http://www.scribd.com/doc/51680927/Whistle-Bones
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Let me provide context for this next story.
Rattling around in my brain is a long fairy tale called "The King's Captain" set in a Kingdom surrounded by an endless forest. Most of it takes place in the forest which I dubbed The Perilous Woods.
I'll back up a bit. It has always been my desire to create a set of fairy tales with their own unique pantheonic hierarchy, set in a fantastical universe of my own making, but still grounded in the age old morality (and more interestingly, immorality) that you would find in the traditional fairy tale (therefore making it digestible and meaningful to a modern person). So, I thought The Perilous Woods and the Hermit Kingdom would be a fantastic place to create such tales. At the top of this hierarchy stands the Lady of the Woods and the Great Stag.
"The King's Captain" deals heavily with the downfall of these two powerful beings. I've written several of these fairy tales so far and most of them involve either the Lady or the Stag. It's a nice way to provide a depth and history to "The King's Captain" that might not otherwise be there (that is, if I ever do write the thing).
Anyway, here it is, the first of many (hopefully)...WHISTLE BONES...let me know what you think.
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There once was a Piper of ill repute who plied his trade in every backhouse and alley from here to there. One thing that everyone could agree upon, when hearing his music, was that he had a distinct talent for making the most disgusting noises issue from his ragged oak flute. For years he wandered from district to district, thieving, mugging, and scraping by on the refuse left for him by his fellow man. And so it was finally that a mob of angry citizens drove him from the city and into the perilous woods beyond.
Angry and spiteful he went, lamenting aloud to the birds and the beast at the wrongs bestowed upon him by the people, cursing their names and vowing revenge every step of the way. He wandered so long and took such a winding course that the Piper found himself lost in the darkening forest.
