Wordle Quest 388

Every morning, a Wordler sets out on a quest for the five-letter word that can protect Wordler Village for one more day…

✍ Based on Wordle 388 ✍

Wordler 388 tucked herself into a trembling ball. The air had started to grow chill as soon as she’d entered the canyons. Now, a wind of razor-sharp icicles seemed to tear through her thin jacket to slash the skin from her bones.

The light was dying. Somewhere behind the trees, the sun was going down.

“Must keep moving,” she told her legs, but her quivering limbs held no hope of supporting her weight. “I can still do this. I just need a little more time.”

“Not a scattering of photons,” proclaimed a crow on an overhead branch.

“Not strength and power,” said another.

388 groaned. “The Rhyme Zone. I should have known.”

More crows arrived.

“Not vision.”

“Not a number.”

“Not a battle.”

“Not a ghost.”

Even more crows arrived. 388 tried to hit two of three of them with a single stone, but they just kept coming. They chorused and jeered at 388 as the light continued to dim.

“Here it comes,” 388 whispered. “Other Wordlers have gotten to this point, where all seems dark, and a last-minute epiphany has delivered the Word that’s saved our village. It will happen for me, too. If I just need to keep my faith. If I just—”

The last bit of sunlight vanished like a dying candle. Under a blanket of stars, the crows of the Rhyme Zone held a feast.

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