The Ink Well Highlights Magazine # 133

_{Image modified using a picture by Becca Clark from Pixabay}

This periodic magazine highlights a small selection of short stories posted to The Ink Well community that stood out and were awarded a Curie vote. Thank you to all authors in The Ink Well for sharing your creative work!

Important Note

We are showcasing authors who have contributed well-written and edited stories, have read and commented on the work of other authors and comply with all of the community rules posted on our home page. These activities help our community thrive.

The following are just a few of our favorite stories from November 16 to November / 23 to November 29/ 2023.

TheInkWell Section Seperator.png

Beyond Irinajo

Pexels

“Pafun! Pafun!”, the loud, sharp sound came running into Henry’s ears. This time, he almost jumped out of his skin, as he was just recovering from the train’s harassment. The sharp sound was like those made by yogurt sellers in Irinajo. But it’s night already, so this wasn’t expected. Henry was already on the floor because he jumped in fear as he tried to run from whatever it was. “Ha ha ha, I got you, sweetie!” The female voice was so familiar, and Henry prayed it wasn’t who he thought it was, but as he turned, he discovered his prayers were unanswered—it's Shekinat holding a trumpet prop! “I think you just lost me!”, Henry angrily replied as he was dusting off the sand off his trousers. “Common, don’t be like that; it was just a romantic prank, don’t you get it?”, Shekinat said in her defense. But all fell on deaf ears. “I don’t want to ever see you again!” As Henry made his stance known and left angrily, Shekinat could only watch, as she had never seen him in such a mood.

TheInkWell Section Seperator.png

CUT-OFF

Pexels

She condemned herself to the furthest, uninhabited location she could find and rented a cabin. She escaped to the back of beyond to maintain her sanity. The only upside from that incident was that she got sober without rehab. She had no access to drugs of any kind, and in no time, she was sober and could think straight. She was cut off from the outside world, and it's been three years already.

TheInkWell Section Seperator.png @chm-writes

The note from Tolani

Pexels

Barely 24 hours before the ultimatum, I made up my mind to let her have the honor of presenting the speech for our sendforth ceremony. I walked up to my seat to find a small piece of paper stuffed conspicuously in between my notes. My heart raced fast, anticipating that my friend Tolani may have sent it. "Can we meet after class today?" and I knew the handwriting belonged to nobody else but Tolani. My heart leaped for joy, yet I was eager to know what she wanted to tell me. I could not deny that I missed her a whole lot, and I longed for her company more than ever. "Our egos played a fast one on us," I thought to myself as I folded the note neatly into my pocket.

@jjmusa2004

TheInkWell Section Seperator.png

A Lovely Day

author's image

I think I need to send a message to these creatures to maintain their spaces and not trespass to mine. Infact I will put up a very big sign post no trespassing.
That's a good idea but wait, how will they know what I put up since they cannot understand our language?. Oh no, putting this up will be a mistake as they will turn it into their rendezvous corner.
Well I guess I'll just let them be, at least I do enjoy their company most times, although they can be galling sometimes, just like this morning.

@luchyl

TheInkWell Section Seperator.png

Wild Companion

Pixabay

There was a woman selling food in the market when Quila and Gary arrived. Gary's stomach rumbled. He needed to eat before the day's work began. Quila loved her pet lizard, and the fact that she could communicate with him made her love him even more. He was a rare breed gifted to her by her grandmother, and giving him food even with her last penny never bothered her. He has been her only companion ever since her grandma died, leaving her alone in the back of beyond.

@teknon

TheInkWell Section Seperator.png

Soul of a jaguar.

Pixabay

In one of the visits that the members of the communities made to him, they brought Rubén a wounded jaguar cub for him to cure. Ruben cured the animal, which was only a few weeks old, so Ruben and Mariela's daughter looked after it, fed it and played with it. Once the jaguar scratched Rubén a little at play and Rubén decided to constantly cut the animal's nails.

When the jaguar grew up enough, Rubén, Mariela and their daughter tried to get the animal to return to the jungle, but every time it was released into the jungle it returned to the community and sat at the entrance of the clinic, claiming to be in what it felt was its home.

@osomar357

TheInkWell Section Seperator.png

@jayna , @gracielaacevedo , @yaziris , @itsostylish , and @samsmith1971

p.s. You can see the past magazines here: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22,23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46,47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67,68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 76, 77, 78, 79, 80, 81, 82, 83, 84, 85, 86, 87, 88, 89, 90, 91, 92, 93, 94, 95, 96, 97, 98, 99, 100, 101, 102, 103, 104, 105, 106, 107,108, 109, 110, 111, 112, 113, 114, 115, 116, 117, 118, 119, 120, 121, 122, 123, 124, 125, 126, 127, 128,129,130, 131,132,133

TheInkWell Section Seperator.png

Interested in joining our community? Start by joining Hive!

Join here at Hive Onboard

Already a Hive member? Click Subscribe at the top of The Ink Well community home page.

_{Questions? Ask The Ink Well on Discord.}

TheInkWell Section Seperator.png

We invite lovers of creative writing to visit The Ink Well
, a Hive community started by @raj808 and @stormlight24 and run by @jayna, @gracielaacevedo, @yaziris, @itsostylish and @samsmith1971.

How to Follow Our Curation Trail

You can follow our curation trail by going to our hive.vote curation trail page and clicking the follow button.

How to Delegate to The Ink Well

We welcome delegations! These support our community in many ways, including helping us to provide support to quality content creators through curation and contests.