• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Rabia Gale

undiscovered countries

  • Home
  • Works
    • The Reflected City
    • The Sunless World
    • Taurin’s Chosen
    • Heartwood
    • Stand-Alones
  • Newsletter
  • Blog
  • About Me
  • Contact

friday fiction

Fairy tales aren’t the only things I break…

The Feline in the Fedora

Come gather around, little children. Never mind the fish—they need their daily twenty minutes of fresh air, didn’t you know? No? Yet another thing the grownups didn’t tell you.

Well, we’ve had fun this rainy, rainy day. Aren’t you glad you opened the door?

But there is something I have to tell you, kidlets.

Sometimes your parents are right. But not for the reasons you think.

They tell you not to jump on the bed, yes? Warn you that you’re going to bump your head and there’ll be blood all over the sheets, the floor, your teddy bear, and you’ll have to go to the hospital and get stitches, just like your Uncle Ernie did when he was four.

What they don’t tell you is that if jump about in that Place of Dreams, your foot’ll punch a hole right through the door. And you’ll tumble right into those beautiful, nasty lands on the other side.

They tell you not to run with scissors. You’ll fall and drive the blades into your knee, they say. Or your foot. Or your eye. That happens, sometimes. Want to see my scar? Cool, isn’t it?

Except they’re not as afraid of you hurting yourself as they are of you putting a tear in the world. Snippety-snip, pokity-poke, and before you know it, purple-spotted monsters and tentacled trees and snake-birds are spilling into your reality.

And they told you not to open the door to the feline in the fedora. Last thing your mom said before she ran out to… where was she going? The gym? The grocery store? Who cares, right?

You thought she didn’t want you to have fun or mess up the house. But what she was really afraid of… well, let me show you. You want to see what’s in these boxes, don’t you?

The one with the clippity-cloppers and the sizzle-snip-snappers? This is Object A.

And that with the buzz-grinders and the buttery-cuttery-knives is Object B.

Stand back, children.

I’m turning them on.

Share via email Share

Filed Under: flashfic Tagged With: friday fiction

Get Each Post in Your Inbox

Sign up here to receive each blog post in your inbox.
  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Intisar Khanani says

    May 9, 2015 at 9:11 pm

    Great short–really enjoyed it! 🙂

    Reply
    • Rabia says

      May 14, 2015 at 7:27 pm

      Thank you!

      Reply
  2. Katharina Gerlach says

    March 6, 2020 at 3:53 pm

    Since I’m not familiar with Dr. Seuss, I’m not getting the end. I think that could be remedied if the story had pictures. 😀

    Reply
    • Rabia says

      March 11, 2020 at 9:43 am

      Yes, this short very much depends on being familiar with The Cat in the Hat. Have you heard of Thing 1 and Thing 2? In the book, they’re a naughty duo that trash the house. They’re more sinister in my take!

      Pictures would be great, but I’m not much of an artist.

      Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Primary Sidebar

  • Email
  • Pinterest
  • RSS
  • Twitter

Join the Mailing List

I send out monthly newsletters, and share some special content with subscribers only. Join me!
  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Search

Latest Release

Ghoulfire Cover

Ghoulfire

A ghoul is murdering magicians in Lumen, and it’s up to Trey and Arabella to stop it.

Recent Posts

A YA anime-inspired web serial

April 30, 2019 Leave a Comment

The Darkest Days Fantasy Bundle

July 10, 2018 Leave a Comment

Now Out: Ghostlight

May 31, 2018 Leave a Comment

Ghostlight, Chapter Two

May 29, 2018 Leave a Comment

Categories

© 2021 Rabia Gale | All Rights Reserved | Design by Robin Cornett | Header Artwork by David Revoy: Used with permission | Privacy Policy