Another Dogwood City Drabble

Time for another foray into Dogwood City Drabble, in which I indulge my obsession with constructing 100-word stories based on Dogwood City characters (and presenting them to the world).

Today's edition features the greatest archer of the Dogwood City universe...the Arrow!

Quivering Words

featuring the Arrow

First rule of being a vigilante archer:  Know your arrows.

No one is better at this than the Arrow himself.  It’s more than a science.  It’s poetry.  A web arrow here…a smokescreen arrow there…whatever it takes to get the job done and make a statement.  He always has his words at the ready.

Right now, though, the Arrow doesn’t need a poem.  This isn’t a job demanding subtlety.  Reaching back without hesitation, he pushes aside a dozen clever turns of phrase and pulls out three exclamation points.

You can never really have too many boxing glove arrows, now can you?

Dogwood City Drabble

So here's something new for this blog: original fiction!  Why?

Well...why not?

I've been thinking lately about figuring out a way to elaborate on the characters of Dogwood City (my supers setting based on public domain characters).  At the same time, I've become a fan of the drabble (a micro-story), and specifically those that stick to a specific word count.  So, why not combine the two?

Gotta say...the superhero drabble thing is pretty fun to write!  I'm thinking it might be the next big thing in speculative fiction.

Well...it should be.  If anyone else wants to write a 100-word superhero story, I'd love to read it!

Here's my first crack at it:

Decision at Midnight

featuring Cub

Cub looked down at his gloves.  He could see a glimmer of blood shining under the pale streetlight.  It had only taken him two punches to bring the hood down and render him nearly unconscious.

Black Lion would be proud.  He’d barely approved this first solo patrol for the young sidekick, but results like this should help.  Now, what was it that Black Lion always said about fighting criminals?

The first punch is survival.  The second is justice.  The third is vengeance.  You have to figure out where you’re going to draw your line.

Cub gritted his teeth and swung.