#8sunday, 16/07/03 The Twitch 05

Greetings, Weekend Writing Warriors! For the next few weeks I will be sharing one of the first short stories I wrote. Its was inspired by a collection of short stories The Itch of the Twitch , by Harvey Tyson, a South African writer. This week we meet the target of the main character’s hunt: the rare and elusive Xenica.

This story takes ‘twitching’ into the future, and the Multiverse of Homo Galacticus.

For the rules of engagement and submissions of my  Wewriwa fellows, please click on the icon below!

Suddenly, a diamond-shaped, bronze-scaled head popped out between the foliage fringing the cave. My heart began pounding at an alarming rate. Almost immediately, a second poked out. It was larger and, definitely a mature female Xenica. I bit ferociously down on my nearly released crow of delight.

The two animals sniffed the air and, in ominous unison, turned their jewelled heads towards our hideout. The blood in my veins froze. My mouth dried out, and the palms of my hands began to sweat. My heart fluttered, ineffectually in my chest. I felt like I couldn’t breathe.

© Kim Magennis

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In case you are wondering:

As Jessica E. Subject googled a couple of weeks back, a Xenica is actually a breed of dragon as detailed in the Temeraire Series by Naomi Novik. Little is known about this breed, other than when ‘tamed’ it prefers female riders and, is a lightweight. Below is a diagram of the adult Xenica.

source:http://naominovik.com/w/images/thumb/d/d6/Xenica.jpg/300px-Xenica.jpg