Hugh J. O'Donnell

Once he figured out how to power on the spaceship that brought him to Earth as a baby, it taught him where he came from.
He learned galactic history and it was an unbroken record of interplanetary empires: Despots who enslaved entire star systems and mad beings who destroyed planets just because they could. He understood why he’d been sent to this planet.
His birth parents had sacrificed everything to give him a chance. His adopted parents raised him to believe in the power of doing good.
He watched the skies and the world around him. It wouldn’t happen here.

“Galaxy NGC 60” by Raven Vasquez is licensed under CC BY 2.0.

Everyday Drabbles © 2025 by Hugh J. O’Donnell is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.

Through an improbable accident, she gained the power to communicate with and command cats. While she didn’t have ambitions towards super-heroics, she used her new powers judiciously.
She became used to finding dead mice and birds on her doorstep, and left out kibble for the strays compelled to seek her out.
She made sure every stray in her town was spayed or neutered, found loving homes for the ones that could be adopted.
When disaster struck, she used her powers to locate trapped survivors, but that was all she could do.
A cat is still a cat in the end.

“Spider Cat” by rabbot is licensed under CC BY 2.0.

Everyday Drabbles © 2025 by Hugh J. O’Donnell is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.

He examined the sword in the light. Its edge was still as sharp as when his mentor had first shown it to him, although it had been used in many noble quests. He could feel their weight in the steel.
He sheathed his blade and walked towards the town gates. His friends were waiting for him.
He didn’t feel worthy of the sword. He didn’t feel worthy of his companions. He couldn’t summon fire or heal wounds or disarm ancient traps. But if he could protect them, with his blade or his life, he would. He hoped that was enough.

“The Arn Limited Edtion Offical Movie Sword” by Albion Europe ApS is licensed under CC BY 2.0.

Everyday Drabbles © 2025 by Hugh J. O’Donnell is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.

The Thief looked at the knife in the torchlight. He hated the thing, and his need to carry it.
His profession, performed with proper care and skill, shouldn’t require a brutal edge. Any fool could use force. He employed more subtle tools. Stealth, misdirection, silence and subterfuge were more his style. But sometimes a job went went wrong. Sometimes the mark was sharper than that looked. Sometimes it was smarter to walk away.
But he remembered who he was doing this for, and why. He gripped the knife and stepped back into the shadows, waiting for his chance to strike.

“Knife 8” by ~Brenda-Starr~ is licensed under CC BY 2.0.

Everyday Drabbles © 2025 by Hugh J. O’Donnell is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

The acolyte looked up at the lectern and the heavy, gilded tome that rested upon it. Inside were the incantations and secret formulae to summon and command the most puissant beings known to exist.
The book contained unstoppable power that their order could use to reshape the world, both figuratively and literally. But such power remained locked away in a book that could only be opened and read by their leader.
She vowed that one day she would wield that power.
Decades later, the abbess laid her aged hand upon the grimoire and finally understood why it should remain shut.

“Illuminated Manuscript, Bible (part), Blind-stamped binding, Walters Manuscript W.805, Upper board outside” by Walters Art Museum Illuminated Manuscripts is marked with CC0 1.0.

Everyday Drabbles © 2025 by Hugh J. O’Donnell is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

I arrived in Armstrong City on Luna just in time for the famous Shakespeare Festival. But as I left my hotel and ventured into the network of underground passages that made up the city, I soon found myself hopelessly lost.
Flummoxed, I found a cyborg standing at an intersection and asked for directions.
“Excuse me,” I said. “Could you direct me to the Selenium Theatre?”
They looked up, their eye lenses flashing. “Blow it out your organic ass, old man.”
I left in a huff. I came to the Moon to watch Shakespeare, not get harassed by some rude mechanical.

“moon” by Slideshow Bruce is licensed under CC BY 2.0.

Everyday Drabbles © 2025 by Hugh J. O’Donnell is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

I found the lollipop at the bottom of the a bag of Halloween candy. The translucent spun sugar orb swirled like a rainbow gas giant.
It was too beautiful to eat. I knew it would just taste like fruit punch and the magic would be dispelled.
I kept the lollipop. When I went away to culinary school, it stayed hidden in a desk drawer. After I graduated, I had it framed.
When I opened my own bakery, my husband bought a bag of them for the opening.
That lollipop didn’t taste as magical as it looked, but it was sweet.

“Lollipop” by José Carlos Cortizo Pérez is licensed under CC BY 2.0.

Everyday Drabbles © 2025 by Hugh J. O’Donnell is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 

I stood in the airlock, waiting for the lights to cycle to green. When the great doors opened, I let the pressure push me out into the vacuum.
My baby was waiting for me. The fighter didn’t look so bad, she just needed a little love to get back in the fight. I pulled a velcro-covered wrench from my belt and got to work.
When I was done, I slapped the hull and pushed away. The pilot lit the engines and headed back into the storm of laser fire. I hoped he wouldn’t do anything else stupid to my baby.

“Reconfiguring the Station” by NASA Goddard Photo and Video is licensed under CC BY 2.0.

Everyday Drabbles © 2025 by Hugh J. O’Donnell is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 

The Locktender’s Daughter lived in a little house alongside the canal with her father and assisted him with his work.
She was young and beautiful, and was the object of hopeful affection of many of the wild canallers as they waited for the the lock to fill or empty.
The boatmen were large and unsavory, and many in the town took the man to task for not being more protective of the girl. But she could handle herself.
When her wit or charm failed, she could rely on the great boathook she used to open and close the canal gates.

“20150829 31 Flight of Five Erie Canal Locks, Lockport, New York” by davidwilson1949 is licensed under CC BY 2.0.

Everyday Drabbles © 2025 by Hugh J. O’Donnell is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 

For centuries, the other Elemental Schools mocked the Water Mages, saying they were only useful for running their baths and keeping their drinks cool.
The Hydromancers bore these insults with a placid demeanor. They wielded a power too subtle and dangerous to be displayed openly.
One day, their greatest prodigy lost her temper and set a single drop of water in an offending Earth Mage’s lungs. She demanded an apology while he gasped for air.
The student was nearly expelled, but her elders had to admit the other three schools treated them with a good deal more respect after that.

“Single egg shaped water droplet” by Luke Peterson Photography is licensed under CC BY 2.0.

Everyday Drabbles © 2025 by Hugh J. O’Donnell is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0