- Campfire -

The door opened and the bell sounded as a man stepped in. Suzy turned up from the inventory sheet to see who had entered their magic shop. A place of crystals, tarot, psychic readings and all the herbs and mystic incense you could find. All wrapped in a modern yet charming shop that had a fake tree branching off one wall and covering the ceiling with plastic autumn leaves. She moved from the counter to the front of the store.

“Hello, can I help you find something” she smiled apprehensively.

The man wore a black leather jacket, black hair in a modern greaser style and was smacking gum to build a jaw of steel. He was tall and in good shape with wide shoulders.

He smiled through his chewing and picked up an obsidian obelisk “Yeah yeah, this protect against negative things?”

“uh, yes, it can help ward off negative energy and - “

He grabbed a basket and threw the crystal in and moved to some selenite and picked up one in the shape of a heart “this too?”

Suzy nodded and he threw it in the basket.

“Can I ask what you are needing them for?”

“You got anything to cleanse the space, like some santo, what do you call it, wood, you burn, peppermint smell” he bent down and and observed some more crystals.

“Palo santo?”

“Yeah, thats it, that and maybe something else, you know to compliment that. Something else to burn”

Suzy stopped and observed the man grab a few more crystals of different sorts and float up and down the isle seemly grabbing anything that caught his eye.

“Sage might do the trick” she finally said as she grabbed a bag of Palo Santo and then some sage “Do you know how to use these?”

The man waved his hand in the air “Light it on fire, blow it out and wave it around.” He saw a statue of Baphomet and threw it in his basket “As above, so below my buddy”

He heaved his basket to the counter and Suzy met him with the sage and Palo Santo. The mountain of items he had gathered were if she could describe a smörgåsbord of mystic crystals, statues and now incense.

“So you putting together a party or something” Suzy asked as she started to ring up the items. Never had she ever seen someone buy as many or varied items. She peeked up from the items and saw him staring at something past her.

He slipped his glasses down his nose revealing piercing spring green eyes. He stopped chewing for a moment and asked “Is that an eye of Amalgama?”

Suzy turned around and looked past a current that was half drawn into their rare gem section. On a large pedestal there was a sphere of hazy black with a slit of bright red crystal in the center of it. It looked as if a giant eye was starting at you from any direction. It had been at the shop for years after some one dropped it off in a hurry. It was rare and priceless.

She turned slowly back to him. “Yes, that is an Eye of Amalgama. Now tell me how you would know that”

“I’ll take it” He pushed his glasses back over his eyes and returned to smacking his gum “Sorta a collector, you know?”

Suzy crossed her arms “I’m not selling an Eye of Amalgama to some random guy buying up the whole store, spill it, what is all this for? You warding off demons?’

He stuck out his hand “Marshall Granton”

She shook his hand “Suzy”

He smiled “Good, not random anymore. What ever the price, just name it”

“One million”

“Done” Marshall took out his wallet and pulled out a black card.

Suzy threw out the number expecting him to decline. She had played her hand and now her bluff had been called.

“The eye is too valuable, we need to do some vetting first” She tried to dodge.

Marshalls face broke out in a large grin “Look, Suzy, I get it. Look a got a problem. Ghostly demon problem. Big house, some people in trouble, time and space not working in my favor, until now” he pointed to the Eye “Some major demon butt kicking needs to happen and that right there is my cement brick”

“I will loan it to you then, One million now, you get five hundred thousand back when returned.” Her eyebrow rose and this time she held out her hand “Do not shake if you cannot do it”

He nodded “If I don’t come back, money is the least of my problems” He took her hand and gave a hearty shake “You’re a life saver, multiple if I can pull this off.”

She rang up all his items, boxed and bagged them, then helped pack them all in a black classic Lincoln parked out front.

Marshall open the door to his car and looked over the top “Thank you again, you at least gave me a fighting chance.

Something in Suzy wondered. She had dealt with these things her whole life, but never face to face. Always on the sidelines. The vendor.

“Do you need help?” she heard herself say.

Marshall stood for a long moment between his open car door looking at her with what she could tell was a serious expression behind his glasses.

“If this works out Suzy, next time. Next time I will need help” He dropped into the front seat and the car door slammed behind him. The car glided out into the street and Suzy returned to the inside of the shop. It looked like it had been raided. Most of the shelves were now half empty and things were misplaced and out of order. It was going to be a long night. She went into the back to see what they had in reserve when she heard the front door bell chime.

“Welcome in, sorry for the state of the store, just restocking”

Suzy returned to the counter to see Marshall standing in the doorway, The Eye of Amalgama under his arm. The red eye was glowing furiously.

“Your help might be needed sooner then I thought” Marshall laughed nervously.

“You” a voice called from all directions. Suzy whipped around looking for the source. Marshall held up the eye “Girl, yes you” the eye pulsed with each word. “You are needed”

Marshall shrugged and smiled “What do you say? Offer still stands?”

Suzy rubbed her forehead “Oh boy”

I was in a magic shop recently with and a man came in and when the person in the shop asked what he needed he answered saying he needed something cleanse negative energy. I took this concept and dialed it up a bit. I thought it would be funny for a person that looks as if they would have nothing to do with crystals and magic asking and buying all sorts of things. I made up the Eye of Amalgama, but I thought it would look like a dark crystal version of the Eye of Sauron form Lord of the Rings.

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Through out the years I have written almost 130 stories on here. While I love all my stories that I write, there are a few that stick out to me for different reasons. To celebrate another year of the Ghostly Hotel being open for business, I would like to list a few stories that seem to always stick with me.

Miltons

This Storie sets the tone for my retro futurism stories. It takes place in a small diner where cigarettes are healthy and humanity is exploring the stars. I enjoy the old retro diners and the whole feel of 70’s futurism.

Christmas Town

My first Holiday town story and introduction to my character Amy Newearl. I started this story a bit grim, but then it takes a fun turn. The Holiday towns are a lot of fun to write about, all the festivities and joy that come with them. They are nice place to daydream in.

Hallways

The start of my apocalypse series and the introduction to my two characters Mick and Carl. Every time I see the Hallway in my house I think of this story. It was something on my mind for along time before I actually wrote it.

Well Written

I love this story because it gives a good lesson at the end. When I was writing it I was sure how I was going to end it or where I was going, but it revealed itself to me. The Mentor and the student have conflict I think is a very real issue that can happen. Also the tale of the Malaberg I think is neat.

Losing in the Sky

When ever I am looking through my stories I always open this one forgetting what it actually is. Might be a title problem haha, but when I do I remember every detail. This story is actually one of my favorites that I have written. I think the characters are really cool, the setting is fantastic and I could expand on it greatly in the future. It is a fun ride.

Charms

This another story that I always forget that I had written. It has a very light hearted tone much more like I used to write when I was growing up. A slice of teen drama and comical circumstances. I can’t help but smile as I read through it.

Hearth of the Home

A bit more somber on the list, but this stories speak a lot to me. When ever I am at home or in a space that feels just right, the thought of it being empty comes to mind and I remember. It is the people that give spaces their fire, their energy.

Plastic Yarn

A more recent story , the first from this year, Plastic Yarn turned out better than I thought it would. I had these ideas for this story for a while and when I finally put it down all the characters really worked out for me. The setting itself pulled itself together decently enough and enjoyed layering mystery and deceit. This is part of a much broader project that I am working on too.

And my last of the bunch

What a Space and Just a Second

I call these my Scholastic Stories as they revolve around spaces where children can learn unhindered by circumstances and all other troubles. The vibe of these stories is like a 90’s edutainment computer game. I love writing them as spaces I wish I could have gone to when I was a kid. The characters are all pretty fun and the spaces are cozy and inviting. Limitless opportunity for all.

These stories hold a special place for me and I think about them more than most, but it doesn’t mean I don’t like my other stories. Each one has a special place for me. They are collections of inspirations, thoughts, ideas and experiences rolled into a burst of time and space in words.

Thank you for reading all of my crazy stories over the years!

2024 is coming to a close. Heres to a wonderful 2025!

Safe travels, long life and glory!

Cheers!

Winter had come over the week. Monday the sky grayed and temperature dropped. The snow came in small flecks and barely covered the ground. Then through the week the sky kept its veil and snow poured out in large dense clumps. Stores closed, schools called off and children rejoiced. By the end of the week the whole town was covered in a thick blanket of snow. During the day the clear blue sky and sun radiated much needed heat, while at night clouds once again came and snow glistened in the moon light.

The sound of kids playing out in the snow woke Ash from a dream filled sleep. Sun was pouring through the thin shades of the window while heat blasted from the vents. Ash stretched and hopped out of bed to look out the window. It had snowed again last night. Each morning he would look at the pole for the power lines. Mid way up was a yellow band which acted as his guide. Through out the week since the storm came the snow had been creeping up the pole towards that yellow band. Around his guidepost he could see Todd and the rest of his friends throwing snowballs, ducking in and out of the snow walls that they had built for cover. Ash made his way down to the kitchen where his sister and dad sat at the dining room table. His mom busily moved about the kitchen making breakfast. Pancakes, bacon and a side of fruit. He pulled up a seat to the table. His dad sat cross legged, leaning back in the chair with the newspaper full spread.

“Morning son” he said behind the parchment.

His sister who was journaling side eyed him “Finally up?”

“It’s nine, what do you mean finally?” He shot back before a plate of pancakes and bacon were laid in front of him “Thanks mom”

She smiled and returned to grab everyone else’s plates. His dad shuffled the newspaper and folded it into his lap. Even though he would not be going into the office today he still was dressed in his white button up shirt, tie, and suit jacket. He had a young face, but his glasses which thick and made out of a heavy turtle shell material added some seniority to him. His black hair combed slightly to the side.

“Fantastic dear. Julie, if I remember, someone woke up about ten minutes ago” he said with a smile before skewering a pancake.

Julie sneered at her dad and snapped a piece of bacon in half before devouring it.

His mom untied her apron and joined them at the dinning room table. She was always done up. No matter what time of day, what ever occasion she looked put together. Make up perfected, hair in a silky blond locks, and styled in an elegant dress or outfit. Adorned on her wrists and neck held jewelry from all over the shopping catalog. She embodied a sort of eternal youth in the eyes of the neighborhood. His dad would always joke he found her in an enhanced forest.

“Schools out again you two. Not forgetting what you were being taught, right?” His mom picked up her fork and knife, she looked down at her plate then at her two kids.

“Of course not. We were about to go on Christmas break anyway. Do you think it will continue snowing?” Ash finally took a bite of his food.

“I hope so, if it doesn’t stop snowing we might need to learn how to hunt again. Eat the squirrels in the backyard”

“Dear, please” His mom shot his dad a look.

He gave a smirk “On a serious note, it might be some trouble if it keeps snowing. I hear that the storms come out of no where at night. Clear skies for days then - “ he clapped his hands together “out of the blue a storm cloud follows the night sky“ he swept his right hand through the air “covering everything in another blanket of snow. The meteorologist has never seen anything like it. I have been trying to track it with a new program that I am working on and - oh well, I will fill you in when it is more complete”

His dad was a grand wizard at something to do with computers. All Ash knew was that his dad was the only one to have one in the whole block and that they were crazy expensive.

“I heard that we are entering another ice age or something on the radio. Or at least the states are. Doesn’t seem like the rest of the world is getting it. Not even Russia” His sister Julie who tormented him most days was a series listener to the deep waves of the radio. Even though TVs had started to replace the airwaves her fingers twisted the dial to catch any piece of underground news she could. At night he could hear her scrolling around static, listening for anything to catch. He had to admit she found some interesting stations.

“Well it will melt come this spring. I wouldn’t worry about it to much. Now finish your breakfast and let me get this place cleaned up.” His mom stood up taking empty plates and glass from the table. She once again tied her apron and went to work manning the kitchen.

Julie returned up stairs where she had been all week while Ash started the ritual of gearing up for the cold onslaught of snowball fights, fort building, and exploring the winter wonderland with his friends.

During the days the sky remained a cloudless deep blue vista with the sun shining warm. It was perfect weather for all snow activities. It was cold, but there was no wind and the sun provided just enough warmth to starve off the bitterness. Ash found Todd and his friends down the street building a snow fort near the entrance to the park. Each day they had picked a new place in the neighborhood to conquer and build a fort. The suburban landscape now held several small outposts and castles made out of snow all the way from the forest edge near the north side of the neighborhood all the way to the green divide at the entrance. It seemed that they were determined to cover the outsides of the neighborhood then work their way in. Next to many mid century homes their influence had began. They were busy building when a boy called out from down the street. They all rose and like a merry band marched through the snow to meet him. A street down and around a corner there was a small street with wood fences on each side. A boy stood at the end pointing towards something. Ash and Todd moved to see.

In the center of the small road was a large snowman.

“Did you build this?” Ash asked the boy who shook his head no “Any of you?” He turned to the others lined up around him and Todd. They all denied while keeping eyes glued on it. He looked at Todd who stared narrow eyed.

Ash moved towards the snowman. It stood a foot taller than him and came with all the typical snowman accessories. Two thin sticks poked out of its middle section for arms and hands, two coal buttons sat vertical on its chest, wrapped around its neck a red scarf which looked torn and worn out fell dangling just above the ground. A smile made out of seven round pieces of coal rested underneath its long carrot nose. Slightly larger coal dotted its eyes and a large torn top hat that looked liked had seen too many circus performances, sat on its head. It looked perfect. Way too perfect. The snow was smoothed to an almost icy consistency which formed each of its three perfect spheres. Ash walked around, poking and prodding it. It sat smiling out a the group as he inspected.

“This things is like a work of art” Ash said returning to the front.

“Gives me the creeps. Like a storybook tripped and this thing fell out. Someone must be super bored. “ Todd said backing up a bit “or super batty”

The others nodded in an agreement.

“Come on Ash, let’s get out of there”

Ash rose his arm and made his hand in the shape of a gun “Catch you around” he said then let an imaginary shot go with a soft “bang”

The band returned to building their fort until the sun started to dip below the top of the houses and the temperature began to drop. Ash looked up towards the sky. In the distance he could see the dark clouds once again approaching.

“Tomorrow we build on the other side of the park and check if the other forts are still intact” Todd addressed everyone. The group sprawled out and returned to their homes. Ash waved to Todd as he disappeared around the corner.

The door slammed behind him as he shimmied off his snow gear.

“Welcome back” he heard his mom call out from the living room.

Ash shook off the winter chill moved to join his mom in the living room. His house was a mix between mid-century modern and post-war. The front door opened up to a small foyer where stairs roped around the left wall to three bedrooms upstairs. On the first floor heading deeper in the house was a decent sized kitchen on the left with the dining room table in the middle and on the right the living room which had a small step down into a sunken pit of carpet. A door across from the living room led to the master bedroom. Natural woods, browns, reds and beige colored most of the space giving it a warmth. Windows opened up to the backyard next to the kitchen and framed the back wall while some smaller windows dotted around to bring in light from each side of the house in an intelligent way. Their neighborhood had been built as a new standard, an experiment on modern living. His dad setting eyes on the place immediately threw his wallet at the Realtor. It was completely his style, and as his mom did, she embraced it and put her own charm on every aspect, bringing life and comfort.

Ash stepped down into the living and sat down next to his mom on the couch. The TV was on tuned to some old movie.

“Have fun? Where did your next outpost go?” She asked

“Front of the park. We saw the storm coming again, thought it was time to retire for the night, wheres dad?”

His mom looked up towards the ceiling “He said he is hammering out some new program tonight. Trying to get his weather tracker working or something along those lines. I’ve only seen him twice today, both times he looks like he is about to keel over” she laughed. “I think hes close” she flashed her eyebrows and smiled.

“I’m sure he will figure it out” Ash looked out the back windows. It was now pitch black with only the fury of the snow showing up in the house lights across the yard. He squinted for a moment. It looked like a large shadow slid across under the light. Then a loud thump came from the front door. He was so concentrated that he gave a yelp and whipped around.

“What was that?” he stood up. He could hear two feet thumping up above him and moving towards the stairs.

“Is someone here?” He heard Julie yell from the top of the stairs as their dad moved down towards the front door. Ash moved to the hallway to get a better view.

“I’m sure it was just a tree branch or-“ his dad opened the door “or something el-“ his voice died off as he came face to face with a snowman. Ash gasped, he recognized that snowman. Picture perfect from before. This time though, the coal smile looked sinister, different, predatorial .

His dad must of gotten the same feeling because he immediately shut the door in the snowmans face and stepped back.

“Concerning” he stated. Thumping returned to the door and it grew louder and louder “Very concerning” he yelled and moved towards the living room calling for Julie to follow him. There was panic and a torrent of activity as the family backed away from the front of their house as the door violently shook from the winter body slammed against it.

“Out the back” his dad cried, but as they turned a mob of coal eyes stared in at them. A row of perfect snowmen, some with different hats and scarfs but all perfectly rounded lined up blocking their path. Not only did the block them, they were actively moving towards the large windows. Twig hands reached out, coal smiles now turned to sharp teeth in a large wicked grins. His mom was rummaging in the kitchen tossing pans and kitchen utensils to do active battle with. She took a pan, handed a rolling pin to his dad, a smaller pan to Julie and a poultry hammer to Ash.

“Upstairs” she commanded. They moved towards the front and as soon as they were half way up the stairs they could hear the back windows breaking and as they reach the top the front door slammed down into the foray bringing winter chill rushing in. The perfect snowman waddled into the house and looked up at the family who stared back. It nodded and tipped it’s shredded top had with it’s branched fingers.

“Go go go” Ash screamed as the snowman started shuffling up the stairs. They ran down the hallway to the end room which was his dads office. It was double doored and the largest of the rooms upstairs, since the master was on the main floor. They burst through the doors and barricade the them with the sofa and a book case.

“What do we do?” Julie stammered “I heard about government experiments to control polar bears, but nothing like this”

“I would rather be fighting polar bears right now” his dad laughed nervously.

Ash looked towards his mom who was deep in thought for the survival of her kids.

Outside they could hear shuffling snow getting closer. Slowly it sounded as if many large snow balls was being rolled towards them.

“Honey, did you ever finish trying to hook into our heater with your computer program?”

His dad went into a small trance running his mind through all his programs then lit up “Yes! Yes I did” He swung over to his computer and started to type rapidly “Boy, I hope it works, I only tested it once or twice”

Scrapping came at the doors of the room, then shook as the snowmen threw themselves against them.

“What temperature would you like it?” His dad swiveled in his chair.

“The highest it can go Dad” Julia screamed which was echoed by Ash and his mom.

His dad put up his hands and then rained more commands down on the keyboard and with an exaggerated gesture hit the enter key “Bang”

They could hear the heat start to ramp up and soon hot air was blowing through all the vents. The snowman did not stop however and the door was giving way. His dad picked back up his rolling pin and joined his mom near the door.

The door cracked open and snowman faces holding jagged coal teeth chomped at them as they did their best to burst through. The top hat snowman made it through first slushing through the door becoming deformed as it moved through the broken entrance. As soon as it came into distance his mom swung her frying pan as hard she could at it’s head with a scream. The pan hit perfectly on the side and in a flash the head the snowman plopped to the side of the room and burst in a slushy pile. They all stood shocked. The other snowman moved slower and their bodies melted as they tried and approached. The heat was working, slowing dismantling them. Coal eyes slipped off, following by carrot noses. The clothes became damp and soon the mob of snowman were a puddle in their upstairs hallway.

“Remind me never to be in front of you when you have a frying pan” his dad broke the silence as they all let out a collective breath.

“Were alive” Ash said.

“For now” Julie replied.

His mom gave a triumphant “Ha!” as she placed her hands on her hips “I think we handled that pretty well. Now, let’s get this all cleaned up”

They removed what they could of the barricade and cleared the broken door. The snowmens accessories were gathered in garbage bags and put by the front door. The storm still raged on outside, but their house was blasting hot air through out. They moved into the master bedroom which was off of the living room and closed the doors to keep it warm. His mom handed out hot chocolate to each of them as they huddled around the bed.

“Are we going to talk about the killer snowmen?” Ash blew on his hot chocolate.

“We will talk about it tomorrow morning, when its light outside. I don’t know if talking about them will summon them back alive.” his dad pursed his lips thinking for a moment and then took a sip.

Julie had brought her radio down from her room and the plugged it in to try and find some news. Static filled the room until a raspy voice broke through “An experimental weather device was discovered and shut down this evening. It is said to be causing the storms sweeping across America.” The voice broke in and out “For those stuck in the raging storms it looks like they are moving rapidly and will be gone by the hour. Stay inside and keep warm” The station turned to a commercial and Julie turned the volume down.

“I knew it” she exclaimed. “See I told you”

“Don’t let it go to your head, thats one out of one hundred” Ash shot back, but his sister beamed with confidence.

They sat for a while finishing their hot chocolate and then as the radio moved to classical Christmas music as they fell to exhausted sleep.

Ash’s Family 1 - Killer Snowmen 0

When I was a kid we used to go to the movie rental store I would peruse the isle looking for different movies to rent. What I always loved was that movie covers were so intense. The posters and the box art for different movies always inspired my imagination. One such movie was Jack Frost. This turned out to be a hilariously bad B-horror movie, but the cover scared me to death as a kid. So I wrote stories about killer snowmen for my whole life. This story I wanted to combine the feeling from a Steven Spielberg film with the horror of killer snowmen ( It is Christmas as I am writing this and we saw E.T. this morning.)

Watch out for this snowmen out there. Never know what they might be thinking.

Cheers and Merry Christmas Everyone! Cheers ~

Her words echoed through my head as my eyes swam to keep steady. Then as soon as the bell chimed my eye lids fell closed.

“All dreams reveal something, they take use somewhere, beyond the memories, this reality of awakeness. Follow your own will, explore and what ever you do. Do not press play”

I jolted awake from the sound of water gently patting against a smooth surface. I brought my self up and looked around. Up above a blue sky with few clouds patterned about. In each direction large smooth walls of grayish red rose high. I moved following one of the walls to another room. It was a large square with different light colored cones of different sizes placed in the middle of the room. A large smooth ball floated in the air off center casting a hard shadow to one side. I ran my hand over one of the cones. It was perfectly solid and smooth with almost no texture. In some spots it was warm to the touch.

The next room past the cone room had a great rectanglular opening in the floor that held a abyss of black. The room was long and each side had arches framing the path ways. I peered down the rectangle. Darkness looked back at me and I carefully moved around it.

What was I looking for? I couldn’t remember. My ego and memory was fading fast. There was a reason to come to this place.

The next room opened to a vast ocean. The water didn’t splash around and the sea was calm. It bobbed up and down with passivity. On the left was a tall gray wall and a path that followed it out into the open sea. I followed it. My mind searching for the reason, for some idea why I was here. To find something that I had lost? No, to find something that was given to me. Something that I never knew. A memory that was not my own. Insight that I needed.

Soon the walkway stopped and a set of stairs descended onto a small island of sand where several Greek pedestals jutted out from the sand in different directions. There were about four, two held heads of marble. One had a metallic sphere hovering just above it and the last was a large Tube TV with a video player underneath it. I moved past the other pedestals to the one with the TV. Around me was clear blue skies, and water. The sea sat still glimmering into an endless horizon. In the sky there were streaks of something I could not make out. It shined in the sun and look as if someone had taken a paint brush of silver and skimmed it through the clouds. I turned back towards the TV.

“Do not press play” her words echoed in my head. Yet I did not know why she said that. She knew. She didn’t want me to know. Or was it that I couldn’t handle it?

Curiosity.

I pressed play.

The TV came to life and static buzzed from it. It took a moment, but the picture materialized in an old CRT low-fi type of way. It looked at a hill covered in shadow. The moon lit clouds contrasted with the hill and a couple of trees framed on the right. Then the image changed to a sunset. Among the glistening water the sun halved itself bringing orange and red light. It said good bye and ducked below the ocean and stars revealed themselves in a time-lapse. The camera then zoomed in. It kept going towards the horizon until it came to the exact island that I was standing on. The four columns jetting out of the sand and the TV lit up with a blueish glow.

A figure stepped from behind the TV, their eyes glowing a burning orange. The light from the TV casts upon their face.

My eyes stare into my own.

The TV turned off and on again. This time it acts like a camera looking at me. It reflects my movement as I lean in to see if it really is watching me. As my face leans closer to the thick glass, it switches again. A flash of words that are to quick for me, and then in large red letters.

THE END.

As soon as my mind wraps around the letters. My eyes shoot open and a I am awake again. Really awake.

“What happened?” Her words came through haze.

“I pressed play” I closed my eyes again.

There was no answer for a long moment.

I could hear her shuffling around in a panic. I couldn’t remember anything, the purpose, where or who I was. I sat in between.

The shuffling stopped. I opened my eyes and looked.

The endless water sprawled out into infinity. The sun had just started to dip its self into the horizon.

The TV was on. In large green letters it read:

IT BEGINS.

This story, to tell the truth I have no idea. It is inspired by those math book covers and vapor wave art. I would see these pieces of art hanging in places where it would be computer generated cylinders on weird backgrounds and I always wondered what that place would be like. This story has some ominous feelings to it. Dreams and reality really do blend. What is the space?

Was listening to Vapordreams TOKYOPILL - E t h e r e a l while writing this.

Grip reality as tight as possible. You never know when it might slip.

Cheers!

Suzy Ashton flopped down on a round centered chair. Her lush red curls bounced as she crossed her legs and lit a j-cigarette at the same time. She inhaled deeply, her eyes fixed out the window at the illustrious city, held it in, then with a pout blew the blue smoke out. It drifted around and dissipated with a shimmer.

“You look displeased my lady” A man entered the room and moved directly to the bar. He was dressed in a fancy tuxedo. He was handsome, manly jaw, eyes set in a hardened stare until he smiled. A warmth would radiate from him. Maxwell Chancely. A man desired by all men and women. Pleasure for the women, business by the men. He poured himself a radiate gin and melon and stepped into the large room next to where Suzy had flopped down at. He rose his drink to the city through the window and gave a drink.

“I often wonder what it would look like if the city was on fire. Burning to the ground in an atomic flame. What would they save first? Their gems or their children.” Suzy huffed and took another large inhale of the cigarette.
Maxwell held out his left hand for his turn and she past it to him. He blew out a shimmering blue ring and took another sip of his drink.

“Much too cynical. You wouldn’t like the sound that came with that Suz, or the aftermath.” He crouched down and sat on the floor leaning against the chair she was in “I would know.”

The city sprawled until the eye could not longer comprehend what was out there. More city or something different beyond it. Sky scrapers made out of marble, steel and gems rose high into the sky while spot lights emitted from the ground and cast their light into the clouds. Everything shimmered with grandeur. The city lights glistens with gold and gems stones as their soft golden light spread itself among the obsidian laid streets. The city was like nothing else. The citizens were lost in an endless cycle of pleasure, drunkenness, and corruption. There was not a single moment that verandas, cafes, restaurants, bars and clubs were not packed with people rotating in and out for one party after another. Drinks that gave humans the limitless ability to drink and think, cigars and cigarettes that enhanced the IQ. All the vices that use to destroy now enhanced. And with that enhancement came a city of untold enlightenment, advances and wealth. Where a party meant juicing a persons potential into another realm and mind melding for the next chapter of human existence. But had it gone to far? Space was being explored.

That’s what always crept up in the back of Maxwells mind. They explored space as if nothing out there could even come close to them. Harm them, threaten their human potential. He looked at his hand, in the center of his palm was three circles overlapping, like a ven-diagram. He knew that they were not alone out there.

“Maybe you’re right. What else would we do with all our time? Toil away in the fields. Sling our selves through black holes maybe?”

“You object to the progress? “

Suzy put her hand on the top of his head and rubbed his black styled hair into a mess and laughed “Of course not Max. This place is amazing, but I worry for the spirits, the internal. They search outside, never inside.”

“You really believe in all that stuff?” Maxwell closed his eyes and leaned his head back against the side of the chair “Science hasn’t drilled that all into particles and matter. Quantum ghosts speaking to each other through pure energy? God and gods reduced to cause and effects at cosmic scales. What is a spirit Suz? A construct. A fairytale. A dream.”

Suzy gave Max’s head a shove as she got up and moved towards the window. A quick turn on the heels she blew out a shimmer cloud and put her hands on her hips “Whose the cynic now? Mister bigshot, born on a colony, coming down from the stars and building the biggest mega corporation ever made. I get it. I know.”

“You know what?”

“Colony? Born in space? Alien. Your an Alien Maxwell”

Maxwell stood up “What are you talking about? You think I am an Alien? From where?”

Suzy grabbed his hand and traced the diagram on his palm. “Centarium 4”

Maxwell pull his hand away and looked deep into her eyes with a frown “How?”

“It wasn’t by chance that we met. It was fate.” Suzy moved to the side of the room and opened a small metal box. Inside she took out a ball. It had three lines running around the circumference in gold while the ball was bluish dark black that shimmered in the light. Maxwells eyes grew as she brought it over to him “Three hundred years ago. When I was twelve a man gave me this as a gift from the stars on Space Station Orion. Right before my parents were killed. That man was you Maxwell”

“A star that shines so bright, I give it to you, when it shines, you know you’re on the right path” they both breathed out.

“There is over 30 billion people out there.“ Maxwell finished off his drink, moved to the bar and made himself another one. He stirred it slowly with a long mixing spoon. “How long have you known? When did you know?”

“The first moment I saw you get out of the Targerus. It was an incredible ship, build in space and of the finest materials by this company that had become a legend. The city marveled at it as it came down, and among the royal guests that stepped off, there was you. The same as you were three hundred years ago. Before Golden Dawn, before the era of genetic editing. Before the rapid expansion. This city was the shining beacon of our empire, but it was nothing compared to what is now. Nothing compared to what is now since you arrived in that ship.”

“Why tell me this all now”

“Because It’s time for the next era, evolution, rebirth of mankind. You can feel it, I see that look in your eyes. That same look when you got off the ship. A new venture.” Suzy smiled and crushed the j-cigarette in her hands. She threw her hand up and blue shimmering mist rained down on them. “I think they need saving. Not through the sciences, engineering, but something else. I would imagine your planet would of came to the same conclusion”

Maxwell stiffened.

“We can go back to Centarium 4, see what is new, bring it back and build more. I studied all about your planet when I was researching you. I cannot imagine what technology they would have now. It seems you keep it a secret now a days” Suzy

“We can’t go back to Centraium 4”

“Why not? Your ship is capable of reaching it in no time”

Maxwell slowly walked towards the window and pressed his forehead against the ornate glass. In his left hand he swirled his drink down by his side which caught the lights out side and shimmered a galaxy of orange and purple. “We can’t go back because” He paused and sighed deeply. He looked out across the glowing city of gold, jewels and marble glistening for miles. Art Deco infused baroque palaces built upon unimaginable beauty looked up at him. His beacon of ingenuity, his city that informed the heavens of the triumph of the mind, his masterpiece.

“Because I destroyed it.”

–

When ever I think of a glistening city of the future I always picture it as in an Art Deco Style. I think that era and the movie/book Metropolis had a big effect on me. I have explored the idea of drinking and smoking turning into things that enhance instead of destroy(My story called Miltons). I don’t oppose this haha as I do enjoy a drink here and there. I imagined Suzy proposing an absurd situation to course correct humanities indulgence in the material. Such as burning the city down, it is in jest,but Maxwell has seen and done just that. Why? What happened on Centraium 4. Look towards the future to find out.

Till next time space cadets, cheers!

It was nine A.M and Shaun sat in a broken swivel chair looking at a bunch of knobs, monitors and graphs. He pushed his glasses back up his nose and folded his arms. He gave a spin in the chair and it squeaked the whole way around until he stopped and faced his comrade in arms in the back of the room.

“I’m losing my mind here.” Shaun stated “I’m losing my damn mind” he yelled then rubbed his eyes.

His partner, a stocky short red haired man, gave a laugh. Clyde was his name. Top of his class from Cal Tech in Quantum Physics, he didn’t just ace the exams, he redefined them. Genius was an insult to his intellect. So how did he find him self here? Shaun, while not a gift from the quantum gods themselves was top of his class from MIT. He sought to expand the subject, not just from the perspective of science, but from other less known perspectives. What could be explained that had no explanation? What could humans see, when they didn’t know what they were looking for?

Thats when Hermetic Gateway Labs or HGL had a small booth during one of the job fairs. He didn’t think much of it at first. It was a single small table, three flyer’s, a small cardboard ad and a single rep from the company. Shaun walk by glancing over and then ignoring it, but through out the whole time something knawed at him. After every person he talked to the small booth would pop up in his mind asking, what about them? The most run down, unprofessional thing he had ever seen and he now stood in front of it.

“We are going to change the universe” The rep smiled at him and gave him a flyer.

He took their offer.

Shaun spun back to the dashboard and peered out the large observation window above them. They were about fifty feet in that air from the bottom of the room. The walls were pure white with dotted lines that started at the middle of the ceiling and dotted the middle of each wall to meet directly in the middle of the floor. The lights projected from the corners and top of the room which illuminated the room perfectly. There were no shadows. In the center of the large room over the connected lines was a single chair. It wasn’t even a nice chair, but one of those fold out metal chairs. The room was completely sound proof. Shaun and Clyde could hear nothing which was being projected inside the room.

Every day, a single person would enter the room, a different person each time, and sit down in the chair. Shaun and Clydes job was to observe and record any changes from the instruments and if anything changed visually. They never adjusted, manipulated or inputted anything. They just observed.

Shaun looked at the clock. Nine thirty, on the dot. The door to the room opened. Clyde rolled his chair next to Shaun. They both peered down at the next contestant of boringsville.

A man wearing a dark green and black jumpsuit, the standard uniform, walked in and sat down in the chair. He faced the window then closed his eyes. For the next six hours the person would sit their with their eyes closed until the experiment was over. Then they would open their eyes, get up and walk out the room. That was it.

A light on the left side of the observation room turned from green to red.

The experiment had begun.

When Shaun had gone into the interview at HGL, he didn’t think much about it until he open the door and saw Clyde and Dr. Montros sitting there. Not only was Clyde a upcoming legend, Dr.Montros was a living legend. Working on blackholes and torus dispersion, he had brought the world of physics into a speculative age, at least to the ones that dared to read his works. He looked like he was straight out of the cast OG Baywatch. His jaw was the squarest you could imagine, hair cut short on the sides which was graying and black hair swept back on the top of his head. His face always lit up with curiosity and confidence of a man who knew what he wanted. At all times. He was also in ridiculous good shape for being sixty three. He shook their hand and sat down.

Dr.Montros broke out in a deep laugh “The best candidates we could ask for, you two are in for some serious matter changing stuff”

“Dr.Montros and I were just talking about the job and some other theories” Clyde looked over at Shaun “Care to explain more Dr”

“Of course, as you know we are a company of pioneers. On the edge of human understanding of reality. We a looking where others shield their eyes or look away.”

“What concepts are you trying to further? What can we help with” Shaun asked.

“Other realities. Unlimited power, zero point. We need you to observe and study. We guarantee you to be at the forefront of exploration. The pioneers of human civilization. I don’t know if you had time to talk PolyCube Dynamics, don’t believe their lies. They are decades behind us.”

“Isn’t that were Ada Noether works?” Clyde leaned in “I heard she’s a total babe”

Shaun gave him a side eyed look. With such intellect when did he even have time to think about girls

Dr.Montros scoffed “Yes, Ada is over there. Brilliant as she is, she chose the wrong company to work for. Stifling such work, what a shame. Maybe one day she will see the light”

“Whatever it is you want to do. I’m in” Clyde leaned back into his chair “I rejected them already. They were to eager for me”

Dr.Montros shook Clydes hand and then turned to Shaun.

He canceled the six interviews with the other companies. How could he turn the opportunity down.

The clock read noon. They both sat writing some numbers in their notebooks. The man had sat down at nine thirty and had not moved in three and half hours.

“Are you disappointed?” Shaun closed the book finishing his numbers. “I mean, look, I’m getting all the benefit here from talking to you all the time. You on the other hand. Dr.Montros has spoken to us once since we got hired and I haven’t had much to offer.”

There was silence between them as Clyde stopped writing in the notebook. “I am sure this is just some trial by fire sort of thing before we get to the more interesting experiments.” Clyde closed his book “Look, I know it might seem like I am not getting anything out of our conversations, but it’s quite the opposite” Shaun perked up “Your curiosity is something that I lack, your questions give me a different perspective to think about things. Your ignorance is like a light coming from a different direction, one that I haven’t experienced. I am here because I need to push things, I can’t find joy or excitement in anything currently known. I want the curiosity that you exhibit, the unrelenting pursuit of an idea. I am just searching, fishing if you will”

“Thanks” Shaun whispered and gave a smile. He turned back towards the window. The man still sat motionless, but now his eyes were open.

“When did his eyes open?” Shaun stood up and leaned closer to the window.

“I don’t know” Clyde opened his notebook and recored the change.

The mans face turned towards the window with a snap. Shaun flinched back “Oh shit, he’s looking at us”

Clyde stood up and looked closer “Impossible, you can’t see the window from down there and Dr.Montros said none of the participants know”

The man held their gaze then cupped his face in his hands. He looked as if he was in pain, but they could not hear anything. His body glitched in and out like it was being ran through a distorted video cassette tape.

“What is happening, what do we do?” Shaun yelled looking over the knobs and control panel for something. Clyde jumped up and ran out the room. The man continued to distort and then in an instant disappeared. Shaun picked up the notebook and recorded everything he could describe in a fear induced trance. His first instinct wasn’t to run, but to record. Clyde returned with Dr.Montros.

Dr.Montros pressed his hands to the glass of the window and look down at the chair. A smile bigger then they had ever seen spread across his face. He turned to them.

“Boys, welcome” he spread out his arms wide “Welcome to the edge of perception. To a new reality. A new gateway has been opened.” He laughed and a couple other scientist pushed in through the door and celebrated with Dr.Montros. They shook hands and and clasped each others shoulders giving congratulating remakes.

Shaun and Clyde stood watching the jubilee. With one thought on their mind.

Where did the man go?

I have been revisiting the Gateway Process that was conducted by the CIA. A fascinating thing and makes you wonder what everything they did which wasn’t declassified. I have a project that I am working on in the background (bit by bit) which has to do with two competing companies fighting over grants from the DoD. Ada Noether is the same Ada from Plastic Yarn (First name is taken from Ada Lovelace and last name from Emmy Noether. A world is being connected here.

When two companies push each other for the fight of innovation and being first movers, what are they willing to sacrifice and do? Especially in the name of science.

To the future!

Cheers!

The park usually runs smoothly. Guests come in with a smile and they leave with one. They never complain, they just order what ever they need, ride the rides and be on their way. However today was different.

Victor strolled around his office looking out to the blackness around him and then down at the park where the guests moved around like specks of dust. He had talked to a few of them here and there, but they never had anything of substance to say. He looked toward the garden area where a small group was gather. Strange, nothing was scheduled. He decided to take a look. As he went to open the door it opened with a panting Sid.

“Sir there is a guest” he took in a big breathe of air “and they are” he stopped and looked around to try and find the word “unhappy” Victors face broke out into a grin

“Unhappy?” He walked past him laughing “Unhappy you say? Something different? Let go see shall we. To the park area. Victor and Sid flew down the elevator and walked to the crowd. As they approached they could hear a man screaming.. He was a large thing. Horns sprouting from his head in all directions, dark deep blue skin that seemed to glow and wild teeth jetting from its mouth. As they approached the man snapped his head towards their direction and met Victors eyes. They held more then one pupil and all of them seemed sinister. He had never seen such a thing. Sure they were all sort of monstrous looking, but this was a real monster.

Victor rose his hands.

“Sir, I hear you are unhappy in our park, what is the matter?”

The monster whirled its arms around yelling some more till it pointed towards him.

“I can’t find the exit to this place” it yelled.

Victor rose his brows and turned to look straight toward the large cavernous opening that held the word Exit in huge letters above it.

“Well, an easy fix. The exit is just that way” With his answer the monster howled and thew insults at him in languages that he didn’t know.

“I see that, but when I go through, I come back through there” It pointed toward the entrance. Victor peered toward the entrance then turned to the exit. He could not leave either. The monster was growing impatient, but Victor was shaking. Another creature besides him that could not leave. He spotted in the distance a single black cloud. The sound around him started to muffle and things started to move slowly losing their color. The monster stayed with him though, spinning around and wondering what was happening. The Owner stepped out of the entrance gate followed by his guards. The monster and Victor turned to face him as he approached. The Owner smiled at them putting out his hands to his guards to stay back.

“Ah, Victor , still doing a fine job. I believe this one “ he pointed to the monster which grew agitated “Is on me”

The monster bared its teeth and growled at the Owner “I’ve seen you before, no good, cheating bastard”

The Owner put his hands up as to surrender.

“Oh, you wound me” the Owner smiled.

The monster swung its arm back and it extended far more then it should be able to as if it was made out of elastic, its claws grew longer and it whipped with its whole body to swing towards the Owner. The claw stopped just before it hit him. The Owner held his right palm infront of him and stopped the attack a few inches away. The Owner was still smiling, but with a smile that Victor had never seen. A wicked sinister smile. Crazy, mad, beastly like. The Owners eyes had also changed, they glowed like blue sapphires. His ears started ringing and it became louder and louder.

“Sir’

Victor gasped for air and spun around.

“What just happened?” He looked at Sid ”Where did the Owner go? The monster? What just happened?” The color and sound had come back to his surroundings and it overloaded him.

“I-I don’t know sir, you were just standing here, is everything okay” Victor looked at him with a crazed look

“No, not at the moment” and he stormed off back to his office. The workers chatted and stared as he stormed past them and into his office. As soon as his doors closed behind him a familiar voice spoke.

“Ah sorry Victor, sort of a mess up on my end.” Victor looked around to see where the voice was coming from and then at his desk with his feet up sat the Owner. His smile shined through as if nothing was wrong. A completely trusting face with innocent eyes. How did he maintain such a stance, who was he?

“Stop” he unraveled his legs from the table and stood “No need to worry about my mishap. The thing that crept up into the carnival was something that I was chasing for a while. My mess spilled over into your domain. Again my sincere apologies.”

“What happened down there? You stopped time, took what ever that thing was on by yourself.” The Owner put his hand up to try and stop the questioning “What am I doing here? What is all this ? How come I can’t leave?” Victor moved closed to the Owner. His anger was raising with his curiosity. “What do you want me to do?”

The Owner never flinched. His stance never changed. He just stood smiling, nodding with each question.

“My dear Victor. You are doing a fantastic job. All I ask is that you continue. If situations, like today, get out of hand. I’ll take care of them. Not a problem.” He moved off to the window to look out over the park. “Other things call for my attention Victor. We will see each other again.” Reality skipped a frame and in that small fraction, the Owner skipped out of his view. Victor slowly sat this desk and turned to over look the park.

The guests, specs of dust moved about, unbothered. But he sat looking down at them. Terribly bothered.

I just did an interview with my sister on her amazing podcast Citrus & Sun, check it out! She has over 100 great episodes. While on there I talked about how alot of my stories are stand alone. Which they are, but what do you know. Here is one (and the next story to come out) are connected to past stories. If I have multiple entries in a universe this usually means that I have beginning , middle and an end to the story.

We return to the carnival floating in an ocean of Oil with our CEO Victor trying to figure out how he got there and what might be going on. The Owner is new to the story and maybe you can pick up who he really is. What might be out there, what is even going on? Why is it soooo boring here ?!

Not everything infront of you is telling you its secrets. Sometimes you have to observe a little closer.

Cheers!

The Beginning - Floating Carnival

An autumn breeze blew over the small island of Halloway. The shops dressed themselves in spiderwebs, witches hats, skeletons and jack o’ lanterns which smiled at the passing tourists and locals. The trees shook themselves of some leaves while the rest glinted in the crisp autumn air with colors of burnt orange, yellows and reds. A group of kids sat in front of one of the local cafes that was off Main Street. Crafty Cafe, was small, but held a mighty expresso machine and large cups of specialty coffee. Inside crafts made by the locals and from classes taught there hung from the roof and stocked shelves. Next to them books stacked in the corners and filled any empty space that could be claimed. It was a relatively small place. The coffee bar stood in the back while a fire place raged to its right. Across the floor small tables with large felt backed chairs faced each other. Outside where the kids sat were some picnic tables surrounded by maples on either side.

A dice rolled across the table.

“Snake eyes” a boy with blonde hair hissed at the girl that had tossed the dice. “You know what that means”

The rest of the kids, which comprised of two brown haired girls and two other boys that were dressed straight out of the eighties, gasped and oo’ ed at the girl that had tossed the snake eyes.

She tapped her fingers against the table with a frown “Okay, tell me your stupid dare Tyler.”

There was silence among the group as they all turned to the Tyler. He leaned forward, they all leaned in.

“You know the story of the broken wagon?” he said with a glint in his eye.

“No, I don’t know the story of the broken wagon” she said. The kids turned to her.

“You have never heard of it? Not once?” One of the girls asked.

“Megans a bit new to the island, she might not of known. It’s her first Halloween here” One of the eighties boys spoke up.

“Well let me enlighten you” Tyler cleared his throat “Deep in the forest on the ancient roads from the colonial days there are bones of an old wagon. The right wheel missing and the rest now rotted and laid to decompose, like a dead body.”

Megan rolled her eyes.

“It is said that originally during the settlement of the island they built wagons to accompany them through out the island to make sure that they had supplies and could last out in the forest for days at a time while they settled. While most returned there was one wagon that did not. The story goes that the wheel broke while it was on its way back. The town sent out some people to find the wagon. When they did, they couldn’t believe what they had seen. Scattered among the path were all the belongings, claw marks the size of a mans body raked across the remaining wagon and ripped the cloth roof into pieces. There were no signs of the people belonging to the wagon.”

“Every time they tried to clean up and clear the wagon from its spot the men could hear screaming from the forest. The trees would start shaking and loud footsteps could be heard coming towards them. Each and every time. So the wagon remains. Haunted by the monster and victims. Never getting a proper burial and becoming a legend. The restless souls and the monster that roams the woods. Protecting its wagon.”

The boy slammed the table and screams erupted from a few of the kids. Even Megan gasped, breaking from a trance envisioning what had happened to the wagon.

“So the dare is to visit the wagon, after dark, on Halloween. When the souls are closet to the living realm” he made some spooky noises and wiggled his fingers in the air.

Megan stood up “That’s fine. I’m not afraid of any legend. Tomorrow night I will show you that there are no ghost or monsters in the forest. Also “ she narrowed her eyes at him “your coming with me”

“Me? “ he chirped “you rolled the dice, your the one to go” he waved his hands at her.

“Have you gone your self? Your an island native after all”

The kids turned to him with suspicious eyes.

“I have been to the wagon, but not at night” he answered quietly avoiding their gaze.

“I thought you had been every where on the island at night? That’s what you told us” one kid asked.

“Well ya, I’ve been everywhere at night” he rubbed his chin “except the wagon”

“Who thinks Tyler should go to the wagon with me tomorrow night Halloween? Say I”

The kids all pronounced ‘I’ in unison.

“Then it is settled. Your coming with me”

A harvest moon rose high into the sky. With its orangish tint it revealed the darkness with a soft glow that made the eyes wonder what it was seeing. Was the darkness moving or was it sitting dormant as it usually would. Did the monsters have better vision during the soft glow of the moon light.

Tyler zipped his coat up while standing next to a street lamp near the north side of town. He could look down past the small houses and Main Street to the ocean that rolled in the moonlight.

“Boo” Megan jumped from the shadows and onto the street. Tyler gave a small jump, but kept his cool.

“Ready go or not? Ive been waiting here for over ten minutes. I thought you were chickening out”

“Sure, you lead the way fearless leader” she said giving him a salute.

The trees narrowed and created a tunnel that enveloped them in darkness with only the exit providing a guide for them. Animals and creatures of the night sounded from their homes inside the forest. The night was truly alive. Megan held Tyler close as they slowly made their way to the end of the tree tunnel and into a large meadow. The road took a couple of bends and crossed a small stream then moved up a hill. Megan stopped at the bottom and looked up. Shining through the moonlight was the broken remains of the wagon. She could see the steel ribs and the wooden cabin resting as great shadow.

“Almost there” Tyler trudged on ahead.

“Yeah Finally” Megan took a full breath of air and ran to meet him.

At the highest part of the hill sat a forest on the left side and the remains of the wagon on the right. The road moved to the top then made round to the left going beyond the forest. Megan stuffed her hands in her pockets as they approached the wagon. It didn’t look like much in the moon light. The steel from the roof cage still remained a bit and the cabin had been rotted out and was being assimilated into the ground.

“This is it?” Megan turned to Tyler, who yawned

“Yeah, that’s it. I mean it would be much scarier alone, which was the whole point”

“You’ve never been here alone” Megan shot back at him.

He gave her a sidelined look and stared at the wreckage. “Do you believe it?” he whispered.

“What? that a monster ripped apart some settlers? Of course not” she scoffed “why? do you?”

Tyler turned his back on the wagon and leaned against it facing the forest. The moon now at its peak illuminated a few feet into it. He looked deep into the darkness beyond. The island was not all fun and games.

Trees shook and leaves rustled as something moved about. Tyler breathed out emitting a cloud of steam. His eyes met other eyes deep within the trees. They caught the moon light in a flash and in that moment a reflection of himself acknowledged the fear.

“Hello?” Megan waved a hand in front of him. He broke out his trance, but the sounds were coming closer. Wailing, soft at first then rose up to a scream. One voice, two voice, then a whole choir of voices screamed at them from the forest. “what is that? Is this a prank you are pulling on me?” Megan now turned to the forest.

From the abyss beyond their vision a man dressed in black slacks, white shirt and suspenders stepped out into the road. A wide brimmed hat shielded his face from them. He stood in silence then tilted his head up towards the moon. His face was gaunt, with a long nose and sunken eyes which were closed. His chin came to a sharp point and he stood as still as a statue, not even breathe escaped.

Megan moved back and jumped as her back pressed against the wagon. Tyler grabbed her hand.

“Run”

She yelped as he drug her down the hill. She glanced up at the man. His head snapped in their direction with an audible crack, yellow glowing eyes burst open from the valleys they hid in. His hands, now long fingered scalpels extended down just above the ground. A smile of sharp teeth snapped open and the screams began to ring out over the meadow.

She screamed and met the pace of Tyler.

“Who is that?” she yelled at him.

“The monster you dummy, just shut up and run”

Tyler and Megan shot, jumped, sprinted with their whole spirits back towards town. Their breathless cries drowning out the night animals and adding to the wails that came from the man that chased them. Each time his clogged foot hit the ground they could feel him getting closer and closer. The screams piecing right to their bones almost to the point of bringing them to their knees, but nature had built in adrenaline for a reason. To survive. They exited the tunnel of trees and almost rolled down the hill to the towns back gate. As they passed into the cobble street where kids jumped and hollered for candy with parents gleefully taking part in the festivities the screams stopped. Tyler collapsed on a patch of grass that was next to the Crafty Cafe. He spun backing up into the wall and peered back towards the gate. Megan braced her self against the wall catching any breathe she could.

The man did not pass the gate, but Tyler could see his eyes out beyond. Peering as they did before.

“Whoa, look at you two, coming down that hill like a bat out of hell, see some spooky things out there?” Megan turned to see Mr.Nika, the owner of Crafty Cafe, leaning down at them. Tyler put his arm up still shaking and pointed out towards the eyes. Mr.Nika slowly turned to look.

He stood for a moment then smiled “You kids weren’t at the wagon were you?” he said then walked towards the gate.

Both kids yelled at him to back off, but Mr.Nika stopped right before the threshold and gave a wave out to the forest.

Megan and Tyler regained a bit of themselves, but shock and terror still permeated from them as Mr.Nika returned to them and shuffled them into Crafty Cafe. He guided them to two large chairs next to the roaring fire, told them to stay, left and returned with two cups of hot cider which he set down on the table for them.

He sat on the stone mantle of the fire place closer to Megan.

“Well well. You kids have both seen something tonight that I am sure isn’t going to leave you any time soon. This might be a long night, did you want some candy? No? That’s okay, I am sure the other kids will share tomorrow.” Mr.Nika took a sip of his own drink “Well let me say. Happy Halloween” He gave a big smile and laugh then hushed himself leaning towards them “Lucky are we. A special few that see them in the night. The monsters.”

They sat wide eyed, not knowing what they had just entered. What realm they stepped in.

Mr.Nika pulled out a book and set it on the table between them and said.

“Welcome to the Autumn People”

Happy Halloween!

What special day. The spookiest day of the year. Revel in its magic. Tonight story was inspired by Mackinac Island. Eve and I go their every year during October so I thought an island setting would be cool. The Autumn People comes from (at least where this is inspired from) the book Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury. One of, if not, my favorite stories. I was listening to it while carving a pumpkin yesterday and there is section where they talk about the Autumn People. I was trying to figure out what to call this group that could see and interacted with monsters and then the Autumn people came to me. Perfect! I will use that. I wanted the story to end on a more hopeful, non scary note since the main characters are kids and it starts off more light hearted.

Well thats it for tonight. Enjoy the Halloween spirit. Get lots of candy and keep those Jack O’ Lanterns lit tonight.

Happy Hauntings.

Cheers!

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Flashes erupted from out of the small wooden cabin at the edge of the forest. Bullets impacted around them as they sprinted along the railroad track.

“You okay Mary?” a man ducked behind a mining cart and started to reload his own revolver. His skin was a dark brown, scars over his forearms that were exposed from his rolled up white shirt. His eyes glimmered, peered over at her, they shined purple sapphire. Mary checked her own rifle, making sure it was topped up and ready. She tipped her wide brim hat at him from the mining cart next to his.

“Okay and ready. Remember what you promised me Victor” She said. Victor smiled and tipped his cowboy hat at her in return. He moved to the edge of the cart and peaked around to see the small cabin. A shot rang out at him hitting the rail track igniting the air with sparks. He edged again and looked towards the forest. One gun doesn’t mean a lone gun. Victor motioned for them to move deeper into the mining complex. He pulled something from his belt, turned a dial and threw it towards the cabin.

They both waited a moment then a explosion of light shielded them from the sight of the cabin and they both bolted for the large open door.

“Clear it” Victor shouted as he saw Mary enter before him. She moved fast, gliding into the building, knees slightly bent with the rifle ready. Her eyes scanned the interior. Coal frozen in a water fall down a large metal chute cut the room in half, to the right side of the room was a metal stair way up to an office that looked like it over looked where the cabin was, and to the left was a train track that snaked deeper into the building. Victor swept himself inside and immediately moved towards the steps and office. Even in his heavy cowboy boots he moved silently up the stairs and slithered through in. Mary followed up behind him watching the entrance they had came in from.

The office was lit by an array of large square windows. Half were broken or missing, most in the center remained. As Mary entered the office she stopped as Victor crouched near an over turned desk.

They listened. Wind brushed the trees outside and the autumn leaves shook, the rustling and the shining sun would be a perfect day in normal circumstances. Birds could be heard through out the forest and animals which had become accustom to violence of man and monster moved about their day. Besides that, all was quiet. Victor moved just in front of the window to the right, while Mary moved to the left.

They sat motionless ears sharpened to to the air. The cabin sat to the right of the windows across a set of train tracks that rode along the side of the building. All around it a forest stretched to the mountains behind. In the woods left of them a crack of a branch came. Victor stood immediately and his pistol rang out three shots. A howl from man came from the woods.

The stillness returned, but now the moaning of a dying man joined the sounds of nature. Mary peaked over the windows to the cabin. She couldn’t be sure that who ever was in there had moved or that they remained,waiting. Their position was now known. She heard something rustling in the trees behind the cabin. The trees behind shook and broke as something monstrous approached the back of the cabin. A man shouted and shots started haphazardly in panic. Victor scanned the tree line and then moved to get the cabin in his sights with Mary. More shots illuminated the cabin and then the front door burst open.

A man bloodied, stumbled out onto the train tracks. Victor raised his hand to steady Mary. Following him like a amalgamation of flesh and blood a monster slipped through the door. It’s large figure pushing itself through cracking the frame and moving out into the open. It stood tall in the sun light. Multiple of wild arms protruding from it’s cyst like body. A head bulging from a mass of muscle and tissue roared out at the man, with teeth that seemed to be jagged and thick. It had two legs, but one was expanded and flat like an elephants foot, when it moved towards the man it stumbled forward unhindered by its awkward stance. One of the multitude of arms reached out and slashed at the man as he tried his best to reload with missing fingers. Another scream as the razor nails dug into his right shoulder and the mass was upon him. Victor put down his hand and Mary took aim.

Her shot hit him right between the eyes. His suffering for now had ended.

The monster pulled the body apart in a rage and turned to them. Then it ran to the left.

“Oh shit” Victor moved towards the entrance of the office to the metal stairs. He had miscalculated the speed. The monster gripped the sides of the large opening where they had come in and stomped into the coal. It let out a roar that shook the metal of the building and the glass panes in the office. Mary broke one of the inside facing windows and started levering her rifle putting as many bullets as possible into the monster. It took each one with a flinch, but seemed un-bothered.

“Time to run, to the door on the other side of the office” Victor said as he pulled a stick that had a cylinder at the end of it. He gave it a quick jerk motion and spikes deployed all around the metal cylinder. He pulled a pin, stepped forward and let the device fly towards the mass. The spikes dug themselves into its shoulder. The monster tried to shake it off, but as it proved not possible it screamed and launched itself at them.

Victor stepped back and they both moved towards the door. He put his weight into it and turned the handle.

It was locked.

Mary was reloading her rifle and he started to slam himself against the door. The monsters arms sprawled out inside the office door where they had entered. He could hear the hiss of the device.

“Move” Mary took aim at the door handle and poured her shots into it. Victor slammed into it once more and the door swung heavily open. Mary followed behind and they ran as quickly as they could down the hallway. The explosion dropped them down to the floor. The whole building erupted in vibration and shook the dust and coal into a whirlwind. The office which they had taken refuge lay in ruin. Flesh, bone and blood plastered the walls and ceilings and sprayed out across the tracks outside.

They both sat up and propped against the wall inside the hall.
“You all right?” Victor breathed heavily checking himself for any damage.

“Yeah, I think so” Mary checked herself over as well “That was close Victor, way to close”

Victor checked his revolver and reloaded to full “Just the way we like it” He smiled, pushing the chamber back into place and giving it a spin.

The cabins door had been broken off and the frame cracked in a large circle. In the middle of the floor it sat. A puddle of black blood and white ash pulsed from the floor boards. It smelled of burnt flesh and smokey ash mixed with acrid candles. Victor knelt down and pushed his arm into the pulsating pool until it came to his elbow. His body jerked and tensed and he strained against some invisible force that was reeling him in. He pulled against it, eyes closed, veins bulging on his neck and through his arm. He shook his head, waving away something that was calling him, then taunting him. He let out a small growl and clenched his teeth and extracted his arm from the pool. It pulsed, glowed brighter then dissipated into the air, leaving only a hole where it used to be.

He stepped back trying to catch his breathe in a a full sweat. “Okay, okay“ he steadied himself and Mary took his arm to support. “We go East. The mines are a dead end and so is the Bishop farm. The entity has to be past those, maybe Harmons Cornfield. We can chance it or find another rift get us closer.”

“Do you know what it is?”

“It’s the opposite of what we just killed, lots of legs. Crawls on the ceiling. I only got a glimpse.” He wiped his forehead with a cloth and pulled out a map. He crossed off the two locations and drew an arrow past them. They had lived through another encounter. How many more? He looked at Mary, her eyes in full determination. He steeled his thoughts and returned the eyes back to her. A monster needed to be banished.

Hunt Showdown is a favorite game of mine. The world, the game play and the whole experience is different than anything else out there at the moment. It recently just got an update and I have been playing a lot of it. I envisioned these two characters. Mary is like a typical western female archetype. Strong willed, full of surprises, resourceful and willing to get in there and fight. Victor, is modeled after Boyd Stevens from the show From. A man with a sense of justice, resourcefulness, an iron will for survival and able to get through basically anything thrown at him. While I take a look at them now and gather where they came from, in reality I was daydreaming one day and they both were just paling around with each other in this world. This story would take part earlier in their journey together. There is a deal struck between them, that not only will push them deeper into a terrifying world, but bring together an incredible duo.

Go check out Hunt Showdown 1896, play it for sure, but even reading the plethora of lore or stories from the game is incredible.

Happy Hunting!

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The summer sun shined down through the maples and cast their shadows on the meadows. The Newearls, all assembled for once, splayed around the side yard of their mansion. Drake, manning the grill and cooking some hamburgers with Sara sitting at a small bistro table reading a magazine. Jon and Amy sat at a small table, cards in the both hands.

“Is he going to come or what?” Amy said her leg impatiently bouncing under the table causing her whole body to bob up and down.

Jon leaned forward over his hand and shuffled his cards nervously “I invited him, I don’t know, maybe he just isn’t into this sort of stuff. Go fish.”

“We are playing poker”

The sun dipped behind a cloud and it became darker. Much to dark for such an event. A low rumbling sound came from the earth and out struck a slate of pure black. The shadow rose fifteen feet in the air and spread out. From the dark soft material which ate light, doors materialized and became a solid structure. They threw themselves open and he stepped out.

Jerico dressed in his typical long red jacket and black uniform underneath. His white hair was tied behind his neck then spilled down all the way to behind his knees. Behind him through the door arms sprawled out in all directions. One carried a large ornate suit case which it set next to him. The arm then patted him on the head and retreated back into the doors which slammed shut and plummeted into the ground.

The sun came back from behind its clouded shelter.

“What an entrance” Amy scoffed.

Jon stood up and moved towards his brother. Mutual ground was a new experience for both of them and he felt nervous approaching so unguarded.

“Glad you could make it”

“Yes, I thought it might be time for a vacation of sorts. I was able to find some time in my schedule to relax” Jerico said

Drake gave him and waved and behind Sara’s magazine she gave a quick nod.

Jon wrapped his arm around jericos neck and jerked him towards the table where they were playing cards “I have a card game to teach you, It’s called ‘Go Fish’”

“It’s poker!” Amy shot at him.

“Poker”

“You know I am ruler of basically hell, gambling is rife, I know how to play poker” Jerico said.

“Amy will you get your brother, dinner will be ready pretty soon” her dad said.

Amy groaned “Where is he?”

“I think I saw him getting carried away be some ghosts or something” Sara flipped a page in her magazine. “Or maybe it was skeletons, something supernatural”

Amy let out another groan and looked out through the trees and meadows towards the south.

“Should we be worried?” Jon looked south with Amy.

“Who knows, come on, you too Jerico, I think I know where he might be.”

The three of them left the Newearl manor which sat in the head of the dolphin and traveled south to the center of the island. They past through glades and large maples. Calm streams twisted and turned leading to large lakes of crystal blue water which glistened in the sun. Soon though the sky grew gray and overcast. The trees started to lose their leaves and instead of reaching towards the sky they twisted in all directions. The landscape turned from lively forests to skeleton trees, rolling knolls of tombstones, spiked fences, haunted houses and mausoleums. Jack O’lanterns started to pop up here and there on top fences and graves. Their faces flickered wide jagged grins.

Jerico stopped at the top of the hill and looked towards the mountains they were heading towards. Large brown Jack O’Lanterns smiled back at him from the base.

“What is this place? This island has very unique properties” he said and looked back from where they came from.

“My mom found it, she seems to find all sorts of odd stuff. The mist surrounding the island is some sort of barrier, repels people, but it let my mom through. The whole place is like some magical island of mystery. The rules don’t make sense and it limits your abilities.”

Jon stopped “What do you mean?”

Amy looked back at them “Try flying”

Jon hopped high in the air, but he could not sustain it and fell back down.

“See, don’t you think we would of just flown here instead?”

“I take the carriage around the demon world, portals get boring, also I don’t want to see everyone instantly”

“Good point, I thought we were have like a bonding walk or something” Jon broke out into a smile

“Okay, well, this island is odd, just know that it is a unique space, not everything you can do other places you can do here. Be careful. Come on, we still need to walk back after we get him”

As they continued towards the mountain the graves and hills slopped down into a town of broken down buildings themed in vicorian. Orange, brown, purple, and black paint made a mixture of haunting overtones.

As they approached the town of broken Victorian streets they saw white shapes floating around. They were pure white, but slightly translucent with two black ovals imprinted that floated inside them.

“Hey you!” Amy called and pointed to the ghost in the middle of the street.

“Wh-wh-who me?” The white cloud jolted in place.

“Yeah you, what’s your name?”

“Ja-ja - Jackal”

“Jackal have you seen a boy with pointy ears” she pointed to her own “get carried through here?”

The ghosts eyes searched in its fog then rotated to look behind it then back at Amy “Yes, they took him to the top of one of the hills”

Amy waved Jackal a thanks and the three of them continued on through the town. It soon sloped down to train tracks and chain linked fences that surround a large chasms that stretched on for miles. Raising out from the darkness, stone pillars shot up into the sky. The brownish black Krag held haunted mansions, trains that went in and out of the mountains with ghost following close behind and tombstones that followed the same scheme as the town. On top of some of the pillars rested large balls of jagged stone that had been carved into faces of jagged grins and frowns adorned with candy corn shaped eyes.

Great stone Jack O’ Lanterns that lit by some mysterious energy projected ghostly light form their faces. The pumpkin hills.

“Great, how the hell are we supposed to get up there?” Amy let out a heavy sigh then turned to ask Jon and Jerico. Off to the right was small train that held its own grin made out of steel. Jon sat in one the cars, which was to small, with his knees tucked under his chin, while Jerico sat two cars behind him leaning back and stretching his legs to rest on the car between them.

“All aboard” Jon called over to her.

Jackal the ghost came floating down the hill “I-I-I can help you” he floated to the conductor spot on the train which fit him perfectly “One moment” Jackals black eyes closed into a slits and then opened with a spark. A black conductors hat poofed into existence atop of his head “R-Ready!”

“The conductor has arrived, lead us to victory” Jerico smiled “Hop on Amy”

Amy moved to the car behind the conductor and laid her self across the car, her legs hanging out the left side, her arms hugging the bar that lead to the small roofon the right. “Just take it easy”

The tiny train gave a whistle and steam bellowed out of the front boiler then slowly moved forward towards the cliff edge.

“Please work” Amy crossed her fingers as the train slid off the side of the cliff and started to descend. Slowly at first then faster as it seemed to free fall.

“Jackal!” Amy screamed “What the f-“

The train jack knifed up and towards the sky sending them holding onto the tiny cars as they ascended.

They passed a couple of platforms that held small grave sights and some odd looking buildings, past a few stone pumpkins that were lower and kept climbing till they reached the highest pumpkin that was close to them. It was larger then the others and the top of it was multi tiered with ramps leading to an apex. Jackal guided the train to the lower level that had the most space and aligned the train with a small track that started at the cliff and half mooned to the other cliff edge.

“H-here we are” the ghost whistled the train as it came to a stop. The three unstuck themselves from the cars and moved up the winding hill roads to the top of the platform. At the top there were trees that reached their limbs towards the center where an alter that was engraved with smiling pumpkins and dancing skeletons which Newearl was laid upon, his hands bound behind his back. Six ghosts shuffled back and forth around him in a sort of dance.

“This doesn’t look good” Jon said as they approached.

“Hey” Amy shouted. The ghosts all turned to look at them with their smoke eyes. “Get away from him”

“Oh thank goodness” Newearl said shuffling to face them

The ghosts moved to form a line infront of the alter. Newearl was blanketed in a haze.

The middle ghost spoke up “This alive being was caught desecrating one of our graves”

“Absolutely shameful!” A ghost in the line up cried.

Amy put her fingers to her forehead and rubbed “what did he do now?”

Newearl shuffled towards the end of the alter “I wanted to find out more about the grave so I was cleaning it to read the inscription better, then these dudes show up out of no where and attack me”

“See! Desecrating” The ghosts bobbed up down.

Amy stepped up to the line and hit the middle ghost where its nose would be. Its smoke eyes turned to x’s and it bounced back past the alter. The other ghosts, shocked at the ability to effected by something alive started in all directions and panic ensued.

“Look, I am sorry he cleaned your grave, but you can’t do “she waved towards the alter “what ever this is to him, I’m taking him back with me” Amy uncut Newearls wrist.

“B-but someone has to atone” The ghost that was struck cautiously glided towards them.

Amy thought for a moment. “Okay, okay ,you know where the mansion on the north side of the island is? You can get there right?”

“Of course,we ghosts can go anywhere”

“Right…. Well we are having a cook out, come on over, we will get you something “ she motioned over to Jackal and whispered “what do ghosts eat? Absorb ? Consume? Besides souls”

“We ghosts loves a good bonemeal”

“We will have some bonemeal for you” Amy announced confidently.

The ghosts stretched in delight and swarmed all over.

“Okay, see you there” Amy and the rest descended back down to the train.

“Where are we going to get bonemeal form” Jon said

“I don’t know we will dig up some grave on our way back and grind up the bones” Amy flopped back on the train.

“That sounds way worse then what Newearl did, that is actually desecrating a grave” Jerico lay back in his train car. Newearl agreed and sat on a large coffin shaped platform on the back of the train.

“Well, sometimes you gotta do these things” Amy waved at them.

“A-actually, we can get some in the store in town b-b-before we go back”

“Perfect, see these things always work out” Amy thumbs up to them.

Sara flipped another page of her magazine while drake sat at the table writing something down in a notebook.

“You think they are okay?” Drake crossed something off in the notebook.

Sara glanced up form her book “Yeah, it looks like they are fine”

Drake glanced up at the sky where he could see a small train floating towards their clearing. Surrounding them was an entourage of small puffs of white. Amy waved from the train and as it got closed to the ground hopped off.

“Hope you don’t mind we have some extra guests”

Sara grinned and put her magazine down “Not at all”

The cookout was filled with tales of the beyond, cheers for fallen comrades, and catching up on each others lives. The ghosts recalled their past lives and what they did sometimes on the island while enjoying their bonemeal, while Drake and Sara extended their yard to be haunted.

Soon the games resumed which found Amy, Jon and Jerico back at the table. Cards in hands.

Amy held her cards close “I’m calling you”

Jon threw down his cards “Go fish”

Amy and Jerico leaned forward.

“That’s a royal flush!” Amy threw her cards down”

Jerico rested rubbed his face with one hand “You have won the last three games. And it’s Poker!”

It’s my birthday! I wanted to write a bit of a silly story with some of my characters. They rarely ever get to hang out together and this ‘summer’ time was meant for a breathing period for all of them. I will run over some of the Charactrs.

Amy Newearl - Her first nameis based on Amy Rose from Sonic and was my first Phantasy Star Character. Her parents are Drake and Sara, while here brother is Newearl (get to him in a minute) She has been featured in my Holiday town stories having a good time.

Jonathan - His name is based on my name as well as Jonathan Joestar from JoJo Bizare adventure. I thought it was cool that a main character in a Japanese manga could have my first name, so why not make a character of mine have my name as well. His brother is Jerico.

Jerico - Jons older brother who has a pretty tragic past. I wanted his name to sound biblical and I liked the name of the city Jericho. I actually thought it was spelled Jerico, so I always spelled his name that way, it just stuck.

Newearl - This character is very important to me, which is why he doesn’t have a first name (yet). When I started this whole family back in 4th grade, Newearl was the first character that I ever wrote about. It was Dr.Suess’s birthday and we had to produce our own small storybook. Actually, the Newearl mansion, Drake and Newearl are all in that original story where he and his father are off to get his dreamcast in clockwork city across the bay. That was 24 years ago. There is alot to tell about these characters and while they will make cameos here and there in the tales, there will be a separate project for them.

Story takes place on Ecco Island

You can find Amy out and about in these -
Halloween Town
Christmas Town

The windows curled from the ground all the way up to the roof. Small elegant and ornate lamps hung above every booth that aligned the windows. Black and white checkered tiles cast themselves among the floor and followed the large bar, which was wrapped in black and marble and protected by black button stools. The only employee rested her self behind the bar starting out the large windows.

Snow like the town had never seen had descended them in the last few days. Everything was closed. The streets had more than 4 feet of snow piled up and blocked everything.

Yet, the diner would be open. Awaiting any guest and the diner knew of only one. Today might be the day that it would block him. The wind howled creating a sheet of white, but a shadow emerged. The door rung as it opened bringing in the winter draft through out the diner. Ice hung from every inch of his overcoat and a thick layer of snow rimmed his hat. The man shook him self out and let the snow fall off of him. He took a seat at bar removing his hat and coat, laying it on the stool next to him. The waitress smiled and came up to greet him.

“I thought this might be it, Mick.” She leaned with her arms on the bar towards him. “but you always seem to surprise me” The man named Mick smoothed back his hair and patted it softly to make sure it was still in place.

He let out a large breath and gave a smile “Well doll, I’m not gonna lie to you, I almost didn’t make it. Snow up to my waist at some points, but something can’t be ignored. We all know that” Mick put his elbows up and rested his chin on his hands glancing to each end of the diner. “Coffee?”

“Black as usual and toast with blueberry jam” Mick raised his eyebrows with a grin “both sides jammed”

His smiled widened “You got it” The waitress turned around and disappeared into the kitchen. The diner stood silent besides the rattling in the back and howling of the outside. The grand lux jukebox lit up and Mick turned to look. The records shifted inside of it and then “My Way” by Frank Sinatra filled the diner. Mick returned his head to his hands, cupping his face taking in a deep breath. Slowly he pulled his hands down from his eyes. Blood covered every inch of the counter top and glazed parts of the ceiling. Bits of flesh hung off of the kitchen window and a sickly smell filled his lungs. He slowly rose to peer at the floor behind the bar. Her body lay torn apart in several places. Unrecognizable. He stared down. Music still filling his ears. He was not shocked. He sat back down and re cupped his face in his hands.

“Here you are dear” plates clacked in front of him with a large mug of coffee. He looked up at the waitress. “Don’t worry, we both know what happens.”

Mick sighed, but his grin returned “Yeah, I guess we both do, don’t we” he took a sip of his coffee and gave a laugh “Never tasted better then now” he turned and raised his mug to the winter storm blazing out side. He noticed that the music had stopped and turned back to the juke box. It rested dead by the wall staring back at him. He rose his mug to it as well then took a sip. Mick turned back to the waitress. Her name was Lucy, but he never really used her name. Usually he called her doll, which she never seemed to mind, or he didn’t address her. She had been here ever since he could remember. The diner would be packed and there she would be. Her dark hair swirling back and forth as she danced behind the bar to deliver warm meals and drinks. A bonus is that she could cook as well. On slow days, such as this one. She would man the whole place by herself. Always a smile on her face and always waiting to serve. It was like she was made for this place. The diner itself lay at the edge of town. It faced inward out looking the many manicured houses and the large mountains that the town was nestled under. It was a sight when the snow wasn’t cutting all vision off. While the interior was one of a 1950 upscale lux hotel, the food was that of a normal diner. No riches to be found in it. It was iconic to the town and had been here since he had moved in 5 years ago. Once he had finished his coffee and ate his toast, Mick stood up and put his coat and hat back on. He moved toward the door then turned to Lucy.

“Well, I’ll see you later. Stay warm” The bell rung and another draft ran through the diner. She watched him trudge through the snow till his figure faded into the white. He had still never missed day at the diner.

I came up with this story many years ago, I did some re-edits and tried to piece it back together.I pictured a diner in the snow storm and one guest still showing up (through almost impossible weather). The mystery was why this person would show up no matter what the circumstances were. Why did they order the same thing each time and what was so special about the diner. Mick Ryan is my main character. I described him originally as an honest man with a dishonest past catching up to him. I think it might turn into a more supernatural story, but the main place is the diner.

Imagine with with its large window being blown out white from the storm in the morning and midday, then growing dark purple as the sun goes down and the storm still rages on. A cozy retreat from the elements. I want to explore Mick and the diner more in the future. We will see where it leads.

My Way - Frank Sinatra

The train moved with a fluid motion across the triple width tracks. The front steam engine was a large monstrous amalgamation of steel, cast iron,and wood, the boiler stretched half a mile and stood just as tall, adorned in a mix between Victorian and Gothic architecture. The train pulled up next to a large dead forest. The trees stood impossibly tall with their leafless limbs sprawling in all directions.

The conductor stepped down from the large steam engine to the edge of a large forest, trees that held jack-o’-lantern like faces creaked and cracked to turn to him.

He was dressed in a long black and gold great coat, black leather gloves and matching black boots. Where a head would be, was an oval of glass, inside a cosmic dance was being played between galaxies of dark purple, black and red. Upon the theater of galaxies was a conductor hat, black as well, a leather knock at each side and a line coming across the bill, in the middle was an emblem of a ghost which shined of gold and silver. He brought his right hand outstretched, palm facing up, to head level and waited.

The trees stared as the conductor stood frozen, they could not understand yet, but soon they heard the wings. Through the tops of the trees a raven dipped and dodged branches and slowly descended to the conductors waiting hand.

The raven, as it descended, grew larger and larger. High above it looked to be normals sized, but as it came upon the conductor and flapped its wings to slow its self to a stand still, the wing span was several feet and the talons could engulf a persons head. In its right talon it held a parchment of rolled up paper which it dropped onto the conductors open hand.

With a mighty call the raven leapt back into the air and flew into the forest. The trees groaned in anticipation as the conductor took the parchment. It glowed a ghostly green and as he unrolled it, light emitted from it.

Written in the finest script, inked in shimmering multicolored black, were the following.

A story from beyond. For those that wish to listen please take the following story for your entertainment and expansion of imagination. I hope it finds you well. To the Midnight Tales.

Below that was a story.

The conductor rolled the parchment back up and returned to the train. The trees grinned wider and shook their mighty dead branches, the sky darkened and train let out a howl as steam burst forth from its might boiler and into the air.

The ghostly hotel had received another story.

The post was open.

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The skies were ablaze with fire and colors. Sparks erupted and the sky was crossed with dragons and mystical creatures made out of balls of fire. Each comet that was launched from the ground carried a trail of glitter and as it reached the clouds exploded in a multitude of colors.

The kingdoms eyes turned from the sky to merriment that surrounded them. Shops donned the royal seal and hung banners that flapped in the wind of the royal house and kingdom. Cups and glasses clanked together in cheers for the long life of their king. A king that had taken the lands that they now held, brought them from the monsters that pillaged and burned them, and conquered the forces of a fantastical dark entity. Bringing in a new age, a time of prosperity,wealth and infinite possibilities. Through blood and death, he carved the road for pure hope for the people. To take their land back from the horrors that had been spawned upon them for hundreds of years from an unreachable darkness from beyond. He was un touchable on the battlefield, but time, that was another story. King Multon could not conquer the reaper of time. Instead, as if he knew when his time was up, as if the reaper was an old friend. He asked his servants to leave him alone, but bring him two glasses of Oxfum tea .That morning in a crisp autumn air, the king sat on his large terrace out looking at the sun rising on his kingdom. When the servants returned for his breakfast. The king sat motionless. Eyes closed and with a serene smile on his face. He looked as if he was recounting a pleasant memory. Both cups of tea had been finished and next to the one across from the king, a purple clematis. The royal flower.

The kingdom wept,but the tears soon turned o cheers and celebration.As the oldest son, which was out of four, rose to occasion and started off his fathers journey with celebration of a life lived, instead of one lost. The best of all customs were brought out. The gleaming winter plates and Ironic silverware, the finest of fabrics were woven into flags and banners to be hung out on the streets and deck the roads and passages with bright reds and golds. All the lights in the kingdom were lit and kept lit in his memory. The light that guided them from darkness had gone out, but the kingdom could light itself now. The oldest son and soon to be king, Peter, was a just and a strong leader. His father sat with him many nights and discussed matters that he thought would aid him when he would rise to the kingship. His brothers, while not trained, supported stoutly their brother and his position. Somehow the drama of brotherhood and politics for the throne was not present between them.

The final ceremony lay their father in tombs of Calic. Surrounded by large oaken trees called Laken that rose higher than most buildings, Calic had held all of the kings fallen trusted soldiers. It had been said that the reason for the Laken’s height and strength is form the fallen soldiers taking their final rest by their roots. The king had claimed his final resting place the moment he set eyes on it. The largest oaken rose in the middle Calic. The north side had a large gash which the oaken had never healed. The king would be buried infront of this gash. Hoping to bring the oaken more health so it could finally heal itself.

During the witching hour, the kingdom lined up all the way to Calic where the Kings body was carried by a carriage pulled by Filec horses. As his body past the citizens they cheered and knelt in honor, but as the carriage drifted out of their site, tears flowed freely.

Peter and his brothers lowered their father, the king, into his final home. His armor polished and forever protecting his body, his sword placed in his hands and shield laid across him.

He was lowered, buried and remembered forever.

The king is dead, long live the king.

I am reading the Dragon Bone chair, by Tad Williams. In the beginning the great king is very old and ends up passing away. There is a celebration and the kingdom is tuned into a festival of sorts. Unfortunately the sons of the king do not have the best relationship and some things are afoot with the new King. It is a great read so far. I wanted to capture that moment. Of a life being celebrated, but instead of the future looking dim and the unknown taking hold after the celebrations, having the kingdom be secure with its new king. Life should be celebrated when it is time to move beyond. Celebrate the memories, the person and the life that was lived. I wanted to capture that.

0% Angel was blasting over the surround sound system and a wailing came from the girl that lay across the floor. Her abdomen, arm and right leg had been hacked to pieces and she screamed in pain. Alexander sat on the couch, he leaned back, his left leg extending out and his right bent supporting his position. In his left hand which rested on the back of the coach he sipped Angel envy on the rocks. His right hand rest on the end handle of an axe. The blade glistening red with organic bits plastering its smooth surface, blood staining the light wood all the way up to where his hand rested. He stared at something that was on the low white marble table in the living room. His eyes dove deep into its structure.

Two hours ago. He received a package at his sixty sixth floor apartment. He was close to the top of the building, but this was the only place available when he went to buy. It was nice, floor to ceiling windows that looked out over the metropolis, he had furnished it with white marble tables and gray accent couches. His bar was fully stocked with the best liquer and few little luxies that kept his health in a good position. A knock came to his door and when he opened it a small wooden box sat at his feet.

A card read “From your friend downstairs” he looked at it curiously. He had met a few of the people from the lower floors last week, but he didn’t think he made that much of an impression on them. He gave a smile, well, looks like your more charming then you thought. He moved to the living room and sat down on his L shaped couch and set the wooden box on the table. It was a simple box, and he slipped the lid off of it with ease. Inside was a smooth ball which was covered in wooden packing material. He lifted the ball out carefully, below it was a small square dish that it would sit in that he took out after.

The ball was perfect, his hand ran around it and it felt smoother then anything he had ever touched. It was pure white, while the base was pure black. When set together they created incredible contrast. The light and dark seemed to fight to absorb each other. Alexander was entranced by it. His eyes could not peel themselves from the white sphere. It seemed to pull him in, the room spinning and darkening as the sphere called out to him. Whispers came from inside of it. They did not travel by sound waves, but seemed to transmit straight into his mind. He knelt forward his face only a foot away from the spheres. He swore he could see something in the there. In the middle of all that negative space. In the pureness that it presented. He could see, he could see…

The axe slammed down into the mans back, a slight moment of disbelief then pure chaos erupted in the room. The mans body tried to swing around, but the axe came down again and followed the body to the floor. It raised and fell with bone and muscle tearing at each heave. Some tried to fight back, but they were no match. There would be no disarming him, no escaping from the executioner. He hunted in the small space one by one, the screams, the prayers, the pleading. It all fell on deaf ears. But the axe would listen and answer each one until the last. The girl who now lay. Her screams and cries had now died down, shock had ran its course and death was now coming to retrieve her.

The party was over as his friends lay strewn across his apartment. Alexander sat, the music still blaring in the background. Then came pounding on his door. The police had arrived much to late, but they had come. He had reinforced the door, so he could work in peace, but they would soon break it down.

He peered at the sphere then knelt by the table, his face a few inches away from it. He looked deep again. The banging Began to grow louder and louder. He set the axe on the table, blade facing up towards his neck. He held his head parallel with the table. His reflection looking back from the white marble table. He lifted his head up and for a moment held it there. Frozen in an unnatural pose.

He was the butterfly in the Atlantic, the pebble thrown in the glass lake, the hammer to the mirror.

He breathed in a sharp breathe and drove his neck down as hard as he could against he blade.

I just watched LongLegs. I knew somewhat about it before going in and I knew it had Nic Cage in it (the hardest working actor of our generation). As the credits rolled I didn’t really know what to think of it. It wasn’t terrifying, but something about the whole movie lingered with me, swirled around my head. I enjoyed the movie the shots/acting and sound were all on point. This story came to be when driving home the next day.

The song playing in the background is 0% Angel by Mr.Kitty

Careful what you accept into your home.

Cheers

The mall was packed wall to wall with people. The Muzak fought against the steady eb and flow of laughter and conversation that arose from the crowds. Simon held onto his mom’s hand tight as they pushed through the tight crowds up and up the escalator to the food court. His eyes wandered all around, from the neon signs to the rustic colorful facades that each of the stores presented. As they approached the food court, his mom stopped suddenly and waved towards someone in surprise. Simon looked, oh great, his mom’s friends. His mom was always running into someone and that delayed what ever they were doing by forever. They approached and the conversations begun. Simon sighed and gave a frown. Then something caught his eye. Between the pizza and sandwich shop was a dark hallway and above it was a neon red apple. He and his mom had been to this food court many times and he had never seen the apple before. Even when entering the food court he didn’t see it the first time he glanced over. His mom was preoccupied and she let go of his hand for a second. His feet moved quickly, as if being guided by some unknown force into the darkness until his hands pressed against something.

It was a door.

The door was much larger than any he had seen before, made out of wood and in the middle of it was a curved glass window that looked like a leaf with no features. He could not see on the other side, but as soon as he stepped through he could see back into the mall. He turned to see the room was long with floor to ceiling windows out looking the mall parking lot and park. It was admonished with brown accents like chocolate and the beams and walls seemed to melt and wrap around to create the rooms structure.Above him was a second level terrace that spanned the length of the room as well. The air was filled with kids laughter and excitement. The floor was a dark chocolate with waves of orange and cream in abstract shapes. Even the lights that hung or sconces that held onto the walls were a strange abstract shape of orange, yellow,brown and a cafe color. While the windows flushed the space with light, it seemed dark, cozy and inviting. In some places the floor sunk into tiny jungle gyms or what seemed to be lab demonstrations. A model rocket ship took off there and over there a helium balloon lifted a small milk carton off the ground. Simon stepped forward and a tall man in a white lab coat took note of him.

“Well well, Simon! I thought you would never join us. Welcome” The man stood tall, thin rectangle glasses sat on a face of sharp but warm features. His hair was a mix of black with white strands that were swept to the side. He knelt in front of Simon to be eye level and stuck out his hand.

Simon recoiled for a moment and gave the man a look “How did you know my name, Mr?”

“Ah, no need for any Mr. Here, call me Newton. Just like Isaac Newton, but clearing not me, just spelled the same. Your name? I am a good guesser of names, i was spot on this time” Newton held fast with his hand out, eyes formed in a smile.

Simon grasped what he could of Newtons hand .It seemed larger and longer than any he had ever seen. “Nice to meet you Newton”

“Welcome indeed, shall I show you around?” Newton returned to his towering stature.

“No, I should really be getting back to my mom, she will wonder where I am, next time” Yeah right Simon thought, this guy was mega stranger danger.

“Why not? You have all the time in the world. Look” Newton extended his arm and pointed through the glass. He could see where he had left his mom’s side. Her and the surrounding people seemed to be frozen in place. Simon approached the door and pressed his face against the glass to lookout the window. Not frozen, but moving incredible slow. So slow that he had to strain his eyes and force himself not the blink just to see the tiny movement.

“How” Simon whispered to himself.

Newton stepped upon next to him and pressed his face against the glass “Well, time can move at different paces depending on the entropy. This place is in extremely low entropy, time moves very slowly. But it is relative to the outside entropy. If - “

Simon stared up at Newton with a side eye.

“Right, one day. Come come, let’s show you around.” Simon followed Newton into the large room. “I want you to know, that no matter what happens to this mall, in the future or past, this place is always present. You can come and go as you please until a certain time, then , well you will be ready and won’t need this place anymore”

“You talk strange and a lot”

“I am a scientist my dear Boy, it is written in the rules, somewhere, regardless, here is the imagination station” Newton moved them to the left and to a large strange looking door made out of Greek columns of colors “once inside, use your imagination to create things and experience things you could never in reality. Test your ideas, build the tallest and most expansive cites, inventions, run them through the physics of science and nature of this world. See what you can come up with.”

They moved past to a Large open book that was fastened into the wall. It was turned to the middle of the pages and a door that was covered in text with a circle window was carved out on the right side. Above it said “Library of Infinity”

“Ah, here, you know how to read?”

Simon rolled his eyes “Of course, I know how to read”

Newton put up his hands “of course of course, this is the library, books, physical books, everywhere, there is an oracle that can find any subject on any matter from the greatest thinking minds, Next” They moved a little more down the wall to a glass door which was framed by two beakers “The chemistry room. Mix and match, play and explore the elements, we have supervision in there to help and teach, so you wont accidentally combust your self” he gave Simon a wink and turned around to the large windows “Over there is a interactive physics exhibit, there well , can’t remember what that was, but you can do what you wish with it. Explore, be curious, have fun and learn. Enjoy Simon, if you need assistance, find a tall person or me” Newton gave Simon a thumbs up and started to walk away before spinning quickly on his heels “Oh and make some friends, science and discovery is always funner with friends”

Simon watched Newton melt away in front of his eyes, like mist he dissipated in thin air. Great, he thought and looked around. In school he was not doing well in the science portion, math made his eyes glaze over and he gravitated towards drawing and writing. He moved towards the physics exhibit. As he stepped down into the sunken platform he noticed that it morphed and transformed in front of him,the book that sat in front of a ball hanging from a string turned into a pictograph of movements and arrows. A note book and pencil sat next to it and under it stamped into bronze it said “Pick me!” Simon pulled the note book off the table, immediately another one popped up in it’s place for the next kid to approach.

He looked towards the metal ball on the string and before his eyes holographic details filled his vision. Each one by it said draw me, which he did. As his pencil started drawing the shapes it asked, the note book became animated, connecting the concepts and showing how things worked, how the metal ball would swing at certain forces, he could draw lines and points that ball could drop from , put obstacles that it could hit to show the force that it had. Gravity, tension and then when it started adding other metal balls, showed him momentum. He smiled as he became curious and, his drawings reacted to his ideas, gave him insight, showed him what could and what couldn’t. He stepped from the exhibit with his note book.It was like he was in a trance, his senses were on fire and he felt as if he unbound energy. He looked around at the other kids, some engrossed in their actives and others running around to other places. He shook himself awake. How long had he been here? A small panic set it. His mom would be furious. Simon clutched his notebook. His curiosity was burning and a desire for exploration was building, but he had to leave. He moved towards the door dodging other kids, as he pressed his hand to the door hand he heard a voice behind him.

“We will see you next time, don’t worry about bringing the note book back, you can always grab another one” Newton smiled down at him

Simon felt a sadness overcome him as he looked back at the area. “What if I can’t get back here? How do I find my way here?”

“You will see the entrance where ever you are, but” Newton glided over to him and pressed a finger to his forehead “This place is always with you,here”

“What if I lose my head?” Simon asked in all seriousness.

Newton chuckled “Let’s hope not, what an odd inquiry, if you lose your head it will be here” and moved his finger down to Simons heart”

“And if I die?”

Newtons eyes brows shot up “Hopefully that isn’t for a long time Simon, but, let’s just say, when you die, you will find out. You will be revealed to a whole new reality. Exciting, really, but don’t rush to it. Life is very much worth living and experiencing. Till next time, Simon”

“Till next time Newton” Simon smiled and pushed through the door.

The mall’s noise filled his ears and he could see his mom standing there talking with her friends. He approached her and she glared down at him and looked around.

“Where were you? I was about to panic, I look away for a second and you’re gone and the next your back” she grabbed his empty hand. Simon looked back to the hallway. It no longer held the neon red apple above it. He clutched the notebook in his hands.

“Sorry, momma” she gave him a stern look, but smiled.

“Come on, let’s get something to eat. What’s that ?” She looked down at the notebook.

Simon smiled “Some homework”

His mom’s face lit up “Really?”

Simon nodded heavily

“Okay, Mr.Graduate, come on”

When I was student of the academic sorts, I never really enjoyed it. Nothing ever clicked for me and I struggled in a lot of subjects. One time I remember we as a class went to a science museum and my mind really lit up. Everything seemed interesting to me, the experiments, the lights and sounds, even the guy that was running the place seemed like he was a master scientist (Newton is based on him. I also asked him how much the whole place costed. As I wanted to build place like that. I was an ambitious kid). We all learn in different ways, explore and grow.

Where do kids disappear for when the second you look away? I would hope it would be something like this. Let their imagination build them up into what they wish, their dreams endless and boundless. Help them with the right tools and methods.

To the future! Cheers ~