Sunday Snippet: The Prank Police

I'm welcoming September with open arms. August ended up being a truly weird month. We'll see if September flows any smoother.

Decent week of television. I stuck with classic and mysteries. I finished up a 77 Sunset Strip binge watch last week and launched into Peter Gunn, logging about seven more episodes via Prime and now a marathon on regular cable.

I caught the Classic Who episodes of The Enemy of the World. Interesting segue… an episode of The Saint featured the actor who plays Two. It's just a weird little connection that made me smile.

I also watched another Midsomer Murders episode. Oddly, they're back to Causton CID again instead of Midsomer Constabulary. Obviously, it's not a huge deal, just one of those random things that popped out at me.

Yes, I'm strange.

Tonight's post is from The Prank Police, a novella that started with a writing community prompt.

Here's the mini-blurb:

The mage academy is rife with pranksters and Zenna Doyle and Kyrk Rydercroft must corral the new recruits when they all test their newfound powers. And to top it off, the couple pulls duty at the worst time—the night of the blue moon when magic is at its strongest.

And a preview snippet…

Zenna Doyle placed her hands on the desk in front of her. "You have got to be kidding. What did we do to piss you off?" She stared the director of the mage academy down.

A slow, wide smile spread across Max Bentis's face. "Remember the saying about payback?" He quirked an eyebrow.

Kyrk Rydercroft, Zenna's partner in teaching and everything else, stopped pacing for a moment. "That it's a right bitch?"

Zenna snorted. Too damned true.

Max nodded. "That's the one." He pulled a thick folder from his bottom drawer. "Do you also remember, oh… seven or eight years ago when I was in the position you two are in now?" He made a show of casually opening the file and flipping through the pages.

Zenna shot Kyrk a sideways glance. He shook his head. No way were they going to admit remembering anything they did back in their adept minor days.

Zenna didn't like the direction this conversation headed in.

Max smirked. "And do you remember the week before finals and who the ringleaders were for the most hated time of the year?" He tapped the pages in front of him.

Kyrk muttered an oath. "Seriously? I barely remember what I had for breakfast this morning."

Of course, Max had no problem reminding them of their former shortcomings. He spun the folder around, showing the proof in vividly colored notes. Then he turned to the final page where Zenna and Kyrk, in their less than infinite wisdom, signed a promissory pledge to handle finals week whenever the presiding precept chose.

Max settled back in his seat. "Ring any bells now?" He gaze dared either of them to try his patience.

Zenna's shoulders slumped. "Fuck."

Max clapped and rubbed his palms together. "Exactly." He slapped the folder shut and stuffed in back inside the drawer.

Kyrk started pacing again. "You do realize we're due for a blue moon." He stopped. "They're going to be insane with power."

Zenna shuddered. Great Mage. The entire week would suck huge, hairy balls.

Max's lips split in a wide smile. "I absolutely know all of the above. Why do you think I saved that little trump card in the back of the file?" He pushed away from the desk and stood up. "I've been waiting for this moment for two years."

Zenna gave him props. "That's brilliantly evil. Kudos for being able to hold out this long." Honestly, she admired the hell out of the sneak attack.

Max preened for a moment.

Kyrk snorted. "Geez, Zen, don't stroke his ego. He'll be lucky if we're still standing next Monday."

A fair point.

Max shook his head. "Hey, there are two of you. The same cannot be said when you two coordinated hell week during your last year." He pinned Kyrk with his gaze. "I had to find something worthy to challenge your skill-set."

Zenna shrugged. "Fine, fine. We'll manage. At least you'll be around if anything goes totally hinky."

Max held up a hand. "Oh, no. I'm going to be as far away from this place as possible starting in"—he glanced at his watch—"about ten seconds." Jerking his head toward the door, he waved them in that direction. "Have fun."

Zenna opened her mouth to argue, but Kyrk grabbed her wrist. "Don't. As much as it pains me to say it, we had this coming." He tugged her out of Max's office. "And we don't have much time to prepare… so let's get going."

Zenna exhaled on a heavy sigh. "Let the games begin."

This story is so much fun. It took a direction I completely didn't anticipate but I'm happy with where it's headed.

That's it for this week.

Cheers!

Skye