Drabble Babble Challenge: Bones Edition

October 2013

Abundance

by Patricia Cleary (Hufflepuff)

Ron was silently overjoyed to see chicken legs appear at the Gryffindor table one night and piled his plate with them, gnawing them down to the bones. Though Hermione rolled her eyes because he was eating so quickly, she didn’t know that it was just nice for Ron to have abundant food at all. It was hard for his mum to feed everyone over the summer and sometimes Ron would go without, insisting he was fine. He’d gone to bed hungry before, absolutely. But at Hogwarts he could eat his fill 9 times over—and there’s magic in that, too.

All's Well that Ends Well

by Amy Lupin

A young man incurred the Jade Dragon Empress’ wrath by accidentally giving her three bags of brown rice instead of white rice. She even threatened to exile him from Nine Dragon Island!

Despite being unskilled at divination, he consulted newly prepared oracle bones to find a way to escape his fate.

After poring over them, he came to the strangest conclusion. He needed to combine various foods in a particular way and present the result to her.

Later that day, a beaming smile spread across her face as she bit into what was the world's first cake. All was forgiven.

An Aspiring Archaeologist

by Amy Lupin

While visiting Pompeii, Joseph slipped away to a closed-off section. He wandered further away from his family, captivated by what he was seeing.

Sections of the ground had been newly excavated. He dislodged a misshapen rock and carefully brushed away the dirt, soon realizing that it was a skull. He then unearthed the rest of the skeleton. He pieces together a story based on what he sees, which he later shares with his parents.

A renowned archaeologist overhears him and is impressed with the tale, and extends an offer for the young Joseph to join him on a future expedition.

The Bone that Wanted to be a Famous Drabble Writer

by Ulol Kimil

One upon a time there was a little bone that wanted to be a drabble writer. But not any kind of drabble writer. He wanted to write the most amazing bone themed drabble in history.

He asked the other bones and all agreed that the bone was delusional. Bones can't just be writers. Bones are supposed to support a body.

Our friend didn't listen to them and started writing.

But then he edited it and ended with a War and Peace length very bad non romance enciclopedia. The little bone saw how its dreams shattered and he broke and died.

Bone Wands (from Uncommon Approaches to Wandmaking by Gervaise Ollivander)

by Patricia Cleary

Many wizards are off-put by the mere idea of a bone wand and I personally use only wood in my wandmaking. However, those of a dark mind or those with peculiar attachments, might elect to craft their wands from a bone. Perhaps the bone of a beloved family pet, a talented ancestor or a slain adversary could be polished, cored and made into a wand. But precious little is known about the magical properties of bone. Could the person’s spirit interact with the user’s magic if channeled through their bone? This is my prime reason for recommending against its use.

Bones

by Romy Wolke (Hufflepuff)

The bones of this house are brittle now, weathered and worn with every footstep. They have become chipped; the rib cage gapes with missing bars. With every soul that walks through the graveyard teeth of our front doors, we get older. Our bones are more hollow every day.

Our bones are aging but not broken, no arthritic pain will lay us down. We are older now but wiser for it. When they leave us and leave their doors creaking open behind them, we close them.

We dream of skeletons to hold us through the night and rock us to sleep.

Bones Wheels

by Polaris Black

I just returned from a YouTube field trip to Bones Wheels, an American manufacturer of wheels for skateboards. The muggle owner guarantees quality and claims only the finest urethanes are used in production processes. The first wheels that were produced were white in color, hence the name Bones Wheels. Today wheels come in party colors stamped with custom graphics. A human skeleton named Rosie is on display in the design studio because it inspires most of the artwork. A highlight of the company campus is a skatepark used only by employees. Four wheels can be purchased for about forty beans.

Broken Bones

by Polaris Black

I never saw the Bludger that knocked me off my broom. Fortunately, Professor Lockhart was in his office practicing his smile and Madame Pomfrey was the first responder. She immediately cast the Petrificus Totalus spell to ensure my head was immobilized. When the mediwizards arrived, I was rushed to St. Mungo’s Hospital in a medibus. A Healer diagnosed a fractured cervical bone in my neck, which could cause numbness, paralysis, or even death. Because I received the correct treatment, I sustained no permanent neurological damage. All young athletes should learn about risks and how to recognize symptoms of injury.

Charlie Loved Bones

by Tarma Black (Hufflepuff)

Charlie loved bones. White bones, brown bones, bones from people and bones from animals. Charlie loved bones and would make tiny houses of them. People would walk by his front yard and see all the little houses sitting here and there on the landscape he had made for them. Some of the houses were quite complex and others were simple huts. The houses of brown bones were of bones he had dug up and usually were animal bones. The houses of white bones were bones from freshly dead. Occasionally, when he ran out of materials, he went and harvested more.

A Conundrum of Sounds

by Lisbelle Tanwick

Click. Clack. There it was again! Every single Halloween, a symphony always erupted near his house. Maybe it was a couple of kids pranking him however his gut feeling told otherwise. I mean, what kind of kid could sound like bones moving and clanking about? He sighed, he was probably going mental but a couple of years ago he was sure he saw a blur of white… “things” but then with a blink of an eye, they vanished. Clank. Clonk. Not again! This was getting incredibly tiresome. Why oh why did he decide to live right next to a cemetery?

Divining

by Cassandra Lobiesk

With bated breath, I watch the woman shake the bowl, her gnarled fingers grasping at the cracked ceramic, as though she is doing much more than rattling the bones contained within.

After one final shake, she tosses them upward, the pieces rising like a frog's springing jump. They begin to slow in their upward climb, halting for a brief second and falling to the floor. The small pieces bounce a little further, the larger ones skip, roll, and land nearby.

The woman stares. I match her gaze. She grins, points at the nearest bone, and tells me what's in store.

The End of Giant Diplomacy

by Nico Coer

"They say that Merlin put them there."

He looked at the bones, the massive femurs rising to the sky. "Really?"

"Yep," She replied, brushing some dirt aside. "There was a battle with Irish giants. Merlin saw a child born of muggles that he wanted to mentor. When he thought the boy was old enough, he came for him only to find ashes. That was the end of giant diplomacy."

"And the bones?"

"A test for apprentices before Hogwarts. If a kid saw a bone-henge where his parent saw Stonehenge, we'd know to teach him before he too became only ash."

Everly

by Madison Lerosh (Hufflepuff)

Everly was a kind woman before her death. She was the type who was always interested in other people's affairs. After she died things changed, she wasn't a ghost but more of a walking skeleton. Her bones were still dressed in the garments she was buried in. She tried everything to put herself to rest, everything from spells to voodoo. Now, she was a mean old thing, her bright milky white bones were enough to send a chill down anyone's spine. She didn't know how she became like this, all she knew is she needed to change herself back. Now.

The Fog

by Scarlet Black

The fog had just started settling when Meg decided to go for a drive in the country. The wind howled loudly. Bringing her gaze to the right, Meg saw an old house. She drove up to the front, got out of her car, and walked right in! Meg looked around the room, spotting a bag in the corner. She went to investigate and peered inside. The contents of the bag were a bunch of old bones! At first sight, they looked real, but as Meg looked inside again, she saw that there weren’t any actual bones, only plastic Halloween decorations!

Funny Bones

by Iris Ixchel

There’s nothing funny about funny bones. They are certainly not humorous, as the name suggests.

Think of a knock or a bang on that bone and the only person laughing is the one that sees you do it.

You have to wonder what sort of sick, demented, person thought the idea of banging ones elbow was funny enough to literally call it humorous. How was this person allowed to practice medicine?

If they were going to call a bone of any sort funny or humorous, shouldn’t it have been the Xiphoid Process, what sort of a ridiculous name is that?

The Human Skeleton

by Tarma Black (Hufflepuff)

The human skeleton has over two hundred and seventy bones. Some of them are fused into a longitudinal axis, called the axial skeleton, to which all the other bones are attached. The axial skeleton is formed by the vertebral column, the rib cage and the skull. While at birth the human body has over two hundred and seventy bones, by the time adulthood is reached, some of the bones have fused together so there are about two hundred and six bones. This is all very exact -- then someone gets born with six fingers and throws off all the numbers.

Letter of Appreciation

by Scarlet Leslie

To Everybody,

Thank you for taking such good care of us over the years. We reach our peak quite early in your lifetime, so we need your help to keep us healthy.

Make sure you continue to get that calcium from your food. Dairy products, almonds, broccoli, salmon... Yum! Vitamin D helps with your absorption of calcium, so try to spend 30 minutes outside in the sunlight everyday. While you are outside, you can also do some physical exercise to help us stay strong. Weight-bearing exercises, including tennis, basketball, and dancing, are the best.

Help us support you!

Love,
Your bones

The Skeleton Trap

by Amy Charz

Waltzing towards her office with her hourly dose of cake, Cassandra Lobiesk noticed Kyrie Adderholt and Silmarien Szilagyi peeking around the corner, giggling madly. Suspecting she there was an unpleasant surprise inside, Cassie cautiously entered her office. Nothing was out of place; no surprises were lurking in her desk. The day went by, nothing happened, and she relaxed. At last, she began to leave. She turned the door handle. Something cold and hard fell onto her head, tangling itself around her neck.

Her high-pitched shriek echoed through the Roost. Kyrie and Sil began laughing, knowing the skeleton had been found.

Something Like...Surprise?

by Sierra Potter (Gryffindor)

I looked at the package which I've opened, bewildered. Who sent this? I tried to guess, but found none's name appeared in my mind. Whoever sent this had to be a weird person. Really, I didn't mind if he-or-she sent me a letter, but bones?! I was sure that if you got this, you'd think the sender was weird.

If you asked me who have bones, I didn't know because I wasn't bone specialist! And I didn't want to learn about it too. Another story. I looked at the letter that included in the package, and read it.

'Dinosaur.'

Symbol

by Cassandra Lobiesk

She stares at the horizon, watching the ships set sail with the hope of glory and adventure.

A black flag catches her eye, and she briefly mistakes the ship for one in the past. She remembers her beloved captain's eager face, his symbol flying high on the mast, the skull and crossbones a design he himself created. She recalls the stories, the journey that the crew had undergone, the hardships and tears shed, the laughter and loves shared.

She wishes the ship a safe voyage, and turns back to where her children await. Tonight, she will tell them a story.

To Live Again

by Meredith Malkins (Hufflepuff)

One bony finger pushed up from the damp earth, feeling along the grass. Soon its' yellow fellows followed, making their way up. A hand emerges, an arm. Other skeletons have tried to emerge like this, but mortals hid them again under more dirt. This one, however, shall succeed. This one shall walk again as it once did, clad in muscle and skin. As it stood up, it inspected itself with empty sockets. Bones were missing? This should be its' time to live again. Sort of. The skeleton considered for a moment, then strode off, to find its' bones, live again.

Which Bone to Pick?

by Iris Ixchel

What does it mean when you have a bone to pick with someone? Do you have a literal bone with which two people sit and pick over it?

What do you use when picking said bone? Bones are nothing like noses, so you would presume that a single finger would not get the job done. Using tweezers would take too long but an excavator would be too large.

And, of course, there is the question of the kind of bone on which to pick. A chicken bone may be too small but an elephant bone would be infinitely too large.