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In life and beyond, the elephant king seeks only one aim, to protect his people from despair.

Genre: Fable

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Excerpt:
As the elephant king lay dying, struck silent by his pain, able only to breathe shattered breaths, his mind thought its last thoughts.

He could forgive the ones who had killed him. But forgiveness would do his people no good.

He could lay a curse upon the ones who had killed him, villains and villagers alike. He was a king. The ghosts of his ancestors would answer his summons and grant him his last wish. But curses were dangerous, not just to those who were cursed, but to those who did the cursing.

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What\u2019s the Writing Prompt that inspired the story?
EXERCISE: Grab a book off the shelf\u2014any book!\xa0 Don\u2019t bother searching for anything in particular. Open it at random and begin reading. Write down every idea you get from reading what is on that single page. Now turn to another page and do the same thing. Later, scroll down the aisle, pick another book whose title arouses your curiosity; once again open the book at random, and record any ideas that come to mind.

Source: The Daily Writer: 366 meditations to cultivate a productive and meaningful writing life. Fred White. Writer\u2019s Digest Books. 2008.

The book I grabbed was a writing a book.\xa020 Master Plots and How to Build Them (And How to Build Them). Ronald B. Tobias. Writer\u2019s Digest Books. 1993. I randomly turned to page 65 in the chapter about quest plots. So at first, the story was a quest about the elephant king seeking to recover his stolen tusks.

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Faster Fictioneer
I held my first free writing workshop over Zoom to teach my method of writing short stories (an abbreviated version) on 11/8/2023. The workshop is based on my course, called \u201cFaster Fictioneer: A Doable Method to Write a Short Story from Start to Finish in Five Weeks.\u201d

You can watch a replay of the workshop here: FASTER FICTIONEER

(You can also buy the course there.)

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Follow my Fictioneering Mischief
The Storyfeather Gazette is a monthly round-up of my recent podcast episodes, short stories, trailers, news, recommendations, and more sent by email. Follow the link to look through old issues and to Sign Up: STORYFEATHER GAZETTE

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Storyfeather-themed merchandise
T-shirts, mugs, stickers, notebooks, baby onesies, and more featuring artwork from stories and art challenges
STORYFEATHER TEEPUBLIC STORE

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CREDITS
Story: \u201cThe Obsidian Tusks\u201d Copyright \xa9 2019 by Nila L. Patel
Narration, Episode Art, Editing, and Production:\xa0 Nila L. Patel

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Music:
\u201cTrip-Hop Lounge Abstract Background\u201d by Digital Emotions (Intro/Outro)

Music by ALBERT FERNANDEZ (Audio Alchemist, Potion Studio)*
\u201cSong Mistery\u201d
\u201cSong Visiting Her Forest\u201d
\u201cSong Painful Memories (Loop)\u201d
\u201cAtmosphere Persecution Danger (Loop)\u201d
\u201cExploration Mystery (loop)\u201d
\u201cCue Nature\u201d
\u201cExploration Cave (loop)\u201d
\u201cExploration Forest of Magic\u201d
\u201cLocation Medieval Tavern Song\u201d
\u201cExploration Mystical Place (loop 2)\u201d
\u201cHoly Hymn (loop)\u201d

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*These tracks were part of a music and sound effects bundles I purchased from Humble Bundle and sourced from GameDev Market.

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Music by Albert Fernandez licensed from GameDev Market
Sound effects from AudioJungle and GameDevMarket

Find more music by Digital_Emotions at\xa0audiojungle.net
Find more music by Albert Fernandez at\xa0gamedevmarket.net
Find more stories by Nila at storyfeather.com

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Episode Art Description: Digital drawing. At center, an adult elephant stands facing forward, the left flank visible. Long shiny black tusks extend down around the trunk. The elephant looks down at the body of a baby elephant lying horizontally in front. The baby\u2019s skin appears patched with dirt and the remnant of a broken white tusk. The hazy outlines and silhouettes of trees and a leafy canopy appear behind and around the elephants. Watermark of \u201cStoryfeather\u201d along flank.