Thanks to Rochelle for hosting and the minions for reading.
Copyright – Björn Rudberg
After breakfast, he climbed the steep hill to his post in the ramshackle fort that overlooked the valley. He’d built it himself over the course of two years.
Through his spyglass, he surveyed the wide open expanse of the winding river below. Movement near its edge caught his eye. He lowered the spyglass and shouted, “goblins ho!”
His hands wrapped around a wooden lever and he waited, watching the specks at the bottom of the hill, waiting for them to begin their slow ascent.
He yanked hard on the splintering wood. A torrent of heavy boulders thundered down the hill.
Adam Ickes 
January 22nd, 2014 at 10:47 AM
Goblins? Interesting!
January 22nd, 2014 at 12:44 PM
Goblins can make anything interesting. 🙂
January 22nd, 2014 at 11:10 AM
Now we know how rockslides start–Fun story, Adam.
January 22nd, 2014 at 12:45 PM
I blame the goblins. Shouldn’t have been lurking where they don’t belong.
January 22nd, 2014 at 11:47 AM
Goblins? Yeah I heard somewhere it’s goblin’s week… an now you’re killing them off.
January 22nd, 2014 at 12:47 PM
Help control the goblin population. Have your goblin spayed or neutered… or run over by a boulder.
January 22nd, 2014 at 11:54 AM
Awesome! I really like this prompt, and I like your take on it – a nice start to what I am sure is an adventurous story. 🙂
January 22nd, 2014 at 12:48 PM
I wasn’t thinking about that, but you’re right. This story could be the beginning of a crazy adventure.
January 22nd, 2014 at 1:11 PM
It certainly sounds like the episode from an exciting life.
January 22nd, 2014 at 1:29 PM
You just got the gears turning…. now I have a whole new story in my head asking to be written… as if it wasn’t crowded enough in there already.
January 22nd, 2014 at 3:36 PM
Haha I know the feeling. My idea book is near to bursting at the moment. It’s hard to stick to one project and finish it when I have so many other tantalizing ideas to pursue!
January 22nd, 2014 at 11:56 AM
You’ve got to watch those goblins – and be sure to strike first. I’m glad you realise this. Great story.
January 22nd, 2014 at 12:49 PM
Sneaky goblins need to be dealt with swifty. Otherwise a problem of missing children may arise.
January 22nd, 2014 at 1:55 PM
Yay!Strike one to the hero!Goblins,you evil critters,no easy spoils for you this time 😀 A great story in here Adam-loving it already 🙂
January 22nd, 2014 at 7:34 PM
Have to stay ahead of those sneaky critters. Good to stay uphill from them.
January 23rd, 2014 at 1:38 AM
So true,he!he!
January 22nd, 2014 at 4:27 PM
Never attack uphill is my motto. Boulders – a tried and tested way of squashing your adversaries! Goblin purée 🙂
January 22nd, 2014 at 7:35 PM
That’s a good motto. Also, never use boulders as your primary attack method… too difficult to reload.
January 22nd, 2014 at 4:44 PM
I got the feeling this was a childhood story, not a fantasy story. It would be nice to know if that was right, and if so, what (or who) his victims actually were, but I enjoyed it as it stands too.
January 22nd, 2014 at 7:41 PM
You’re sort of right. It originally started out as a kid with an overactive imagination, but as I went it kind of morphed into something a bit different, something much too big for 100 words to handle (happens a lot with me). I envision a boy who slips back and forth between two words: the normal, boring world and a world full of mystery and monsters. Only the second world isn’t his imagination like it was originally intended to be. I’m not sure if the worlds are linked in some way, but if they are I’m sure there is a group of people somewhere who died in a landslide.
January 23rd, 2014 at 11:56 AM
Wow, that sounds more like a novel than 100 word story. I hope you go on to write it sometime!
January 23rd, 2014 at 3:16 PM
I hope so too. It sounds like a fun story. I added it to my idea book, which is already bursting at the seams. Only time will tell if it ever gets written. I’m betting it probably will at some point. Though, there are certainly more than a few things above it in the constantly shifting queue.
January 22nd, 2014 at 4:53 PM
Poor little goblins. I guess one day they may make it up. Good story.
January 22nd, 2014 at 7:44 PM
If they were a bit smarter they’d attack in multiple waves. I’m sure its rather difficult to setup a new round of boulders to release down the hill. Maybe one day they’ll figure that out.
January 22nd, 2014 at 6:13 PM
Goblins? Hope there isn’t a counter insurgence of trolls from bellow. At least he has the uphill advantage.
January 22nd, 2014 at 7:47 PM
If there a trolls, I hope he’s ready for them… or at least ready to run.
January 22nd, 2014 at 7:50 PM
Yes hope he’s spry.
January 22nd, 2014 at 6:14 PM
sounds like a fun after breakfast activity! loved this. 🙂
January 22nd, 2014 at 7:47 PM
Goblin bowling. Get ’em all and win a prize!
January 22nd, 2014 at 7:47 PM
Goblins absolutely do make everything interesting. My goal one day is to write sci fi/fantasy. I’ve realized that it will be best for me to start more “realistically” – as I build my muscles. 🙂 But my heart lies in fantasy!
January 22nd, 2014 at 7:52 PM
Don’t hold yourself back by only writing reality. If you want to write scifi/fantasy, the only way you’ll get better is by actually writing it. Writing realistically may give you a base to work with, but fantasy is about breaking the rules of reality, so I say jump whole hog into the world you want to create. Even if you stick to scifi/fantasy in little exercises like Friday Fictioneers or in stories you keep for your eyes only for now. Never limit yourself to somewhere you don’t actually want to be.
January 23rd, 2014 at 3:18 AM
Bad goblins! I can just imagine them squealing and flailing their spindly arms about, trying to escape the boulder-attack! this was a fun read! 😀
January 23rd, 2014 at 8:54 AM
that is quite the picture you’ve painted. I kind of feel bad for them now.
January 23rd, 2014 at 9:05 AM
Haha! Don’t feel too bad though, they’re goblins after all. I never did like them, least of all as a child reading Enid Blyton’s stories! 😀
January 23rd, 2014 at 7:13 AM
Poor goblins. What if they were just stopping by for tea?
January 23rd, 2014 at 8:54 AM
Goblins rarely stop by for tea, especially when traveling in groups.
January 23rd, 2014 at 12:10 PM
I could almost see him there, tattered and tired, waiting for the inevitable script to once again be played out. Nicely done!
January 23rd, 2014 at 3:07 PM
Crushing goblins with boulders is a tough job, but somebody’s got to do it.
January 23rd, 2014 at 12:12 PM
I knew goblins exist – I am sure they have been sewing all my jeans tighter after Christmas!
Nice take on the prompt,
Liebe Grüße
Carmen
January 23rd, 2014 at 3:08 PM
I’m sure that’s just one of the things we can blame on the mischievous little goblins.
January 23rd, 2014 at 1:17 PM
Sounds like the kind of man I’d want on my side were I to face a fantastical situation. Great story!
January 23rd, 2014 at 3:10 PM
Always good to have a person like that downhill from you. 🙂
January 23rd, 2014 at 4:21 PM
ha, ha. So true. So true.
January 23rd, 2014 at 1:47 PM
An action packed 100 words!
January 23rd, 2014 at 3:10 PM
Thanks, Dawn.
January 23rd, 2014 at 1:59 PM
Your stories always make me think of Game of Thrones. Well written and a fine job of building the action and suspense… However, strategically I’d have waited until they were a little further up the hill, draw more of them out, before releasing the boulders. Ultimately, I would have fled. 😉
January 23rd, 2014 at 3:12 PM
Would you believe I’ve never read (or watched) Game of Thrones? I probably should get on that. Sounds like something that would be right up my alley.
You’re right about strategy, but he’s young yet and hasn’t learned all of the proper ways of squashing goblins.
January 23rd, 2014 at 5:31 PM
Right! Yes, you should READ GoT… warning, be prepared to give up all of your free time. You can’t put them down!
January 23rd, 2014 at 7:14 PM
Free time? What is that?
January 23rd, 2014 at 8:01 PM
Oh… right. I’m working on my short story for the Tipsy Lit contest Saturday… and trying to figure out what i’ll do with the photo prompt you sent me. 😉 (No, I haven’t forgotten.)
January 23rd, 2014 at 3:59 PM
Goblins…only slightly less troublesome than zombies…boulders are a good plan
January 24th, 2014 at 7:00 AM
In my opinion goblins are a bit more troublesome than zombies on the basis that they are capable of thought and therefore have the potential to be much more dangerous.
January 24th, 2014 at 7:43 AM
Good point
January 23rd, 2014 at 5:13 PM
This reminds me of the part of “Swiss Family Robinson” where they roll the logs down on (I think) pirates. 🙂 Nice that goblins are squashable and don’t require something more complex. If I might grammar nit-pick just a little? “Goblins ho.”
janet
January 24th, 2014 at 7:02 AM
Goblins are certainly squashable. Ogres on the other hand… well this would have been an entirely different story if it had been ogres.
January 23rd, 2014 at 10:16 PM
Sounds like a fyne recipe for Goblin mash. Gravity can make a weapon out of anything. Fun story!
January 24th, 2014 at 7:03 AM
Who doesn’t like a good goblin mash in the morning? Good for what ails ya.
January 23rd, 2014 at 11:41 PM
Ohhhh! I’m hooked – this is good and sounds like the base for a good movie or book too! Thanks, Nan
January 24th, 2014 at 7:04 AM
It certainly does, and hopefully I get around to writing it one of these days.
January 24th, 2014 at 4:17 AM
Dear Adam,
All the comments have been taken. So I’ll say I agree…a fun read. Goblins ho! I’ll be on the lookout for the novel. 😉
shalom,
Rochelle
January 24th, 2014 at 7:05 AM
You might be waiting awhile for that novel. By the time it gets written this story with be but a vague memory.
January 24th, 2014 at 4:36 AM
Great story and reminiscent of a lot of young lives.
January 24th, 2014 at 7:07 AM
You were a goblin squasher too? How fun! I never had a hill big enough to smash ’em properly.
January 24th, 2014 at 5:53 AM
Goblins, ho! What a great interpretation of the photo prompt!
January 24th, 2014 at 7:07 AM
Thanks, Jan. I’m glad you enjoyed it.
January 24th, 2014 at 7:55 AM
Great take, Adams and well written.
January 24th, 2014 at 8:35 AM
Your anti-hero will get his – I’m a friend of the goblins… just sayin! Great story, Adam!
January 24th, 2014 at 9:21 AM
That’s using gravity to its maximum potential. Way to go, Adam.
January 25th, 2014 at 8:34 PM
That’s a great way to deal with those pesky goblins! I wonder, though, who re-loads. 😉
Thanks for the comments on mine.
January 25th, 2014 at 8:35 PM
That’s the trouble with boulders, eh? That pesky reload procedure. I hope they have time to get things back in order before they need them again.
January 25th, 2014 at 9:08 PM
This guy sounds like fun. Nothing like a good bolder-rolling.
January 26th, 2014 at 5:16 AM
Good idea! But there’s always a sneaky one who gets through. 😉
January 27th, 2014 at 10:03 AM
I could just see this happening, Adam. Fun story. Will anyone be able to outsmart this guy?