It was all he said. Yes, there was nothing explicitly bad in the words, neither too much anger nor condemnation. But there was also absolutely fucking nothing to validate any of that painstaking outburst of an effort Yu had just poured into his confession. And somehow, that nothing made everything ache with a new kind of emotion. Yu did not quite know which one it was, but, seeing Bubs’ dark eyes stare up at him without reflecting anything of him, he felt that it was very, very raw, and that he would not be able to handle it. So Yu smothered it. Before it could take shape, Yu chose to feel relief instead, which was the simplest lie available.
“Yes,” he said. “I won’t bring more. In the last half-hour, it was only water anyway.”
Bubs did not acknowledge this scrap of good sense either. He straight up threw out new orders: “Sort the kitchen so it’s ready for witchset.”
He turned away from Yu and picked up the metal casing he had retrieved from the fire earlier. It had visibly cooled. The glowing red had dulled to a tired, jaundiced yellow.
Yu just stared. “Sort?”
Surely he did not mean … actually … clean? Not the whole kitchen. Not after all Yu had done already. And most definitely not tonight. That was impossible, even for someone with hands.
“Yes, sort. Prepare. Put everything back first. Then wash the dishes. Then clean the surfaces and the floor. All the food on the floor and everything else you spilled goes into this pot.”
Bubs set a regular-sized cooking pot onto the centre workbench.
Yu stared at it. At the pot. At the idea. “I have to clean the whole kitchen?”
“First the kitchen.” Bubs stared back. “And then you do that bathroom on the first floor.”
And just like that, it was gone. The relief. All of it.
A Stellar Review by Bardic Planet
This story pushes the boundaries of the web format of literary storytelling further than I’ve ever seen a novel do. […]
It’s daring. Bloody exciting. The kind of genius you’d never think of—and yet, once you’ve seen it, it feels like the most natural evolution of the medium.
DEAR TRAVELLERS,
I am overwhelmed and overjoyed.
Bardic Planet just posted their review on The Glass Wizard. It is an extended analysis that is as thorough as it is humbling — and truly a stellar piece of writing.
Read for yourself how TGW is described as anything from pioneering to madness, from avant-garde genius to a curator’s kiss accompanied by a Scratch-&-Sniff!
I cannot express enough how much I appreciate the time and effort that the Bard in Chief invested into evaluating this humble story, and to render his review with such care and kindness. Clone’s writing marks him as both a gentleman scholar and an absolute wordsmith of a critic. Atop that, he is an author himself, publishing Captured Sky on Royal Road.
The true value of a story is in the reaction it evokes; the potential for transformation and connection.Thank you, dear Travellers, for your presence, for reading, for sharing, for reaching out, and for believing in this journey.
With deep gratitude,
The Duckman
BARDIC PLANET
Bardic Planet is a fantastic place to find the next great story to read, or advice on writing one yourself. And then there is the Bardic Banter, if you just wish to sit back and be entertained:
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Join us as we explore diverse tales, share our thoughts, and promote the stories that deserve to be told.”
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