Story Dice - Alberto's Shadow

When he was born, Alberto Vamos was given a present by a mysterious old native american gentleman; a slightly rusty battery operated torch. And whenever Alberto shines that torch upon himself, he casts a long and scary shadow, a shadow with a life of it's own. Alberto's long shadow is called Vikta, and Vikta fights for justice and truth...

Just last week, a local warlock stole all the words for miles around. No one could speak. At first, everyone enjoyed the peace and quiet and they were all having fun drawing up cards and pictures to communicate with one another. But the warlock's all seeing eye saw what they were up to, and stole all the flashcards and felt tip pens as well. Clearly, this was not on. Alberto shone his torch, and unleashed Vikta to sort it out.  And Vikta hid in the early evening sundial and then in the moons shadow, weaving his way in and out of the darkness to get to the warlocks house. Inside, the warlock was buttering some toast, and was a bit surprised when Vikta crept out from behind his golf clubs.

"You've stolen all the voices. Give them back right now."

"Shant." said the Warlock. "All the voices are locked away and only I have the key."

"Well give me the key then."

"If you want this key, you have to defeat me in a battle of wits."

"Fair enough." said Vikta "What has one letter and starts with an E?"

"Ehm..." said the Warlock.

"No. E. One more try."

The Warlock crunched his toast.

"End?"

"Don't be silly." said Vikta "Envelope. I'll have the key please." 

The warlock was nothing if not fair, so he handed over the key.

"Now...where's the lock?"

The Warlock laughed and buttered some more toast.

"I fed the lock to a fish in the river. He'll be miles away by now."

So Vikta went fishing, hiding in the shadows of the stones on the riverbed. He caught many fish and cut them open, but there was no lock. Then he thought to use the key as bait. A silvery green fish leapt straight out of the river and tried to swallow the key.

Vikta caught the fish, and cut it open, and inside was the lock; click...all the words were free and they flew back to where they belonged, though some of them had a bit of an explore first. Vikta brought everyones felt tip pens back as well. 

That night Alberto had fish fingers for tea. 

Alternate - Story Dice Doggerel

The wise fish knows the answer.

He sees all we cannot see,

Between the light and shadow

The edge of you and me.

His magic is the question

That we never dare unlock

His scales shine in the silence 

When we've forgotten how to talk.

Mind the rules? Now write yer own,

Story Dice Fables - A Question

There was a boy who had a question, a Big Question. And for awhile, he thought about it and tried to figure out the answer for himself, but he couldn't. And then for awhile he just kept The Question in his pocket and tried to forget about it, but he couldn't. So he decided he was going to have to investigate and ask someone, even though he was quite worried that people would think he was silly.
First of all, the boy asked his father his question. And his father stroked his beard and said
"Hmm. Well, that's a very good question. I'm not going to tell you the answer, but I tell you who you should ask...your teacher."
So the boy went to his teacher, and gave him an apple just to try and get him on side, and then asked his question.
"Well that's easy." said the teacher "Just think of how the moon hangs in the sky, brightening the dark nights."
The boy wasn't totally convinced. So he went for a walk in the park to think it through, and noticed an old lady sitting on a bench. "Old people know lots of things." he thought, and went over to introduce himself and ask his question. The Old Lady was very pleased to help.
"Well, I'm sure I know the answer to that question...just think of how you get all the wonderful colours of rainbows from single tiny raindrops."
The boy nodded and smiled, but he was mostly just being polite. Although, he did think The Old Lady's answer sounded nicer than the teachers.
"I need to ask the cleverest person in the town." thought the boy. "Everyone says the watchmaker is a bright spark. I'll go his shop and ask him."
The boy asked the Watchmaker his question, and the Watchmaker smiled.
"Well, I hear the answer every day in the silence between the tick and the tock of the clocks, or see it in the first spin of the compass needle as it finds it's way towards magnetic north. But that is my answer. It is not yours."
The boy thought this was meant to sound cleverer than it actually was, and decided to speak to his father again.
"Everyone gave me all different answers," said the boy, "and I've still got this question. I can't get rid of it."
"Wonderful." said the boys father, giving him a hug "And if you are very lucky, you may never find the answers to your question; but you must always keep asking."

Check here for the story dice fables rules.

Story Dice Fables

One of my lovely Christmas gifts was a set of Rory's Story Dice. Dead simple, nine dice, six sides, 54 images, 10 million combinations. Roll dice, make up a story or poem. Children may help.

For better or worse, each year at the top of my resolution list is "write more". This year, it's moved down a notch, it's under "eat less salt n vinegar rice cakes", but it's still up there. The story dice are one of my weapons in this battle. Same as this blog.

The rules are
1 - play whats rolled, nae backsies,
2 - post a photie
3 - blog what's written, nae footering or redrafting

There is no way to verify these rules have been kept obviously, you just have to trust me. And of course, you can play too, check out whats been rolled, tell a different story. That's the first lot up at the top there.

The Forgetful Star
Once upon a time there was a fallen star who had forgotten what she fell for. It had been a long fall and she had bumped her head when she landed - even though it had been quite a soft landing. She decided to find people to help her remember why she fell.
First she came to a garden, and she met a Bee with a broken sting.
"Do you know why I fell?" asked the Star.
"No. But I wish you'd help me fix my sting, I've flowers to visit."
"Sorry. Can't help you there." said the Star. And walked on.
Next she came to a forest and she met a Knight having a little cry.
"Do you know why I fell?" asked the Star.
"No. But I wish you'd help me. I've been sent on a quest far too early in the morning. A evil witchlord and his pet sphinx have stolen the Queen's Silver Arrow she uses as a table centrepiece. I must retrieve it from the pyramid in the lost desert. But I hate getting sand in my shoes."
"Sorry. Can't help you there." said the Star. And walked on.
It grew dark and stormy, lightning flashed, lighting up the rooftops of a nearby village. As the Star walked towards it, she found a little torch lying by an old postbox.
"Do you know why I fell?"
"No. But I wish you'd help me see in the dark. I'm scared."
"Sorry. Can't help you there. But if you want to walk with me for awhile, I'll shine on you."
The Star walked on til morning and found herself back at the field where she had first fallen.
Only now, she noticed there was a sheep there as well, looking rather poorly.
"Hello. Do YOU know why I fell?" asked the Star.
"Yes." said the Sheep "You're for wishing on. But I wish you hadn't fallen on me."
And the Star remembered. The bees sting sharpened, the Knight got some armoured flip flops and the torch beamed. But the Sheep still had quite a sore head.
"Thank you." smiled the Star.
"No problem." said the Sheep. "Glad I could give you a hand."