Flocculent

[ flok-yuh-luh nt ]

Adjective

1. Having or resembling tufts of wool.
2. Having a loosely clumped texture.

Let’s Write…

** Either a story beginning, a story ending, a piece of flash fiction–inspired by the word, flocculent, where does it take me? Where does it take you?

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All worlds have them. It’s a part of the natural order of things. Just how things work. Yet, also in the natural order of things, is for worlds to create something purely unique. Such were the Orblents on the planet called Tacch.

Alan lay on his back in an open field, staring up at the giant cloud beings. Most feared the Orblents when they passed by, but Alan liked to watch them. Stories of towns being ripped away by the beings, or people disappearing were all anyone ever spoke about.

“Praying for a cloudless sky,” they would say as a greeting, as Alan made his way to his lonesome field to watch the Orblents move.

They were different than clouds, and were easily distinguishable from them, more solid, yet they were definitely made of clouds. Or, that’s at least what Alan had determined from his many days of lying there, looking up, dreaming of touching the sky.

Soon, the town bells would ring, and Alan would get up and join in the normal proceedings of the day with the normal townsfolk. He’d work, eat, work, eat, and go to sleep. But, right now, in these early morning moments, he could study the Orblents.

Ding, ding, ding!

The bell rang out, and Alan sat up, gave one last glance to the sky, and then left it behind.

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Notes/Thoughts/Ideas

Cloud people! I’ve always wanted to write a story about cloud people. I started this “story” three times before just going for something here. The idea with these is to write something every day but within thirty minutes tops. That includes these notes!

So, where could this go? Right now, it’s written like your traditional fantasy adventure/quest story. Alan meets up with his friend, a girl, and somehow they discover a map or they simply get the idea to climb the tallest mountain in an attempt to speak to an Orblent.

Or, I could start it all over and tell it from the cloud people POV, and it could be any kind of story with them as the main characters. I like the first idea a little better.

Another idea that was “floating” around in my head was how these beings moved and so on. I pictured them looking like people in a way with legs and arms, but as they walked, it would be more like their leg would disappear where it was and reform ahead where it would be going.

Sort of like the cloud stuff always comes back to the center and then moves out from there. Also, I imagined they’d possess other attributes of clouds where they could almost merge together with other Orblents, but then they could separate again. That could be interesting mythology, the day the Orblents all come together as one to do something.

Ok, now I’m rambling!

What do you think of Flocculent?

Is this a story worth pursuing? Want to write it yourself? Go for it! Take an idea and run with it. That’s what they’re here for!

Where did this word take you? Did you go for a Shepard? Something else?

Leave your thoughts, your own story beginning, or flash-fiction writing in the comments! Where did flocculent take you?

If you liked this story, check out my podcast of short stories, More Than A Story.

Today’s word is from Merriam-Webster.