Mushroom Men fiction: 'The Legend of Shiitake'

[Christopher J. Oatis is the grand prize winner of Gamecock's and Space Squid's Mushroom Men fiction contest. He's a the proud winner of many things, among them this writer's dream come true -- having their work printed on Destructoid. Congratulations, Christopher! -- Nick]

Since the Spore Wars, the mushroom men of the Bolete tribe have passed down the legend of Shiitake. A mushroom with no origins, the only one of his kind, or maybe just some dinner leftovers someone sneaked through customs on their way back from Japan right before the comet came -- no one was ever sure. The Bolete of the Dandelion Forest just knew he was different.

It wasn’t until the staff of brown herbs fell into their village that they knew his true value. Shiitake was one of the few that never inhaled the smoke pouring out of the flaming staff. He was the one asking all the right questions. “Where has it come from? Is it clouding our minds? Why are you all craving to breathe it after meals and right after you release your spores?”

The Bolete gave him no answers. Instead, they became irritable. They turned on each other. Some Bolete broke off from the tribe to seek out the brown herbs, with their only clues being the strange symbols on the side of the staff. Some staffs were engraved with the symbols C-i-g-a-r-e-t-t-e. Others only had the image of a four-legged beast on the side, or symbols that had been burnt away.

Shiitake started warning them that the only large beasts they need to worry about were the spider mounts the Amanitas tribe had been gathering on the Great Northern Lawn Chair Ridge. “Soon they will charge, and your people will be scattered about, grasping for foolishness.” view full story + comments