The New Neighbors

Written for

Daily Flash Fiction Challenge  (13+) Enter your story of 300 words or less. #896794 by Arakun the Twisted Raccoon

Prompt: Write a story about someone entering a writing contest.
Word count: 300


I heard the familiar knock at my door. I knew it was that pesky goblin before I opened the door.

“What now, Nilbog?” I had little patience with my neighbor and he smelled bad, too.

“Busy, Mr. Bean?” he muttered through broken teeth.

“I am busy, Nilbog. Deadlines you know … I have twenty-four hours to write a story about mythical creatures.”

“Another silly contest, Mr. Bean?”

“That’s a matter of opinion, Nilbog. I must get back to my writing … why did you knock on my door?”

“It’s the new neighbors, the family across the road.”

“What about them, Nilbog?”

“They’re different, I don’t trust them.”

“You don’t trust anyone, Nilbog.”

“That’s true,” the goblin said with pride. “It’s my job to be evil, crabby and mischievous and…”

“Yes … yes, I know that, Nilbog … get to the point, I must get back to my writing.”

“Have you seen them, Mr. Bean? They come from the land of Taw.”

“So what?”

“What do you mean … so what? They are centaurs, Mr. Bean.”

“I don’t have a problem with centaurs living in the neighborhood. They seem to be law abiding … and they … mind their own business.”

“Are you insinuating I’m a busy body and I break the law?”

“Well … you are and you do, Nilbog. Leave the centaurs alone and no pranks.”

“Humph!”

I closed my door and Nilbog marched off. He was going to be trouble.

I went to my herb cabinet. From experience, I knew a handful of well chosen herbs, a bat’s ear, a sprinkling of dew mixed with loam would do the trick. An ‘Acceptance Spell’ was the very thing Nilbog and the neighborhood needed.

Oh Nilbog! All these years we’ve been neighbors and you still don’t know. Will you ever guess … I am a warlock?

I wonder, would a story about a loving goblin win a contest.