Word: Mercurial

mercurial

[mer-kyoor-ee-uhl] / mərˈkyʊər i əl /

adjective

1. changeable; volatile; fickle; flighty; erratic.

   a mercurial nature.

2. animated; lively; sprightly; quick-witted.

3. pertaining to, containing, or caused by the metal mercury.

4. (initial capital letter) of or relating to the god Mercury.

5. (initial capital letter) of or relating to the planet Mercury.

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                When Alan had heard he had been chosen to be the fairy princess’s bodyguard during her visit to human lands, he had some ideas about what the job would be like. He had pictured a dainty, ethereal beauty. Maybe a bit of a mischievous streak, but still gentle and stately. The kind of woman that songs were written about. No, not songs. Odes. Maybe even a full epic poem.

                That was not what he got. Not by a long shot.

                “Ooo, what’s that?”

                The princess zipped around the marketplace to get a closer look at whatever shiny thing caught her attention. It was easy for her to do, considering she was barely a foot tall. Alan groaned as he pushed his way passed the crowds to catch up to his charge.

                He caught the princess using a well-polished plate as a mirror. She was making faces in it, contorting her face in ways that would be fun for a child. And, apparently a fairy. She Did a small twirl and her wings hit the plate, sending it clattering into nearby sets of tableware. Luckily, none of them were damaged, and the shopkeeper seemed more amused than anything.

                The fairy princess giggled raucously at the sight. Then something else caught her eye and she started to zip off. Alan made a mad dash for her and was able to catch up. She grabbed her out of the air.

                “Hey, what’s the big idea?” She shouted.

                “Sorry, princess.” Alan said. “But I am your bodyguard while you’re here, and it’s very hard to guard your body if you keep rushing off to look at every little thing.”

                “Aww, boo. You’re no fun.” She said with a huff.

                “Yes, yes, I’m the big boring human.”

                “So long as you know that. Hey, have you ever thought about being a knight? I can knight you! That’s totally something I can do. I dub thee Sir…uh…Sir...”

                After a few moments, Alan looked at her with an eyebrow raised. “You can’t think of anything good, can you?”

                “Gimme a minute! I’ll totally think of a good one. It’ll go so good that…that those music singing humans—”

                “Bards? Minstrels?”

                “Yeah, them. They’ll definitely sing about the totally great and not at all an insult knight name I can give you.”

                “Well as much of an honor as that would be, I’m afraid I must respectfully decline your highness. I doubt that the king and queen will appreciate a human knight in fae lands.”

                Aside from the potential political problems, Alan just did not want to be tied to this particular princess for the rest of his life. That was a surefire way for him to go grey and bald before he was 30.

                “Aw you’re no fun.”

                “I do believe we’ve already established that, yes.”

                “If I promise not to rush off, will you let me go?”

                “If I thought you were capable of keeping such a promise I would.”

                “I…I…” She paused and thought for a moment. “Okay, yeah, I gotta give you that one. There’s just so many fun things around here!”

                “Tell you what, if you behave and stick close to me for an hour, I’ll show you a dog. Behave for two hours and I’ll show you a cat.”

                The princess’s eyes went wide. “I have no idea what either of those are, but I know I absolutely want to meet both of them!”

                “Good. You know what that means though, right?”

                “I’m going to stick to your side like I have a…what are those metal rope things called?”

                “Chains?”

                “Right. I’ll stick to you like I have a chain tied between us.”

                Alan hummed and hawed for a moment. He was not sure if this was a good idea, but he would give it a try. He let the princess go, and much to his surprise she did not immediately dart off.

                “Good. Now if you want to see something, let me know, okay?”

                “I can do that! I can absolutely do that!”

                Alan was not so sure. But he would just have to hope she was up to the task. And that she did not actually know how long an hour was.

 

 

Word: erinaceous

 

erinaceous

[er-uh-ney-shuhs] / ˌɛr əˈneɪ ʃəs /

adjective

Zoology.

1. of the hedgehog kind or family. 

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                It had been too long since Dan visited his aunt and uncle. They just lived so far away that it could be a hassle to get there. It was a shame though. He wondered if his cousin, Rick, even remembered him. The kid hadn’t even hit double digits in age yet, so probably not.

                He found Rick in the basement, right where his parents said he’d be. The boy was huddled over a desk with a scattered mess of colored pencils lying around and a sheet of paper in front of him. So Rick was into art, huh? Dan was not much of an artist himself, but he could appreciate the talent when it emerged.

                Dan waited a little while before speaking. He did not want to interrupt the young artist’s flow. He may not be an artist himself, but Dan could still understand not wanting to be interrupted while in the middle of something.

“Hey there.” He said once a good moment had come.

Rick turned and immediately shied away. Which likely meant that he did not remember Dan. It was disappointing, but not unexpected.

“I guess you don’t remember me, huh?”

Rick shook his head.

“Yeah, that’s not a surprise. I think the last time I saw you, you were barely in school. My name is Dan, and I’m your big cousin.”

Rick’s brow furrowed in deep thought. Dan could imagine what was going through the kid’s head.

“If it helps, I’m your aunt Jenny and uncle Roy’s son. That means we’re what’s called first cousins.”

“Why first? Aren’t cousins just cousins?”

“Kind of. There’s a lot of different kinds of cousins, actually. But the kids of brothers and sisters are first cousins. It gets tricky after that though.”

“Oh.”

Rick clearly did not understand. That was fine. Dan barely understood himself. Best not to complicate things too much right now.

“So, you like to draw? That’s cool. I can’t draw very good, so it’s good to know there’s at least one artist in the family.”

“Yeah, I like it.”

“Can I see?”

Rick nodded, so Dan went over and looked. Dan stiffened for a brief moment. The drawing was not very good, which was to be expected of someone who was only eight. But it was competent enough that he could tell what it was meant to be. And it could lead to so many places. Horrible, terrible ones if not handled carefully.

“That’s a cool picture. What, uh, what is it?”

“It’s a character I made up. I found a really cool game with neat characters that I like, so made one up that could play with them.”

It was as he feared. Hopefully Rick would not fall to the dark side of that particular fandom.

“Oh really?”

“Yup. It’s called Sonic Rumble Party, and it has a bunch of characters like this one. And...and I found out that there’s a lot more games with them in it, but I haven’t played them yet, but mom and dad say I can when I’m older.”

“Yeah, Sonic’s pretty cool. He’s been around longer than I have, and has a lot of games. The series might even be as old as your mom and dad.”

Rick’s eyes went wide. The boy likely could not even comprehend that idea.

“But listen, it’s cool if you want to make a character from the Sonic universe, okay? Just don’t look up anyone else’s, okay?”

“Why not?”

“Because some people aren’t cool and creative like I bet you are. They might want their characters to do some weird stuff. So just, you know, be careful with it, okay?”

“Okay?” Rick looked more confused than anything. Dan would have to guide his younger cousin. Make sure the boy did not stumble upon the hellhole that was the Sonic the Hedgehog original character community.   

Word: Terra Firma

terra firma 

[ter-uh fur-muh] / ˈtɛr ə ˈfɜr mə /

noun

1. firm or solid earth; dry land (as opposed to water or air).

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                Terry had never understood why characters in shows kissed the ground when disembarking from a ship. Now he did. He wanted nothing more than to lie on the ground and not move, reveling in its stability. He did not even care that the ground was hard and a bit rocky. All that mattered was that it was solid and unmoving. While he did not quite get to the point of fully reclining, he did get down on his knees and nearly hugged the dirt.

                “What are you doing?” Leslie asked. She was the second member of the crew to disembark, and she looked at Terry with a look that spoke volumes about what she thought about his intelligence.

                “What’s it look like? I’m enjoying the lack of movement of the ground. The stability of solid earth under us. There’s nothing else like it.”

                “Oh, come on. The trip wasn’t that bad.” She said, rolling her eyes. “Also, should you really be calling it earth?”

                “Don’t ruin this for me, Les. Besides, you know what I mean.”

                “I’m just saying, you can’t really call it ‘earth’ considering Earth is several light years away.”

                “Yeah, yeah. I’m just glad the ground isn’t moving. Nice, solid ground that won’t shift suddenly. It’s beautiful.”

                “Oh, don’t be so dramatic. So we had to dodge some debris fields. Most of the trip was smooth flying and you know it.”

                Terry finally stood. He became aware that other members of the crew were disembarking and looking at him with a similar expression to Leslie’s. They just chose not to comment. None of them carried equipment. That would come later.

                “Don’t tell me you’re not happy to be back on a planet. I heard how you spent three days in the med bay due to nausea during one of those ‘not so bad’ debris field maneuvers.”

                “That was not because of nausea!” Leslie said quickly. “A few tools and screws came loose. I got a few bruises and cuts. I said it was fine and nothing major, but you know how medical is.”

                “And now that we’re on a planet, we don’t have to worry about that sort of thing.” Terry said proudly.

                “Well, to be fair, we don’t know the geologic situation here. This area could be prone to earth…planet quakes.”

                Terry shuddered. “Don’t say things like that. You’re just asking for trouble. I had trouble dealing with shaking on the ship. I don’t know what I’d do if the ground started shaking as well.”

                Leslie looked at him for a moment. “How you got chosen for this mission, I’ll never know.”

                “Oh you know I’m not the only one who thinks the same. I’m just the only one who’s voicing them.”

                “Right. Sure. You keep thinking that, Terry. Now then, if you’ll excuse me, some of us have work to do. But you enjoy your…ground hugging session.”

                “Thank you, I will.” Terry said quickly as Leslie turned and started off.

                Terry did hate to admit it, but she was right in a way. There was a lot to do, and he should really be doing his own job. That did not mean he couldn’t take some time to just enjoy the stability of the ground though. For a few more minutes, at least.