The Talisman of Cities

Word Count: 292

The Talisman of Cities

“Where is it? Where is it?” Devann knelt down and dumped his backpack on the ground, frustrated that he couldn’t find what he was looking for. His few possessions scattered across the hard, packed earth. He grabbed a marble before it could roll too far away. He could tell at a glance that it wasn’t among his belongings. Had he left it somewhere? Perhaps he had forgotten it when he packed his things? He wasn’t normally that forgetful, though.

Devann sat back on his heels and growled his frustration before his eyes lit up. He jumped to his feet and stuck his hands in the pockets of his jumpsuit, sure he had figured it out. Both his pockets were empty. He growled again and sank to the ground, crossing his arms and glaring at the expressionless landscape.

“Master, master.” If a robot could huff and puff, R36725 was surely doing so. And rather indignantly at that.

Devann turned his glare on the robot.

“You know this sand clogs my gears,” R complained. It didn’t exactly drop to the sand in exhaustion, but it looked close to doing so. Finally, the robot straightened and held out its hand. “You forgot this in the human city, master.”

On the robot’s palm sat the Talisman of Cities, Devann’s most prized possession. Devann forgot his ire towards the robot as he reclaimed the important talisman. With this object he held the key to unlocking some of the world’s greater mysteries. He carefully pocketed it and clapped the metal man on the back. He ignored his stinging hand, relieved and anxious to be on his way.

“Come on, R. We have destinies to unearth.”

The robot’s tired sigh was very loud. “Let’s get on with it then.”

This story took 1st in:

ID: 896794   (Rated: 13+) Daily Flash Fiction Challenge  Enter your story of 300 words or less. Note new starting time! by arakun the twisted raccoon

The prompt was: A human character has lost something and a nonhuman character has to help him/her find it.