And it’s another prompted story! This time I asked for favorite words, and I got some fun ones. And some truly tough ones.
But a challenge is a challenge and here it is!
If you are unfamiliar, I asked for single words over on Spoutible to use as prompts, which appear in the story. The list is at the end to try to keep the flow and includes some late entries.
So here it is!
In a faraway corner of the universe that everyone’s forgotten, if ever anyone knew it was there, exist a plethora of celestial beings everyone’s forgotten, if ever anyone knew they were there.
Not deities, not really, or if they were, they presided over religions gone archaic and awry, discarded along the paths of time. There they huddled, unworshiped, unrecognized, and after eons of asking why in all the languages of the universe–quare? qIch? hví? porque? kwa nini? warum? xhtanatuip?–they’d resigned themselves to an eternal oblivion.
They rarely saw visitors, with a stray soul wandering by every tenth millennia, give or take, so when a mediocre pugilist in the second round of what would turn out to be his last fight appeared, befuddled, it was an event.
He was alone in space, he thought, but then gradually a floor of something like glass appeared below him as the stars grew closer. Not stars, actually, but flowing strings of light who reformed themselves into vaguely human shapes, if entirely transparent. Some glittered, some flickered, some glowed in a way new to his eyes, some in pulsating streaks of color.
“Hello,” the one farthest to the left said in a kind voice, straightening the boxer’s headgear, which was very much askew, “I’m Serendipity.”
He blinked at the form in front of him, a seemingly random collection of colors that somehow went together perfectly.
It spoke again. “Serendipity? You know those lucky coincidences?”
The sound of a heckling crowd still ringing in his ears, he shook his head.
“Yeah, it’s harder and harder these days, which is why I’m way out here. All that technology. And you are?”
“Austin. My name is Austin. And why you’re where? Where am I?” He paused, took in the stars, the shapes before him. “Am I dead?”
“Mayhaps,” said one more to the right, a fuzzy mass of gray string, more like laundry lint than anything else.
“Hush,” said Serendipity, “And why are you still out here with us? If ever there was a need for you–“
“Don’t you think I’m endeavoring?” The voice was gruff, like an old-timey news reporter from a black-and-white film. “They did something, I cannot get through. I’m unable to even decamp this quadrant. So many quockerwodgers to wallop and I can’t get to a single one.”
“He’s the Quockerwodger Walloper,” another said helpfully. This one was sophisticated scallops and swirls, and spoke like ethereal bells.
“The what?”
“Not only quockerwodgers,” as the gray one spoke, it tilted its light like it was leaning down toward Austin, single fibers of light-lint floating off into space, “hornswagglers too. And, of course, the pusillanimous.”
Austin felt his stomach lurch as it bent even closer. “Looks like you have a case of the collywobbles,” it said.
“That one tends to be a little verbose,” the bells chimed in. “I’m Grace.”
“Grace?” said Austin. “So I am dead?”
“Hmm,” said another, a clean rectangle of elegant simplicity, “let’s see what we can see.”
“Empirical Evidence,” Grace whispered. “Little newer than me. Said it was pushed out by someone called ‘Vibes.’”
Empirical Evidence paced in a circle, as much a rectangle of deep amber light could, and in the center, a faint whitish disc appeared. As the pacing continued, the white solidified and cleared, until there was Austin, sprawled on the mat in the middle of the ring.
The ref looked like he was trying to rouse him, and a whisper spread like a wave through the seats. Someone stood at the corner of the ring, and every so often, others would, in an extravagant show of covertness, hand him money.
“They look like they’re enjoying this,” said Austin. “Wait. Are they betting on whether I’m dead?” Austin looked around, and focused in on Grace. “Are they enjoying this? Why would they enjoy this?”
“I don’t know,” said Grace, “I’m a still newbie. A very old newbie. Ask the German guy.”
“For the last time, I’m not German,” said the one she pointed to. “I’m a concept that well-preceded the German people by twice the age of the Earth. They just happen to have a word for me.” He snapped toward Austin, extending a hand of light, awkwardly shaking his gloved one.
“Schadenfreude,” he said, with a too-charming grin. “And I can tell you, it’s not only humans. I mean mostly it’s humans, honestly I’m making a comeback because of humans but not so much in the other parts of the universe.”
“Why are they doing that?”
“To reiterate,” said Schadenfreude, “Schadenfreude.”
“Am I dead or am I not?” Austin, considering that this might be eternity, was very much hoping for the not.
“The data say not,” Empirical Evidence said, stroking a chin that wasn’t there, “look, your toe is moving.”
Sure enough, there it was, first the big one, then the middle, and soon the foot.
“Get back down there,” Serendipity said, “don’t miss your chance.” It guided him toward the disk.
“Jump,” it said. “Just jump.”
“Don’t dither,” said the Quockerwodger Walloper, “Go.”
“One moment,” Empirical Evidence said in an even voice. It dipped the top half of its rectangle through the disc, and then returned. “It looks as though this connection may allow us to also get to earth.”
Austin looked around at the odd collection. “We could really use you down there. Well, some of you.” He refused to make whatever passed for eye contact with Schadenfreude.
“Now or never,” said Grace, and a beam of its light rested on his arm with the warmest feeling radiating through him.
After basking for a second or two, he jumped.
He awoke after the KO, somewhat recombobulated and with the certain knowledge his future did not lie in the ring. Not too eager to return to that place with talking lights, he left the sport, taking up gardening, yoga and accounting, in that order.
And every so often, he’d happen to get the conditions perfect for a giant squash or run into an old friend inside the gas station; now and then he’d methodically sift through his options; here and there he’d give space to the inconsiderate; or, once in a while, see a politician in need of a good cosmic wallop actually get one, and think of that time he was knocked out and traveled the universe.
***
Our words were: grace, quockerwodger, sophisticated, askew, pugilist, serendipity, reiterate, pusillanimous, celestial, hornswoggle, schadenfreude, dither, plethora, kind, recombobulate, verbose, simplicity, and porque, awry collywobbles.
A Bit to Read 
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