- Campfire -

“Remember to come back in three months to get it wound up again” The man handed the box containing two large ornate wood music boxes. The parents smiled and nodded as they strode back to their car. As they left the craftsman took off his hat, wiped his brow and gave them a wave. “Let the music keep you whole”

Miles and Mary finished cleaning up the kitchen as their daughter Daisy ran around the living room fighting off dragons and trolls that were invading her imaginary kingdom. Miles peered out the window over the sink into the forest that lined the neighborhoods back yards. The wind was picking up, creating a torrent of branches dancing wildly in the small outside light form their porch.

“Might be a storm tonight” Miles said wiping the last of the plates and putting it on the drying rack.

“I didn’t see anything on the news, but you know how it is. Weather channel can’t seem to get it right.” Mary pushed in each chair into the dining room table and made sure everything was re-aligned an d centered. When she had finished she smiled and moved into the living room. “Okay Daisy, time for bed, let’s get ready.”

Daisy smiled, slew her last troll and bolted for the stairs.

Miles turned off the rest of the lights and they both ascended to their rooms.

Daisy slipped under the covers of her small bed and peered at her window on the other side of the room. The wind was picking up and just as she could hear the torrent, the music box started playing.

“Good night sweetie, see you in the morning” Her mom kissed her forehead and turned off the small light on the nightstand. Her dad followed with a hug and kiss, then closed the door to the room slightly.

They both moved into the master bedroom where the music box filled the room with a light lullaby. It seemed like background noise, they hardly noticed it anymore. As if the music had become part of the house in a way. They breathed air, they listen to the music at night. Miles braced himself against their bedroom wall and looked out towards their backyard. Trees were now whipping wildly and rain battered down on the window.

“Here it comes” he smiled and slipped into bed. “Better to be in here then out there”

“Agreed” Mary stretched and slid next to him. They both closed their eyes and soon sleep overcame them.

There was no crescendo, no build up. Screams, an unholy symphony of endless screaming, crying, begging, mourning ripped into them. Miles stumbled out of bed covering his ears while Mary joined in the chorus of screaming.

The music box had stopped.

The whole room was cold, darker then it should be. The screaming came not from a single point, but from all dimensions. The sound of damned vibrated straight into the bones and carried their torment straight to the soul. Miles grabbed his chest in pain, but slid closer and closer to the music box as he could. The sensation of pain, sadness and despair effected all senses. He could taste the bleakness, see the hopelessness, feel the brutal violation of self, smell the burning of human emotions crisped on the fires of something ungodly. Then the sound, which his ears could perceive at one level and then his body on another. If all the human suffering, every cry for life, every angry scream that broke vocal cords till they bled filtered through him.

He reached the music box, unconsciously, he felt through the burning sensations and wound it. Wound it and wound it. Then as everything culminated he let go of the key, and the lullaby filled the room. Immediately the assault stopped. In an instant the room returned to normal as if nothing had happened. The music box ticked, now manually winding down, missing its master craftsman. Mary sobbed on the floor next to the bed, Miles laid paralyzed, overwhelmed. Until one thought crossed his mind.

Daisy.

If their music box stopped.

So did hers.

His body creaked and protested as he rose to his feet. His wife rose as well, her face ghostly white, the same thought. He grabbed the music box from the small table and they ran through the door into the hall way and to the her room.

“Daisy!” he burst into their room.

The lullaby played from the music box that he held in his right hand. He gripped it so tight that it might break. His eyes wide, face contorted in a silent scream.

Mary screamed. A scream so terrible it could be included in the unholy chorus.

He set the music box next to the silent one and stepped back. It ticked mechanically, the key winding down, counting the seconds till it needed to be wound again.

They had forgotten.

One time.

Thats all it took.

They had broke the routine.

I was laying awake one night, as i do often, looking at the ceiling and hearing the air purifier that is in our room hum away. I then thought what would happen if that slow hum went away and was replaced by the absolute wailing for a hundreds of people. A violent assault on the ears, one of those sounds that brings you to your knees because it is so horrible, something you try to shake away from you ears, but it surrounds, consumes. Like village on fire and everyone screaming to be saved as you stand on the outside. Then the flash of a family getting a music device serviced, the world has accepted its fate to keep the sound at bay with these devices. It has become routine, and with routine comes slip ups from stagnation. Context, the makers of the music boxes have to service them to keep them running continuously with out being wound up. If one is not serviced, it will not run with out being manually cranked every minute or so.

When terror becomes routine, one mishap leads to devastation.

Be mindful of everyday moments of terror. Maybe keep them out of the shadows, so you see their teeth.

Cheers~

It was eleven thirty, and I was sitting at my desk in my room on a calm Sunday. The sun was shining, birds chirping away. I could even see my neighbors playing with their dog across the street. I flipped to another page of the mystery novel I was reading. Halfway through, the murderer was getting clever—more vicious. I cheered on my detective as he closed in, got duped, then started the chase again. I knew he would get him in the end, but nothing could ever be straightforward.

A chime came from my phone, and I picked it up to see who had messaged me.

It was Jimmy. He was a good friend, but a bit off the deep end. He stayed up all night surfing the web and hacking cyberspace—so much so that when he showed up at school the next day, his panda eyes would search the air for invisible pixels. I enjoyed sci-fi, so he and I got along pretty well.

The message read:
“Tim! Whatever you do, do NOT accept the terms and service. Click the top right of the window one hundred times.
Then run. Get underground.”

I set my book down and re-read the message. Jimmy was a bit nuts, but he never texted more than the usual “let’s hang out” or “what are you up to?”

I put the phone down and reached for my book—then a window popped up in my vision.

It was a gray box straight out of Windows 95. At the top, it said Terms of Service in bold, and below was scrolling text that repeated endlessly. At the bottom of the window was a button:

Accept.

I looked around. The window stayed in the center of my vision, like a speck on my eye. I closed them. It was still there in the blackness.

I stood up immediately and spun around. Looked in all directions. Strained my eyes in every way I could.

The window remained.

I could hear my family downstairs start yelling, and my sister began to cry. I reached toward the window—and somehow, I could touch it. Move it. Resize it. As if my eyes were a desktop. The window was always in focus, and it pierced straight into my mind. I couldn’t not focus on it.

I looked toward the top right. There was no X like a normal window. I pressed my thumb into the top corner. To my surprise, the window closed.

Then immediately reappeared. A glitch in the system.

I pressed rapidly, counting each time the window vanished and returned.

Ninety-nine. One hundred.

At the hundredth press, the window didn’t return. I stood stunned—it had actually worked.

Run!

I bolted out of my room and ran downstairs to my family. I found them sitting at the dining room table, eyes glazed over, mouths slightly open.

“Mom.” I shook her slightly, then did the same to my dad. “Dad, come on. We have to run. Tiffany—” I turned to my younger sister.

They sat in a trance, staring into nothing. Their bodies barely moved, taking in the bare minimum of oxygen to survive. Then a hum began. Faint at first—but growing louder. It reverberated from all directions, and I shut my eyes to keep my vision from shaking.

Get underground.

I stumbled to the basement steps. The house shook with the hum. Plates and silverware rattled in the kitchen. Windows creaked. I opened the door through blurry vision and slipped down the stairs. As I descended, the humming grew fainter, but it was still audible. I crawled to a corner of the room and clamped my hands over my ears.

A deafening sound came from outside, followed by a massive crash that threw me from the corner and into the couch. Loud bangs, like fireworks, came one after another, shaking everything with systematic force. I screamed, but the overwhelming noise drowned me out. The final bang knocked the breath from my lungs, the vibrations pulsing through me. I doubled over, clutching my chest, struggling to pull in air.

Silence. Stillness.

I coughed, rolled onto my back, and listened. Nothing moved upstairs. The hum was gone.

I crept up the steps and into the kitchen. It looked like a bomb had gone off—broken plates, collapsed shelves, shattered windows. Everything glistened in the sunlight, fractured into multicolored bits. I turned to the dining room.

My family was gone.

Outside was foggy. It sat low, leaving the sky blue and the sun bright. It was dense—thick enough to obscure the house across the street. In the distance, I saw massive black pillars extending into the sky. They filled my vision like mountains, even from so far away. Four of them stood staggered across the horizon. They disappeared into the atmosphere above.

“Psst.” A voice from the fog. “Tim.”

I knew that voice anywhere—third period, whispering about some new computer chip.

“Jimmy!” I called out.

He sprang out of the fog, waving his hands toward the ground with wild eyes. His brown, side-swept hair was a mess, and he was decked out in cargo gear and black. “Shh! Not so loud. We gotta go, Tim—right now, yesterday, yesteryear—we’re the past!”

“Jimmy, what the hell is going on?” I asked as he grabbed my hand and pulled me down the street. A horn blared from the direction of the pillars.

“Remember that signal I picked up from space last year? Aliens, right?” We kept a steady jog. “But not organic. Quantum, man—our minds. We’ve been chasing ourselves this whole time. But it’s too late. We got hacked, Tim. Those AI sons of bitches hacked us.” He laughed as we turned left toward the park. I’d seen him disappear there more than once.

“But they must’ve learned from a terrible programmer. Their system’s full of holes. That’s how I figured out closing the terms. Stupid androids.”

In the middle of the park was a creek and a large sewer pipe we used to play around. Jimmy slid down the side and entered the massive round entrance. I hesitated.

“You serious, Jimmy?” I asked, peering into the murky dark.

He reappeared. “When am I not? Come on, trust me. I don’t rummage around down here for fun.”

I followed. We walked for about ten minutes in darkness, a foul-smelling stream flowing past our feet. I did my best to keep my new shoes dry. Eventually, a faint orange light appeared on the right wall.

“Look—you know my parents are well-off.” I nodded. “And you know they know what I know. They haven’t been home in six months. So let’s just say I used their resources to build this and to find them.”

He pushed through a large steel door, and I followed.

A narrow hallway led down to another door, which opened into a massive cavernous room. Warm light bathed everything. The hum of servers and fans filled the air.

“Jimmy,” I breathed, “this is incredible. It’s like a command center.”

“It is a command center,” he replied with a grin. “Please don’t ask how I got this stuff down here. I do not want to relive the pain, frustration, or the arguments.”

The floor was layered with rugs. To the left was a table littered with monitors, keyboards, and mice. In the back, three server towers hummed under active cooling. To the right, a raised platform held a couple of beds, a table with chairs, and a small kitchen.

Jimmy sat in front of the monitors. I joined him. He began clicking around.

“My parents, like I said, are missing.” He took a breath. “They’ve been captured by whatever came to town. I need your help to get them back. As smart as I am, they’re smarter—by a lot. If we save them, we might save everyone else.”

I thought of my family at the table. Everything had happened so fast, I hadn’t had time to feel it all—the panic, the sadness. I put my head in my hands.

I left them.

Frustration and shame bubbled up.

Jimmy leaned back. “I’m sorry, Tim. I really didn’t know this was going to happen until just before it did. You didn’t have time to warn them. That really sucks. What did you se—”

I sat up. Something in my eyes stopped him.

“Maybe later. It might be important.” Jimmy turned back to the screens, quickly. Silence fell between us. He stared at the monitors. I stared at the ceiling, collecting myself.

There was nothing I could do for them then.

But I could do something now.

I slapped my cheeks lightly. “We’re here now. Let’s deal with it. I’m out of my depth, Jimmy—you’ll have to catch me up. Let’s get on the same page.”

Jimmy’s somber face cracked into a smile. I knew he was scared too. But he was good at hiding it—getting lost in worlds, daydreaming, solving problems.

“Great. Yeah, we can do this. If we find people on the way, we can definitely do this.”

“First—” he clicked rapidly, bringing up a familiar screen. “Let’s find out what’s in this Terms and Service.”

Pop-ups are the worst. So are terms and services. They’re so long, and you never really know what you’re signing up for when you hit accept—which you have to do for basically everything these days.

So what if a terms of service invaded your personal space? So much so that all you wanted was for it to go away. You hit accept just to make it disappear. But what did you actually agree to?

That’s where this story came from.

Be careful what you accept.
You never know what’s behind it.

Cheers!

He could feel the cold air whip across his face as they passed through the vast clouds. Water vapor chilled him before the sun bathed him with intense warmth. He moved to the railing of the airship and looked down towards the vast land below. Covered in thick woods with bursts of meadows here and there, lakes and waterfalls that held a few small villages on their shores.

“Capitan Roan, we are coming upon Lum Falls,” a woman called out from behind the wheel that was up a set of stairs towards the back of the ship. He turned and looked through the cloudy sky to see a large island floating with vast mountains and water flowing from it to the mainland below. He moved up the stairs and took the wheel from his first mate and with expert handling maneuvered the ship through the clouds and up to the island. As they got closer, the mountains on the north side of the island rose all around, and a large port town surrounded the crystal-blue lake which seemed to materialize out of nowhere. Endlessly it filled and emptied in a torrent on the south side of the island. He moved above and pushed a lever towards the front of the ship. In a sharp motion, the ship dove towards the water. A smile spread across his face as the adrenaline of making an entrance coursed through his veins and heightened his precision. While most of his crew enjoyed the rush, his first mate held white knuckled in the corner, throwing every curse she could at him. The air sliced past them as the mountains framed their view, and the lake grew larger by the second.

Not yet. His hand faintly gripped the lever.

Not yet.

It seemed every time they came to Lum Falls, the captain would play chicken with the lake. Would this be the day the lake won?

Not yet.

Now!

The captain pulled the lever as his vision filled with blue. The ship lurched up, and the bottom glided and slipped into the lake effortlessly. Like it had all been planned. The engine in the back spun in a new direction, and the flaps on the side of the ship closed as they dipped into the water and returned to the origins of what ships were made for.

He laughed. “Did you see the Celeste?” he turned to his first mate. She pried herself off the planks and, with shaky legs, her long bluish hair in a mess, moved towards his side, gripping the wheel.

“Must you play your silly games?” Celeste growled . “One day -“

“Yes, yes, one day we will plunge into the water and meet the great cultists of the oceanics themselves. One day, which” he cleared his throat “is not today. Take the wheel. Get ready.” He called to his crew. “We meet port soon, and we need to unload all the goods from Thuncil. Remember, blue x means they are fragile; they break easily if dropped. Use your heads and soft fingers.” The crew responded with a cheer, and as he descended to the deck, they applauded his descent and recalled the last time he had played the daring game. Their adrenaline rushing and moods lifted from staring death in the face. He riled them up and pushed past to his captain’s quarters. As the door closed, he let out a deep breath and slumped against the door. The crew moved among the deck, and he could hear the creaking of the wood as the ship moved about the water.

It had been a long journey to get here. An endless storm had followed them for miles, an air dragoon had almost melted the whole back of the ship, the Imperial Order had set up blockades that they avoided, and food and rum were down to their last crate. They might stay a while. In the center of the room was a large flat table with a Northric air map. The map was a three-dimensional hologram which was projected from a small set of three rings that wrapped around each other. It showed the land below, floating islands, and cloud types above. Above the clouds, it showed static. He moved and waved his hand through the image, and it reacted to his gesture. The land and airscape flew by him until he saw Lum Falls. The large island floating above an even larger lake. He spied something on the other side of the mountains, floating, attached to the side. It was a small island of sorts; water spewed a little from a pond that was probably in the middle of it, but with the dense pine that kept everything on the island invisible, he could not determine what was on it. Pines in this region? The island must have an atmosphere generator on it. His Northric map was different from most maps.

It updated.

Wherever the rings were, they sent out some sort of energy which would feedback into the map. This meant that it would see things that others would not, mysteries that showed up, or small islands that crept up or had been missed by the cartographers. It showed hard-reached spaces and under islands. While it offered details, it did not go too deep. Large structures, fauna, lakes and water, roads, and layouts of cities, but the context was not recorded. But it gave him enough detail to make decisions and inductions.

The Northric map was his most prized possession. It, mixed with his high intuition, made his ship a mystery among the air. He moved towards his bed, which lay beneath some bay-criscrossed windows. On the right was a small wooden dresser. He opened it and retrieved a blue box. The small, unknown island winked at him from the middle of the room, and he smiled, putting the blue box inside his large captain’s coat. He felt the ship start to slow down. They were docking. He moved back towards the door and flicked his right wrist towards the Northric map. It spun and then collapsed and, with a smooth but fast motion, latched onto his wrist, burning into his flesh and becoming one with him. Three rings wrapped around his right wrist in infinity once again. This time, burned black and red. They were bonded to him.

He made sure of that. A price paid. A heavy price.

The ship glided into port and with a fanfare of sailors and onlookers. Hoots and hollers came from the residents of Lum Falls that had witnessed the captain’s daring feat. He smiled and waved, shaking hands and clasping wrists, feeling the energy spread among the dock and into the town. He always had to make an entrance. Let’s spice up this life we live! He would yell in times of depression.

Lum Falls was large, spreading along the coast of the large lake, with another waterfall to its west which spewed from the incredible mountains that overlooked the town. Buildings of stone and wood with charming accents rose two to three stories and ran up a Main Street. Little alleys with houses and merchant houses spread out in all directions. It was a lush and beautiful town. The town sloped up the mountain in a mild climb and ran all the way to the base where the governor’s mansion and royals lived. Their houses built half in the mountain itself with some terraces that etched themselves into the rock face. There was a main square halfway up towards the mountain and many small coves of nature that presented themselves if you explored enough. Brightly covered banners hung from terraces and potted plants of lush green hung and draped all over. The water gave a tropical feel to the whole town and the sun always seemed to shine on them. This led the town of Lum Falls to prosper and become a lead trading port among the imperial islands.

“Careful with those blue crates, remember, fragile.” Captain Roan called out to his crew and the port staff that was helping out. He and Celeste moved to a small building in the middle of the dock. Inside it was musty, filled with eclectic goods from all over. Dust floated and created a small haze as the floorboards creaked over the water.

“Captain Roan, how good to see you. It’s been quite a while since we saw you in Lum Falls. Another spectacle, thought this time it might be the last.” A big man laughed and pulled up a chair to the table and set a large piece of paper down. He ushered them to take seats in front of him.

“The cultists haven’t got us yet.” He smiled a toothy grin. “Now let’s get this over with. What do you think?” He tapped on the large paper. “Pretty neat stuff, huh?”

The man looked over the paper slowly and looked up at him from time to time with a quizzical face.

The man sat back and brushed a hand through his thick black hair. “ Where did you get these?”

Captain Roan leaned back and crossed his legs. He looked over with his deep emerald eyes. “You wouldn’t want to know, my dear Rye. He and his crew were lucky this time. He turned an eye to Celeste, who stared steely-eyed at Rye. He would treat her to a good drink and meal while they were here. She had saved his life on multiple occasions in the last journey. As she always seemed to do.

Rye shook his head and returned to the list. “It will take a while to get the funds and sales for these items. Some of them are big-ticket items. You have enough here to dock forever, so I am not worried about the port fee. You are not looking to get out of here quickly, are you?”

Captain Roan put up his hands. “No, no, my crew needs some rest. If you could arrange that little villa on the west side of town for us. Like last time. They need some good old rest and relaxation for a bit. They deserve it.”

The man rose. “It shall be done.” Captain Roan rose with Celeste and shook his hand. “Give us an hour or so to get the villa ready. You bring a certain energy to the island, Captain Roan. Glad to see you again.”

Captain Roan smiled and nodded. “Thank you for the kind words and your continued support.

The goods were still being unloaded and itemized as they stepped into the fresh air and sunlight.

“The villa will be ready within an hour. We will discuss payment and rewards in a few days as everything needs to be taken care of. We will be here for a while. Get comfortable and regain your strength. Let the great waves of ocean and air bring you glory,” he called to his crew, and cheers erupted.
“Come on, let’s get a drink to celebrate,” he motioned at Celeste, and they descended into town.

A very special game introduced me to the world of ships that sailed the skies, going from floating island to floating island. That game was Skies of Arcadia on the Dreamcast. An incredible game that, in my eyes, was perfect. The characters were all charming, the world was vibrant, and you could explore to your heart’s content. My captain and crew would fit right into that world. Captain Roan is a mix between the character Gilder and Vyse from that game. Loyal, steadfast, and ready for adventure, but being suave and into the riches of the whole thing. His last name is from the character Roan from Grandia II. I was playing both games around the same time, and both role-playing games played a significant inspiration for my imagination. His first mate, Celeste, is a buttoned-up, all-business sort of girl. Fiercely loyal to the captain for reasons unexplained.

I hope you enjoyed a glimpse into the world of the skies. We will one day return to continue the tales. Like, what is the small island and the blue box? What price did Captain Roan pay for the Northric map?

Until then, Cheers~

Let the great waves of ocean and air bring you glory.

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A light strobed back and forth from the ceiling. Every time it hit the north wall it revealed a man slouched in a pool of blood. On the opposite, a women stood motionless, stern faced and holding a large knife. She tipped her up and looked down at the corpse as the light blinded then illuminated with each swing. She left the small room and set the knife on the counter and waited.

“I killed him” She stated to the detective. “Stabbed, multiple times. Do I feel bad, no, should I?”

The detective across from her took notes with a sullen look on his face. Henry had too little sleep, too much booze and absolutely no patience left for the world. Yet, here he was, taking more cases, grinding the gears once again.

“And why did you kill him again?” he asked staring with his bloodshot eyes.

The women who was in a skin tight blue dress had her arms perpetually folded and a bored look on her face. She spoke matter of factually.

“He was a monster. Not figuratively. Really, he was a monster. Teeth, claws, dark energy, all that. I waited years to gain the courage, but on that night. I knew I had to protect the world. It was time”

“And why that night?”

“It was our anniversary”

Henry exited the questioning room and roamed down the hall for some coffee. A man dressed in a dark blue suit leaned against a cabinet next to the coffee machine. Ned Pentul. Another detective that Henry had known for a long time through all the ups and downs. A pretty straight shooter.

“How come you always get these type of cases? Your a magnet for the crazies Henry.”

Henry poured and downed the cup of coffee then refilled it. He stared at the bulletin board above the coffee machine. A flier was posted at the top right. Printed on green paper, the ad read :

“The greatest wonders you have ever seen! Who knows who anyone is. Who is in control? Who is watching? It’s time to find out.

The world will never be the same!

Friday Night 7 p.m. Central Tower plaza.

Time to open the eye -“

Behind the text was a large light gray building with a crown on top and below the text was a intricate sun with symbols circling the outside of it.

Henry pointed to the flier.

“No clue. I asked around to see who placed it up there,so far no one is claiming it.” Ted leaned in to Henry “I left it up see if I could hear any clues from people. It’s tomorrow night, I’ll keep my ears open”

Henry nodded and made note of where it was taking place. “Thanks, and to your question. I might have an idea, but who knows, maybe it’s my cologne.” he smiled and raised his brows with a shoulder shrug. “Keep me informed, I gotta get back to Miss monster hunter”

He sat back down in front of the lady. She still sat up with her arms crossed, eyes half lidded looking at him.

“You know detective. You think I am making this up. If you have seen the things I have seen, then you would be in the same situation as me. Monsters are every where. Every place that you look, you will see one.” She uncrossed her arms for the first time and leaned forward this time crossing her fingers, resting her elbows on the table. “but I wouldn’t worry, you will see soon”

“Ma’am, you have been convicted and you have admitted to your crimes. I was brought in to find your motive, are you sure you want me to repeat that your husband was a real monster? You have not summoned a lawyer or pleaded anything but guilt. I shouldn’t be surprised, I have seen everything, but this is beyond most.”

“Behind bars, here, would be the safest place until Saturday. I don’t think I will be making it to the jailer, I will take my chances” she smiled. In her head the plan had worked.

“What happens Saturday?”

“Not Saturday, Friday”

The flier flashed in Henrys mind. “What happens on Friday?”

The lady rose her hands and formed a triangle by overlapping her thumbs for the base and connecting her index fingers to the point then held it to her forehead.

“You will see”

Gun shots rang through the agency as Henry unloaded his revolver into the thing. He didn’t know what it was or where it came from. Anything with multiple tentacles, teeth and claws that approached was no friend of his, even if it wore a signature blue jacket. He dropped back and moved towards the holding cells while reloading. For once in his life he wished he had not drank so much the night before. He moved to the middle cell. There she stood, arms crossed, blue dress. A smirk on her face.

“Miss Thompson”

“Call me Sue” her smile grew.

Henry unlocked the cell door and waved her out “Sue, you and I are going to become partners for a moment in time. You know more then your letting on”

“Do say?”

“Yeah, I say.” He moved next room and rummaged through a drawer. He then withdrew a pistol and a couple of magazines. “You can stab, but can you shoot?”

Her hand reached for the pistol and he stopped her.

“Shoot at monsters” he met her eyes with a cold stare. Her eyes portrayed years of tip toeing, manipulating to stay alive and anger. Burning vengeance against creatures that had stolen her joy. It wasn’t just her husband she had seen, it was friends, family, co-workers. Once her eye had been opened she could not shut it. She could see them all.

He let her hand grasp the pistol, she retrieved a bag and put the extra magazines in it.

“All Worlds burn but ours” she checked the safety and racked the slide.

Henry nodded “Ya, I like ours”

I’ve been watching a bit of murder mysteries. Mainly Murder She Wrote and there is a PI named Harry McGraw that Jessica Fletcher meets and becomes a reoccurring character. He seems to be always stuck between a rock and hard place so I drove up some inspiration for our main character Henry here. Overworked, cynical and just going along. I started with the murder, but then when writing this flier hopped into my mind, an event, maybe something that proves that this weird tale might be true?

In the end Henry gains a uncommon ally and partner in Sue Thompson. Will they be able to survive and escape?

Maybe!

Cheers and stay warm out there if you are in a cold climate. Snow be approaching.

Simon rolled around in bed, then finally after some minutes rubbed his eyes and sat up. The clock had just struck 3:33 AM. The moon was full and strobed white beams through his bedroom window. Faintly he could hear voices speaking. He rubbed his head. The voices grew a little louder. It seamed like they were coming from his floor. Simon slung himself to the side and squinted looking down to the edges of his bed for the voices then he crawled to the front and looked down.

Mr.Muffins, his American short hair blond fur, sat in the moon beams in the middle of his floor.

“By Joe, did they ever find those blasted mice? I heard Chester over on 45th street was having a hard time” The voice was deep, raspy with a heavy British accent. Like a old school butler from those old 60’s movies.

“Nah, hes still chasing his tail all over the place” A childs voice answered back.

Simon popped up from his bed “Muffins, who is that? Do you hear that ?”

Mr.Muffins turned to Simon his big green eyes brightened. “Poppycock, I knew we should of met somewhere else”

Simon stared at Mr.Muffins. “You?”

“Hello Simon, welcome to the cats circle” Mr.Muffins said.

Next to Mr.Muffins two cats materialized into semi see through apparitions. Simon gasped.

A big Norwegian Forest Cat with fur of light blond and black shook its long hair and licked its nose. “Hello Simon” It said in a soft female voice. He recognized this cat. Four years ago a cat had crept onto his families porch and refused to leave for a week. So his mom kept it around, fed it and gave it water for a whole month. Simon would sit on the porch in that mid summer and watch the cat come and go. A rare breed for middle America, he imagined that its owner had gotten lost and the cat was out looking for them. He took to giving it treats until one day it never returned. He had called her Tempest. Her fur was long, light blond and black and her attitude was fierce and noble like. She had principles, but with a side of wilderness.

Next to Tempest was a very small cat. Barely two years old. It’s tail was a small bob and it’s fur gray and black. Simon got off his bed and sat next to Mr.Muffins.

“Tempest your….” Simon held the word in his throat.

“Dead?” Tempest said.

Simon bit his lip and held back tears “Yeah” he croaked.

“Oh boy” Mr.Muffins side eyed Simon “You humans are so ignorant”

“Muffins, be nice” Tempest.

“Whats he talking about?” The small cat spoke up.

“Humans think the world revolves around them. Things go and just poof. No longer relevant or exist anymore. If only they would get out of their own heads and open their eyes. Be aware” Mr.Muffins sounded like he snorted behind the statement.

“That means you are dead too?” he looked at the small cat.

“Berry, call me berry.” The cat loafed and began purring. “Yeah, I was out there hunting some dinner. Fish. I almost had it”

“It was a killer whale, Berry.” Tempest gave the Berry a look.

“Well, I almost had it. Then it dove and I refused to let go. As I said, almost had it”

“Good show boy, you have to show those floppy things who’s boss”

Simon stuck out his hand and reached out to Tempest. As his hand touched her ghostly body it went right through, but did not disturb the apparition. “I’m so sorry to what happened to you. How are you here?”

“Oh Simon, not to worry. I found my owner and we spent a moment together because of you and your families care for me for that short while. I didn’t have much time left anyway. I needed just a little strength to get me there and your moms chicken helped me the last leg of my journey.” Tempest straightened up and blinked, her ears flicked back and forth. “See there is something like the witching hour for cats. It is 3:33 in the morning, who knows why, but we cats can usually come out and talk to other cats at this time. We usually don’t meet with humans, not good to meddle. One thing is that we are always around. We never really leave you Simon. You gave us shelter, food and kept our spirits up. So we keep an eye out on those who treat us well. We might be small, but we can help you out from time to time. “

“Really?” Simon looked at Mr.Muffins. “That means when you-?”

“Yes, Simon, even I, will come help you out. As much as I- ” Mr.Muffins scratched his right ear “find you humans incredibly foolish. I have yet to have an owner in my many lives treat me poorly.”

“Many lives” Simon patted Mr.Muffins head and he purred in response.

“Sorta reincarnation, you humans do it too. By Joel, you ever have deja vu or memories that don’t seem to be yours? Well your young yet, maybe not too many of those, but you will. I once sat on the lap of a grand British general in the Great War you fools had. I smoked many cigars” Mr.Muffins closed his eyes and rose his nose to the air, remembering a different era. “Now, I chase those infernal creations out side with the bushy tails. Much more peaceful if I say so my self”

Simon straightened up “Explains the accent then. You can do this every night?”

“We can only be full form in one place at one time, so we pick and choose the location for the night, but yes, technically we could every night “ Tempest licked her paw and started cleaning her face “But we can only remain for a short time and our time is up for tonight.”

Tempest and Berry moved towards the window and with a silent motion leapt through the glass to the roof top outside. Simon moved quickly to the window with Mr.Muffins thumping up onto the shelf to look out as well.

“Till next time Simon. Muffins, regular time?”

“Of course, no better time. See you then you long haired devil”

Tempest narrowed her eyes and shook off the remark “Come on Berry”

“Bye Simon! Tell that fish if you see it that I’m still coming for it”

Simon waved and the two cats seemed to dissipate into white moon dust. Tears rolled down his cheeks. This time from relief of a bigger universe, this time not for a good bye, but for a see you later.

He rubbed his eyes and looked over at Mr.Muffins. The cat gave him a gruff meow and head butted his arm. Simon smiled “Only during a certain time huh? Well if you need something wake me up, okay?”

Mr.Muffins rubbed himself against Simon, gave another confirming meow then jumped off and exited his room.

Simon returned to his bed. Till next time.

I have had a lot of pets in my life. It is always a tough time when they have to leave us, but thinking about how everything seems to be apart of something I feel as if they never really leave us. I had this idea last year. I was up late at night and thought about the witching hour, but what if it applied to pets, this case cats. It seems like an appropriate time to finish this story.

Feel the wisdom of life they give us with their departing, but remember we are all apart of it all. Connected. No matter what form.

Cheers!

“I think we are lost”

“We aren’t lost, we’re-” Tom leaned forward over the steering wheel and looked up through the pine trees to the sky “we’re just off course”

Charlie leaned back into his chair and pulled out his phone. He opened the screen then immediately put it away “No signal and my phone is about to die” he stated blankly.

Tom came to a turn and rounded the car around more tall pine trees. The winter night cast everything to pitch black. The trees seemed to form endless corridors. A wrong turn here and another wrong turn there and they were officially lost. Tom flipped the radio back on. They had turned it off about an hour ago when they realized something was off and their destination was no in sight. Smooth jazz of piano and bass guitar filled the car.

“You have a radio phone somewhere?” Tom glanced at Charlie.

“Not a chance, what else is on” Charlie flipped through the other stations. Only static played for him until he returned to the jazz station. “Jazz it is”

They had left at nine a.m. to cross the country from Nebraska to Minnesota to visit their cousin. It was now eleven p.m. and with the sun resting at six it had seemed that they were driving all night long. They had some how gotten off 29 near Fargo to head east towards Park Rapids. A road bent here and there and soon they lost in a maze of pine trees.

They rounded another bend and red hazy light filled their vision. Tom shielded his eyes so they could adjust to brightness.

“What the hell is that?” Charlie rubbed his eyes and leaned forward trying to focus.

Cut from the path was a cross roads with a full sized traffic light hanging in the middle. It shined red for all the directions. Tom pulled the car to the edge of the road and looked. It was a standard light, its wires pulled in four directions out into the forest and somewhere out there power was being pumped into its electric gaze.

“We must be getting close, why else would there be a light here” Tom posed the question to himself.

“I don’t know, feels strange. Lets get out of here”

The light stayed a solid red and they sat there for a moment. Tom inched the car forward a bit to see if the light sensors would pick them up and turn green, but it seemed to ignore them. Tom looked both ways then ran the light. As soon as he got to the other side, the light went to green and filled his rearview mirror.

Their pace kept up yet no exit presented itself to them. The trees closed them off into narrow corridors and endless hallways of pine. Charlie looked at his watch. Midnight.

“Next place we see let’s just stop and get a room for the night. I am pretty sure we are lost and at night everything looks the same.”

Tom roped around another corner and red light filled his dash. Another traffic light illuminated their path. Once again a four way stop. All directions red.

“Just make a right” Charlie said. Tom came to a stop and turned.

The car entered another long road, but instead of being a long tunnel of darkness traffic lights hung down the corridor every ten feet from each other. He could see the red lights extend farther than his mind could reach.

“What the hell is going on? Go back Tom” Charlie yelled, but Tom’s eyes stared into the rear view mirror. “Come on Tom, turn aro-“ Charlie spun in his seat to see what the issue was. All he could see from the rear view was lines of trees. The forest had swallowed them, cutting them off from their previous route and forcing them down the tunnel of lights.

“We can get out, run” Charlie panicked and went for the door handle. Tom clicked the locks immediately.

“Shut up Charlie. Think for a moment. You think you can escape this on foot? The road is gone, the trees cut us off. What would happen if you were outside the car?” Tom returned his view to the endless traffic lights. “We have to drive.” He whispered and slammed the gas pedal to the floor. Charlie screamed and grabbed the door handle for security. The car screeched and barreled down the corridor, each time it passed under a light it turned green behind them. Red and green lights strobed through their car as they climbed speed. 70, 80 , 90 , 100 miles per hour. The car shook violently as it reached speeds it was not meant to. Charlie screamed until his voice could no longer take it and went horse. Tom grit his teeth and heighten his focus as the tunnel materialized infront of him. Every light passed faster and faster, but there was no end.

Until there was.

The car tore through the lights and one light remained. As they passed it, it turned yellow. Tom some how knew, a sense in the back of his mind. Yellow. Caution.

He let go of the gas and slammed on the breaks. Trees disappeared from their view and fields opened up under a moonlit sky. The road T’ed into two different directions and past that was a cliff. The car screeched, shook, and slid side to side in violent jolts as the tires burned against the road and brakes held against metal. The car smashed through the caution sign and on to the grass, swept side to side and came to a grinding halt a foot away from the edge of the cliff side.

They both breathed heavily, sweat ridden and numb. Charlies face was frozen in a scream as he still held the door in a death grip. His eyes were wide and he stared out into the night sky over the plains down below. Toms jaw was a vice while he white knuckled the steering wheel. Eyes unblinking as staring at the night sky.

They both broke their stances and flew out of the car, falling hands and knees to the ground and moving away from the cliff side.

Charlie flopped on his back “What the hell, what the hell. We could have, we would have. Holy shit Tom.”

“I know, I know”

“How did you know what to do?”

Tom looked back towards the forest entrance “I just knew somehow. I felt it in my gut. I trusted it”

Charlie laughed “Thank god you did” he sat up “Where are we?”

Tom pulled out his phone which as now working. They were a half hour away from their cousins. He looked through the maps to see the route the gps might of recorded. For 10 hours it said the car stood still at an intersection near Fargo.

What would have happened if he had not trusted his intuition? Would they still be stuck there? Lost in an endless forest of lights. What had even happened? His mind stretched and he decided to let it go for the moment. To keep his sanity for a little while.

They both made it to his cousins and neither said anything about the forest. A breakdown and waiting for a repair man was their excuse. Every traffic light took on a different light. Could they get lost again?

Would the lights guide them or trap them.

I liked this youtube video called Detour of a traffic light appear in a forest and it being a monster. I thought it was really clever and seeing something somewhere it should not be is a disturbing instance. I didn’t want to do the same thing and I got a bit lost when they saw the first light (Kinda like they did). When they turned onto the tunnel of lights, that’s when it turned to speed and I knew what I wanted to do. Be careful when things are no where they are supposed to be. Trust your gut and go for it.

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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