Carcinographic Classifieds
By Chase Anderson
Pallas landed heavily on the dark rocks, unyielding despite her great weight. She pitched forward and fluttered her wings, shifting her center of gravity as she eased onto all fours. Her old bones creaked under the strain. Whatever, this should be a quick stop.
She crawled down the familiar path; the journey now took much longer than it had centuries ago, when she last came to the island. Escaping steam and volcanic gases blasted the salt off her amber scales. She didn’t feel the heat, or much of anything through the thickness of her hide, the slowness of her thoughts. But there was still some life in her.
Once she crested the hill, bone-white sands of the beach below greeted her. Her gaze was drawn to black pebbles, neatly arranged into a message that swallowed the sun’s heat. It left a glowing picture, even deep into the night.
LOOKING FOR DRAGONESS WITH BLUE SCALES I saw you across the atoll you kept glancing my way. I wanted to stare at you more but the pack of dolphins wasn’t going to stay long and I was hungry. When I surfaced you were gone. Would love to meet up and get a bite to eat. Hopefully something not so rubbery.
Pallas only noticed her extended exhalation when smoke obscured her vision. It was always dragonets with more eggs than sense, leaving messages that would never reach their intended recipient. She settled down and drew upon her magic, commanding the crabs to work. They tugged at the stones, dismantling the words one by one.
The crashing of waves upon the shore almost muffled the sounds of Rhox’s crash-landing, but only just. Aer snout popped above the water, allowing the dragon a gulped breath; renewed, ae pulled aerself ashore. The bright sun dried out aer cerulean wings as ae rested.
The island was supposed to be a quick jaunt from the archipelago, a prime meeting place for dragons across the vast sea. Rhox listened, felt, but there were no signs of anyone else. Maybe they were elsewhere, also napping in the sun.
Ae turned to the wind and jumped, allowing the breeze to catch aer wings and buoy aer aloft. Ae circled the island several times, looking for movement, noise, some sign that anyone else was there. But the only other living things were crabs chasing after aer shadow. It was hard not to feel disappointed.
After the fourth pass ae finally noticed stones in the sand, laid out in a way too organized to be by chance. It took another circle or two to find the right angle and recognize the shapes as letters in that language all dragons knew.
MATURE DRAGON LOOKING FOR COMPANION New to area and want to meet new dragons. Open to all types but must be able to handle a dragoness of my age. Not looking for anything serious, but would be open to the right someone. Must NOT have hatchlings in the nest! Been there, done that, ready to enjoy my golden years distraction-free.
Rhox shook aer head. Ae did not want to think whose mother—or, stars forbid, grandmother—it could be. Or what ae would do if ae found out it was aer mother. Or grandmother. Jump in a volcano, probably.
So, to save anyone from such a fate, ae got to work directing the crabs to erase that message. It would give aer plenty of time to figure out how ae would word aer own words as well. There was just enough space for a few lines; any more risked being erased by the tide. Rhox’s words had to be memorable, moving. The future of the clan rested on aer mission succeeding.
Every day, Baloryx would check on the island to see if his dragoness was there. And every day, his message was not answered, nor was anyone waiting for him. He knew it was a long shot, but it was difficult to meet anyone out here on the islands. Besides, he really couldn’t go asking around if anyone had seen a blue dragon. He’d look like a total creep.
All of that became sidetracked after a particular nasty storm. The fallen palm tree didn’t break or tear anything, but his wing was too damaged to fly any distance. He waited anxiously, praying his dragoness wasn’t waiting for him to arrive. The moment he felt up to it, he pushed himself to fly out to the island, hoping, praying, things would work out.
As he approached, his eyes locked onto the stones of the message. As he got closer, he recognized it wasn’t his own. It took several heart-wrenching minutes for him to get close enough to make out the shapes, for the letters to become legible.
<<Aquaforce>> is a future 10 dragon raiding guild focused on clearing content, especially seasonal events. Looking for both PVE and social members. LF high-level culinarian and EXPERIENCED raid lead!!!
Some hatchling had erased his heartfelt message searching for his soulmate, just to find some buddies to torch pirates and livestock! Ridiculous. But perhaps Baloryx hadn’t been specific enough; he hadn’t said what he looked like. Maybe his dragoness was confusing him for some other male, one with worse hunting skills, a duller hide.
Patience was a virtue, his mother had told him. Nothing of value was gained easily, he’d heard elsewhere. So once more he landed on the beach and directed the crabs. This time there’d be no doubt as to the intended recipient. As long as there were crabs on this beach, he would keep trying, until he got his dragoness and his happily-ever-after.
Chase Anderson is a weird, queer, digital storyteller who writes weird, queer stories. He dropped out of chemical engineering to pursue a journalism degree and escape calculus. He draws inspiration from biology, chemistry, medicine, history, and whatever his neurochemicals are doing today. He lives in the San Francisco Bay Area, where he handles eCommerce integrations, marketing, spreadsheet wrangling, and identification of his coworkers’s backyard birds. Find his writing and more at chasej.xyz.