Tag: 1st place

TOPIC OF THIS CONTEST WAS:

Holding the sleeping infant on her shoulder, she gazed peacefully at her surroundings. Tourists wandered in and out of stores, an old man was setting up his easel by the lakeshore, and a child’s balloon escaped into the breeze. A moment later, she looked up as shouts startled her and the baby. Everybody was running in her direction…

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Radella sat on a sun-warmed boulder at the edge of the lake, alert to the village square behind her. Aubrey, the infant in her arms, sighed the deep breaths of sleep, burrowing deeper into Radella’s cloak. Outsiders, recognizable by the weave of their cloaks, gathered at peddlers’ carts, buying food and drinks. Every family in the shire would pass through the square today to celebrate Blessing Day.

On the north shore, an old man set up his easel, oblivious to the activity nearby. A boy cried out, his kite soaring off on the breeze. Aubrey stirred. Radella whispered her spell into his ear. He must not cry.

She sang and rocked him when the Royal Guard marched by, keeping her voice high and sweet to suit the youthful visage she’d bespelled for herself. The guards paid her no notice. Radella sighed.

Shouts rang out. The Outsiders grabbed their children and ran toward Radella. She clutched the infant tighter, singing again to calm him. The excitement of the crowd vibrated in the air.

Radella rose, following the others toward the square where the Great Priestess stood on an oak scaffold above the sea of people. Outsiders and villagers pressed forward as if nearness to the priestess would increase the power of her blessings. A blessed child was a healthy child, legend said, but since all children were blessed in their first year, there was no way of proving otherwise. All Radella cared about was the Royal Mark Aubrey would receive. Without it, he couldn’t reach his destiny.

The crowd stirred again when the regent, himself, climbed the steps to the scaffold. He knew.

Of course he knew. No matter that the rumors said the queen’s son was stillborn moments after the queen died. The regent knew his reign hung from a tenuous thread for the next sixteen years. If the son lived, he’d be crowned on his sixteenth birthday as the rightful ruler of Lago Encantado. But the child must bear the Royal Mark, proving the shire of his birth, before he could claim the throne.

The regent’s presence at the Blessing proved he believed the prince lived, thus the need for Aubrey’s enchantment. Not only must he appear as a girl, but he couldn’t cry, or the effect his voice had on the people around him would identify him as the Crown Prince.

The Royal Guard’s duty was to defend the regent and kill any threat to his reign. Radella and her sisters had only their magic to protect the Crown Prince. But magic, in the right hands, was an extraordinary power.

The regent raised his arms and the crowd hushed. “I am pleased to see you all here today. Your children look healthy, a tribute to the good harvests in recent years. May they continue to grow and become happy citizens of Lago Encantado.”

The crowd cheered, and Aubrey stirred. Radella stroked his head, rocking him as she sang softly. “Not now, little one,” she whispered. No one paid them any attention, surging forward, wanting their children blessed so they could go to the pasture where the entertainers gathered.

After an hour of slowly shuffling toward the Grand Priestess, children began to whine and complain. A gray-haired woman beside Radella commented, “Your baby sleeps so well.”

“Yes, she is a good sleeper,” Radella replied, humming her spell so the words couldn’t affect anyone nearby.

It seemed another hour passed before they drew close to the priestess. Radella grew tired of the constant chanting and humming, and the effort needed to keep her appearance young. Finally, she reached the scaffold and prayed she wasn’t recognized.

A Royal Guard in front of the scaffold reached for Aubrey. “What is the child’s name?”

Radella narrowed her eyes and pierced the guard’s gaze, willing him to accept her without question. “She is Luella, daughter of Zurin and Dana.”

He lifted the baby to the priestess on the scaffold, repeating, “Luella, daughter of Zurin and Dana.”

Radella reached out to Aubrey with her thoughts, begging him to sleep while the priestess intoned the Blessing. Bespelling him not to cry out when the hot iron pressed the image of a crown into his arm.

As soon as the iron marked his skin, Aubrey was handed back to Radella. The guard smiled at her. “Such a strong babe. She does not cry.”

Radella nodded, tucking Aubrey beneath her cloak.”A very strong babe. And now, very blessed.” She turned away, pushing through the crowd until she reached the lake shore.

It was done. Aubrey could return to the security of Lago Dabajo, the hidden village beneath the lake, where he could grow and learn in the safety of the crones charged with keeping him safe. One day Radella would return to the square with Aubrey, when he was old enough to claim the throne. Until that time, no one could know he existed.

Once she passed through the enchanted gateway to Lago Dabajo, she stopped singing and pulled Aubrey from beneath her cloak. He blinked awake and let loose the strong cry of a royal.

Radella spoke, her voice cracking from the abuse of singing for most of the day. “Hush, my prince, we are home now. The crones will have warm milk waiting for you.”

Radella’s hands grew wrinkled and spotted as her spell wore off. Aubrey’s porcelain complexion darkened, and the family birthmark on his cheek reappeared. Once Radella handed off the infant to her sister crones, she would sleep for days to regain her strength.

But it was worth every ounce of what it took from her to assure Aubrey, son of King Drake and Queen Elvyna, would live to turn sixteen.

TOPIC OF THIS CONTEST WAS:

She sat in her favorite spot on the porch of the weathered beach house, the salty air sticking to her skin, the oncoming storm blowing sand across her bare feet. The crisp envelope bent beneath her fingers as she laid it on her lap, and reached for the pen in her dress pocket…

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Dear A.:

I may die on this beach. That’s quite possible. The odds are not highly in my favor.

The forecasters are jittery. A little while ago, the news upgraded the storm to a Category 3. Winds well over a hundred miles an hour. If this baby landfalls anywhere near me, it could take my breath away. Literally.

At the moment, the ocean’s fairly calm. Dancing sunglints. Merry whitecaps. Distant clouds not yet angry.

But just you wait, ‘enry ‘iggins. Just you wait.

Earlier, I watched a large brown pelican arise from the shore, clearly planning on flying inland. Smart fellow. He fixed on me with astonished dark eyes. I could hear his thinking. Idiot woman.

He appeared to offer me a ride to safety in his ridiculous, fishy pouch. I turned him down. Why should I leave? I love it here.

For years I dreamed of having a house on the beach. And suddenly, thanks to the death of my aunt–I managed to get one.

This place is perfect. Isolated. Stilted high enough to see over the dunes. A unique brick chimney worthy of an English cottage. A lovely big porch for sitting to welcome the sun, savor the morning, devour the fresh air.

I have a a pretty good boat, a sturdy dock on the inland waterway side, convenient access to the ocean and to civilization. The generator is tucked far away and never competes with the surf’s hypnotic swoosh.

I just got back from a stroll. Crabs are still out and about, scuttling from hole to hole beyond the seafoam line, continually remodeling their digs. Maybe their underground habits will pay off. Storm above, snug safety below.

As always, the graceful sea oats are bending to the will of the breeze. They have no idea what’s coming. Either that or they’re extremely stoical.

Perhaps all creatures living here need a large measure of stoicism. The assault of brine, wind, and water is constant, the wearing down of everything is perpetual. Just like the ceaseless erosion in relationships.

Sands shift, lives shift.

I got your note yesterday. A handwritten note! Thank you. It’s so much more civilized than today’s electronic nonsense. It’s a blessing that email’s impossible out here. So I get to relish your thoughts on real pages. Tangible, ink-smudged lines, the cursive tremble in certain words and phrases. I love touching the paper. I love the scent of the old foolscap and the hint of perfume – lavender? – amid the tang of the ocean. Or do I just imagine the fragile fragrance? Anyway, thank you!

I empathize with your loneliness. I really do.

But, for me, being alone and being lonely are two entirely different things. When I first moved to this place, I was completely alone but never lonely. Never.

Then, when I was on a supply trip, Evan bounded into my life, Erroll Flynn, good-looking charm radiating from every beautifully-tanned muscle. He caught me unawares. Like a dogfly nails you on a windless day. Before I knew it, he’d moved in here, lock, stock and rum supply.

Nights, Evan romanced me – alas, how seductive is seduction! – and days we put to sea so he could scuba dive, looking for treasure. I’m not a diver, but I drove the boat, assured his safety. When he came up, he often looked like the Creature from the Black Lagoon. We laughed.

But as you may know, when two people are together in a remote spot, you quickly learn things about each other. Not always to the good. Evan revealed a yen for the bottle and a hurricane of a temper. Lucky me had met him during the eye of one of his storms.

I discovered that loneliness is most terrible when you’re no longer alone.

As I write, I’m watching twinkling grains of sand scud across my deck. A race to the edge. I’m betting on the fat silvery granule. The wind is up a bit. The air feels good. I sigh at the smell of kelp, salt, ozone, imagined distant shores.

So. My life out here had gone from idyllic and peaceful to fearful and frustrated. Captain Bligh announced he was here for the duration. I wondered what to do. Reasoning, pleading and even some pushing back weren’t working. Full-scale mutiny was in order.

I found the answer in Evan’s obsession with diving for treasure. No toxins in his air supply. No futzing with regulators. No pinholes in a hose. No rigging spearguns to backfire. Elegant and simple.

It was another gorgeous day. We’d gone out some thirty plus miles. Evan gave me an endearing finger and rolled over the side, doubtless salivating over Spanish galleons and doubloons.

I waited. Dreamed. Counted. Twelve fathoms ought to do it. Started the engine. Motored away.

Home. Alone again. And not the least lonely.

But what did I say about constant change? A few weeks of contentment, and now it’s another damn hurricane, this one not so easily dealt with.

I can only hunker down and hope.

While I’ve still time, I’d better slip my letter into your bottle and take it out to sea. (Yesterday I loved seeing the antique glass bobbing about!) I’ll try to drop it far enough out that the storm won’t return it to this shore. Perhaps the hurricane will provide express delivery to a current passing your tropical island.

I wish you luck, my dear Amelia. May neither of us die on a beach.

But if that happens, at least it’s where I want to be.

TOPIC OF THIS CONTEST WAS:

Hearing a light thump outside, she walked to the front door and opened it slowly. Wind and snow swirled and the cold lashed her cheeks. By her feet she discovered a small pot with tiny white flowers. She recognized it as a Galanthus nivalis. Footprints in the snow led to and from the porch and a note tied to the slender stalk fluttered in the icy air…

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Iceland can be very dangerous. That’s because the weather is so treacherous. One moment it’s perfectly sunny, and the next moment you’re captured in a snowstorm so violent that it takes your breath away, and you cannot see one hand in front of you.

Luckily Icelandic women are very tough. They’re used to coping with the elements in their most extreme forms. They can handle them! Yes, they can!!

That was what I was telling myself over and over again, driving on that slippery, icy road with steep edges down into the abyss. Our daily route home to our secluded village up north. Three kids in the back of the car. Gunnar clasped a pot of snowdrops in his little hands. The teacher had granted him the privilege of taking care of them for the weekend. Maybe I should have offered her a lift. She was going our direction. Well, she has her own car.

The snow was beating incessantly against the front window, and the flakes were whirling down in such a thick tapestry that you couldn’t distinguish anymore if it was day or night. It was supposed to be dark, but everywhere around it was white, white and white.

Still 20 miles to go. How? I couldn’t see the road anymore. I should stop. No, I couldn’t. No use to call 112, because no one could come to our rescue. We’d have to stay in the car until the storm blew over. Would there be enough fuel to keep the motor running so we could stay warm? We could freeze to death in less than an hour!

But wait, there was a rescue cabin nearby. Not exactly a cabin, but a shelter carved in the rocks, right after the tunnel we were about to pass. You have a lot of those in secluded areas, where you can find yourself blankets, food, and a heater.

Our speed was about 10 miles/hour. The adrenaline rushed through my blood. Where’s that tunnel? Please come quick!

“Mommy, I’m scared,” Alfdis said with a tiny voice. “I can’t see anything.”

“We’re going to die,” Ragnar said decisively. Alfdis started to cry. Ragnar hit her, full of contempt.

With all my might I concentrated on the road ahead. No time for quarrels now. Finally I drove into the dark tunnel and stopped the car right at the end.

“Children, get out of the car and wait until I come. We’ll stay in the shelter tonight.”

“Mommy, I don’t want to stay here. The draugar will come and get us!”

“Draugar don’t exist,” Ragnar said.

“Yes, they do,” Alfdis cried out. “They’re in the storm, chasing us. I can hear them clearly!”

I shivered. There were indeed a lot of strange noises in the storm. Whistling, shrieking, sighing. If the draugar get you, you’re condemned to an afterlife of eternal haunt over the glaciers. Not that I believe in them. Just folk tales. The frost makes those sounds, and so does the wind.

“We have no choice. We cannot go further. And there are no draugar here.” I tried to convince myself.

I pulled the kids along to the bright orange door, and pushed them inside. I locked the door, searched for matches in my handbag and lit the candles that were standing everywhere. In just minutes I managed to make the cave cosy and almost warm.

Then Gunnar started to cry. “I left my snowdrops in the tunnel. They’re still standing next to the car.”

“We’re not going back outside, Gunnar!”

“My teacher will be angry!”

“No, she won’t. She’ll understand.”

Gunnar sobbed. I was proud of him; such a responsible little man.

Though it was dry and warm inside, you could still hear the storm clearly. The wind beat aggressively against the rocks and the door. There was a high whistle in the air, and a crackling of ice all around.

After some effort I managed to inform the rescue forces of our whereabouts. They’d come as soon as possible.

Apart from Gunnar, the children were too agitated to sleep.

We listened to the sounds. It was indeed just like a hunt – a wild hunt. One could easily imagine spirits and demons riding through the air this night. I started to distinguish quite a clear voice now. It mingled with the wind in a disruptive, eerie way. The wind banged on the door with vehement fists.

Alfdis grabbed my hand. “The draugar are trying to get in, mommy!”

I could barely speak, my mouth was dry. “Ssst, let’s pray. Let’s ask that nothing bad will come to us.”

Ragnar frowned, but he too kneeled with us on the sheepskins on the floor. After what seemed over an hour, the beating diminished and the voice died away. I fell asleep with the kids in my arms.

I awoke in peaceful silence. The storm had subsided. Then there were shouts.

“Rescue Troops. Please open!”

I hurried to open the door.

The officers were pale.

“What in heaven’s name has happened here?”

I followed their glance down.

The stiff and frozen body of a young woman was lying in front of the big, orange door. Next to her was the pot of snowdrops, as if it had just fallen out off her hands.

TOPIC OF THIS CONTEST WAS:

Their small sacks heavy with apples, they huddled on the cobblestone path, not sure if they could make it back in time. Bright orange and yellow leaves rushed across their shoes and they shivered, their cloaks no match for the approaching dusk. Their eyes widened as the town’s striking clock began to issue its warning…

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Jennet heard the beast growl in the distance, a sound she’d only ever heard once before. She glanced over her shoulder to see the darkness crawling across the hill behind them. “Davion, we have to go now!” Tugging her twin brother’s tattered cloak, she insisted, “It’s getting closer.”

“Give me a minute. I just need to get a couple more.” He strained his arm toward the two remaining red globes that were dangling just out of his reach.

Pulling her cloak around her against the chill of the breeze, she whispered, “We’ve got enough. Please let’s go!” Jennet whirled around at a rustle in the graying undergrowth. A sigh of relief escaped her when a small ground squirrel scampered past her feet and into a nearby tree.

Davion crept further on the narrow branch and wrapped his small fingers around the fruit, twisting his wrist to dislodge it. “Got it! Here, Jennet, catch.”

She caught it and tucked it safely in the burlap sack with the others while her eyes scanned the lengthening shadows.

“You’re just a scaredy cat, Jennet.” He recited the familiar rhyme in a sing-song voice. “Safe until eight, you’re dinner if late.”

“That’s just it, Davion. I don’t want to be dinner!” She couldn’t keep the waver from her voice.

“Then catch this and get out of the way so I can jump.” He swung both his legs over to one side of the branch and then dropped to the ground.

As they both reached down to take their side of the sack, heavy with apples, a distant chime froze them. Their eyes locked in fear. They’d miscalculated how late it was.

One.

“Hurry, we can make it if we run together!” Davion yelled.

The two lifted the bag between them and started home. They’d only managed a few paces before the rough material burned Jennet’s fingers, and five or six apples spilled onto the ground.

Two.

The children dropped to their knees, scrambling to corral the runaway fruit that sought to hide under the yellow and orange carpet of leaves. Jennet wished they could leave the bag and run.

Three.

An eerie growl reverberated from behind them, still at a distance, but closer than before. Safe until eight, you’re dinner if late. What if the stories were true? Jennet could hear it now, crashing through the faraway forest as blackness overtook the trees.

Four.

“Wait! I’m going to drop it again!”

Davion snorted. “C’mon!”

Tears blurred Jennet’s sight as she entwined her fingers in the coarse sack once more, and her brother pulled her to start running again.

Five.

The chill from the dewy grass gave way to the uneven cobblestones as they passed the scattered dwellings on the outskirts of town. One house, then two, shutters tightly closed, blocking out the minutest sign of life. Even the familiar smells were closed inside, no freshly made bread, no soups at full boil. It was as if the townspeople had departed with the rays of the sun.

Six.

Davion screamed in pain and tumbled to the street. “My foot!”

His sudden stop pulled the bag out of Jennet’s hands and apples rolled in every direction. Another growl sounded very close now, and Jennet imagined she could feel the beast’s hot breath on her as she scurried to gather the apples. Her knees scraped against the cobblestones, leaving a trail of blood. Safe until eight, you’re dinner if late.

No more running, limping. Jennet urged Davion forward, wincing with him as he hobbled to keep up.

Seven.

Only three more streets to cross. They were nearly home. Jennet heard the beast howl from the edge of town, its talons scratching against the stones.

“Hurry, Davion! Hurry, it’s almost here!”

Her brother tried to move faster, but she could tell he’d wrenched his ankle severely. Safe until eight, you’re dinner if late.

Eight.

Jennet’s blood froze when a blast of hot breath surrounded them. Death. It reeked of death, the blood of its previous prey, the foul stench of decomposing corpses. Their house was just ahead, only a few paces away, but the beast was too close.

“Go, Davion, go!” she said, seizing an apple and throwing it with all her might at the beast behind.

The black line of dwellings split in two when the door to their own house opened. Two silhouetted figures stood, haloed in the glow of a welcoming fire and the promise of protection.

Jennet pushed Davion into their mother’s arms, but before she could step through the doorway to safety, razor claws sunk deep into her leg. A cry of both fear and pain shattered the silence in the streets.

A flash of steel, a roar of a wounded beast, a final ripping of flesh as the claws dislodged from her leg, a strong arm around her waist before all went black.
Three anxious faces were staring at her when her eyes fluttered open again. Her leg throbbed. The pungent odor of her mother’s special wound ointment helped to clear her head.

“Momma, I lost one of your apples.”

Her mother leaned in and kissed her on the forehead, brushing the little girl’s sweat dampened hair to the side. “I have you two, honey. You didn’t lose anything. As long as you are safe, that’s all I could ever want.”

Crowds swarmed Jennet’s house the next day to hear about the encounter with the beast. As sunset approached, even more care was taken to secure their houses.

At a little before eight, Jennet felt an odd tingling in her foot, a sensation that rose to the pit of her belly. Dinner. Time to go out and feed.

TOPIC OF THIS CONTEST WAS:

She wiped her hands on her apron, peering out the window. Red and orange leaves hurried by as the cold autumn wind battered the small cabin. The girl should have been back from the errand by now. At that moment, she saw the flying, fiery red braids. The devil’s mark on her right cheek, a constant reminder, was clearly visible, even at dusk. The girl, breathless, burst through the wooden door.

“Ma! Come quickly!!”

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READER DISCRETION ADVISED! Some readers may find this story offensive. If you are sensitive, or easily offended, click back now…before it’s too late!

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Charlotte peered through the gash in the wall of the shed. Sparks leapt from the ditch outside where lava glowed red and orange in the always-dusk. She squinted her eyes through the gray smoke, wondering where Delilah was.

At that moment, Charlotte saw the fiery red ponytail, bouncing like a flame of lava that had broken free of the creek bed. Watching the girl emerge from the semi-darkness, Charlotte wiped a scaly arm across her brow. Then, tentatively, she rubbed her palm over her entire head, wincing at the sparse strands and flaking scalp. Most of her hair was gone, singed off from the heat of this place, the searing winds and suffocating dryness. But Delilah’s flame-colored ponytail seemed immune to the environment. Delilah herself seemed immune to it. From the movement of her hair, Charlotte could tell her daughter was skipping again. What kind of person skips through Hell? she thought, and stepped away from the wall.

She was poking at the fire in the stove when Delilah burst through the doorway. Charlotte looked up, determined to meet her daughter’s eye, but her glance landed, as usual, on her right cheek instead. On the Devil’s mark.

“Where’ve you been, Deli?” she asked, tearing her gaze from the crescent-moon scar to her daughter’s hazel eyes.

“Mom, I want to show you something!”

“Delilah, I asked you a question.” Charlotte placed her hands in the spot on her emaciated frame where her hips used to be and tried to put on a serious face. It was difficult without eyebrows. “Where’ve you been?”

The little girl twisted her finger through her ponytail and looked around the dilapidated shack before fixing her eyes on her mother’s mangy scalp. Then a tiny smile grew out of the left side of her mouth. “He said I didn’t have to tell you.”

Charlotte stiffened.

“But I will.” The smile expanded, and Delilah looked down at her hands. That’s when Charlotte noticed they weren’t empty. “We walked down by the cliff,” she said, turning the thing over and over, letting it slip between her fingers and curl up in her palm. “You know, where the chained ones are? By the pit?”

Charlotte nodded.

“We walked along there and He showed me how He does it, how He rakes them across the coals until…” She paused, inspecting her new toy. “Until it just pops out!” She held her cupped palms aloft. The thing in her hands was part solid, part smoke. It writhed and squirmed and seemed to reach for something.

Charlotte stared at it in horror.

“He said I could keep it.” Delilah grinned devilishly. “He said I need to learn.”

Charlotte sewed a smile onto her face, stitch by painful stitch. “That’s great, Deli. I’m really proud of you.”

Delilah kept her eyes on the grasping, groping figure. “He said you wouldn’t like it.”

“No, I do, I do!” Charlotte swallowed. “Can I… can I hold it?” She reached out her raw, cracked, shaking hands.

The little girl seemed to consider the gesture, consider her mother. Then she pulled her prize close to her chest. “No. I don’t trust you.”

Charlotte dropped her hands and breathed a long sigh. “Well, why don’t you go… play with it while I make dinner. I’ll call you when it’s ready. Don’t go far,” her voice cracked. “Please.”

Delilah said nothing, but she turned and went outside.

Charlotte stared into the coals. I don’t belong here, she thought. I don’t belong in Hell. She remembered the “accident”, remembered the pain and then the absence of pain. She remembered the verdict placed upon them both, though only one of them deserved it. It’s her fault I’m here. Charlotte remembered the way the Devil had looked at Delilah, the way He had run His thorn-like fingers through her fiery red ponytail, smiling.

She peeked through the space in the wall. Her daughter kneeled in the always-dusk, holding the writhing soul against a large rock and pounding away at it with a smaller, sharper stone. Smash, smash, again and again, her ponytail bouncing with each thrust, her lips curled into a smirk.

Later, when Delilah returned, she was alone. No sign of the soul. “I’m hungry,” she whined.

“Where’s your… toy?” Charlotte asked.

“It broke.”

“The food’s ready. Be a good girl and get it out of the oven?”

Delilah sighed dramatically, then opened the metal door with her bare hand and peered inside. “There’s nothing in here! Where’s–”

Charlotte pushed against the little girl’s body with all her weight, shoving her inside the empty oven, raking her across the burning coals. She slammed the door and held it. Blood-curdling shrieks erupted from within, drowning out the lava’s hiss, muffling the sizzle of the earthly flesh of Charlotte’s hands cooking against the scorching metal. The girl twisted and writhed, cursed and kicked. Still her mother did not budge.

Finally, stillness. Silence. Charlotte stayed where she was, pushing her charred, skeletal fingers against the door, waiting. What happens now? she thought. When does it ‘pop out’?

And then, laughter. From inside the oven, atop the white-hot coals, a little girl’s giggles. “He said you’d try something stupid like this,” came Delilah’s voice from behind the oven door. “He’s on his way, you know.” Her giggles grew louder. Charlotte’s body shook.

“Thanks, Mom. Now I’ll have a new toy to play with.”

TOPIC OF THIS CONTEST WAS:

He walked among the market stalls, pretending to ignore the whispering and giggling women. His relaxed demeanor, handsome features, and ready smile meant no female in the town missed his weekly sermons and the church’s coffers were overflowing of late.

Feeling a touch on his sleeve, he turned and his smile disappeared. Looking first left and right, he angrily spat, “I told you to never speak to me again!”

She blinked, her long lashes brushing her cheeks, and said, “But, I need to talk to you.” Leaning closer, she paused, and lowered her voice. “You see, I’m…”

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On their deathbeds, some people bargain with God, some people make deals with the devil. Others–too bereft, too broken, too desperate–snatch at whatever small piece of immortality they can get.

The moment Zeke was born, Alicia vowed she’d keep him safe. Three years later, as she lay bleeding beneath a giant sequoia, five feet from the hiking trail from which she’d been dragged, she didn’t think of herself, she didn’t think about Zeke’s father, she didn’t think about God, all she thought of was her son. “Zeke, I love you. I’ll never leave you,” she whispered, as her life force departed her bruised and beaten body.

Alicia watched over Zeke whenever she was able. Watched–and cried–when his adoptive parents held him in their arms, soothed him when he cried, tucked him into bed. Watched him chase ducks in the park, play soccer on the grade school field, kneel next to his bed, head bent over clasped hands. Her attempts to capture his thoughts proved futile, not even his spoken words could travel the distance between them.

Zeke must’ve been told his mother was in heaven, because sometimes–unknowingly, perhaps–Zeke called for her from his soul. Only when Alicia was summoned thus, could she come close–though never actually touch. But she could inhale his sweet/sour boy scent, feel his breath on her cheek, hear his whispered words. “Mommy,” he’d say. “Mommy, are you there?” Each visit brought both happiness and heartbreak.

Zeke grew into a handsome, smart, and charming young man, adored by his parents, respected by his teachers, and liked by his classmates–especially the army of simpering girls who battled for his attention. Then soon after he turned sixteen, Alicia watched, horrified, while he and his pals brought girls and booze into the very woods where her life had ended. She consoled herself with the explanation that this behavior was simply a teenager’s rite of passage.

But Alicia knew his dark side. Those times when he felt stressed or overwhelmed or depressed for no apparent reason, she’d often find herself close. Sometimes he’d exude warmth she took for love, sometimes he wouldn’t react at all. Other times, he’d scream to be left alone.

As the years passed, her visions became less frequent. When he’d reached his mid-twenties, she was allowed only a glimpse every week or so. His depression increased. To Alicia, his life deteriorated into flickers of alcoholic rages and drugged despair. She saw him passed out in alley ways, confined to jail cells, then finally, mercifully, safe in his parents’ home. She rejoiced when she saw him sitting thoughtfully in therapy groups, studying in the college library, enjoying quiet nights with his parents.

Uneasiness plagued her when she found him hiking through the woods, almost always stopping at the place where she’d taken her last breath. Surely, he couldn’t have known the significance of that particular sequoia, but Alicia had long ago abandoned thoughts of unraveling the mysteries of the universe.

Zeke found his calling: ministering to those who’d traveled the same darkened roads he had, and motivating others who’d never found their way. Alicia’s brightest joy was seeing Zeke behind a podium, arms outstretched like an angel’s, holding the rapt attention of his adoring audience.

Years passed. Alicia’s visions clouded as if seen through a veil of cataracts. Strange images flashed before her: violent, beautiful, incomprehensible. Sounds assaulted her: screams, laughter, stuttering gibberish. Scents overwhelmed her: vile, sweet, cloying. Was it possible for a soul to go mad?

Frightened, Alicia used all her energy to find Zeke, but saw only the meanderings of strangers–mostly women–Zeke’s friends or girlfriends, she assumed. But why? Had something happened to Zeke?

Then one day, the veil abruptly disappeared. Alicia found Zeke strolling through a farmers’ market on a sunny autumn morning. Young ladies waved and giggled as he walked by, but Zeke ignored their flirtations. From all except one. Blonde, buxom, and beautiful, dressed in a tight white t-shirt and denim shorts. She stood behind a table covered with boxes of scones and cookies, one hand on her hip, the other waving a pair of long handled tongs as if it were a wand.

A roaring sense of danger struck Alicia. There was something about that woman. Instinctively, she called out to Zeke. Did she see a slight tilt to his head? Had he registered her warning? Hope engulfed her–then suddenly, Alicia saw black. Minutes passed, maybe hours, Alicia wasn’t sure. She focused on Zeke. Zeke. Only Zeke. Her intense concentration dizzied her, weakened her, until she felt herself fade away.

She awoke to laughter–a complete contradiction to the foreboding Alicia still felt. A feeling so overpowering that when she opened her eyes, she found herself standing next to her son outside the farmers’ market. Amazed and terrified, she reached out to touch him.

He turned, eyes widening at the sight of her. “Leave me alone!”

“Zeke, you don’t understand. I’m your mother.”

“I know who you are. Go away!”

“But you’re in danger! That woman–”

Zeke laughed, a high maniacal laugh, a laugh identical to his father’s. That laugh, the last sound she’d heard on her final day on earth.

 

TOPIC OF THIS CONTEST WAS:

The sailboat was anchored just a few yards away and the sun had set. With the campfire slowing dying, and their bellies full of fresh fish, the lovers decided to go skinny dipping. As they descended, hand in hand, into the warm water, he felt something slip around his ankle and pull…hard.

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The sun was beginning to set, casting a low, golden glow across the water. The fish hadn’t bitten today and Elijah feared going home empty-handed again. The past months had been hard and his father, increasingly intoxicated and belligerent, was not adjusting to the tough times lightly. The thought of arriving home to another night of ridicule was daunting. So he decided to stay out for another hour or so in hopes of catching something.

He lowered his nets, and let the boat slowly trawl along. Ten minutes. Twenty minutes. Nothing. With the setting sun and the lullaby of the waves, Elijah fell into a sonambulatory state, going through all of the necessary motions, but taking no conscious part in them. In this ebb of livelihood, he failed to notice the wind’s acceleration or the sky’s swift darkening. He was too ensnared in his own exhaustion to notice the huge wave before it overtook the boat. The sound of the water hitting the wooden boat snapped him out of his reverie.

Everywhere, water was everywhere. Instinctually, he headed toward the tiny wheel house, frantically sliding on the now-treacherous deck as he went. As he got to the door, the second crash sounded and he saw the stern tip toward him in a completely unnatural position. No one knows how many hits the boat took after that but everyone knows that it went down, down, down.

Darkness overtook the sea and sky for the night.

As the sun once again began to tickle the water’s surface the next morning, the waters were calm. But down below, if anyone were listening, they’d have heard Elijah’s haunting howl of realization that he was miraculously alive, but fatally trapped. One of his legs was painfully caught on something. The net? The anchor? The motor? He couldn’t figure out how exactly he was confined, but no matter which way he tried to move, his leg wouldn’t budge and searing pain permeated his entire body. The key to his survival thus far, however, was the air bubble that had somehow been trapped in the boat with him. He could not move well or much, but he could breathe and that alone could keep faith alive.

He’d no idea how long he’d been down there. Of course, the beginning hours of his imprisonment were spent in the deep black of unconsciousness. Then came the screams. However, those, along with their compatriots, panic and despair, did not last as long as he would’ve thought, though who’s really counting the hours underwater? As soon as his rational mind caught on to the significance of the air bubble and the fact that he was still alive – ALIVE! – a sliver of hope appeared.

He wondered if his father even realized he hadn’t come home. Was he worried? Had he sent out a search party? The truth was that his father had imbibed into the wee hours of the night, passed out in his chair, and wouldn’t wake up for several more hours. He certainly hadn’t noticed his son hadn’t returned, nor had their boat. There definitely was not a search party.

Elijah, nascent in the stage of hope, began to think. Somehow, the exhaustion that had weighed so heavily on him the night before had lifted and he was renewed. He noticed the sunshine filter through the water. This had to mean that he couldn’t have sunk that deep. He also began to move his arms around in the water to get a feel for what lay around him. Not much. Finally, he ducked his head underneath the water, stretched his body as far out into the open water as he could, and tried to find the source of his confinement. He found nothing. He rose back up to his bubble.

Even though no one counts the hours underwater, when one’s alone down there, they pass slowly. With no viable escape plan, Elijah kept his head up, and tried to keep the faith. Faith can be fickle so Elijah tried to maintain it by singing to himself a lullaby that his mother used to sing him, one of the few memories he had of her. Over and over and over the words came softly out of his mouth. “All day, all night, angels watching over me.” He couldn’t remember all of the words, and barely captured the tune, but the repetition and warm memories brought solace.

His alertness was fading and delirium was setting in. Even though he could breathe, he’d had no food or water and a gentle slide into slumber was beckoning. Just as his head started to go under in sleep, his eyes momentarily popped open and he thought he saw movement in the distance. Immediately back into the realm of consciousness, Elijah pushed down, and stretch his body into the water again. There was movement. Those were people swimming toward him. There were holding hands and getting closer. Closer.

He caught one more large breath of air in his bubble, then sprung out, circling his hands around the man’s ankle and pulling as hard as he could. Elijah will never forget the man’s horrified face. He will also never forget how fresh the air felt in his lungs on dry land again.

 

TOPIC OF THIS CONTEST WAS:

She rolled her eyes as another one of her cabin mates tried to stifle sobs. She couldn’t believe she had to stay at this horrible camp all summer! Her stomach growled. As she stepped toward her trunk for a forbidden snack, she tripped on a loose board. Curious, she leaned over to peek between the cracks, and saw…

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Every year it’s the same.

The girls come. Some of them with excitement and joy in every step, others holding their nerves so tightly their steps hesitate then falter. They will all fall into a similar rhythm soon. I prefer that cadence, when everyone is calm and relaxed with only the occasional bouts of excited pitter-patters. I always wonder if any of them might be familiar to me, but the likelihood seems further and further away as more come.

The first day is always the worst. There are those that cry and sob into their pillows. I can’t see their faces, but I always imagine them wide-eyed and just barely blinking, their breaths coming in shallow gasps. I don’t understand their tears. They are here. They are now. They exist. What I wouldn’t give to be them for just a moment. But that will never be.

I ignore most of the day. The cabins are typically empty then, leaving me with only the occasional interruption of familiar silence. My favorite part is at night, when the pine floorboards seem to come alive, cracking and creaking as everyone sleeps. There are ears to hear and it always gives me hope. Shame on me for that. Time has already taught me the futility of hope. But I always find myself thinking that the next squeal of expanding and contracting wood just might be loud enough. It just might be enough to awaken someone and send them scurrying for answers. My rescue is fueled by their curiosity, you see. But it never happens.

On the last day of camp the girls always sit around to reminisce about their experiences and say their good-byes. I often wonder what I would say if I were invited to participate. How I would begin my tale. How my words would reverberate across the room, and what the pitch and timbre of my voice would reveal. I’ve been here awhile now, but I still remember my first day. I hesitated into this world too, my nerves wound tight from the unknown, hoping for the same safety and security that I had experienced over my first nine months.

I knew it would be different, but I had hope that I would still be held in warmth. That I would be loved, cherished, and cared for – what we all desire. Then it was there. Something sweet. A mild breath. A more severe intake of oxygen as I grabbed on for a taste of life. A wail of enthusiasm about what I had found. So much space and air and time and freedom and…hope.

Then nothing.

There is a part of me that thinks I experienced everything there is to experience in that brief moment of life. Fear, joy, pain, sadness, disappointment, happiness…isn’t that all there really is to it? Fear, joy, pain, sadness, disappointment, happiness wrapped up in different decisions and experiences but still the same underneath. When that thought comes I barely feel slighted.

I hear impatient footsteps above me and if I could speak I would yell for them to be careful. But it would be too late anyway. The sudden break in cadence and the thud of knees hitting against the slats tell me just that. The wood barely shifts and the floorboards groan in protest. I don’t pay it much attention. But then I hear the sound of fingers exploring and the crack of the shifted board becomes a crevice. If there was breath left in my lungs, I would hold it. I give it a moment and though I know the futility, I can’t help but feel the rising and swelling of that thing called hope. There are those that say it springs eternal and they are so right. Still, I try to dampen it with logic and reminders of past disappointments. But, it remains there, persistent. I listen. I hear nothing. As time passes I feel hope crash and singe my soul. I return to my reality, my always. They peek, they peer, but see very little and I forgive them because I know that the curiosity of kids is just not sufficient when put up against the tricks and treats that camp has to offer. Certainly, not enough to free me from my eternal resting ó

But, wait…

There is something there.

Something sweet.

A brilliant flash of light.

I hear a mild breath…A more severe intake of oxygen. I hear more feet pounding against the wood, the brilliant tip tip tapping of shoes running, and voices marked with italics and exclamation points right before I am grabbed into life. I hear their wails of fear and pain and disappointment over what they have found. But I feel joy as I am given over to space and air and time and freedom…and I admonish myself for believing in the futility of hope. Someone is finally holding me in warmth and for a moment I am loved and cherished and cared for and I feel as if I have finally been born.

TOPIC OF THIS CONTEST WAS:

The cold wind battered the fortune teller’s wagon, threatening an early frost. The girls climbed down, simultaneously giggling and shivering about the message the old witch had delivered. As their feet pushed through the red and orange leaves, a shadow emerged from the gnarled maple trees. A bent man in tattered layers stepped in front of the girls, leaned over, and put his crooked finger to his lips…

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TOPIC OF THIS CONTEST WAS:

A blizzard raged outside, battering the cozy ski lodge. Merry skiers drank hot chocolate and hot toddies, excited about the fresh white powder they’d be conquering tomorrow. Smiling, she took another sip, her eyes briefly wandering from the man sitting before her, to a different gentleman across the room. He was sitting alone, and staring at…

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“We should have done this years ago,” Mary lifted her mug of steaming hot chocolate and breathed in the aroma deeply.

“I can’t imagine why we never thought of this before,” agreed Charles.

She smiled, reveling in the sounds of merriment that filled the ski lodge. Glasses clinked, voices laughed, and the roaring fireplaces crackled in the background. The blizzard hurled its essence at the dark window next to their table. Mary felt the touch of a draft seeping in through the sill, but she didn’t mind.

Her gaze swept past her husband, taking the first sip of his hot toddy. Revelers of all shapes and sizes had come in from the cold, dressed in the finest they had. A young woman with a disproportionately large bust was fingering her beads and flirting with a handsome fellow twice her age. Three hearty bachelors laughed uproariously at a table in the corner, a bold-nosed woman storming away from them.

Before a fireplace sat a man with a comb moustache opposite what must have been the thinnest woman Mary had ever seen. The man held her dainty arm in his hands and spoke to her softly, concern clearly present in his expression. Without warning, the woman toppled out of her chair. Her arm pulled free from her body with a slurp.

The man stared down at the disembodied arm he still held, shock freezing him in place.

Mary’s terror rose from deep within her and burst forth as a shrill scream. Her mug fell from her limp grasp and shattered at her feet. She stood, unsure if she was moving to aid the couple or flee the scene.

All heads turned to see the grisly display.

Mary’s husband mumbled something, but she was too mortified to answer. His hand grasped hers, tugging urgently. He mumbled again, slurring his speech. She looked down at him. The lower half of his face was missing. Her jawless husband clawed at her, clutching, pleading.

The sight was too much for Mary. She wretched and spun, jerking free her arm and stumbling into the table behind her.

A sickness, she thought, a deadly assailant working its destruction at a molecular level. It worked quickly, whatever it was that had attacked both her husband and the woman by the fire.

Mary turned in desperation to the two closest women. She cried out in horror when she saw their faces dripping off, their features distorted like reflections in a rippling pond.

The dissolution spread more quickly than an avalanche. Cries and pleadings sounded from all around as every man and woman appeared to melt before Mary’s eyes. She had to escape, had to get free, before the sickness reached her as well. She lurched towards the door, but suddenly there flowed a throng of mindless mutants. The groaning masses rushed into her, also straining for escape. Impulses prevailed over reason; bodies slammed into bodies. Pushing, shoving, trampling, rolling—Mary found herself on the floor amidst the chaos. A man tripped on another prostrate body—pieces of it anyway—and fell on top of Mary. She put up her hands to defend herself, but her fingers sank through his face.

Mary shrieked and tried to shake him off without success. His right eye popped free from his head and bounced off her face. She sobbed and pushed him back, but he disintegrated before her eyes, coming to pieces on top of her.

She brushed frantically to remove the gentleman’s remains, but her indelicate fingers left deep gashes in her own body. Mary yelped and scrambled to right herself, but the floor was slick with bodily fluids and chunks of the unfortunate victims. She propped up her left hand and her arm fell free from its socket, dropping her to the floor with a sickening splat.

Something was wrong with her eyes, but in time she viewed the open door. She reached out with her remaining arm and clawed at the ground. The floor was slick with discharge, but she eventually found a grip and pulled herself in the direction of the open doorway and the blizzard. Inch by inch she made her way, dragging her body and face through filth she dared not consider.

The doorway. Freedom. Her thoughts were sluggish, but she kept that goal firmly in mind. Occasionally she felt small chunks of her own body crumble and fall, but she left them behind, concerned only with the open door.

Mary had heard that a bright light acted as greeter in death, but she saw only darkness. She felt no pain even though there was so little of her left that she could hardly be alive. The darkness was calming, cooling, soothing. Fleeting white speckles danced to and fro and broke up the darkness. Snow. She smiled, or attempted to with what was left of her face. If there was snow, then she was outside. She had made it! She was not dead!

Two men appeared from the darkness and bent over her. Although both were in disarray, they were whole. One had such a thick head that his scarf barely reached around him, and the other had the most handsome nose she had ever seen. Perhaps they had not caught the sickness. Perhaps she could escape it?

“You’re safe now,” the scarfed man said, “There’s nothing more to worry about.”

Mary said nothing. She was too grateful to speak.

“Nasty business in there,” said the other man. “I wish they had listened to us in the first place.”

“Yes,” the first nodded solemnly, “if I’ve said it once, I’ve said it a thousand times: the indoors is no place for us snowmen.”