Weekend Oracle-Card Flash Fiction & Dragon Lore

Posted on by Teagan Riordain Geneviene
Saturday, September 12, 2026
Golden apple trees by Teagan via Night Cafe
by Teagan via Night Cafe
Hello, everyone.   I’m trying to finish up my new novelette, and if I can make it, finish an old non-fiction slang dictionary that I put aside last September.  So this is just a quick, off the cuff post and flash fiction, written at the last minute. I didn’t take time away from other projects to spiff it up or proof it.  But then… shouldn’t flash fiction be done in a flash?  That said, here we go. 

I used the World Dragon Oracle cards, and drew a single card.

Ladon
Dragon Lore:  Greek dragon Ladon represents the ultimate guardian of divine wisdom, higher consciousness, and the threshold of immortality.  In mythology Ladon is the Guardian of the Golden Apples in the Garden of Hesperides.  Herakles (one of the Greek heroes and son of Zeus) slays him in order to steal the apples.  Then goddess Hera places Ladon’s spirit in the sky as the constellation Draco.

Apples of Gold

An Oracle-Card Inspired Vignette

A sweet scent wafted on the early morning breeze.  As she stepped out from the backdoor, Trinity Roy lifted her head, inhaling the air.  By the time she had gotten back the night before — her first night in her new home, it was too late to explore the grounds.
“Best have a look around before it gets too hot,” she said aloud, moving past the gridwork shadows cast by the pergola.
She set off down the old path, strolling between mounds of creeping succulents with delicate yellow flowers that mostly covered their stone boundaries.  The path turned downhill and she rounded a curve beside a gardening shed.  Trinity stopped in astonishment.
“Apple trees?” she murmured at a thick tangle of trees whose aroma tickled her nose.
A wispy cloud drifted away from the low sun and its light hit directly on the apples.  Trinity’s jaw went slack.  The apples weren’t simply yellow, like the golden delicious variety.  They seemed to be made of actual gold.
The angle and brightness of the sun made it difficult to see.  In the east, things were either too bright to make out in the glare, or it rendered them too dark in the stark contrast created by the sun.  Trinity shifted her position, squinting.  Something nagged at her, something obscured by the brilliant light.
Shielding her eyes Trinity looked again.  The golden apples, reflecting the light… when she backed away a few paces, the way the light hit the apples made them blur together.  The randomly growing fruit made a pattern that looked like the outline of a golden dragon.

The end.

  Have a wonderful weekend.  Friendly comments are welcome.  Hugs!
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Oh, but wait!  Here’s the obligatory shameless self-promotion.  This is another urban fantasy in a small town — but it’s on the other side of the country.

Atonement, Tennessee

Here’s Robbie Cheadle‘s book review on Amazon.

Universal Purchase Links
Series Link:  relinks.me/B087JV25JT Kindle:  relinks.me/B00HGWKRA8 Paperback:  relinks.me/1481826948
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This blog is entirely human-written.  Furthermore, the author expressly prohibits any entity from using this publication for purposes of training AI technologies to generate text.    This is a work of fiction.  Characters, names, places, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, locales, or events is entirely coincidental.

Copyright © 2026 by Teagan Ríordáin Geneviene

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25 thoughts on “Weekend Oracle-Card Flash Fiction & Dragon Lore”

  1. What a magical little journey, Teagan! I loved the imagery of the golden apples catching the morning light and gradually revealing the shape of a dragon. There’s something wonderful about how you turned a single oracle card into a scene filled with mystery and possibility.

    Sometimes the shortest stories leave the imagination wandering the longest. Beautifully done! Wishing you a wonderful weekend and much success finishing your new projects. Hugs!

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    1. You are so kind, Mihran — thank you. The “world” or “story-verse” of this story is my “Dragons of Cronesboro” (unfinished) which I did a few posts about early this year. Then my OneDrive backup system went crazy and destroyed 2 years of books-in-progress along with the research and notes. Now I can’t seem to get anywhere with that story. This scene was the first time I’ve been able to write anything at all for that story. Losing the research and notes for it was a big setback.

      Anyhow, thanks for reading and commenting. Hugs. 🤗

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    1. Or, if they are actually gold, are they gold all the time? Or If they are actually gold, what happens if one eats them? Does one poop change (quarters and dimes)? LOL, I think I’m so tired that I’m punchy now, Liz. 😀

      I’m happy that you enjoyed this. Hugs!

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    1. Thanks, Resa. Sadly the 1920s nonfiction I had been trying to build up (95% finished) is gone forever. (It wasn’t slang, but it was lots of details about the era, mostly meant for writers.) I’ve been afraid to mention anything else I’m working on since that stinkin’ OneDrive disaster. It even damaged the “registry” part inside my computer…

      Anyhow the nonfiction I mentioned today is something I mostly did almost 2 years ago — now it’s primarily a formatting task. But it’s a huge amount of work… and if I can’t finish it within the next few days, it needs to go back on the shelf until next year, due to a date/occasion involved. I might as well tell you — I want it to publish just before International Talk Like a Pirate Day, which is Sept 19th. It’s a book of pirate slang, and — the bigger part of it is a sort of Who’s Who of pirates. I have a loooooootttt of formatting to finish because it was a very rough draft when I finished pulling everything together.

      Thanks for your latest murals post. It’s splendid! Hugs winging back to you.

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      1. LOL!
        Pirate Slang… only you Teagan. And that is so cool. Now I would LOVE some spicy Pirate slant to prate with.

        I wonder if it will be done this year?
        Anyway.. enjoy the work, however long it takes!
        Thanks again about my street art post!
        Hugs!

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    1. It makes me happy that you enjoyed it, Darlene. Thanks for the luck — I need it! Then nonfiction is something I mostly did almost 2 years ago — it’s primarily a formatting task. But it’s huge… and if I can’t finish it within the next few days, it needs to go back on the shelf until next year, due to a date/occasion involved. I thought it was yet another book lost in my OneDrive horror. When I discovered that I had a copy elsewhere, it was really too late to finish it in time, but I decided to give it a try. Hugs.

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  9. It’s about time for me to step out into the yard and look around to see what might have happened overnight. Maybe I’ll skip that step today. Great story, Teagan and your self-promotion is a perfect reminder of a delightful book. Atonement, Tennessee is the first thing of yours that I read, and it anchors the left side of the “Teagan Collection” on my bookshelf.

    I hope you have a wonderful weekend.

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    1. Ha! I hear you about skipping that step today, Dan. Last night’s dreams left me feeling the anxious need to cocoon today. The morning outside work just got postponed.

      Congrats on your cover reveal today! I hope everyone will visit.

      It gives me endless delight to know my books are on that shelf. 📚 Big hugs 🤗

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    1. Thanks very much, Nigel. It’s fun to settle down, gaze at a card, and just write whatever comes to mind.

      That means a lot to me about Atonement, Tennessee. Just yesterday I was reminding myself of some of my emotional issues for which writing some of the characters were a coping strategy. Have a sensational Saturday. Hugs.

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  11. Beautiful, Teagan, and I recommend Atonement, Tennessee and all the series to anybody who hasn’t had the joy of reading them yet. Such beauty and fun! Good luck with both WIP, big hugs and best wishes, dear Teagan. And live to the Scoobies!

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