Recently in Stuff Made Up Category

...and covered with gravel…
footing can be tricky if you don’t pay attention…

The ground is wet in places… and the gravel crunches underfoot…

I can hear water… toward where I’m going…

The book is damp from having been dropped in the water…
It’s not as pristine as it once was… Perhaps someday that’ll add character…
Right now it’s just damp…
Still I carry it with me as it contains so much of what I’ve worked for…

I walk to the place where I had to swim before…
And the path is closer to the other side…
Like I could almost jump across…

I look to the other side and see sand falling like a waterfall… a dark red color, like in the witch's hourglass…’These matters must be handled DELICATELY or you hurt the spell…’

If I wait for the path to finish, will there be enough sand left to get where I need to go?

I watch and the path continues to grow toward the other side… And then it reaches it… and I walk across…

And tilt the glass upward starting the sand all over again…

Then walk to the right and down the path…

She took no enjoyment from the sorrow of others...
Rather, when she had to she became like ice...

She had learned how over the years in order to deal with the hunger...
To deal with the fact that she was hungry...

They come... they throw themselves at her feet...
And cry to be devoured...
The sweetness of such things... is not... to be denied...

But later... as the images flicker across her memory...
The hunger seems too much... too... much...
And she freezes... the images...
And herself...

Even now she appears calm and still..
But inside there is a cyclone... whirling energy gathering strength...

Gathering speed...

Inside she burns...

While outside crystals slowly form around her edges...

and she waits...

...is a beautiful place but very dangerous…
At least that’s what the butterflies say…
The bees keep their secrets to themselves, unless they have some reason to share…
A river winds through it which carries all the voices of the garden and the forest beyond…
If you dangle your fingers in it, you just might hear them…

What the bees won’t tell you is that if you listen too long, you might just forget to stop…
And after a time, the vines will cover you over and when they flower you’ll become another pleasant place for someone to rest…

And maybe listen to the river…

 
‘That’s the story the butterflies told you?’, she laughed.
‘They are like children around a campfire… always trying to scare themselves…’
‘But here you have walked a long way… you must be tired…’
‘Sit down next to the river… ‘
‘The water is sweet… you can taste it if you like…’

‘Unless you’re worried about the butterflies…’

 
photo: Bilder Echsen Jesus lizard runninng on water

{Originally written on August 11, 2005 and posted to... that OTHER site }


The vampire began following her someplace around 4th and Main… She sensed his presence almost immediately and quickened her step but he was always right there behind her…

She slipped down an alley only to find herself cornered… ‘I’ve been watching you’, he said, ‘Don’t be afraid…’ And when he reached out to touch her, she did not move away…

She felt the energy draining from her… it really didn’t take long… the energy she carried within herself at any one time was small… the air began to darken… she grew limp and still…

Then she thought, ‘enough…’

There next to her a bright line of energy ran through the air… she reached out and touched it…

His eyes flew open in shock when it hit…

Wave after wave building in intensity until there was nothing but searing, white hot pain…

She screamed without sound as she sent it coursing through him… Deep, raging, pure delight… His screams were not quite so silent…

The torrent grew in intensity, scorching everything in its path…

And again she thought, ‘enough…’

In the sudden stillness, his ragged breathing was the only sound…

‘There is energy everywhere’, he gasped…

She laughed that quiet laugh...

‘There always is…’


photo: Google public domain

She wasn't sure how she'd gotten here... or rather... she knew HOW she'd gotten here...
She just wasn't sure where here WAS...

Or what it was...

The colors were bright, and the landscape seemed to shift and change around her...
It was an idyllic setting with an imprint of something... that was...

Just not right...

A cloud of butterflies drifted by and as she looked closer she noticed... wings as sharp as razors... feet that could scratch and cut...

Pretty things, but not to be trifled with... 

And just outside her vision, a flash... an impression of claws and teeth and energy bunched in muscles of steel...

In the distance a pond, whose shore was ready to give way if one were to step too close...

And all around a feeling of heavyness, as if the entire place was pushed out of itself just a little...



Still...

She was not alarmed...

She sank to the ground... held out her hands...

And waited...




photos: Google public domain & sounkyo.net