- Midnight Tales -

The coffee shop was off the main street. You could see familiar faces passing by on most days. The sun has hanging in the sky and large white clouds framed the large blue ocean. I sat there bundled in my scarf and jacket. Well, my jacket was draped on my chair, but the scarf, I liked to keep that on. As I relaxed in my chair someone caught my eye. One because I had never seen them before, which was hard in a small town and two because she was a bit odd. The door rang and she stepped in like a black shadow. Her hair a sort of silk raven black cut into a bob, her skin a lighter olive, lips painted black and mascara around her eyes. Her eyes were a semi bright orange. She wore a short black ruffled skirt with ghostly patterns wrapping around it. Gloves that went from her hand to mid arms with the fingers cut out. A black corset pulled in her waist and a puffy white and black shirt covered her shoulders. She was like a grown up goth. She walked in with a messenger bag adorned in skeletons and haunted houses. I couldn’t stop staring at her, she was so exotic to me. But of course, I am reading about black magic and witchcraft. Maybe this was my type. She was older, I could tell by the way she conducted her self and the way she spoke to the barista. For some reason I couldn’t take my eyes off her. I was distracted. I needed to focus I had a case to solve. Graves had been missing bodies. The curious thing was that they seemed to be dug up from the out inside. The dirt pushed from the coffin. Now I knew that if there was magic involved it would be necromancy. Which is exactly the book I had in front of me. Magics of the Necromancy and beyond. It was old, but one of the defect o books on the subject. In it old drawings of rituals and incantations sprawled the pages. I turned to a page with what looked like graves that had been clawed out of, just like the ones that I had saw. Shuffling came from the seat next to me and someone sat down. I peaked over. It was her. I peered over my shoulder a the rest of the coffee shop. It was virtually empty. I got back to my book after taking a sip of my drink. The graves looked similar to what I had seen. I had gone to police to get some more information about the graves, but they turned me away. Didn’t need a reporter spreading rumors they said. The town newspaper did that well enough with all the things that happened. A chill came over me. I pulled my scarf closer, but realized it came from a pair of eyes staring at me. I turned to see her staring at me, her large orange eyes and a smug smile peering in my direction. So I turned and said.

“Hello, how’s it going”

“Very good, thank you. I noticed you are reading some books on necromancy”

I gave a laugh “Yeah, I am trying to solve some mysteries in town”

She nodded up and down still smiling “I know”

“You know?” I questioned.

“Your that reporter, or what ever you call your self. Nick, right? You are trying to solve all the mysteries in this town. I have been watching you for a bit”

She was watching me? For how long? I knew most of everyone in town and with her outfit I would of seen her around.

“Oh yeah? How long have you been watching me for? One one else seems to be paying attention to me”

Her orange eyes searched around rolling back and forth “About a year or so”

I coughed “A year? Where have you been? stalking in the shadows or something?”

She gave a very toothy grin “Maybe”

I was a bit dumbfounded. I didn’t know how to respond. She had been watching me for a whole year and I hadn’t noticed? I didn’t even know what I was doing last year, well probably working on a case, but still a whole year?

“Well that’s something” I paused and shook my head a bit “something quite interesting”

“Yeah, you haven’t had much luck have you?”

“Hasn’t worked out to well for me” I sighed “Hopefully this case,I will solve. I think i am on the right track with this one”

She gave a hum “You think it’s necromancy?”

“Yeah” I answered “What else could it be. Dead have been raising from the graves from the inside out, what else could it be?”

she turned towards the window and tapped her fingers against the wooden bar, humming again “You might be right, I thought it might be some black magic, but necromancy might be the right approach” She seemed to be thinking through the problem.

“Have your been investigating the murders and suppose grave robbery?”

“No, not too much” She answered still looking out the window “But I saw you reading the book, and talking to the police and studying those graves, sooo”

“How have I not noticed you?” I might as get the question out now. I mean if someone told you that they had been following you for a year, you might think they are a stalker or obsessed in a wild way.

She took a sip of her coffee and returned to staring out the window “Well, I’m pretty sneaky you could say”

“That doesn’t give me much confidence, are you stalking me miss?”

“Only slightly”

“Slightly? Kind of makes me nervous”

She gave me another tooth grin and looked at me in the eyes “Maybe it should”

Man, was she flirting with me or something. I couldn’t tell, but I needed to get back to my work. Maybe she knew something.

“Well if you think this is necromancy or black magic, since on one else believes me, and you have been following me for a while, where should I look next”

She licked her lips and said “If i was going to look somewhere next, I would look at the priest at the church and then look at his students” She gave a small nod and grinned with glowing confidence. She then stood up, grabbed her coffee and curtsied. “I’ll see you around Nick, or at least I’ll see you”

“Whoa whoa” I stood up “Whats your name?”

“Selina” she answered. Her eyes smiling at me.

“Well Selina, next time you don’t have be a stranger. If your going to help me solve this thing, might as well be seen.”

Her face lit up in a huge grin. “Alright Nick. Let’s see how far you get, then maybe. See you around” Then she walked out. She crossed the street and walked past, her smug smile turned to me. She gigged as she disappeared from my view.

I sat back in my chair and rubbed my head. Well it seems that I have my next course. A tip from a crazy hot goth lady. It was something. I would head there tomorrow. Enough craziness for one day. I took out my sketch book to work out some more notes, but there was only one thing I could sketch. And that was Selina.

Inspired by a night of insomia and thinking about autumn coffee. I actually recoreded this story on a my voice recoreder and re wrote it. Sorta fun.

Out there in the fragments of space. Far past the reaches of any human had ever reached floated a ship towards a destination on the edge of the universe.

Frank sat looking out at the large circular window at the endless abyss of stars. All those problems, they had left behind. He leaned back and peered over at their pilot, Henry. Here sailing through the cosmic ocean, the gamma rays, and empty were four men. Frank, an engineer, Henry, a pilot, Simon, a scientist and Andrew, the security expert. They had been cast out among the stars from earth in rapid time. The planet and civilization going from the atomic age to the quantum. New possibilities, new governments, new everything. The laws changed nightly and science seemed to move with liquidity. The possibilities, the technology, human understanding of the universe expanded exponentially. But so did problems. The atomic age gave mankind space travel and abundance of energy. The quantum age promised new frontiers, matter, unfathomable to anything seen before. The quantum age brought new ways of scanning space for things that could not be seen before. But there was only one object that was detected. In the whole universe. All matter. One planet was detected. Delta 5.

Frank looked over to Henry who was turning some knobs and checking the readings from the monitor overhead. Henry was the type of man that you trusted as soon as his hand shook yours. He was one of the best pilots in the whole galactic empire, despite being the age of 45, and had gone on more missions that most could count. His hair was styled short and always combed back. He always looked put together not matter what was happening. Frank had met him during a space pirate raid on a military ship. Since then they had stuck together on most missions.

“Have you ever seen anything like that?” Henry asked looking forward to our destination. Frank took the seat next to him and peered out. A glowing rainbow of color spread across. An abyss above and below its wave. In the middle behind the shimmering dust was something big. A large round shadow that eclipsed anything that they had seen before. They were light years away.

“No” was the only word Frank could get out. Henry pushed on the acceleration. “You know Henry. I was excited to get on this journey and leave all the troubles behind, but I have to be honest. I’m a little scared.

There was silence for a moment as they both stared forward.

“Yeah me too Frank. When we left I tried to shake down one of those scientist, Frank. When I looked into his eyes, there was something in them. Something that I knew they weren’t telling us. I don’t know what it was, I tried, but they knew something and it was worth getting us out here and onto that planet.”

They had left in a hurry. A group of the best scientist had gotten together, the ones who had been heading quantum science, and rushed them into this mission. They explained the vagueness of details and before anyone knew what was going on or could stop them, they were launching into space.

It would take another month to get there, but already the pressure was mounting. When the lights caught their eyes, excitement bubbled up to the surface. Now that they were getting closer, panic, nervousness and the fear of what might be started to creep in. The shimmering wave of colors was large and kept getting bigger. In the middle of all that was a planet. Frank had once thought that the Collisi plants of the 4th moon were the biggest thing in the universe. Of existence. It could be a whole galaxy. But delta 5. It was bigger then that. It’s size was maddening. He wished the greeks had seen it so there would be a word for it. He knew it would only get bigger as they got closer. Why was it the only planet detected by the quantum age? What was on it? He could only keep these questions in his mind for so long. He had no answers. He would ask Henry again later and they would discuss again. But nothing would be new. Frank closed his eyes and thought back to another time.

When he opened them again. All there was, was Delta 5 staring at him through the cloud of illuminated rainbow dust. What did those scientists know? God, help us,because no one else will.

Inspired by Men in space going into the unknown.

What does a lady biting her nails while looking out into the distance, a man clacking away at a keyboard and a priest have in common. If you guess nothing, then you were right. They have nothing in common, but in this fateful time, they will all, at the same time, witness something spectacular. Each flash of time spent on each other’s ideas let them know that. Something like this might just happen today. When each of them stepped out to look at each other, then and only then did they notice the light coming in through the large windows of the cafe. A pinkish green light poured in, cascading and taking over all the other colors in the room. Each one, did not seem bothered by this. They stared out into the color and gave a look to each other to make sure that they were all seeing the same thing. By which seeing the colors and expressions on each other’s faces, they knew it was true. The lady had started to bite her nails even faster and harder. The priest took another sip of his coffee, and the man kept typing away. All with their eyes glancing towards the windows and still at the light. Pouring in.

Then it all went normal. the light disappeared and outside sat a large saucer object. It was a dull gray and stood on four thin legs in the parking lot. The man on the keyboard sighed and bit into a bagel. He peeked up just a moment from his screen to acknowledge the object. A small door opened and a ramp extended out from it to the ground.From the craft a small gray thing appeared and made its way down from the ramp and to the front door of the cafe. The door slowly opened in a fluid motion and the thing stepped in. It’s large head held two large black ovals that shined back at everything. There was no mouth and its body was small with short arms and legs. It waddled over to the front counter past the three of them and looked up at the menu hanging from the ceiling. The barista leaned over the counter at it and stared for a moment. She nodded and disappeared into the back. The gray alien hopped up next to the man typing away and sat to wait. He didn’t seem to mind only giving a quick glance when it hopped. It’s legs hung and swung as it waited making no sound. The priest and the woman looked over to the man. He could feel their stares and broke his eyes from his screen to glance at each. They all rose their eyes rows at each other and then went back to what they were doing. The barista came back up front and the alien hopped back to the ground and approached her. She handed it a small black and gray coffee cup with glowing green and blue liquid inside which projected out through the drinking spout. The alien bowed slightly and waddled back towards the door, then out to it’s ship. The purple greenish light returned and the vanished quick this time. The ship was gone. Each sat still occupied by what they were doing, each did not say a word to each other. None ever brought it up and never told. Even if it happened every Tuesday at 2 a.m.

Inspired by the people in Starbucks with me as I wrote this

A brisk walk. A brand new cup of jet black coffee and a unicorn sprinkled donut. Tyrell sat down at his computer, cracked his knuckles and got to work. What would he build today? What he built everyday. The future. His phone rang. He stopped his music and turned toward the device which was playing classical Bach.

“Hello?” He answered.

A big brass band played on the other side. It sounded like the beginning of a radio drama. Scratchy, but oddly clear. Then came a voice.
“Sir! You have just won the most incredible prize that anyone has ever won! Sir, your name please”

“You called me” he said. The band played on in the background.

“Your name sir”

“Tyrel-“

“Well Tyrell, you have just won a ticket to the most incredible place in the universe. The metaverse, the multiverse” There was a cough “what was the other thing?” the voice lowered “Ah yes, the omniverse!”

Tyrell rolled his eyes and hung up the phone. Immediately a email notification popped up on the top right side of his screen.

• Congratulation Tyrell! Claim your tickets -

He ignored it. Then a video call request rang on his screen. The person calling was AC Niko. Curiosity was running its hands down his back. He took a bite of his donut and answered the call. His camera lit up and it showed him staring with purple frosting on his lower lip. He wiped it quickly and AC Niko’s camera came up. A man standing in front of a old microphone and a full brass band behind him nodded.

“Good to see you!” he expressed and the band played a small tune.”Now - “

“wait wait “ Tyrell put up his hand “What is this? Did you hack me? Are you hacking me?”

The man laughed and the band responded with him “Of course not! Why hack, when you can simply contact. Now as I was saying. Your tickets will be arriving shortly and you will get to visit the capital of the Stroodle empire”

There was a moment of silence.

“The what empire?” He covered his mouth to dull his laughter “Do they have good stoodle?” Tyrell kept laughing until he heard a knocking on his door.

“There they are! Enjoy your trip, so glad you were the one who won” The call ended.

Tyrell made is way slowly to the door. He crept to the side window to peak out and spy on his front porch. It was empty. The knocking came again “What the fuck is this man” He pulled away from his window and marched towards the door and flung it open. It was still empty, but something sat on his welcome mat. He picked them up. Two flat rigid tickets that had a gold outer border and the inside was transparent. The message “1 admission to the capital of the Stroodle Empire! Let the Light Cast you Into Somewehere” were etched onto some sort of transparent glass. He stepped out onto his porch and down to the sidewalk. The streets were empty. He looked at the tickets again and flipped them around to the back. “Please proceed to the fridge door to embark on your journey” He looked back at his house. His fridge? He made his way to his kitchen and then stared at his stainless steel appliance. He crept towards it and slowly reached out towards the handle. He grasped it and opened it. His produce greeted him. He gave a laugh “I must be the dumbest person alive” He shut the door and turned around. He was no longer in his kitchen. In front of him was a long path, on either side was nothing, pure black. Further down the path was a gate with a large neon sign that circled around the whole floor. It read “Stroodle Empire, The only Empire” and spun slowly. To the right of the gate was small building with two stools in the front and a built in bar. A large window looked out from the building and a man was staring at him rubbing a glass in his hands.

“Shilllllll Beer? Or maybe a Sunadog? he said unenthusiastically

Tyrell stared and moved past him to the gate.

“Whoa whoa, you gotta wait here for that AC fellow, he will pick you up. If you keep going” the man frowned and shook his head “Honestly, I don’t know what happens to you”

Tyrell looked past the sign. The path cut off sharply into the nothingness. A dead end. He approached the man and sat down at one of the stools to collect himself.

“Where am I” he said after a minute of silence.

“eh, who knows, I wish I knew too”

Tyrell took in a deep breath “what?” was the only word he could get out before put his head in his hands and rubbed his forehead. “I must be dead, when I went to get the donuts, dead, somehow”

“Not dead” A familiar voice came from behind “A winner!” The man from the video, AC Niko, stood in front of the gate.

“You” Tyrell yelled pointing at him

“Me” AC Niko smiled “Are you ready?”

“No, -“

“Great, let us begin!” The neon lights started to spin faster and faster around the path and the colors blended and he started to be pulled towards it. AC Niko stood unbothered as glasses and item from the shop hurled itself into the gate. Tyrell tried to hang on and went to grab AC Niko. As he reached out, AC Niko’s white gloved hand grasped his. As soon as he did, he too pulled off the ground and began to be pulled into the gate.

“You son of a bitc-“ Everything spun into colors and what ever Shilllllll beer might taste like and they flew into the gate and towards the Stroodle empire.

-

Inspired by…… Honestly for this one, I have no clue ahah Tyrell I imagined sort of from Mr.Robot.

The sky was filled with thick haze of rocket fuel and hybrid particles. The streets, or the lower level, was packed with people moving about to different places and what have you. Nelson strolled across the large park to 78th street. Buildings towered all around him. They rose high into the sky and in some parts of the city if one was low enough, the sky would be hidden by the Goliaths of glass and concrete. Here though, a park make it easy to see the sky as it widened the space of the buildings and gave some sunlight to the street floor. He opened the glass door to Miltons Malt Shop. It was a popular place in this part of the city. Some outside seating was set up past the large tall windows. The ceiling rose high and diner lights cascaded down. The whole place was themed like had been zapped in from the 1960’s. Complete with the retro bar that wrapped from the entrance to the back. Small backed stools lined the bar which had a red counter top with chrome lining. Booths lined the wall to the large glass windows, then small tables and chairs filled in the space before the bar. Nelson made his way past a waitress to a stool.

“Coffee and a ham sandwich if you could Mary” he draped his coat on the back of the stool and sat down pulling a small package of phantom cigarettes from his pocket. A small blue haze left the end of the cigarette and as he breathed out it filled into gray smoke. Mary, who was 5 feet all flame, set a mug of coffee in front of him.

“Mind if I join ya?” she said looking down the bar at the two other customers. It was the slow season and the slow time of the day, luckily.

He smiled “Sure” Mary was the sort of girl that always kept an eye on you and spoke her mind when you stepped the wrong way. Her fire red hair always bounced in curls and she had a mature look to her young looking face. Strong willed and even stronger body. She grabbed a mug of coffee for her self and leaned over the bar to join him.

“You know at one time those things could kill you” she pointed at the cigarette between his fingers which was trailing blue vapor. He took a look at it

“Well, it seems that the vice has become good for you” he took a deep inhale and blew the smoke off to the side. Phantom cigarettes were filled with all sorts of things that were supposed to benefit the body. Why they put it in that form, on one knew, but some say that the company used to produce cigarettes in the past and was almost ran out of business. Maybe some sort of middle finger to someone higher up.

“You see the news?” Nelson said

Mary took a sip of her coffee and licked her lips “No, but if I know news, it’s not good and if it’s coming from you, it’s probably worse”

Nelson leaned in “They found something on the 8th plane. Something big. I don’t know what it is, but it is important enough for me not to know. Remember the last thing they kept from me?”

“The E.T program?”

He snapped and smiled “Bingo. I bet this has something to do with those asteroids or space crafts that people have been seeing in the outer planes. They don’t look like anything we have and as soon as we seem them” Nelson made a swooshing noise and moved his hand quickly in the air “Gone, where though? We have eyes and ears, everything, all over the space planes. Ah, but the 8th plane is where it starts to get a little less covered”

Mary rose her eyes brows nodding with a smirk “mmhm” she backed off to the kitchen and return with his ham sandwich. “and I suppose your going to get to the bottom of it, just like the E.T program?”

Nelson took a bite of his sandwich “That’s right” he wagged the sandwich in front of her. “And I’m going to get all the way to the bottom of it” He finished his sandwich and down his coffee and before leaving left a note on the napkin.

It read “Vault box 21, if no call by Saturday” Mary sighed depositing the note in her apron. This time, she might actually find out what is inside vault box 21.

Inspired by Thoughts of a skyless metropolis

The man slumped back in his large leather chair. A small burst of dim coals lit up his weary face and he blew a large plumb of smoke into the room. He peered towards the large half moon window. Rain poured out onto the city streets. It wouldn’t stop anytime soon. The phone began to ring, but he just stared out into the rain till it stopped. It began to ring again. He rolled his eyes and stretched to grab it off the cradle.

“What?” he asked.

Silence. He gave it a second and then went to return it to the cradle.

“Sir? Are you there? sir?” a voice rang from the other side just as it hovered. Maybe hanging up was the right choice.

“Please sir, I need to talk to you” He put the receiver up to his ear and turned his chair to the window.

“Well what is it?” he inhaled his cigarette as he spoke.

“Not here, where can I meet you, actually, I’m outside your office” Knocking came immediately at his door. A shadow stood behind his smokey glass door. He dropped the phone on the desk and reached for his revolver. “Please don’t be alarmed, I have your card, it has your address.” the voice reassured him from his desk.

“How are you talking on the phone if your in front of my door” There was silence. The shadow stood motionless beyond the door and the room filled with the dull drum of rain and the ceiling fan. He snapped the cylinder of his revolver out and made sure he was full then reached into his coat pocket feeling for the speed loader. The tips of his fingers felt it and a moment of relief brushed over him. Things had been spinning a bit lately, glad he still remembered some important items.

“Well well” The voice on the phone laughed and it became distorted “Looks like I messed up” Colored lights spawned from the shadows face. A neon smile with sharp teeth and two eyes in the form of X’s. A howling laugh came from the phone and a hand struck the glass and reached for the handle of the door. Light flooded the room and he took aim and shot. The figure flinched a couple of times but the door was free and it stepped through. He reloaded as quickly as he could from behind his large leather chair.

“Fate has it” the voice from the phone rang from the figure. A distorted high and low voice that sounded as if a machine was having a bad day. “that we meet again”

A hand pressed upon the chair and he stepped back towards the wall pointing the revolver to the neoned monster. It’s face glitched and wobbled in a pixeled way. He pulled the trigger, but the monster caught the revolver with inhuman speed and forced it to the side.

“I think you have the wrong guy” he struggled against the wall trying to pull the revolver back to the monsters face. The smile grew wider and its leaned forward until he could feel the heat from its glowing grin.

“Scared of a world that you entered and exited as soon as you saw what it would do. Hiding in a office drinking your life away hoping others might solve the problems you discovered. Hoping that someone would save you and the rest from the fate being force upon you. Humanity. Given the gifts, reject them for petty differences. Reject once, fine, reject twice, Christmas is over. Not like you were there anyway.” The monster forced the revolver from him and its large hand wrapped around his throat pushing him into the air against the wall “What was it that you said? oh, yes” It’s voice became his.

“You’re going to be killing people this with technology. The world can’t handle it, think of the consequences”

The monster threw him to the side and it’s voice became robotic again

“Consequences? Who did you sacrifice to get there?” A blue pixel tear drop dripped down its face “We didn’t have a choice”

Inspired by High tech invading the 1950’s

The door creaked open behind them. He turned first to see what was following. Only shadows and a slight breeze.

“Kel, shut the door, you are letting all the heat out” he swept across the gray wooden floor and slammed the door shut which made them all jump.

“shh”

“sorry”

They huddled around the fire. Kel and Mary had just arrived while the others had been there for some time. Together there were six of them. They had gathered at the old light house which rested at the end of a forested bluff. The lighthouse itself was taller then most he had seen and spiraled of dull grey and a dark ocean blue. Every part of the light house was ornate and covered in some sort of symbol, picture, glyph or statue. Weird scenes of fish doing non fish things and odd monsters and spiraling cities coming out of the water were the subjects. Next to it, as dull as it seemed, was a regular wooden cabin where the light house keeper used to live. That was many years ago and it had since been abandoned. The city kept the light house around for its historic value. That and every attempt to demolish it was thwarted by unexplained weather. Now it had become a regular meeting place for Kel and his friends. A regular spooky hang out spot.

“Kel, go out and get some more firewood” a voice spoke from the fireplace.

He stood up and returned to the dark air that he had just emerged from. He was the strongest of the group and the woods never bothered him like the rest. Searching the outer rim of the woods he founds some sticks and large logs. Up above the light house loomed. It’s darkness blocked the the night sky casting an abyss at the eye. As he approached the door to return sounds erupted from the light house. Metallic gears moved, iron scratched against each other and light shot from the top of the massive tower. It casted a orangish glow and beamed out as far has his eyes could see. It then started to rotate. Before he relized Kel had dropped the wood and was in front of the lighthouse door. He opened it and it’s hinges screamed at him as he entered. He had never been inside, no one had, besides the light keeper. It was like he was stepping inside a galaxy. The walls disappeared and all he stared into was the endless space that now engulfed him. Galaxies, planets, stars and mysterious things glowed in every direction. In the middle of all this was a black spiral staircase that led to the light which spiraled above. He tired to pull him self back, but his body moved with out his command. First his hand grasped the metal of the stair case which sent shocks through his whole body, next his feet were climbing. Climbing towards that orange light. Like a moth drawn towards the light. As he approached he realized it was eerily silent. Outside he could here all the gears and things working, but inside it was deep silence. Nothing, not even the rotating of the light could be heard. He reached the base of the light. A full floor of see through metal sat below the spiraling light. There was a small seat and a small ladder that reached the light. He moved hypnotically towards the ladder. Something inside him screamed that he was violating something deeper then time and space by approaching the light, but it was to strong. He put his hand to the cold metal and pushed up. The light flooding his eyes, his mind and his whole body.

“Kel”

He was floating in an endless black ocean.

“Kel!”

His eyes flung open. He was on his back laying outside the cabin, his legs pointing towards the light house. He sat up. His whole body felt warm, liquid.

“what did you do, slip and fall out here?” Mary said grasping his hand to help him up. His vision swam with a pleasant motion.

“I must of - “ On the backside of his hand he could see something carved into him. Etched by something unseen. “hit my head or slipped” he gave a half hearted laugh and turned his hand over and then back. It was still there. He peered at the lighthouse.

Inspired by Moth by Former Vandal

“Please stop, please stay, I really can’t be with out you” These are the words that I wish I could say. The sound struck my throat ,which swelled, and cut any off audible words I could form. Would I see you again if you disappeared this time? What if I did see you again, but you were with some one else. What if you were happier, brighter, glowing. Was is it my fault? Am I the problem? Or is it our problem? I look into your eyes which are dripping mascara.

What went wrong? How did we get here? Those nights, the long days. Forgiveness and regret. Lying in the morning light together. How on earth did it come this far. The moments I remember are all good, but as soon as I wipe those tears away all the bad memories come crashing down. As soon as my arms wrap around you I can’t wait to be alone.

I wish it would start raining. Give me some drama. The sun shines bright, birds singing, people laughing, living. I at one time fought for this. Nervousness filled me the first time we met. I couldn’t talk back then either. My throat swelled for a different reason. Maybe this time the colors will come back to your eyes. Will time heal? One can only find out. Let my memories reflect and learn from this, but never forget the trauma. I am a combination of pain and pleasure. A culmination of rights and wrongs.

You turn and walk away. My heart pulls after you. My body pulls away. My mind stands confused. Good bye. Good Luck. I hope I don’t ever see you again. I don’t know if my heart could take it.

Inspired by Can’t let you go by Anthony Sidoti, Kaiyko, Sinxi

The sun blazed in a cloudless sky. June. It was the hottest it had ever been in Knullville and it was predicted to only get hotter. The ice cream shops and trucks were running day and night. Lines around the block and children chasing trucks became the normal. All beverage sales were flying off the charts and water, which was in no short of supply, seemed to be turning into a holy substance that people carried around no matter where they went. At the corner of Sydney and Clark was a couple of teenagers taking shade under a tree.

“Bro, it is so hot. What is this?” The boy who spoke was dressed in a white t-shirt and khaki shorts. Next to him was two other boys. One dressed in a sleeveless muscle shirt and dark blue pants while the other one wore a kilt and gray band shirt.

“Beets me” the boy in the kilt said raising an arm to shield himself from the sun even more. “All I know, if this sun doesn’t beat it, I’m going to beat it”

The boy in the blue pants rested his chin on his knee looking towards the old cemetery across the street. They were on the out skirts of town. On the border of friendly neighbor hood streets and tall forests that surrounded Knullville. Contained just before these trees was Knullville cemetery. Haunted many claimed, but urban legends never kept anyone out. At least no one alive. The plots were all filled and there was not a space left for any new residence. It was quiet in there, shaded and peaceful. Still much of the town avoided it.

“Tommy” the boy with the kilt smacked his shoulder. He pulled his eyes away form the cemetery “We are going to get some ice cream, what do you want?”

“Something orange. Thanks” he gave a small smile and the other boys left him. Tommy had a thing about crowds. Ever since he was a kid,being around tons of people made him feint and woozy. He could handle it most of the time, but this heat made everyone one woozy. He stood up and walk across the street to the cemetery.

Large gates made out of black metal twisted into the welcome sign. A stone wall wrapped around whole place and a small path of concrete snaked into the middle of the cemetery. It was as if the forest left a square space for the dead. A cut out. The trees pressured the edged just past the stone walls, but inside trees were spread out. They had said it was like that when they arrived in the old days. Tommy entered and walked deep inside. Sound dampened and the the outside world faded away. It was still inside. Cool and perfect to the skin. Even with the sun trying it’s best, it could not heat this place. He reached the back of the cemetery. Along the stone wall Jack O’ Lanterns sat starring out at the graves. Shaded by the dense trees he could see their light flicker against the shadows. He looked around. No one had been in front of him when he entered and he not seen anyone since he had arrived. The trees rustled and the leaves brought a symphony of noise as the wind rushed from the forest beyond at him. He shielded his face. The Jack O’ Lanterns looked at him in a more sinister way. Their teeth had become a little sharper and their eyes glared at him with killing intent. A sharp maniacal laugh came from the shadows of the trees. Tommy jumped back and peered deeper. He could see nothing, but the laugh came again. He was sweating now and his own body heated the air. A pair of glowing orange eyes lit up at him. Just below them, barely visible, sheened against the small amount of light, teeth sharp as blades smiled at him. His breath left him and he kicked back and ran as fast as he could. The ground beat behind him and the laughter grew louder and louder. His lungs took in and expelled us much as they could. His body flung all its energy into propelling him forward in a mad dash to the entrance. He could see it. The black twisted gates coming into view. The ground vibrated behind him. The laughter grasped his ears and the teeth pricked at his shirt. He pushed past the gates and across the street where he had been before. His foot struck the curb and he tumbled under the tree and screamed as he struck the ground and kicked him self back against the tree to face the cemetery. There was nothing. The gates stood across the road, staring at him. He gasped and shook as his eyes darted around. His friends came back and the boy with the kilt thrust an orange Popsicle at him.

“Whoa, Tommy, you alright?” he said as Tommy looked up at him wide eyes still panting.

Tommy grabbed the Popsicle “I-I, I uh” he looked back at the cemetery “I don’t know”

His friends sat down and resumed melting in the heat. Halloween had come early to Knullville.

Inspired by buying Jack O Lantern reeses at Kroger at the end of July.

If rain could tell you its journey would it be a happy one or a sad one? Rebirth or eternal dying? I wonder this sometimes. You see I stare out my window sometimes. It is quite large. It reaches from floor to ceiling and out side I can see the lush jungles that sprawl till the horizon. It rains an awful lot here. It falls sometimes in small drops that mist down and other times torrents, as if the heavens were weeping constantly. So I watch the rain as it falls and wonder what it would tell me if it could speak. We are so closely acquainted, but only I speak to it. A one way conversation that fills my heart with sorrow. My window catches droplets as they slide down, taunting me with a conversation, but never engaging. As the rain stops and the clouds open up to expose the sun the droplets on my window open up and sing to me in colors. Yet the sound is captured by my eyes and yields me endless comprehension till those droplets slide into oblivion or become mist in the daylight. Maybe one day if I cam able to feel the rain touch upon my silicon shell I might have the conversation that I yearn for. Machine. Nature. Speaking in tongue. I looked towards the wall opposite of the window. It is solid white, smooth with no indication of a door. I sit, I wait, I watch the rain. One day. My claws grow savage and they touch the glass. One day. This window will crash and with that. The rain and I shall finally dance. And the world will know me.

Inspired by a cross of the Ending of 15 Million Merits from Black Mirror and Dues Ex Machina Film

His fingers moved up and down the guitar like it was made out of smooth slick glass. There were no errors, no hesitations, every move was planned or looked as it had been for eternity. The universe moved through his hands weaving music that the ears wished they had heard the moment they had opened. The audience sat staring at this young man. He seemed entranced. A simple smile upon his face as his hands worked. The notes bounced off into the air and floated, bopped up and down, circled and leapt again. The sound seemed to becoming from an ethereal place. The guitar produced the music, but the sound resonated far deeper then the senses could receive. The man looked up through his playing, just a glance at the audience, but to him there was no one there. It was just he music that he saw. Dancing through the quantum realm that music flowed through. He hit a couple of quick notes and flashed a quick toothy smile, then retreated back into that simple smile while his hands continued to dance among the strings. As the music continued to seep into the atmosphere a gentleman in the back of the room stroked his long beard. His cloths were extravagant, which was an understatement. Music notes in every size and color adorned his puffy jacket and multicolored pants. Feathers stuck out of the shoulders and upon his swirled red hair a hat in the shape of a odd shaped guitar wrapped around his head. His mustache was long and outstretched far past his face and his beard swept the ground. Bluish tinted glasses reflected the man on stage. No one could see this man or even knew he stood there among the crowd. When the man on stage stopped playing the room was silent. No one dared to interrupt the remnants of the last notes that had been played and still lingered. The man on stage opened his eyes and he met the strangers bluish tinted glasses in the back of the room. The man smiled wide. A world of music beyond anyones wildest dreams was waiting to meet this maestro of the guitar. The room erupted in applause and lights dimmed for a moment to bring everything into focus. When they returned the man and his guitar were gone. On the chair sat a simple music note that looked like it was made out of white marble sat.

Inspired by Tim Henson and his New Guitar

There was knock that came late at night. Deep into the night when nothing should be knocking. I stared at my door. It was larger then most. Made out of heavy wood that was painted a dark red and gold. It rose high into the ceiling and circled. The frame followed it unevenly with warped shiny light wood. Beyond it the outside rested. Miles and miles lay between my small cabin and the rest of the world or anyone of that matter. The knocking came again. The fire had died down from earlier and the room felt chilled. I did not stir, but stared still. Something moved out there. Bushes and leaves crunched and what ever it was scrapped against the large wooded walls of my keep. I peered over to the window that it was coming upon. My heart started to pound now. What ever it was, it was large. The knocking came again at the door then became pounding and I leapt out of bed moving to my axe hanging from the fireplace.

“Who’s there?” I yelled. The pounding stopped. Sticks and large thumps moved violently to the other side of my cabin then it circled the whole perimeter at brake neck speed. I went to yell and suddenly the pounding resumed. The force rocked the whole door and frame and I feared that the over-sized hinges would not hold. They rattled and squeaked. I quickly lit my lantern and hastily put on my boots and coat.I approached the doorand as soon as my hand touched the handle the pounding ceased. I shook and wetted my lips. I could feel my eyes straining wide. I turned the knob and swung open the door, axe already back ready to strike. Nothing. The cool air rushed past me and the late night sounds flooded my ears. I stepped out and raised the lantern to look around. The ground was undisturbed, the door on the outside was like it had always been. I walked to the sides of the cabin, they were untouched. I made my way back to the door and a crunch came from my boots. I looked down to see I had stepped on a amulet of sort. It was large, shaped like a star with a blue jewel in the middle. It shined an odd metallic that seemed to change colors as the light hit it form different angles. It hadn’t been there when I came out. I picked it up and returned to the inside of my cabin.

As the door clicked with a close the pounding began again. I spun around. It didn’t stop, it wouldn’t stop. Hopefully my door and frame could hold till the sunlight.

Inspired by Isolation and the fear behind the doors.

Inspired by Heaven in Hiding - Imminence

He stood out looking over the food which boiled and relled in front of them. He looked back towards his large cauldron of soup and cleared his throat. It had been a long night of making his dish for the kings competition. The one who won the head to head duel got the others full restaurant. The keys, the staff, the menu, the dishes, the whole lot. The showdown was between himself, Adrien Von Tel, and across the grand room, Lady Demclay. He knew that he was going to have problems when he spied her earlier in the competition. As soon as their eyes met she assaulted him with every vulgar insult that one could think of in four different languages.The king sat elevated above the room. A small decorate table was place in front of him that each dish would be presented on. He was a young looking man, but don’t let his handsome looks fool you. This guy up there led armies through the kingdoms, conquering everything around and bringing peace to the land. All while he cooked and made dishes for his army. He became known as the demon chef and his kitchen of hell. One could only imagine what his tongue had tasted as he ravished the lands. He had just finished Lady Demclay’s dish. A blue rell cod baked in oil from olive trees and seasoned with spices from far north. The king smirked when he tasted it. No one knew if his expressions were good or bad. Adrien produced a cauldron of stew and placed it on the table in front of him.He then poured a bit in a bowl and moved it forward.

“I present you a dish, but it is not mine” The crowd started to rustle and the king put his hand up to silence them.

“What game do you play? if this is not your dish, who’s is it?” the king said.

“Lady Demclay’s” Instantly, vulgarity was being sprouted at his direction from across the room. “This” He scurried to the outside room and pulled another large cauldron onto the table “Is mine” He poured the orange stew in a bowl and pushed it forward. The king moved forward peering at the two bowls.

“Explain”

“Gladly” Adrien cleared his throat “The dish is Tar meat, seasoned carrots, potatoes with a mixture of ivy song and duck tears. The two bowls are of the same dish, but the first has been tampered with” He shot a glance at Lady Demclay. The competition was fierce. Everyone cheated. He saw everything. Turning up heat at critical moments, switching salt for sugar and vice versa, and drips of bodily fluids where no bodily fluid should be dripped. It was all fair, unless you got caught. “Lady Demclay has put sea serpent salt in the first bowl. One taste, it would be so foul that you would need a day to recover.”

“I know of sea serpent salt, I have used it before” Adrien rose his eyebrows. Of course he had used it. “How do you know it was Lady Demclay?”

“I caught her flaking it into my stew a fortnight ago”

“That is a lie” she screamed coming into the middle of the room. “Trying to sabotage me, you “

“But I can prove it” the room went silent. “lady Demclay, would you let the king smell your hands?” her face went white and she looked up at the king. He gave a smile and picked up the second bowl and took a few spoon fulls. Only the sound of the king putting the spoon down on the table could be heard. He wiped his mouth with his napkin and leaned back.Then he started to laugh.

“Lady Demclay” she straighted up and started to say something, but he waved her off “You have lost this duel. Your dish was bested, but even if it was not, you were caught” He leaned forward “Sea serpent salt rubs off on everything. I could smell it on your dish.” He clapped his hands and rose “Adrien Von Tel, you have won this duel and the rights of Lady Demclay’s restaurant are yours” With that he left the room and the crowd dispersed. Adrien walked back into the kitchen off the main hall. He had survived this test, but what about the next.

Inspired by Though of a Tournament arc of Medieval Food

Strange things seem to happen when no eyes are there to catch them. I once thought that people who saw UFO’s and bigfoot were crazy. If they saw them, how come no one else saw them? Where was all the proof, the pictures and hi-def video? I used to wonder.

It was a sunny afternoon and I had just delivered some copy to an old orchid. I was doing their new Apple Times Newspaper that they handed out to passerbys and locals. It was an easy job, far less stressful then my other clients out of the big city. Usually I have the printing company drop them off, but this time I decided I would check out the place my self. I had been there ages ago when I first got their business, yet from that day I had been to busy to drive all the way out there. The sun was shining, a cool breeze blew across the arces and I thought to my self ‘what the heck, let’s go see those fellows out there’. I was greeted with smiles and warm apple cider and donuts. We talked about all the years of business and the newspaper and what else they wanted to do. With some extra cider and donuts they welcomed me back anytime. I waved good bye and traveled back home through those old country roads. They bounced up and down wooded hills, past farms and large arces of corn or wheat. I peered down at my dash and noticed that I was running low on gas so I started to look for a station. Out here that might be rare. Luckily through some trees at the top of a hill stood a station that lept straight out of time. I pulled in and waved to the man inside. He nodded and went back to his paper he was reading. I pulled up and started to fill my van up with gas. Across the street was a defunct gas station that stood against a backdrop of dark green trees and brush. The paint was peeling off and vines and bits of rust were crawling up the sides of the columns to the small roof over the pumps. A small one person building stood off to the side. A old black lincoln pulled up to one of the pumps and a tall man wearing a large brimmed hat stepped out. I wanted to yell over that the pumps were not working, but the man reached out for the handle and almost like it was there, took it from the station and inserted it into the back of his old black lincoln. He held an invisible gas handle, his hand squeezing something that wasn’t there. He was robotic and turned towards me as if he was on a swivel. I waved and he started towards me. A part of me told me to run, but the gentlemen in me told me to stay and not be rude. He crossed the small street and I met him at the edge of the asphalt. He moved in slow fluid motions, both arms swinging wide as he approached and stopped.

“Good afternoon” I said shielding my eyes from the sun with my hand. Skin slid back from his mouth revealing a sharp smile.

“Yes it is” his arm extended and he opened his hand to receive a shake. I didn’t immediately move and he stood frozen in position.

“Oh”I grasped his hand and we shook. His grip was strong and forceful. He let go and I withdrew my hand and returned it to my pockets. “You know mister, I don’t think that station is in working order” He nodded and turned to look towards his car and returned to me still nodding.

“Some machines run on a different kind of fuel then others sonny” he said taking off his hat, readjusting it and reapplying. His eyes were a deep amber that glowed when the sun hit them for a tiny fraction it was allowed. I heard my pump click as I was done fueling up.

I turned to look and shot a thumb back at my car “Looks like I am all set, you take care” I started toward my car.

“You too sonny. I’ll see you later. Give Jenny my best” I turned immediately. He was back at his car, door open waving at me as he disappeared inside. The engine started with a high pitch whirl and the wheels sputtered into action as the lincoln pitched up onto the road and head off in the opposite direction I was going. I watched it glide down the street until it rounded a corner. I could still feel his skin on my hand in my pocket.

I think in reality. Somethings are not meant to be seen. Those strange things, events, monsters that humans catch a glimpse of. Just a glimpse is all they can see. As if they saw more. Reality might seem to become fiction.

Inspired by old abandon gas station in the middle of nowhere (who knows who might still use them)

Harry stood looking out over the deck of the boat. The white sail above were rolled up and they glided down the large river slowly with the current. His crew were busy moving their latest shipment of assorted items across the deck to make room for anything they would pick up in the next port. Two women stood towards the bow. One was wearing a dark purple dress with chains and jeweler y draped over her shoulders. Her skins was dark brown, eyes like the sun and hair, which was a mix of black and gold, was pulled into a pony tail. The other women wore a an outfit similar, but it was a dark green. On her head was a sort of sun hat which was teh same color as her gown. Her eyes seemed to glow a grey. It had admitted when he saw her, he swore that everything disappeared and all he could see were her glowing grey eyes. Hypnotizing him. He wasn’t accustom of high wizards out this far from the lands of Ume. They paid him more then the trip and regarded him with respect, which took him off guard. He had heard that high wizards thought themselves better then the rest, looking down on anyone who did no peer into the magical depth. They were monsters with no emotions and that they casted spells just to get a tankard of water in an inn. He was thankful the rumors were wrong. He had noticed them on the dock and many of the ships had turned them down, probably because of ignorance.

He peered past them. Far in the distance, barely in sight he could see the towers of Minar. Great spiralling towers of brown, white, gold and silver. Two of them casting themselves form the middle of the city. You could see them from miles around and at night they glowed a strange virbrant orange. The city around those spirals was made out of marble dyed in every color. Buildings scaled and swept in great form by marble weavers. Detail that would would only think possible in paintings, brought to life on the sides of monstrous buildings. Two more days and they would be docked there. His journey would finally becoming to an end.

“Excuse me Captain Harry” The high wizard in purple called to him from down below.

“Yes, what is it?”

She looked back toward the other women. They nodded to each other. “It seems that trouble might be coming our way, I advice you and your men to get ready” Her voice was calm and controlled.

“What sort of trouble, and how -“ he went to ask, but he knew “are you sure?”

“Absolute” Harry took a breathe in and looked around at shore lines which were far from the boat and then back behind them. There was nothing anywhere that he could see, but there were stranger things in the world. He clapped his hands and rang the bell next to to the wheel.

“Men” he cleared his throat “It seems like we might be up for a fight, grab your weapons and get ready” He unsheathed his sabre and called his first mate. “Take the wheel and make sure we don’t run to the coast” He then made his way to the deck and joined the two women. He took a knife from his belt and held it out.

“We do not need” The women in green grinned at him. She pointed at the other women “Davi and I am Dracilla. If we perish, our names will be known”

“Pleasure. I’m Harry, well you knew that, lets do our best to no perish shall we” Dracilla broke out in a laugh and nodded. He wasn’t sure if he should scared or confident that she could laugh after admitting they might die. The ship creeked rocking back and forth. he steadied himself and whipped around to see what produced the movement. Mist seemed to be seeping out of the water. He could no longer see the shore line or anything for that matter around them. His men joined him on the deck from below weapons in hand.

“Anchor down” he called up to his first mate. In this mist there was no telling where they were. They might just plunge into the shoreline and be cast into the torrents if they didn’t stop moving. Nothing happened “Anchor” he called up again peering up towards the wheel. His first mates body hit the deck with a thud in front of him. Behind the wheel stood a shadow. It was like smoke, he could see through it barely and it seemed to wisp around the edges.

“Those who walk in shade” Davi seethed.

“Your ship, I am afraid, will be lost Captain Harry”

Harry scoffed “This ship is my life, if it is lost, so I am” He stepped forward toward toward the shadow “You can blow right off shade, this is my ship”

The shade stepped to the railing and floated down to the first mates body. It’s figure did not form, but two glowing orange sparks stared at them. It put forth its hand and a blade of pure black materialized from the air. It sucked the light from everything around it and as it swung it seemed to dampen the sound around it. Stepping forward it swiped at him and he put forth to block. He pulled back towards the high wizards and peered at his sabre. It was cut clean in the middle.

He sheathed the half sabre “You know what, have it. Abandon ship!”

Inspired by Wheel of Time by Robert Jorden (lots of boat scenes and traveling by river)