Thursday, October 30, 2014

Prompt: Tell Me Your Real Life Ghost Stories

For Halloween, All Hallows Eve, tell me *your* ghost stories…your brushes with things unseen.

Last weekend, I enjoyed relaxing around an outdoor fire with friends, and eventually, the stories began. Almost everyone had one to tell, from the unwelcome house guest, to the midWestern prison, to the lingering theater stage hand. Most were mysterious, and downright scary. One was joyous.

I’ve actually never had a direct experience with the supernatural (unless you count dowsing), but I’ve been oddly connected with other people’s experiences over the years. 

The thing is, while I absolutely believe there’s more to the world than we can experience with our physical senses, I’m not entirely sure I *want* to have it all opened to me…

But now, as the veil thins, tell me your stories…share in the comments below.

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And so, with a loving heart, I offer you
Namaste
I’ve heard many translations. Here’s one I love:
The light of the universe that shines within me recognizes
the light of the universe that shines within you.

#

Dogs in House
Houdini, Brindle


Music Playing
Broadway’s Bonnie & Clyde soundtrack


Time writing
15 minutes


October word count
2,992


Sunday, October 19, 2014

Prompt: Using a nightmare/dream, or Game of Thrones imagery

Note:  Have you ever written a story or scene from a dream? Sometimes I’ll have a dream that is incredibly vivid and coherent, but I still have difficulty capturing it in words. Or there’s not quite enough “there” to make a complete story. I literally had this dream this morning, foiling my rare opportunity to sleep in…

Warning, this is not PG13...think George R. R. Martin's Game of Thrones...

I was visiting with family in a large vacation home, so everything was unfamiliar. Some of the people there were dream-family, but not real-life family, which was causing me some confusion—though I rarely am aware within a dream that I am dreaming.

The house had huge windows that opened up, and then fabric “screens” with embedded (sewn-in) poles dropped into the bottom window frames and held them in place. There was a storm coming, with lots of wind, so we were all going around closing the windows, which meant pulling up the poles from the frames, but then the fabric, like thin colored silk, would blow around, poles clanging, making it very difficult to corral all of it out of the way and pull the windows closed.

I fumbled my bedroom window closed and wrangled the screens with their long, slender poles to the side, then left my room to go help with other windows. My bare feet felt the cold of the smooth marble on the broad hallway floor. I stopped in the doorway to the formal dining hall, mesmerized by the wind-filled screens flowing like a river of blues and greens and golds across the open windows. My brother-in-law (not in real life) pushed past me and hurried to the farthest window. “Come on, ijit! Don’t just stand there! Help me get these,” he snarled. We didn’t get along, and didn’t fake it when no one else was present.

I moved to the opposite end from him, and started pulling the poles from the frames, trying to keep the screens from tugging loose and blowing around in the strong wind sweeping in. He closed the first window and moved to the next one. Glancing over at me, he said, “Leave it. I’ll finish here. Go tie up the pool shades. Surely you can manage that, at least.”

I didn’t answer, just dropped the fabric I had gathered and let it blow free, poles banging against the frame as I walked out, feet slapping against the cold marble.

As I walked outside the French doors to the pool courtyard, my pace slowed and my eyes narrowed against the wind. I loved it, actually, as it whipped cold and wild against my skin, blowing my hair loose from its thick braid. It swept the curtains surrounding the pool area in broad arc, some swirling around the elaborate wooden frames, some flying high overhead. My brother-in-law wouldn’t be able to reach them, despite his extra height and longer arms. I didn’t know how I could.

As I neared the pool, the air grew hot and humid, and though the curtains still blew, no wind touched my skin. I glanced back at the house, and the air seemed to shimmer behind me. As I turned forward once more, I heard music playing, something like guitar, and maybe harp. I peered through the curtains and saw people lounging in and around the pool. Men, women, and children--they were all nude, and somehow unfamiliar. More than the fact I didn’t recognize any of them. The men were burly, hairy, sporting beards and long curly hair. The women were voluptuous, golden-skinned, with long hair piled in curly crowns on their heads.

I hid behind a curtain, drawing it around me, as a young woman in a simple white dress carried a tall pitcher with two handles around the edges of the pool, pouring into goblets they adults held up for her attention. A large man held a young girl on his lap and reached up with his goblet. When the servant reached down to pour into it, the girl twisted away. She was naked, and though she looked nine or ten, her breasts were well-developed. The man grabbed one and pulled her back against his chest, without spilling any of the drink from his goblet. As he drank, she struggled against him, and he laughed at her. No one seemed to be paying any attention.

A women in a plain white stola came through the curtains on the far side. Wading into the water, she pulled the girl away from the man and started yelling at him. He stood up and roared at her, pulling the girl from her arms and tossing her like a rag doll up onto the edge of the pool. The girl scrambled away, out of my view.

Suddenly the man had a thick, short sword in his hand, and he slashed toward the woman. She stumbled away and fell in the water. She crab-walked away from him as he lunged toward her. Everyone moved out of their way, but no one aid anything o tried to intervene.

He dropped to his knees and pushed between her legs. Without warning, he thrust the sword straight down into her belly. She arched up, screaming, and he sawed straight up her body with up and down strokes, splitting open from her belly to her neck. He stood up and stomped out of the water toward where the girl had disappeared. The woman lay in the water, her arms unmoving by her side, looking down at herself, blood pouring out the length of her torso as she shrieked one long, endless scream…

Thank you, brain, for letting me wake up from this Game-of-Thrones-esque nightmare…

#

And so, with a loving heart, I offer you
Namaste
I’ve heard many translations. Here’s one I love:
The light of the universe that shines within me recognizes
the light of the universe that shines within you.

#

Dogs in House
Houdini, Brindle


Time writing
~45 minutes


October word count
2862


Sunday, October 12, 2014

Prompt: Dressed in nothing but a necklace of human skulls, Part 2


Fleece didn’t protect my wrists from the sharp bite of the restraints as I pulled against them. My ears rang and my throat ached. Had I been screaming? I felt familiar hands on my shoulders, heard the nurse’s voice in my ear. “Come on, honey, calm down. Come on, that’s it, deep breaths. Good, good…”

I opened my eyes to see the worry lines on her forehead disappear as she smiled with encouragement and relief. She straightened over me and reached for a cup of water, fitting the straw into my mouth as I sucked greedily. I felt the burning grit from the arena wash down my throat. I glanced down at my left hand and saw a bandage wrapped around, covering the palm.

“How long was I out?” I croaked around the straw.

“About forty minutes this time…”

Something about her voice, and the flicker of her eyes…

“This time?”

“You’ve been in and out – mostly out – for the past three days. It’s the longest we’ve seen. The doctors are throwing everything they can to try to stop it—”

“That’s enough, Nurse. You’ll upset our patient,” said a stern voice from the doorway.

As I leaned up to see who it was, I felt a sudden movement in my side, like a kick. I jerked the covers down and stared at my swollen belly. Tears sprang to my eyes as I dropped my head back on the pillow. “When did I get pregnant?”

To be continued…

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And so, with a loving heart, I offer you
Namaste
I’ve heard many translations. Here’s one I love:
The light of the universe that shines within me recognizes
the light of the universe that shines within you.

#


Dogs in House
Houdini, Brindle


Time writing
20 minutes


October word count
1,670

Saturday, October 11, 2014

Prompt: Dressed in nothing but a necklace of human skulls, Part 1

Note: H/t to my dear friend Vivian, who’s Facebook post prompted a truly horrific story idea…But after mulling on it for the day, I think it may actually be pretty kick ass. Gonna try to hammer it out this month on my blog for Halloween...

I pressed my bare foot onto her hip, below her swollen belly, and leaned against my spear, buried in the sand beside her head. We both gasped for breath as the crowd roared. The noise slammed against me, and I wanted to close my eyes and fall beside her. I lifted my head and met her eyes, the yellow clay streaks smeared across her dark blue skin. She kept her wide eyes locked on my. My move.

Pushing against my spear, I looked up to the only person in the crowd who mattered. Alone in the largest box overlooking the arena floor, she stepped forward to hear victory cry. I straightened my shoulders and spread my arms wide, leaving my spear wavering in the sand. “I call rights to the unborn child!”

The crowd hushed, and I almost laughed aloud. She met my gaze for a long moment, then lifted her head up. The crowd roared louder than ever. I knew I would pay at her hand. Queen or priestess--I still did not know--her black hair piled in coils upon her head, and her slight body draped in row upon row of beaded necklaces. I’d been thrown at her feet enough to see them in detail. No gems, no stones, no delicate beads. They were--I shuddered again as I tore my gaze away—they were babies’ teeth. Her power bought by the blood of hundred—thousands—of infant sacrifices. Without another sign, she turned and walked away.

I dropped to my knees and pulled a hidden dagger from my armband. The woman beneath me lifted her hand, and I slashed her palm, then mine. Gripping her hand, I pressed my forehead against hers. “The baby will have my blood,” I whispered urgently as the guards pulled me away. Before they wrenched our bloody hands apart, we both threw back our heads and screamed a long victory cry.


#

And so, with a loving heart, I offer you
Namaste
I’ve heard many translations. Here’s one I love:
The light of the universe that shines within me recognizes
the light of the universe that shines within you.

#

Dogs in House
Houdini


Time writing
20 minutes


October word count
1,670