Hugh J. O'Donnell

The astronaut stood at the top of the ladder, waiting for clearance to descend to the lunar surface. He thought about the significance of humanity’s return to The Moon, and the way history moved in cycles like an orbit.
He placed his boots on the rock in reverent silence for those explorers who came before.
The astronaut bounded across the surface, heading toward an unusual iron deposit. He stopped in front of the anomaly his mouth going dry. Capcom shouted in his ear, demanding visual confirmation.
Arthur reached out a bulky white glove to pull the sword from the regolith.

“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 

For his crimes against Olympus, Zeus decreed that Sisyphus would spend eternity pushing a boulder uphill, never resting. The other gods agreed it was a just punishment, and promptly forgot about the mortal.
But as the centuries passed, Hades found that he had to bring in larger and larger boulders as the mortal gained strength from pushing constantly pushing the stone uphill.
The god of the underworld sent messages up to his siblings on Mount Olympus, but the scrolls went unread.
Until one day, the Palace of the Gods shook as Sisyphus put his shoulder against the mountain and pushed.

“Perfect Balance Boulder, California Desert” by moonjazz is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0.

April floated in the ship’s tiny kitchen/science station, staring intently at the double-hulled safety oven. It had taken her an hour of prep work to wrestle the pie into shape before snapping down the metal lid, chasing a few stray blueberries that managed to float out of the pastry case.
She should’ve waited until they were under station gravity to bake, but after Xlarx had said that Earth didn’t make anything edible, she was going to make him eat his words.
April’s grandfather said love was his secret ingredient, but she found that in a pinch, spite would substitute.

“Pie!” by mazaletel 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 old woman sits at the window. She’s lived in this building for decades, watching the neighborhood decay under the neglect of landlord wringing every dime they could from the place. But it is home.
Now they are going to tear it all down to make a parking lot. She watches as the big yellow demolition trucks came up the road, the last of the vultures.
She tests the chain wound around her legs. It’s good and secure.
She has sat at this window for half her life, and she’ll be damned if they are going to move her now.

“Construction Machinery” by Klearchos Kapoutsis 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 commander got the magic sword for cheap. Its spell drew down lightning each time it was drawn, but the enchantment was poorly cast. Sheathing the blade was the only way to stop the effect.
Flashy but impractical, he used it to inspire the troops, calling a bolt as the finale of his most rousing speeches.
It proved very effective until the day a grunt assigned to clean his tent accidentally knocked the blade out of its stand and sent it flying.
The resulting fires and damage nearly bankrupted the company, but he sold the sword to offset the costs.

“Ka-boom (lightning)” by Leszek.Leszczynski 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 magical fruit let you call birds and see through their eyes. It grew in a walled garden on a holy mountain. A single dried berry was worth a fortune.
The thief found a map to the hidden monastery where they grew it and snuck his way inside. He found a giant tree covered in red berries, and stuffed his pack with them.
But a single berry fell out as he was climbing out, and was snagged by a passing bushtit.
The sudden sensation of being thrown into the air brought him to his knees long enough to be captured.

“Black-throated bushtit at Godawari” by Hari Paudyel is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.

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

The Performer took the stage, little more than some planks propped up on barrels set in the yard of the saloon. His audience this evening was a dozen miners and a few curious townsfolk, the same as the last town he’d passed through yesterday.
He did his usual act, telling stories and sharing news from around the world. He recited famous soliloquies from Shakespeare and Marlowe.
Most of the crowd barely noticed. But there were a couple that he reached. He saw the flame light behind their eyes, and that made the hard travel and sleeping rough all worth it.

“Tragedy and Comedy” by Tim Green aka atoach 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 traveling preacher set up his tent on the edge of town, so white and clean in the dust that you’d think it fell from Heaven.
He papered the town with flyers for the revival, spending extra effort around the saloons, brothels, and gambling halls. He paid the local children a few pennies to keep them pasted up.
That Sunday, the whole town attended as he preached hellfire and brimstone. He surveyed the crowd and picked out the most likely recruits.
The next world was all well and good, but he needed a crew for a job for this one.

“Danish Tent Revival” by celesteh 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 wicked queen gazed into her magic mirror and intoned the spell. “Who is the fairest of them all?”
The mirror was uncharacteristically silent, but it showed her own face, so she was pleased. The queen was called away on court business, and she was occupied for some time.
She didn’t notice anything amiss until the next time the mirror failed to respond to her. Magical testing confirmed that her mirror had been replaced by a mundane copy.
After weeks of searching, but she eventually found it in a guest bathroom.
It was the greatest prank her stepdaughter ever pulled.

“Magic Mirror Realm” by HarshLight is licensed under CC BY 2.0.

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

“You know there’s dangerous animals out in that there swamp,” the guy behind the rental office said, holding up the keys to the boat.
“I know. I’ll avoid the snakes and gators.”
“And the frogs,” he said.
“The frogs?” I almost laughed. But he looked deadly serious.
“I don’t know what it is. Something in the water maybe. But they turned mean. You steer clear of ‘em.”
I nodded and took the keys. He must’ve been joking.
But as we took the boat out among the lily pads, I heard a chorus of angry croaks. It was already too late.

“interrupted – Rough-skinned Bush Frog” by vipin baliga is licensed under CC BY 2.0.

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