Jack The Drought Novels & Stories

It became sharper and quieter. His lips parting to his signature bandit grin, Jack leisurely placed his right on the saddle horn. "The weather is looking really bad today. I hope you've got enough beer stored to sit out the storm. The towns are deserted till miles from here, so you might not be able to stock up soon. And right" he laughed a grumbling, carefree laugh as if there wasn't a single worry on his mind, "You might also need a bottle or two of stronger liquor for the wounded! I bet Dragsa won't go easy on you!"

"The house still has a mortgage. Savings are crap. If I take it, you'll still come sniffing for more. And Willy? He's clearly on your team. Same old Jack—cheap as ever. Lemme guess, Jenny helped you rehearse this?" Jack ignored the jab. Just kept rambling. "Yeah, there's a mortgage. But the location's solid. You could rent it out. Paying it off won't be hard." I snorted. "Easy for you to say. I've been making those payments solo. You haven't dropped a dime." Jack hadn't had a real job in five years. Just bounced between random gigs for beer money. Never once stepped up. If I hadn't seen him babying Jenny, I would have figured he was just emotionally dead.

I shouted, rage boiling up. Jack smirked. "So your ignorance is to blame. Tell me—has anything gone right since you met this pathetic thing?" He nodded at Lina. "First there was the drought. Then beasts. Then black fog. And now me. You sent away the only person keeping your territory from being overrun. It's hilarious." "No... No, no..." I felt the room tilt around me.

Drake said with a sigh. “What is it?” *** “Another,” Jack casually said as he finished his third bottle of alcohol, as a minor this wasn’t supposed to be but he had his ways to get what he wanted. “Yeesh kid, are you trying to get yourself killed? You’re not even an Ancient nor an adult but here you are downing liquor like water! This has gotta be unacceptable! Hey madam! Why not stop?!” A kind middle-aged man decided to interfere before Jack drowned himself in alcohol

Jade scratched her head as she walked down the stairs. She hadn't looked in a mirror since she woke up but she was sure she looked very untidy. She had overslept and had had a pleasant dream. Her mouth was plastered with dried drool and her hair was in a tangled mess. Her eyes were probably swollen from her very long and peaceful sleep. She knew she was supposed to wash up first but she woke up feeling very thirsty. If she didn't drink water, she reasoned she'd turn to stone. So it didn't matter how heavy her legs were and how messy she looked she trudged towards the kitchen to get a drink.

he said, taking my drink from my hand. “What are you doing?” I looked from him to the drink he’d sat on the table beside me, then back to him. “How am I supposed to survive the night without the assistance of alcohol?” “Easy.” Jack pulled me toward the horde of townsfolk. “You dance.” “Wait a minute, pal.” I pulled back and planted my feet on the ground. “I don’t dance.” “You cannot expect me to just stand by and watch a pretty girl die of boredom,” Jack said as he continued to pull me. My shoes gave no traction at all, so it was an easy task. “That’s gotta be a crime in at least three states.”

Casey said and Annabella nodded "Jack woke early every morning. He milked the cow, poured the milk into a jug and set off to the dairy. The milk was only worth a few pennies, but Jack didn’t mind. He happily accepted the pennies from the dairy farmer, bought a few potatoes from the market and returned home. Jack did this everyday. The milk from the cow was just enough to help Jack and his mother get by. One year a terribly harsh winter hit the village. Great howling winds blew and the snow lay in huge drifts—never before seen by the villagers.

he mutters. "You quit?" Jack nods. "Yeah. Last year. I hate smoking. But at times like this, it’s the only thing stopping me from hating everything else. It gives the hands something to do." "Yeah," I say, looking out over the manicured lawn. "Grief can do that. It rewrites the rules." Jack turns his head, fixing me with a dull stare. "Have you lost anyone before? Anyone close?" "No," I admit. I’ve been lucky, or perhaps just isolated.