Hugh J. O'Donnell

The prophet lounged on a cushioned divan in his audience chamber, practically a throne. The villagers gave him the hall when he’d arrived and predicted a disaster. It was only his quick prognostication that spared the village from the worst of the damage.
A curtain at the far end of the room twitched, and he nodded almost imperceptibly to the figure hidden behind it.
The villagers loved their new prophet, but found him dour, only predicting calamities. Good fortune was crowd pleasing, but tricky. Doom was easier; especially if you had a team to make sure your predictions came true.

“Old seer – olympia” by original picture by Angela Monika Arnold, Berlin is licensed under CC BY 3.0.

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Everyday Drabbles © 2024 by Hugh J. O’Donnell is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 

The party found the book at the very back of the tomb, next to the sarcophagus itself. It was chained to a lectern, as though waiting for a reader in the dark.
After checking it over, the thief brushed dust from the leather binding and opened to a page. It was filled with tight handwriting in a language they couldn’t decipher.
As they were puzzling over the tome, the lich rose from his coffin and coughed politely.
“Do you ever wake up in the middle of the night and just have to write an idea down before you forget it?”

“a garden full of books” by janafalk is licensed under CC BY 2.0.

My very short story collection, The Mountain’s Shadow is available now from Amazon and Smashwords!

Everyday Drabbles © 2024 by Hugh J. O’Donnell is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 

He’d spent his whole life being hunted. His friends at school thought he was paranoid, but he’d seen it: A huge face, filling the world, with a mouth of sharp teeth and glowing yellow eyes. I turned and saw it watching him even now.
Panicked, he darted into a little cave and ducked behind a log. The face would get tired eventually. It always did. He wondered why it never came closer. Why was it always watching and never moving in for the kill, toying with him?
On the other side of the glass, the cat watched the fish swim.

“The watcher” by (: Rebecca-louise 🙂 is licensed under CC BY 2.0.

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Everyday Drabbles © 2024 by Hugh J. O’Donnell is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 

He had a taste for the underground. He kept paintings from outsider artists and had shelves of books from authors never featured on the best-seller list. He wore t-shirts of bands you’ve never heard of purchased from tables in the foyers of clubs you’ve never been to.
He loved the intimacy of the obscure. And he didn’t have mere fandoms, but friendships with the artists and writers whose work he admired.
But as his friends struggled, he began to wonder if he could do more for them.
He started a blog to try and bring his hidden gems to light.

“Fuzhou Cityscape (Taixi CBD)” by Listwiseafford is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.

My very short story collection, The Mountain’s Shadow is available now from Amazon and Smashwords!

Everyday Drabbles © 2024 by Hugh J. O’Donnell is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 

The snowman opened his button eyes as the enchantment fell upon him from the top of his hat to his sculpted feet. 
As he came to life, he knew that whatever strange force animated him, these children were wielding it by accident.
He was also certain that they had no knowledge of the dangerous powers that would steal that magic for themselves.
The snowman tightened his grip on the the broom in his mitten-hand. The spell provided him perhaps a few days of false life if the weather held. In that time, he vowed that the children would be protected.

“Snowman” by j.reed is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0.

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Everyday Drabbles © 2024 by Hugh J. O’Donnell is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 

He strung the line of colored lights along the gutters, moving the ladder every couple of feet and securing the line on the icy roof. When he was a child, the lights had been big, fragile things, and if a bulb blew, the whole string would go out.
These were tiny LED things that allegedly never needed replacing, and changed colors with the assistance of a handy phone app he would download when Hell froze over.
He climbed back down and plugged them in. The lights popped on, bathing the snowy yard in a rainbow glow. Some things never changed.

“Christmas lights” by BingoBangoGringo is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0.

My very short story collection, The Mountain’s Shadow is available now from Amazon and Smashwords!

Everyday Drabbles © 2024 by Hugh J. O’Donnell is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 

Everyone was in position. This heist would make them legends, but everything depended on split-second timing.
The leader gave the signal. Below him, the crowd began their countdown.
“Ten! Nine!”
Team One switched the target for a fake.
“Eight! Seven!”
They loaded it into the helicopter and signaled ready.
“Six! Five!”
At the security hub, Team Two started their distraction.
“Four! Three!”
Team Three switched the computer systems to cover their escape.
“Two! One!”
The helicopter rose into the night. They’d stolen the New Year’s Eve Ball out from under the city’s nose. It was going to be their year.

“Times Square New Years Eve Ball” by ★ SimonPix is licensed under CC BY 2.0.

My very short story collection, The Mountain’s Shadow is available now from Amazon and Smashwords!

Everyday Drabbles © 2024 by Hugh J. O’Donnell is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 

The Menorah sat in a transparent box in a corner of the hold, with its own small oxygen supply and exhaust system. An open flame was a terrible hazard on a space ship, but an electric one wouldn’t do.
She closed her eyes, said the prayers, and lit the candle. She would have to calculate the burn trajectory and timing before going into suspended animation. The gauges said they were low on fuel and oxygen. But the little ship had come through for them before, and the message had to get through.
She had faith that it would be enough.

“Hanukkah menorah” by skpy is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0.

My very short story collection, The Mountain’s Shadow is available now from Amazon and Smashwords!

Everyday Drabbles © 2024 by Hugh J. O’Donnell is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 

For the first time in a hundred years, the forecast called for snow.
Stories of winter had been passed down through the generations, and everyone had seen blizzards in old movies or documentary footage. But no living soul ever caught a snowflake on their tongue.
The whole town shut down as people gathered to watch the skies. They set up lawn chairs in the parks and gathered on rooftops, buzzing excitedly and clutching thermoses of hot cocoa and coffee.
Between the myriad car accidents, cases of frostbite, and complaints of being snowed in, the town didn’t reopen for three weeks.

“Snowfall on 12/31/14 – Along Barker Dam trail” by Joshua Tree National Park is marked with Public Domain Mark 1.0.

My very short story collection, The Mountain’s Shadow is available now from Amazon and Smashwords!

Everyday Drabbles © 2024 by Hugh J. O’Donnell is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 

The three companions travelled west through the desert, sore and tired. Each is a king, but they travel without servants or retainers. Biter rivals, all three of them saw the sign: a star moving backwards in its orbit. So they follow it together, to prevent the others from stealing whatever lies at the journey’s end for themselves.
High above them, the angels push the star against its proper orbit. They are sore and tired, but they push because it is The Plan. Still, one turns to their companions and mutters under their breath.
“This portent could have been an email.”

“(4706 x 3084) Three Magi (Balthasar, Melchior, and Gaspar) Ravenna” by Carole Raddato is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0.

My very short story collection, The Mountain’s Shadow is available now from Amazon and Smashwords!

Everyday Drabbles © 2024 by Hugh J. O’Donnell is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0