I wrote this originally for Sunday Photo Fiction, which is a story challenge based on a picture. The stories are supposed to be around 200 words. I try to stay close to that but this week it’s a bit longer, just as forewarning.
Clock Tower Jill
I called her Clock Tower Jill, even back when I was still trying to eat her. I didn’t know her real name because we never talked, of course. She was a quirky one, Clock Tower Jill.
It was July and the hot, muzzy air was hanging like a lead blanket in the forest when I first saw those long legs stepping towards me through the undergrowth. I wasn’t starving but I roared and readied myself to pounce. She picked up a stick and swung it like a bat, right into my snout. That stunned me and before I could recover, she sprinted away. It was too hot for me to run far and by the time I found her, she had reached the ruined town. I saw her at the top of the clock tower, sticking her tongue out at me.
I kept her treed up there for days, out of spite for my hurt snout. Then I realized she would eventually starve to death and I would not get to eat her anyway. So I brought her some food. It was accepted imperiously, without even a thank you. I named her Jill. She was like my pet.
After a month of living up in the tower, she came down and called to me. “You, creature. I want to go down to the lake to swim.”
I had long given up trying to eat her and I stood by to let her go.
“I want to ride you,” she said. I bristled at that, but gave in eventually, since she was my pet.
She sat on my back and held my mane while I trotted down to the lake. I stood guard while she swam and then I brought her back. She was a good pet.
“Good boy,” she said, patting my head before she went back up into her tower. “Bring me something good tonight, okay?” That rankled but I did it for her anyway since I liked having her around. And after all, she was pretty quirky, my Clock Tower Jill.
The Green-Walled Tower 
June 15th, 2015 at 9:53 pm
Pretty quirky.
June 18th, 2015 at 10:53 pm
Thanks, Dawn. Quirky is good. 🙂
June 16th, 2015 at 10:18 am
Awesome story. This really made me smile. Who is who’s pet, I wonder. Sometimes relationships like this are a little muddy in their structure. The flow and development of this is lovely. This story is a winner.
June 18th, 2015 at 10:50 pm
Thank you so much. You got just what I was going for, how the difference in perspective changes how each views the relationship.
June 16th, 2015 at 4:39 pm
HaHa! She played “hard to get” and now..he’s hooked! 😀
June 18th, 2015 at 10:49 pm
Yeah, pretty much. 🙂
June 17th, 2015 at 1:33 am
loved it!
June 17th, 2015 at 3:23 am
its one of your best!
June 18th, 2015 at 10:48 pm
Aww, thank you so much, dear friend. I appreciate it.
June 19th, 2015 at 1:37 am
since when did you started “Aww”ing? ;p
June 29th, 2015 at 8:27 pm
bah! 😉
June 17th, 2015 at 9:30 pm
Oh David, I loved this…also like what Eagle said. Yous a writa 🙂
June 18th, 2015 at 10:43 pm
Hehe, Yous toos. Thank you so much. I prize your compliments very highly.