Sunday, October 6, 2024

WEP Halloween Horrorfest






Write Edit Publish has been on sorta sabatical the last few months, but the site has decided to do a special flash post for Halloween.

I'm down; got my story concept. I love Halloween for stories anyways. I love ghastly, bloody horror and thats what I'm gonna write. What would you write/publish for Halloween? Ya know, just for fun.

My entry is shorter than the allowed 1000 words because I'm just out of time to post. I hope its acceptable though.

Title: Dreamer
Genre: horror
word count: 495
All critique acceptable
Tag line: a warriors dream leaves no haven for friends

In the distance bombs burst and flashed, a lightning strobe of orange flames. We ignored the cacophony, the war was no longer our concern. Only the narrow cave mouth drew our attention. Rogers and Shane dropped their automatic weapons and began passing out wooden masks from their packs. Flanning and Peters accepted theirs with dubious looks.

“Put them on” I insisted, securing mine to my head. “We all agreed – too late to back out. By now everyone knows we are deserters and they could have already tracked us here.”

Both men nodded and followed my lead. None of them were certain this was a half buried aqueduct leading to the depths of a temple altar, but they were used to following my lead. I have a sixth sense about dangers, and never get lost in a forest or city.

Rogers handed each of us a torch that stank of fuel oil. We’d light them once inside. The purpose of the masks was to let the Aztec God Huitzilopochtli know we were true worshipers, not Spanish looters. I wasn’t sure how well the masks would protect doubters Flanning and Peters, but I believed.

The dreams were so vivid, so convincing.

I checked the machete looped around my right shoulder, sliding it out slightly and reveling in the smooth pull. The others also checked their weapons – knives, daggers, Peters with a hatchet. I nodded readiness and pushed the others ahead. The feeling of the dreams was stronger now, anxiously pulling at my consciousness.

This was my destiny. My birthright as one of Montezuma’s descendants. I plunged into the thick darkness, screaming laughter.

It wasn’t dark inside. Or quiet. Glittering gold light and echoes bounced off the rock walls. Screams and chanting assaulted me. I called the names of my men, but couldn’t discern an answer. I fumbled in my shirt pocket for my Zippo and lit the torch. The whomp of the ignited fuel seem to silence the echoes and dissolve the light. I called for the men again.

Wooden faces lept at me from the walls. In a panic I dropped the torch and slashed this way and that with the machete. Once I felt a soft impact of something being impaled on the blade, and a voice whispered “NO!” Was that Shane?

Orange light flickered in the distance and I dashed after it. Another voice crooned to me. “This way; hurry,” it urged. The voice from my dreams.

Wet things slithered from the walls and under my feet. Wooden faces and ghostly touches pushed me onward when I fell. Finally I descended into a lower chamber. An altar stood before me, a ring of torch light above. A man lay on across the altar, thrashing and screaming in terror. Flanning.

“The sacrifice,” the Dreamer’s voice suggested.

I tasted the words as they came from my lips. “Yes,” I agreed making my own blood sacrifice with a cut across my forearm. “All of them.”



Friday, August 16, 2024

BotB: Thousand Years





In support of my dear friend Saint Mac (aka Stephen T McCarthy) I decided to post to this Battle of the Bands session with my version of a tribute to our lost blogger friend Far Away Eyes of the blog Far Away Series. I've know FAE for several years, but I can't entirely remember where I met her in the Blogs. Romantic Friday Writers? Maybe even before that?

A long long time ago I was a part of several prompt writing blogs that no longer exist. They were more like open Writers Group. We'd post to prompts where everyone added a line or paragraph to the shared story, or invent concepts where everyone did some research to justify. And we'd share our own writing progress. Long time ago, things that just died out over time. Somewhere in those first few blogs I participated in (2007 or so) is where I think I first met/friended FAE.

Anyway, I friended FAE long before BotB, before IWSG, or Write Edit Publish or . . lol, long long ago. FAE is one of the first online/blogger friends I met IRL. I visited her during my travels at a few of her homes - she moved a lot. She was such a character. Had a vivid outlandish life. I really enjoyed her company, both online and in person. We had great talks about family, life, writing, and the crazy shit we did in our younger days. I loved listening to all her stories, real and created, and sometimes I could not tell the difference.

Maybe I should have made this post a year ago, but FAE had become reclusive and family oriented during the last year of her life and I respected her wishes. I was happy to see some of her family's Face Book posts about her last days with them; the love that was rekindled, the relationships that were mended, the joy FAE gave and received. We should all be grateful to be that loved and cherished at the end of our days.

I'm hoping FAE would approve of my choice of a battle on this day. A message I'm sure she would send to all her family, friends, and online community. And, I send this to FAE, my friend. I miss you.

First up is the original artist Christina Perri singing A THOUSAND YEARS. Christina Perri's song "A Thousand Years" is about the romance between Bella and Edward in The Twilight Saga. Perri wrote the song with her best friend David Hodges after seeing the movie. The song plays during the credits of The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn—Part 1, and fans adopted it as their anthem for the couple's love story. wiki source

If you really know FAE, you know she was sooo into The Twilight Saga. She loved all things YA romance, but this vampire romance in particular. We had some interesting conversations about this Saga over wine and pizza. Yes I've seen the movies (I  have grandchildren of the female persuasion, but I have not read the books.) So, it seems fitting to post the Twilight Saga video. Forwarned,  here's a virtual tissue. Yep, I cry when I listen to this sappy song.

A THOUSAND YEARS by Christina Perri




Its probably unfair to give a popular, well known artist cover a place in the battle, but FAE loved the controversy and had a stubborn streak when it came to matters of opinion. One of the traits I adored most about our conversations. So here I am, a die hard Metal music fan - but when it comes to evocative Romancey type music, well I'm all about the Pop stars. And James Arthur can sing anything to me, and my saggy boobs and butt will melt to his crooning. No alcohol needed to make me sing along. One of those "guilty pleasures" things.


A THOUSAND YEARS by James Arthur



So there's my battle of the bands submission. Click the linky here to find other BotB participants. And please, don't forget to leave a comment and vote for your favorite version of A THOUSAND YEARS.

Thursday, July 4, 2024

COLLECTED STORIES OF AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE

 Happy Fourth of July to all my citizen friends.