore her long, dark hair piled high on her head, curls falling around her face, and richly colored silks wrapped around her leaving only her cat green eyes and hands revealed. She was the rare woman in this land to still have milky white porcelain skin because she covered so thoroughly.
The only thing Kria hated more than the desert was the Portal. Being one of the first merchants along the entrance to the market, facing the portal, she had the unhappy position of viewing all the Portals secrets. However, it also meant travelers visited her first when they still had the most money to spend. Kria made sure to take as much as possible, which was not a difficult job once she lifted the flap exposing the inside of her tent.
The scents delighting the nose always captured customers passing but it was the sight inside that seduced. Inside, the shelves were lined with every type of jar beyond imaginations. Tall jars, squat jars, glass, clay, metal, clear, colored – any type of jar in any combination from plain to ornate. They were filled with dreams, nightmares, joy, happiness, evil, laughter, pain and everything else life could want, need, desire or wish away.
Kria was the only jar merchant in the world.
The Portal was an illusion, one that frightened Kria because she never knew what might emerge. Despite being in the desert, the Portal looked like a northern waterway, with a stone arch crossing chilly waters, but Kria knew appearances were deceiving. There were always at least two guards, dressed in black, patrolling the Portal, although Kria never understood why. They were no match against the Portal when it was spewing out evil or just having a cranky day.
As Kria stared, examining it like a painting, two women approached her tent. Kria switched her examining eyes towards the women, squinting slightly, since they looked like twins. Except they were not the same age. Both had short-cropped hair, both had the same facial features, the same eye color, the same height, the same movements. Kria began thinking they were not twins but mirror-images, as if one was the older woman looking in a mirror at her younger self. However, they walked alongside each other rather than opposite directions like a reflection. Kria figured it was another trick of the Portal, that they were just mother-daughter or some other relation.
Surprisingly, they entered Kria’s tent before she even had the opportunity to smile, to lift the entrance in a grand gesture and begin her routine. They walked intentionally to a beautiful white jar, a shimmering opalescent glass, with an ornate topper of a white stallion. Once again, before she could open her mouth, the two women dropped coins onto her cash table, the price listed on the jar, without even attempting to argue her down. Kria was shocked since everyone argued down, some better than others, so to receive the full asking price was unprecedented.
Silently, they took their jar and walked back toward the Portal. The younger woman pulled the topper off with a gentle pop. For a moment nothing happened but suddenly in a burst of air a beautiful white Lipizzaner horse appeared, stomping its foot as if happy to finally be released. Kria smiled, such a beautiful creature, how did they know that would appear? Kria registered a shuddering of the earth beneath her feet. Not as if it would crack apart, not as if an earthquake shook the ground, but almost a gentle rhythmic hum as if loud music were playing beneath the sands. The crowds and other merchants got nervous, the horse whinnied, and Kria knew the damn Portal was about to show some evil.
The two women held hands, standing erect, despite the fear shaking their knees. In a flash the water burst upwards as a giant head crashed through the surface. Kria fell back slightly from the fear before regaining her composure. She watched the snakelike body slide upwards with the angry yellow eyes scanning the world that had just awoken it, and Kria felt as though it had some intelligence. If she wasn’t so frightened she might enjoy the beautiful blue-green scales lined with indigo. She might have admired the long tendrils falling from its mouth, almost like whiskers, but heavier plumed appearing like dragons hairs. She might have admired the fangs of magenta.
Instead she was frightened that its reach was long enough to kill her since she was one of the first merchants lining the entrance to the market.
The beast bent low and closed its mouth over the horse. Kria was horrified, such a beautiful, innocent creation did not deserve to be sacrificed. The only solace was it did not seem to suffer as the monster was large enough to swallow the horse in one gulp. Behind her Kria could still hear all the screams and shouts and wondered if they even saw what she was seeing. It seemed the fiend would slide back into the waters, back beyond the Portal, once it ate the horse but instead it lowered its head again, looking at both the women. It hesitated for a moment before swallowing the older woman.
The younger woman never uttered a sound. Kria began to cry; something she hadn’t done since childhood.
She wasn’t sure if she was crying for the horse, for the old woman, from the fear or just from the unbelievable scene being played out before her. She chanted to herself, rocking slightly, hoping the creature would leave now that it had a meal and snack. The monstrosity slid back, falling into the waters that still churned for a few moments after its head disappeared beneath the surface. The screams and shouts quieted as curious onlookers ventured closer now that the immediate threat seemed to be over.
The younger woman still stood in her spot so Kria stayed where she was. Kria believed the woman knew more about what was going to happen than anyone. Slowly, the waters quieted, the Portal returned to the usual calm look, but the woman still stood on the spot. A few people approached, offering soothing words, trying to remove her from her place thinking she was in shock but Kria didn’t believe it. Kria knew she was waiting for something more.
Suddenly, the earth rumbled beneath their feet again. The few people who had been brave enough to approach the waters of the Portal ran as quickly as humanly possible, except for the younger woman. Kria began her chanting again but never took her eyes off the young woman. The creature’s head burst forward again, rising upwards, humming an angry rumble as it rose up. Just as it appeared it would hit the sun, its mouth opened and the Lipizzaner stallion flew out on shimmering opalescent wings with the woman riding him.
This time the creature quickly dropped back into the waters as the stallion gently landed next to the younger woman. A few gasps echoed around the market. Kria looked and her original thought that the women were twins popped back into her head. Both women now appeared exactly the same, age, appearance and mannerisms. They hooked fingers, smiled, and walked away, back toward the direction they originally came, with the horse, its wings folded gently, following behind.
Kria entered her tent and raised the prices on all her jars.
14 comments
4 pings
Evelyn
August 9, 2011 at 10:15 PM (UTC -4) Link to this comment
GREAT ending.
exciting scene.
snake swallow woman, like a fountain of youth?
Indigo Spider
August 10, 2011 at 11:35 AM (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Not sure if I would want to go through a fountain of youth like that
I’m glad you liked it.
Mike
August 8, 2011 at 9:26 AM (UTC -4) Link to this comment
What a great story.
It had me gripped rom beginning to end and I loved the last line.
I also found the idea of Kria being ‘the only jar merchant in the world’ a very clever idea. I think her tent full of mysterious jars with even more mysterious contents gives you opportunities for more stories.
Thanks for an entertaining read.
Indigo Spider
August 8, 2011 at 3:07 PM (UTC -4) Link to this comment
It must have been a subconscious thought to have a serial when I included that particular line. I do have little tickles for other adventures for Kria the Jar Merchant. Glad you enjoyed it and thanks for commenting Mike.
MyWordsWhisper
August 7, 2011 at 11:32 AM (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Wow. What imagination you have. And your descriptions. Unbelievable. This was very good. It’s hard to believe this was your first in this genre.
I admire how you can write in such different styles. (If I could do this it wouldn’t be so boring).
Thanks, Marita!
Indigo Spider
August 7, 2011 at 1:46 PM (UTC -4) Link to this comment
You are not boring, trust me. I actually want to try writing more sci-fi, I think my style of writing would work well for the genre. Thank you Char!
pinkwoods
August 5, 2011 at 4:13 AM (UTC -4) Link to this comment
I love this story and your ending!! And I envy you (in a good way, of course) on how good you could write descriptions of scenes and places!
Indigo Spider
August 5, 2011 at 3:58 PM (UTC -4) Link to this comment
It takes practice. I write regularly and the stories and ideas get better from reading other writers, bloggers, and picking up tips all over the place. I’ve got some awful stories under my belt, too
Glad you enjoyed reading it!
Dave "Noobcake" Farmer
August 3, 2011 at 5:46 AM (UTC -4) Link to this comment
For a first time fantasy story this was a magnificent effort! Beautiful description, the opening paragraph was superb! and the line about the jar:
“a shimmering opalescent glass, with an ornate topper of a white stallion.”
Just perfect! I agree with Scribbla, you could ease this into a longer work, any way you choose, and Kria could have an amazing back story or anything about her adventures. Maybe she could even venture into the portal to seek untold riches? I really got a feel for the desert and the market place, and the sand blasting at her.
Oh and the jars, excellent twist! You should write more about Kria. I’d love to know where she got her jars and why the portal is there. I should get to work on my next story, inspired as I am by the thought of portals!
Indigo Spider
August 3, 2011 at 1:24 PM (UTC -4) Link to this comment
You have given me some good ideas to work on. I will tuck this away for a little bit, let it simmer, and revisit at some point to build more. I’ve been sketching some notes here and there to build it out more, create a world around it, and give Kria a back story. Maybe this will be my NaNoWriMo WIP.
Now, go and write your story Dave so I have some more great stuff to read tonight. I haven’t had a chance to sit down and finish reading Ground Fall yet and I am looking forward to that!
Dave "Noobcake" Farmer
August 3, 2011 at 5:35 PM (UTC -4) Link to this comment
I’m a bit behind with my writing this week, Ground Fall took up all my energy! Tomorrow afternoon I’ll work on something for this weeks SPP and another Arcane Insane instalment!
Indigo Spider
August 3, 2011 at 5:54 PM (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Well you are still much more productive with your writing then I am! I only hope to be as prolific as you are, amazing. I’m getting better the more I write and starting to get the hang of working on several works at the same time (in various stages). I look forward to the rest of Arcane Insane and the new story! Yay!
scribbla
August 2, 2011 at 5:25 PM (UTC -4) Link to this comment
A most intriguing and mythological world. It could almost become a series, with different adventures arising from the portal’s belly each day market is set up. I really enjoy the idea of disjointed relationships between people and objects in the fantasy genre, and you have taken me on a fantastical ride with this story. Fabulous!
Indigo Spider
August 2, 2011 at 5:40 PM (UTC -4) Link to this comment
I’m new to reading scifi/fantasy so writing it was a different experience as well. As I was writing it I did think it could be an interesting series of some kind but since it is new to me I didn’t feel like I was delving deep enough yet. I’ll tuck it away and pull it out once in a while, rework, play around a little more as I get more familiar with the genre. Glad you enjoyed it.
Jar Merchant: Branded » Indigo Spider
February 23, 2012 at 9:03 AM (UTC -4) Link to this comment
[...] into a novel (work in progress) titled “Jar Merchant.” The very first story (found here) was also for a Sunday Picture Press and you can see the original photo that prompted it all. [...]
Jar Merchant: Blood Orange Dunes | Indigo Spider
September 19, 2011 at 12:17 AM (UTC -4) Link to this comment
[...] for continuations, here it is! They do not necessarily need to be read in order, but here is the beginning and the second part. Hope you enjoy the continuations (yes, more to follow) and do not regret [...]
The Jar Merchant: Kria and the Portal | Indigo Spider
September 6, 2011 at 9:10 AM (UTC -4) Link to this comment
[...] likely become a continuing story as I revisit Kria and her adventures. The first story is found here, although they do not necessarily need to be read in order to [...]
Sunday Picture Press: Travelations | Indigo Spider
August 7, 2011 at 3:41 PM (UTC -4) Link to this comment
[...] Jar Merchant is my contribution this week. [...]