When the news arrived that ogres had come down from the mountains, Superintendent Lemmens strapped on his sword, straightened his uniform, and set out at once to find them. Ogres were hideous, baby-eating monsters, and in this modern age, that sort of thing was strongly discouraged. Lemmens was very resourceful. His men checked every school and orphanage, but no children were missing.
After three days of fruitless searching, a farmer came forth, bitter about the ogre menace.
“Those monsters raided my orchard, and ate all my watermelons!”
“Watermelons?” Lemmens asked. “But everyone knows ogres eat babies.”
“These ones were vegan.”
Author’s Note: This one came from a single silly sentence: “Vegan ogres: raiding orchards instead of orphanages.” And where that came from? No clue.
[…] The Ogre Raid was published on Specklit today. I probably shouldn’t say, but this is my favorite of the bunch. Superintendent Lemmens and his tongue-in-cheek fantasy world appeared fully formed in my mind, and we may see more of them in future… […]
I like your original concept. Very cool.