- 2021 -

She pulled her hood up around her. The air was cold and the winter whipped her from all sides. It was impossible to see anything a few feet in front of her, but she trudge through the snow anyway. Evergreen trees rose in all directions. She zig zagged between them to avoid some of the torrents of wind. It was dark, but something outlined the trees and surroundings for her, she looked up. Just dark clouds and snow. Angie you are so stupid. You should of waited for someone to come help you she thought clutching her self harder. She stumbled now. The snow was piling up incredibly fast. Now it covered just above her ankles and each minute it seemed to stack more and more. How does one feel so boxed in out side in the open? Angie stepped forward and a she could make out a wall of some sort. Behind it, light shined dimly into the sky. As she got closer she realized it was a wall over evergreens. Perfectly in a row blocking any vision past them. She looked one way and they disappeared into the flurry of snow fall, the other way was the same. As she got closer to the wall she could hear something from the other side, music? Her arms pushed through the limbs of the trees and they racked against her. Warm, light and cinnamon rushed to meet her on the other side.

A village, no a city. Buildings with a Bavarian and Scandinavian architecture spread out all around her. Cobble stone covered the ground and Christmas trees lit up the darkness. Lights hung from the roofs and over the different pathways and the square which revealed itself to her. A large fire was roaring in the middle. Food was being cooked and roasted all over on mobile carts. Some small people rummaged around and then normal people went about decorating and cooking the food. Some drank out of large wooden tankards at long picnic tables. Laughter, cheer and glee swarmed into a delicious cocktail of delight. She stumbled out onto the cobble stone.

“Yo” A girl called over to her. Angie was still thawing out and her ears had stopped ringing from the torrents of wind from beyond the wall of trees. She turned slowly. A girl with teal hair and a pink and purple jester hat sat holding a large tankard. Her ears were long and elf like. She was tall though. Her long slender legs crossed as she leaned back against a large wooden drink cart.

She stared for a moment “Hey” she finally said moving slowly towards the girl. “um- uh” Angie looked around one more time before slowly sitting down. Faintness and tiredness was setting in. How long had she been lost among the snow? “Where is this? Last time I checked I was in Canada somewhere”

The girl with the teal hair burst out laughing and took a large swig of what ever it was in the tankard. It smalled warm and cinnamon.

“Oh boy, well your not in Canada anymore. Human huh, interesting, wonder what door you came through.” She stuck out her hand “Amy, you?”

“Angie” she said weakly

“Angie, you have stumbled upon Christmas Town, a holiday town. The one and only dedicated to the Holiday of Christmas. Now you might be saying, “Amy, not everyone celebrates Christmas” and my response is, true. Christmas comes in different forms though. Toys, decorations, holiday spirit, lights, a lot of lights, are all made her and shipped across time and space. Here” Amy handed Angie a tankard of her own “Let’s get fucked up”

“Mouth! Young lady” a voice called somewhere

“Yeah, yeah” Amy waved back “drink up it will make you feel better.”

The liquid which wished around the tankard was warm and smelled sweet. A cider of some sort. Steam rose and small little sparkles shimmered up to her nose. Bottoms up. She took a large gulp. It was thicker then she thought. Cinnamon and vanilla swirled around her mouth and down her throat. It burned, but in a good way. The warmth spread quickly through her body and she felt her self vibrating. Instantly she felt revived. Fatigue faded and all tiredness dripped out of her.

“wow, what is this? It’s incredible” the old lady behind her held out her hand “Yes please”

“Get it girl” Amy laughed also getting another round.

Angie swam in pleasure and warmth, then a thought hit her.

“Am I dead?” she asked her self. Cider sprayed all over the cobble stone. Amy choked besides her, laughing.

“No you are not dead, is this your heaven?” she laughed and wiped the cider off her chin “well, I guess someones heaven could look like this. Nah, I will show you around a bit, then it’s back to Canada for you.”

Amy chugged the last of her drink and handed it back to the old lady behind the cart which they sat at.

“Come on Ange, leave the drink, there’s plenty more where we are going”

Angie thanked the old lady and stood to follow Amy. She didn’t know what was going on, but she was glad whatever it was. She didn’t know if was her thinking that or the cider.

This was inspired by an idea of Holiday towns. I imagine each Holiday have it’s own town that inspires and makes alot of things we see. The ultimate spirit is kept there. Sorta like Nightmare befre Christmas, but the towns are huge, planet size, and there are people that do all kinds of jobs. More on this idea later.

“I regret to inform you sir, that you are dead”

The man sitting on the red velvet chair looked around and then at the sharply dressed butler. “You sure?” he replied.

“Most definitive.” The butler returned.

The man scrubbed his face with one hand and a smile spread across his face. “Hot damn” He stood up and started to shake the butlers hand. “I’ve waited for this moment for my whole life. Every single second I waited, damn, never thought I would see the day”

“Sir?”

“Wheres your boss, he around” The man rolled his shoulders and cracked his neck “You know, the big boss. Scary dude, eleven feet tall, sickle or something , I don’t know.”

“The grand Master”

He snapped and pointed “Thats the one”

“He is only found when he wants to be seen, which is never when looked for” The butler moved back against the wall stiffening. It was a large room draped in curtains of dark blue and gold. The poles and sheets extended into a ceiling that one could not see with their eyes. Two chairs facing each other, one red, the other blue, both velvet sat in the room. Floor, green with a hint of fuzziness. The man moved towards one of the draped walls and moved it aside. A long corridor all made out in marble ablaze with torches stretched into to endless leagues.

“Thanks for showing me the way pal, till next time” The man said while moving into the corridor. His shoes clicked loudly on the marble and the flames danced casting shadows.

He walked.

Then walked some more.

And walked a little more.

The butler appeared again. This time, finally at the end of the corridor where a large brown door stood behind him.

“Sir” the butler said. “The Grand Master would like to see you”

“Now was that hard?” The man scowled as he pushed past and into the brown door.

The sound of pool balls cackling together and glasses being toasted greeted him. A large window over looking some sort of city lay behind a group of people. A large pool table was being racked and off to the wall was a bar with liquor stacked into shadowy heights. Velvet chairs and couches spread across the room where some mingled. He approached the pool table at the center of the room. It grew silent.

A large man stood chalking his pool stick, his back turned to everyone.

“So, death has finally claimed you. And how might he have done that” the man rubbing the pool stick said in a deep voice. He turned around. “Gods, are not so easily killed these days” The mans eyes glowed a sapphire blue. His skins was dark like the night, but his features were gentle. He threw the pool stick.

The man caught it.

“If you can beat me” he nodded at the table “Maybe I will tell you”

Inspired by the opening sentence and a pool hall. Is death just a transition?

Katie dotted around her kitchen checking on the different dishes she was making. Bread was in the oven. A salad was being mixed on the middle island. Cookies were being frosted across. Pots and pans stacked in the sink foaming from the ingredients. Soft jazz played over the speakers and she danced from one spot to the next. She checked the time. 1:30 p.m. Plenty of time before her guests arrived for the night. She was having get together with all her high school friends. They were a tight group. Five of them had weathered all of lifes storms together. It brought them closer and even after thirty long tough years, they still supported each other. Katie picked up a small bowl and turned to put it down next to the sink. As she turned she came face to face with a figure.

The figure wore a white sheet over itself with two large black eyes cut out. It draped upon its body and ended just before its feet, which were an inhuman black. They did not touch the ground, but rather hovered completely still a few inches from it. Her hands lost the bowl and it came crashing to the floor as she screamed and backed up. The figure moved as she moved. Silently. Nothing motioned on it. She couldn’t take her eyes off it,wide eyed with tears forming, she stepped back a bit and it floated the same space towards her.The soft jazz still filled the air, but now accompanied by her panicked breath. Katie stood still, waited for moment to collect her self, then bolted towards the door. She opened it and in panic flailed outside to run to the neighbors house. She screamed, cried, flailed her arms for some one to help her. Her whole body cranked towards where she thought some one might be. She did not dare turn around. There was no noise from her pursuer, but she could feel it. Hovering just above the ground, inanimately chasing her. She fell violently to the ground from tripping over something. She scuttled, tears running down her face, thoughts and speech incoherent. She rolled on her back screaming wildly as loud as she could to scare the haunt.

There was nothing there. She cried. This time from joy. What ever it was, was no longer there. She stood up and looked towards her wide open front door. She stared. Her mind blank, body exhausted, her breathe was still trying to calm. Katie stood for a long time. So long that night fell and her friends arrived. The house would never be the same.

This is inspired by a short film I would like to make. The thought that monsters and ghosts only come at night doesn’t make sense to me. It would be much scarier if a ghost was there during the day.

Also when the ghost chases I would remove any sort of music. Movies often bombared watchers with music to create mood. But in real life the tension is there with no music. Sometimes less is more. It would be katies exhileration and panic that could be heard while the camera stays infront of her. Showing her panic face and the ghostly figure following her with a uncanniness.

At first he thought he might be dreaming. In the distance among the endless black sea, behind a veil of fog an outline of something rising out into the sky shown. He couldn’t move, his eyes narrowed and the tower became slightly clearer. A base and the tower, not a tower, but a lighthouse stood on it. It was the color of sand and peaked into the clouds. The top, from what he could see, had a cut out that stared at him, but no light shine through. It was daytime why would its lights be on? The sea’s thick black waves rose and fell covering the base from his sight and in a slow minute it faded into the fog as it came about. He stepped forward grasping for another sight of it. Another sight of something that shouldn’t be there, something that teased him, exposed a question to him that was never posed. And in the middle of his curiosity something switched in him and a voice posed a command. It said “Drain the Sea”.

He didn’t remember getting promoted to CEO of the Carnival. Victor worked hard at his job and when the opportunity came up he accepted with out thought. He no longer left the park at night. He was given the penthouse in the steel and glass tower that over looked the entire island. He now had rows of perfect fitting black suits and white shirts with multicolored skinny ties. Pants made out of the finest material and shoes shined so spotless and clean that he could style his hair in them. The penthouse had everything he would need. Bed , kitchen , office and even a gym. He dressed for the day and combed his black hair to the side, trying to avoid his horns. It was still a bit messy, but had definition to it at least. It was earlier in the morning and he looked down toward the entrance to see the employees starting to enter the Carnival. He went down one level to where his executive staff worked. As he exited and walked towards his office he was greeted by Sarah. The company ran the entire Island, which was the Carnival. He had a second in command, but in reality it might as well be Sarah. She was his receptionist, but she could handle any task that came her way with a cheerful glee that was infectious. Her hair was pink that came into curls just above her shoulders. She always wore a shade of purple on her lips to match her hair. Red eyes glittered at him as he approached.

She stood up giving him a large smile “Good morning Sir” she said handing him some folders.

“Please, call me Victor” he laughed taking the folders and entered his office. She wouldn’t call him by his name, but he always tried. His office was right under his bed room. Floor to ceiling windows ran each of the “walls” only one side had any view. The other looked out into the endless black sea and clouded horizon.

Victor looked out past he carnival into the endless black ocean. He gazed hoping for another glance. Sarah approached from behind and stood next to him looking out.

“Sarah have you -“ he paused and rubbed his eyes “Never mind”

She looked at his reflection in the window. His dark amber eyes peered out intently. She knew what he was going to ask. She had seen it too. The same day he had seen it. She saw him breathless staring out of the windows one day. She looked and at first didn’t see anything, but then. Out there. Floating in just beyond the fog. A lighthouse. For just a moment. She knew she was seeing what he saw. She went to say something, but closed her mouth. Maybe one day.

“I will get you some tea sir, please try and relax for a moment” she said giving a small bow and leaving the room. Victor peeled him self from his window. It would show up again. One day, it would appear and when it did. He would go to it.

Inspired by the large windows in my old office. It over looked a large garden and the windows filled the whole suite. I often pictured a lit up ferris wheel rotating by and then the black ocean itself.

The crowd bustled from platform to platform. Each person trying to get all their things together before the next train left the station. The station was new. Brand new. Red carpet lined the platforms, clean orangish tinted lights illuminated the whole cavern of regal art deco architecture. Thomas leaned back into his seat looking at the mounds of people going here and there. He would be on this train for a while. He didn’t mind. The service was top notch, inside was vibrant, and the company was nothing to sneeze at. He looked over to his right. A lady with short black hair cut into a bob sat. She was dressed head to toe in perfection. Tight blazer and semi long skirt the color of white cream. Upon her feet were black heels. She smiled at him, her red lipstick striking his heart. The train shuttered and the conductor announced they would be heading off. He had a sleeper car in the back, but Thomas spent most of his time in the observer, cocktail car near the front of the train. There you could find the best company. The train moved out of the station and into the sprawling metropolis. Buildings whirled by in a gray and black blur.

Thomas took out a cigarette, lit it, then leaned over to the women next to him.

“Would you like one?” He offered a cigarette to her. She took it and he offered her a light.

“Thank you” she said, smiling through the smoke. Thomas clipped his lighter returning it to his pocket and took a large inhale. A waiter came by and he waved at him.

“Another whiskey on the rocks and for the lady “ He said motioning to her.

“A martini please”

“and here” Thomas pulled out and paid the waiter “keep the rest”

Thomas took a gulp of his remaining drink and handed it to the waiter. The city started to fade out and green hills and trees started to fill the windows.

“Soo whats a gorgeous lady like you heading out of the city for? You got family out there?”

The women’s face lit up in a smile “Well, yes in fact, I do have family out there. What about you stranger, what calls you out to the country?”

The waiter returned with their drinks aDnd Thomas cheered before taking a sip. He had a silly look to his face as he looked around and said

“Truthfully? I just murdered my wife and I am on the run”

The women burst out laughing “You too? I just killed my wife too”

Thomas chuckled along with her laughter.”How did you do it?”

The women shrugged taking a sip of her martini and said “An axe obviously, you?”

Thomas gave her a surprised look and shook his head in disbelief “Chainsaw, only way to do it. The body?”

“Hacked in pieces” the women made the gesture of chopping with an invisible axe, swinging it up and down.

“No? A girl like you?”

The women flexed her arm “You damn right a,women, like me”

Thomas nodded and raised his glass “Cheers, to a new beginning…..waiter, another one” he gestured at both of their glasses and gave a thumbs up.

The train entered a valley and poured out onto a bridge. Water cascaded outside the windows and blue filled the cabin car.

“You know, this train, it might be just a train, but when I thought about what I was going to do. I knew this train was going take a me away. Somewhere, somehow. How did we not get caught?” Thomas said. He crossed his legs and leaned back into the seat.

“A train of dreams”

“Yeah, a train of dreams”

They both looked at each other. Eyes shining blue. Fate was set. Who would strike first?

Inspired by 20th Century Limited Train

The seas were spent that evening. The tide came and left with out any trouble. I sat there on the beach looking out at the blue waves coming in and crashing into the sand. Each wave sounded as if the earth was taking and deep breath and letting it out at the same time. It had been a long week. Having looked around for a place to summon the beast, I ran into a house that was well stocked with human sacrifices, and went to work. I never guessed they would have so many more people show up at their place though. They must of been popular. Oh well, it wouldn’t matter soon, nothing would. In the depths of the ocean I knew something stirred to be awakened. In my college days I rummaged through an old university in the middle of the states. You know, in one of those towns you never hear about. Surrounded by nothing but plains and corn, hills rising and falling all around. A town where the university was barely that. Once registered in the 1700 and never de-registered. In the basement of that old place I found something. A book encased in a black that sucked in all the light around it. Something that shined with an ungodly light. When I touched it my mind felt as if it would burst into a million pieces. My body screamed for release from eons of pain and pleasure all at once. I blacked out when I touched that book and dreamt of the deep. The blackness. The unknown. The nothing. That was when I knew that this had to be done and I was the only one that could do it. So I packed everything, traveled a round the country getting all the ingredients and…

Now resting in the tip of Florida. House full of all that stuff and a few dozen bodies. The ritual only called for two, but what the heck, I don’t think this is like baking. So now that I had finally gathered, slaughter and splayed out everything I sat. Drinking a bottle of rum and staring out at the ocean. The knowledge from the book still swirling and whispering in my mind. Calling for me from the depths. Still I sat and I drank. The earth breathed at me and I sighed back. This earth would be no more. I didn’t know if I liked that. I took one more swig of rum. Stood up and looked down at my feet. The waves washed up and foam formed and danced around. It happened again and again. The foam swirled and brought a whimsical sense to me. Would there still be sea foam as beautiful as this when the world ended?

Inspired by the swirling fluffy foam that comes from the waves on a beach.

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.