diff --git a/posts/2017-02-14-A-new-short-story.md b/posts/2017-02-14-A-new-short-story.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..0229259
--- /dev/null
+++ b/posts/2017-02-14-A-new-short-story.md
@@ -0,0 +1,234 @@
+---
+title: A new short story
+author: nek0
+tags: english, writing
+description:
+---
+
+To battle my recent writer's block, I tried different techniques to come up with
+stories. One of these techniques, working with [story cubes][sc], gave me
+interesting stuff to work with, resulting in the following short story.
+
+
+"Come, we have to go on"\
+said Ari as he reached out to his younger brother Kfir.\
+Kfir stood up after he had stumbled in the searing hot sand of the
+desert.\
+"It's been days. Do you think they still pursue us?"\
+asked Kfir.\
+"I don't know, but I don't want to find out either."\
+his brother responded with a strange look on his face.\
+They were fleeing from the red tower -- the place where they had been
+held since their village had been attacked by men with strange dark skin
+colour and only barely speaking their tongue. Since then they had never
+seen anyone from their village again. They had been kept in hot dungeons
+stinking of filth and decay with just barely enough to eat and drink.
+Every day, people had been taken away from the dungeon, never to return.
+Ari had tricked the guards into opening the door so they could escape
+their uncertain fate into the desert.\
+"Ari, I'm thirsty"\
+"Please don't complain. I'm thirsty, too. You know just as well as I,
+that one apple is all that we have left."\
+After that Kfir fell silent. He was too tired to argue and about to lose
+all hope. For days, he and his brother had been following the stars at
+night. Stars which, some of them, they have never seen before.\
+Kfir stumped weakly after his brother through the sand when he suddenly
+bumped into him.\
+"Do you hear that?"\
+Ari asked.\
+There was a hissing sound in the distance. They looked up into the blue,
+cloudless sky to see where it came from. They saw something falling
+down. With a loud thud, it dropped into a dune in the distance.
+Curiosity befell Kfir. He began to run to the place where the object was
+glimmering in the sand. Ari shouted something, but Kfir didn't listen.
+He ran and ran until he reached the small crater in the sand. There it
+was. A large, white egg with a visible crack in its shell. Ari arrived
+just as Kfir was about to slide down the slope of the crater towards the
+egg.\
+"Wait. We don't know what it is."\
+he said, but that didn't stop Kfir.\
+Kfir slid down to the egg and examined it. It was colder than the
+surrounding sand with a very smooth surface, which glistened with all
+colors of the rainbow. Carefully he knocked on the shell. Suddenly,
+there came a loud wailing noise from the egg and Kfir backed off in
+surprise. Ari came sliding down the slope.\
+"What was that?"\
+he asked with an alarmed voice.\
+"I think there is something inside the egg."\
+Kfir responded and gave the shell another knock. Another heartbreaking
+sound came from it. He dug his fingernails into the crack in the shell
+and tried to pry it open but to no avail.\
+"What are you doing? We don't know what's inside. What if it's
+hostile?"\
+Ari interjected.\
+"You mean more hostile than this desert?"\
+asked Kfir with bitterness in his voice. He heard his brother breathing
+in as if to prepare for a response, but he remained silent in the end.
+Instead, Ari kneeled down to the egg and helped Kfir try to open the
+egg, but even with their strengths combined, they did not succeed in
+prying the egg open. During their attempts the creature inside the egg
+kept on wailing, but each time it seemed increasingly faint.\
+Ari stood up while Kfir was still trying to open the egg.\
+"We need a tool to open this."\
+he said and tapped gently on his brother's back.\
+"Look, there are some cliffs over there. If we carry the egg over there,
+we can open it with a rock."\
+he continued.\
+Together they picked up the egg. It was still surprisingly chilly and a
+lot heavier than it looked. With every shock while carrying the egg the
+creature in it let out a small howl and each of these howls stirred a
+feeling of compassion in Kfir. He was fighting back his tears by the
+time they arrived at the cliffs of red rock. Gently, they lowered the
+egg into the sand, grabbed some sharp rocks and hacked at the shell on
+the spots already weakened with cracks.\
+"Hold on just a little longer, we're nearly finished"\
+Kfir whispered silently with a soothing voice, unsure whether he tried
+to calm himself or the creature inside the egg. They continued until
+finally the eggshell broke in half and out of it emerged, with a joyful
+purr, a colourful turtle. Its skin was of a dark grey colour, but the
+scales on its shell shone in bright colours, each of them in a different
+colour. Both brothers sighed with relief, when they heard the turtle's
+soft purr. Kfir slowly approached the turtle and carefully caressed its
+head. The turtle responded by closing its eyes and purring again.\
+"See? It's not hostile at all"\
+triumphed Kfir with a laugh.\
+The turtle backed off slightly and, with a soft hum, lifted itself in
+the air and floated slowly in Ari's direction. It startled to nibble on
+the pouch he carried on his belt. Both brothers gasped audibly. They had
+never seen anything like this.\
+"Hey! Back off!"\
+shouted Ari after he recovered from his shock, He shoved the turtle
+gently from his pouch. The turtle backed off slowly with a growl. Kfir's
+stomach rumbled.\
+"I'm hungry, too"\
+"This is all we have left, Kfir. We can't just waste it."\
+"I didn't say to give the turtle the whole apple. We could at least
+share it."\
+argued Kfir.\
+Ari sighed and shook his head.\
+"Let's at least go into the shade"\
+he said and went closer to the cliffs. Kfir followed with the turtle.\
+Once they arrived in the shadows of the ragged cliffs Ari took the
+shriveled apple out and broke it into pieces. He gave two to his brother
+and resorted to eating the smallest one himself. Kfir delightedly chewed
+his part of the apple while feeding the other part to the turtle, which
+rested purring on his lap.\
+After finishing their meagre meal they remained in the shadow of the
+cliffs for the remainder of the day. Kfir spent most of the time
+sleeping and the turtle did not leave his side. Ari also found the time
+to catch some sleep.\
+As soon as the setting sun touched the horizon a deep rumble shook the
+cliffs. The stones began to move and the sand began to shift. Great
+black claws emerged from the sand and tried to grab the brothers. They
+managed to evade each of the attacks, but could not escape because of
+the shaking ground. Ari grabbed Kfir by the waist and tried jumping off
+the cliffs. He succeeded to jump down to where the sand had shifted
+away, just to see that under the claws waited a giant orifice full of
+sharp teeth. Two yellow protruding eyes leered maliciously at the
+brothers. The sand was still shifting and dragging them towards their
+certain doom, when with a howling sound the turtle came floating down.
+The brothers grabbed the turtle by its shell and the turtle started
+lifting them out of the danger. Just as they were about to get away,
+another claw emerged from the sand and grabbed Ari by the leg.\
+"You go on without me! It can't lift us both!"\
+Ari shouted over the roaring of the shifting sand and rumbling rocks. He
+let go of the turtles shell. Kfir reached out. He wanted his brother to
+live. He missed Ari's hand by just a small distance.\
+With tears in his eyes Kfir looked back and watched as his brother was
+dragged towards the maw. He struggled against the grip of the mighty
+black claw holding his leg, but he was mercilessly dragged inside the
+orifice of the giant crab and crushed by its mighty mandibles. Without
+Ari's weight the turtle increased rapidly in speed and left the place of
+horror with Kfir on its back.\
+They flew night and day until Kfir almost couldn't hold on the turtle's
+shell any longer when a giant tree appeared on the horizon, its branches
+reaching far into the clouds. As they approached he could see houses
+built into the boughs and towers and gates on the outermost branches.
+Giant birds transporting people and goods on large saddles filled the
+air around the tree coming to the gates and leaving in the distance.
+Kfir directed the turtle gently towards the nearest gate, where they
+landed safely. His legs were weak so he stumbled more than he walked
+towards the gate followed by the turtle which floated in midair.\
+Just before before Kfir could cross the gate and enter the city, he
+heard a sharp call.\
+"Halt! Who are you and what is your desire in Oulian?"\
+Guards emerged from both sides of the gate. He was too tired and worn
+out to respond and broke down on the spot.\
+"bring water and bring him to the palace!"\
+were the last words he heard, before his mind turned blank.
+
+Kfir woke up in a warm and comfortable bed. He sat up and looked around.
+The room he was in was gorgeous. Beautiful paintings covered the walls
+and the furniture was of unparalleled craftsmanship. He had been washed
+and wore clean clothes with a flowery scent. Beside his bed on a small
+table rested a carafe full of water. He immediately grabbed it and
+emptied it in no time. He had been thirsty beyond measure. As he stood
+up he heard a familiar purring sound. The turtle lay on a cushion beside
+his bed and lifted itself in the air as soon as it saw him. Softly the
+turtle nudged Kfir and he began caressing its head when suddenly the
+door opened and a young woman entered the room.\
+"Thanks to the tree, you are awake."\
+She exclaimed with joy.\
+"Where am I?"\
+Kfir asked. It was not his first time waking up in an unknown room, but
+this time it at least seemed a lot nicer than in the red tower.\
+"You are in Oulian Palace, residence of King Bialden. His highness wants
+to see you and your turtle. My name, by the way, is Issajana."\
+she answered, opened the door again and beckoned him out of the room.\
+Kfir followed her through the corridors of the palace. They were of
+breathtaking beauty. He stopped at a large window for a while and looked
+outside. The palace was at the center of the treetop. Outside was a
+great bustle with birds flying to and fro carrying all kinds of things
+and people. The roads on the large branches of the tree ware also very
+lively with merchant stands and people.\
+He followed Issajana deeper into the palace, until they finally entered
+a large hall. It was decorated with the finest paintings of the whole
+palace and on the floor were excellent rugs. On a platform in the middle
+of the room stood a single throne. Soft flute music was playing in the
+background. They entered the hall until they stood before the throne.
+The king sitting on the throne was a frail old man, looking sickly with
+his pale skin.\
+"This is the mysterious foreigner, I presume"\
+said the king with a soft voice.\
+"What is your name, boy?"\
+He asked scrutinizing Kfir.\
+"My name is Kfir, your highness."\
+"Do you know what kind of animal you have as company?"\
+The king inquired further.\
+"It's a floating turtle. I don't know what it's called."\
+Kfir answered. He was surprised about the king's interest in the
+animal.\
+"This animal is called a 'Cloud Glider' and is believed to be extinct.
+It is said its tears can heal any wound and illness."\
+The king explained with a sigh.\
+"You see, I am very ill and my healers are unable to help me. It is a
+strange whim of fate for you and your companion to arrive at the gates
+of my city. Would you allow your companion to heal me and receive my
+eternal gratitude?"\
+Kfir looked at the turtle and the turtle looked back. It seemed that it
+had understood the whole conversation and nodded slightly.\
+"I will allow it, but I have a condition. I want to erect a tombstone
+for my brother, who sacrificed his life to save ours."\
+The king didn't need long to consider this offer.\
+"I agree. You will be given a spot on the palace grounds and the
+services of my master mason for your tombstone. Your brother's bravery
+has to be remembered."\
+As the king finished, the turtle purred softly and floated towards him.
+A single teardrop rolled down the turtle's cheek and fell onto the
+king's open hand, where it landed as a clear little gem.\
+"I thank you so much. I will have everything arranged for you. Be my
+guest in the meantime."\
+said the king, still looking at the little gem in his hand.\
+In the next days Kfir spent time with the king's mason, who made a great
+tombstone of marvellous artisanship for Ari. With finally a place to
+mourn for his brother, Kfir arranged a symbolic funeral for him.\
+The king grew fond of Kfir in the time he recovered from his illness and
+endowed him a small house in his city.\
+As the years went on, Kfir spent time looking for his native village on
+the back of his cloud glider he named Anani, but he never found his
+village nor the red tower and with the years passing he spent more and
+more time in Oulian until the death of king Bialden, who, being
+childless his whole life, named Kfir his successor.
+
+
+[sc]: https://www.storycubes.com/