I won a (tiny) writing contest

[Warrl]

Over on Scribophile. The prompt for the six-day contest was "hermetic" - interpretation left to the authors - and we were supposed to try for under 100 words and definitely stay under 200. My entry, 120 words written and edited in about 10 minutes, was probably the shortest of the seven submissions.

I decided to try to cram in several interpretations of the prompt. I got three, although one of them is a pun.

Here it is:

Hermetic Seal

The alchemist lived apart, a quarter-day walk from our village, but the rash on my arms felt so much better after he smeared some salve on it that the time and effort was worthwhile. Ma had said to bring a small clay pot, and he filled that with the salve too.

"Thank you, sir," I said, carefully facing him so he could read my lips. He took the fish I offered as payment, and ate it - raw - in two bites.

Then he walked with me to the beach, stopping atop a rock outcropping. I continued homeward.

An odd sound made me look back. A selkie, half-shifted, was diving off the top of the rock and into the sea.

Winning makes me the judge for the next similar contest (there's one almost every week), and also responsible for coming up with the prompt - I chose "terrifyingly ordinary".

[Atomic]

Interesting! So, hermit, seal, and container, yes? Fun stuff! Applause, applause!

Maybe I should get off my butt and sign up for that site too.

[Warrl]

Interesting! So, hermit, seal, and container, yes?

Alchemy is also sometimes referred to as "the Hermetic art", or as one of the "Hermetic sciences" (along with magic and astrology). And my alchemist is deaf - sound doesn't get through to him.

So the guy's a hermetically sealed Hermetic seal hermit.

(Deposits a bottle of aqua regia in the pun vault)