Title: Hummingbird Harbingers In Hell
Word: halcyon
Challenger: Rufus Hound
Length: 200 words exactly
The doors to the nearest regions of Hell are tall and dark and made of jet black stone. They are guarded by nine creatures of myth; five of them are there to ensure no soul escapes from hell, the others to prevent anyone and any thing from entering.
The guardians range in size from one, huge enough to dwarf the doors themselves, to the smallest sentinels, two armed fairies of ill repute, the latters’ duties strictly limited to warning Satan himself should angels appear and seek entrance.
Winged messengers from Heaven rarely appear, but when they do, they regard the fairies with hummingbird wings as tiny annoyances. And yet, somehow, the angels never succeed in their desire to enter Hell.
It is said that long ago, long, long ago, in the time before even the halcyon days of myth and legend, God and Satan wagered. In some versions of the story, Satan wins truly. In others he cheats. And only God and Satan know why the smallest of Hell’s protectors have never failed in their task of protection.
Blackmail is never mentioned. Never. Ever. Of course not.
But the fairies are of very ill-repute. And even a God can blush.
© Lee Barnett, 2013
This is the sixth story in The Twenty-Four Hour Fast Fiction Challenge. There will be eighteen others… Sponsor me to complete them!
budgie's perch 