The sun rose above the old mall. Above it, a monorail used to take visitors between the major sights of the city, ending up on the roof of the mall. The leftovers of the tracks created an indent in the ceiling that cast a peculiar shadow across the cracked pavement.

Assandra stirred in her sleep, her dreams haunted by memories of the past. She missed the sound of the monorail, the way it would echo through the city. The city was different now. It was darker, lonelier.

Bandit, Assandra’s capybara friend, poked his head out of the shopping cart he was using as a bed.

“Hey, Bandit,” Assandra said, sitting up.

Bandit waddled over to her and she scratched him behind the ears.

“Let’s follow the old monorail tracks” Assandra said. “Maybe they’ll lead us somewhere.”

Bandit nodded and Assandra got up to follow him.

The tracks led them to the old city hall. The building was in shambles, but it was still standing.

“I remember this place,” Assandra said. “My parents brought me here for a tour when I was a kid.”

The tracks continued into the center of the building. Assandra and Bandit climbed the stairs to the top.

The view from the roof was incredible. They could see for miles in every direction.

More Assandra & Capybara stories

Background & Comments

This story is part of the Assandra & Capybara series .

The story ends rather abruptly with the protagonists on the roof of the old city hall. The reason is that the model contined to produce variations of “let’s rebuild the city” after the last part, even with a very high level of randomness. This wasn’t super interesting, so I just left it at this.

I added some extra text in the middle of the story (marked in bold as usual) to guide the story.

“I know, we’ll have to find something soon” Assandra said.

Suddenly, they heard a loud noise. It sounded like something was moving. They hid behind a pile of rubble and waited.

After a few moments, they heard the noise again. It was getting closer. They both held their breath and waited.

Then, they saw it. It was a huge creature, walking on two legs. It was taller than any human they had ever seen. It was wearing some kind of armor and had a sword and shield.

The creature was coming towards them. They could see the fear in each other’s eyes. They were going to die.

But then, the creature stopped and spoke in a voice that was kind and gentle. “Do not be afraid,” it said. “I am here to help.”

Bandit and Assandra were so relieved that they started to cry. The creature said its name was Alex and that it was a warrior from another land. It said that it had been looking for a place to live and that it would like to stay with them.

Alex helped them rebuild the city and they all lived together in peace.

More Assandra & Capybara stories

Background

Part 1 of this tale of Assandra and capybara set the stage. Part 2 was seeded with a general description of the characters (Assandra and the capybara Bandit) as well as the setting (the ruins of a city).

The text marked in bold is the text that started the new part of the story.

“We did this to ourselves”, she thought.

The capybara looked up at her with mournful eyes.

“I know”, she said, “but we’ll find a way to fix it.”

The capybara nodded and they set off into the ruined city.

…

Asandra had always been a survivor. She was born in the slums of the city, and had learned how to take care of herself at an early age. When the city was destroyed, she was one of the few who managed to escape.

She had wandered for days, until she came to the ruins of her old city. It was a wasteland. The buildings were destroyed, the streets were empty, and the sky was dark. Asandra was about to give up hope when she saw a capybara watching her from a distance.

The capybara was wild and timid, but it was also the only friend Asandra had in the wasteland. She named him Bandit and the two of them set out to find a way to rebuild the city.

More Assandra & Capybara stories

Background

This short story came about when I asked my wife for a character and a setting, and she came up with “post-apocalyptic”, “Assandra – with two s’es” and “a capybara”.

I then proceeded to write the intro marked with bold.