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* This is a draft so any editing of any form is appreciated. This is written differently than a lot of my other short stories. It's an excerpt from a much longer novel I wrote two years ago *
Once upon a time, long, long ago, there lived a Kingdom of ZaShwan. It was a small kingdom but one of great happiness. They had a wise young king who ruled fairly and with understanding and kindness. The King’s name was Shamus and the people loved him. He was not truly happy though and longed for a queen to help him rule his small land. So one fateful day he disappeared. Five Years later our King returned to us. This excerpt is from his diary, the night of our final departure as we, the people, leave ZaShwan . . . forever.
~ZaShwan’s Royal Secretary~Robin
I return to my people on a unicorn of milk white jade. Her coat is as soft as a young dove’s down and her mane and tail as lustrous as the sea itself. Alas I left my kingdom in search of a fair maiden to bring bac...
* This is a first draft so any editing of any form is welcomed:)*
Wooden carts rattled noisily along the hard packed dirt road, oblivious to the young man who stood, silent, alongside the beaten trail. His dark eyes were fixed across the road from him, watching the thin overgrown trail with quiet interest. Waiting for a gap between the racing merchants, he stood tall, a heavy black traveling cloak shrouding his large frame.
In one fluid movement, the boy strode across the road and stepped up onto the desolate pathway he’d been watching with such interest. For the first time he noted the sign pointing toward the woods where the path headed. Berryessa, the sign read. But what had further caught his attention, was the young girl seated at the base of the sturdy sign.
She was probably only five years old, her dark ungroomed hair half hiding her filth-covered face. She wore a loose rag in a dress like fashion and held a small leather pouch tightly to her chest. She glanced u...
I live in a Midwest suburb, and get sent by my mom to the grocery store in the adjoining town to get things for dinner. While in the store, all the power goes out forcing everyone to walk outside to see what’s going on. Everything is dark, and an eerie feeling begins to settle.
Suddenly everyone is rushing to their cars, hurrying home and driving like maniacs because all traffic lights have ceased to work. I quickly attempt to drive home in our family van, but all the roads are blocked by the police and other random authorities. No one is allowed in or out of the city.
I try my cell phone, but to no avail, the signal is down--no doubt affected by the power outage.
Just then, a large earthquake hits, and all hell breaks loose. People are running, driving, screaming, and no one can make out anything in the rubble. I continue in my car--slightly shaken--stopping randomly to ask strangers for directions to get my bearing...
The silence of a generation,
Cut off by the nation
Of pain, love, and hurt,
Rings for miles without once
Meeting an ear-
Never stopping to say
Hello, good-bye, I love you.
Meandering through a path
Of purgatory and righteousness,
Just being, living, breathing
In the air that brings no
Refreshment or relief.
On it goes, without stopping
Or starting. Without truly moving
It will never become the sound
That it needs, wants, has to be.
It doesn't die, won't die, can't die;
It must die, be no more.
Without sound, it does naught,
And it is lost
Forever.
Quietly and patiently I wait my demise
Untouched by humans but killed by the world
Time flies by me but I grasp no present
Because my life lives in the past
So tired of thinking of the happy places
Just ready to escape the cold embraces
Taking my essence is the best I can think of
So much to endure for I think not
As a single grain of sand on the beach I am pushed aside
Lisa sat fingering her bagel. How could this have happened, she thought. They were so deep in there love, she thought they would’ve been together forever. But, boy was she mistaken. She was mistaken badly. She leaned back in her seat replaying the horrid, shocking memory.
She was on her way home from work when she saw her boyfriend of 1 ½ years in THEIR bed, with some slut. She was furious. She just wanted to kill them both, but they were lucky she wasn’t a killer. But, noone should push her. Her headline was make, love not war. That’s just the kind of person she was. She hated fighting. But, today was different, she wanted to fight, to put her hands on someone.
''GET OUT!!!!!’’ Lisa screamed to the blonde laying next to Michael (her bf). The blonde quickly trudged to the other side of the room...
Here's a little story I've started, about a world where all animals start out as wandering spirits, until through their actions, they come to embody an animal, at which point they become that animal.
Chapter 1
The creature felt confused. He didn’t know what he was, who he was, or where he belonged. He stared out from under the fallen log at the expanse of forest before him, seeing things he had never seen and hearing things he had never heard. He knew nothing. All he knew was that his name was Kalu, and that he had something he had to do.
He wasn’t sure, but something told him that getting out from under this log would help him accomplish this unknown task. He considered it, but decided that he liked it where he was. He floated over and alighted on the stem of a large leaf. There he sat, looking and listening, until the subtle green glow from his body was the only light.
He began to feel strange. Moving and seeing was harder. A little voice inside him was telling hi...
It turned out that the Dark Wing was right around the corner. Kevin must have circled back during the chase.
‘That, is the last time I go shopping.’ He thought.
He had been stocking up on food in disguise when the police ship had detected him. Now tired, hungry, and injured with a laser cut on his right leg he had to relocate. He wrapped a bandage around his lower leg and returned to the cockpit.
He did a system check, making sure everything was in working order.
When that finished he started the engine. The ship roared to life and lifted off like a helicopter.
Soon he was flying above the city. He leaned back into the seat. Piloting was one of the things that came easily to him. At age thirteen he was already a better pilot than most adults.
Kevin yawned, he was exhausted.
Looking for a place to land where no one would see him, he found an empty parking lot that suited his purpose.
Carefully maneuvering the large ship, he managed to land silently. Usually, he double-...
“Be sure to take this,” said Sarah, handing me a pouch of money.
“Thank you,” I said. “Now, get some rest.”
Clutching the pouch tight in my hand, I waved goodbye to her, opening the door. It was old, and therefore making a creaking noise. My bedroom was on the upper level of our home, along with the bedrooms of Helena (hers was right next to mine), Father, and Sarah. The upper level was small, a long hallway with wooden floors the color of honey, and plain, white walls, which were decorated with various landscape paintings.
In the middle of all of this, there was a grand staircase of marble and cast iron. Each stair had white carpet with red trimming. I slowly went down these stairs, seeing the sunlight seeping through the large windows by the door. I wondered how hot it would be today – that was one thing I never quite got used too.
As I opened the door, I was almost blinded by the sunlight. It was hot, too – I could feel the warm sun against my back.
The ...
When the boy finally opened his eyes, Ash was there at the side of the bed, tying off the bandage at his torso. The work had been done in near darkness; there was no window in the room, and the candle had been on the other side of the bed; the wounded side had been in shadow.
The candle cast strange shadows on her face, so she looked so peculiar to him; long and deep red-brunette tresses, dark brown eyes, and skin all rough and tan from hard, backbreaking work in the fields. So unlike the rich merchants and royal processions that passed by his mountain home.
When his eyes opened, Ash felt two different emotions. She was excited and relieved that the boy was alive and well and would be alright, but at the same time, a feeling of disappointment and dread settled in her stomach, like a heavy rock at the bottom of a pond, that the coloring of his eyes hadn’t just been a trick of the light the night before.
“Good morning,” she greeted him with a weak smile. “How ...
“That came from up the top,” said Annabelle, eyes wide in fear.
“Dad,” said Michael. He swung the door open and stepped into his gumboots, before scrambling down the steps, nearly slipping on the slimy layer of algae. He skidded around the corner of the garage to his red Suzuki Sierra.
He heard his mother crunch across the gravel to her car. Her starter motor chugged for a couple of seconds, but the engine didn’t start. She flung open her door.
“Come in my car,” said Michael as he turned the key. He pushed his foot down and the engine came to life.
Annabelle slammed the door behind her as Michael put the car into reverse and backed out onto the driveway. Once they were out, he jammed the gearstick into first and took off up the hill with a spray of gravel.
Michael skidded the car to a halt outside the dilapidated shed. Nigel was filling the Toyota Hilux up with diesel from a rusty silver tank.
Hey! This is the beginning of a new story I'm working on. Sorry it's a little short. Please tear it apart, and be as harsh as you like! (Nitpicks welcome!) Thankies in advance, and the first chapter should be up soon! (Though maybe not before the update, but I'll try!)
Prologue
June 1940
The tiny pixie gripped the bars of her prison and glared at the grinning man before her, hate and anger filling her eyes. How could she have let herself be captured by this human? This barbarian?
The fairy-folk had successfully hidden themselves from the human world for over two thousand years. But now it would all be destroyed. All their work, gone in the matter of seconds. The whole world would know, and it was all because the pixie had been careless enough to allow herself to be captured. Why was this happening?
“Don’t worry about anything, pixie.” the man laughed. A harsh and degrading laugh. He knew how tortured she was; and he spent every second she could making that tortu...
(Continued)
My eyelashes fluttered open, and I found myself in my bedroom once again. I was almost certain that I was actually awake this time. It took a glance at the clock – It was only around eight-thirty. There was knocking at the door.
“Come in.” I said, thinking it to be Sarah, carrying my breakfast tray.
The door opened. It was Sarah. She was her usual outfit – a crisp, cherry colored dress and a white lace apron. Her thin black hair was tied in a bun, and my eye caught a glint of silver.
“Breakfast, Miss Madeleine.” She recited, handing me the tray. “I hope you will enjoy. Call me when you are finished, and I shall help you dress.”
“Thank you, Sarah,” I said. “It looks very good.” I saw oatmeal with peaches, and two slices of steaming toast – one with butter, one with strawberry jam, and there was a yellow china cup, filled with tea.
Realizing how hungry I was, I ate the food quickly, leaving...
It was quiet for the first few minutes as everyone gathered their food together. I took a little oatmeal, some cider, and a slice of bread with orange marmalade – which was my favorite. We began to eat, and then Isabelle broke the silence.
“Happy Birthday,” She said coldly, the tone of her voice making it obvious that she did not want to be there. Isabelle was eleven, and she still needed help learning manners. “I hope you two are bloody happy about this.”
“Hush,” My aunt pleaded. “Madeleine and Helena are your cousins, please be nice to them.”
My uncle, who was sitting to the right of my mother, leaned over and whispered in her ear. “You should have seen the fight she put up back at home. She did not want to go.” I sighed. I really didn’t understand why Isabelle hated me so much – but then again, it seemed as though she hated everyone in our family. Maybe it was because Isabelle thought that we were holding her back – meaning that she had fantasies of...
Prologue
He could almost taste the air, thick with the festival’s smells; cooking meat and the spicy seasoning his region was known for, mingled with roasting vegetables, fresh bread, smoked wood, and the heat of all the bodies packed together. He ducked through the crowd, a silent shadow among the moving, laughing throng of people. The stone street turned to gravel under his leather boot, and the night air cooled his brow as the crowd lessened. He slipped easily between the smattering of people, gravel crunching under his heel, with his eyes turned to the river. It was black as onyx; the moonlight shimmered on the surface but was not enough to break through the rushing water and expose its insides. He leaned against the railing and murmured the traditional Equani prayer.
“Asher!” He turned at his name, tearing his gaze from the water.
“Laiala,” he said quietly as his eyes met with his twin’s equally blue ones. They crinkled into a smile, and she moved to stand beside hi...
The sky was a vivid, pale orange, the hue darkening as the sky became farther and farther away from the beach where I was in the sand, still. The sun stood low, almost skimming the surface of the water. The luminescent yellow light was casting rays upon the surface of the gentle ocean. The morning was in its awfully premature hours – the old grandfather clock in my bedchamber suggested the time to be around five forty-five. This was not unusual - I often awoke at this hour to go down to beach and watch the sun rise. I enjoyed the fact that it was always tranquil and serene.
I fell into the practice one right after my family moved here. My father was an Admiral in the British Royal Navy, but he retired when my sister and I were born. That was three years ago. It had started a few months before that, when I was fourteen. Father had received a letter from the King. The King wanted him back in the Navy. Spe...
Captain Jack Harkness couldn't help but feel a little uneasy as he balanced driving his black Mazda 3 Sport while maintaining a careful eye on the glass compass that lay on his lap.
"Toronto certainly is a bit more crowded than I remember it," he muttered to himself, turning right at an intersection.
Straight ahead he could see a taxi driving towards him on the opposite side of the road. Quickly getting ready to test his driving ability he shoved the compass into the passenger seat. He couldn't quite make out the driver's face, but the cab number matched the very one he had seen the Doctor in only moments before.
"And who said number thirteen was unlucky!" he shouted, forcing his car into the path of the incoming cab. Immediately the cab braked to a slow, and very noise, halt.
"Now then!" Jack commanded, as he exited from his vehicle and stared at the driver, "you are...." He suddenly stopped as if someone had poured a bucket of col...
I entered the kitchen to get a drink. Gulping down the glass of water feeling nauseated, I heard a gasp followed by sounds of tumbling. My heart thumped in my chest at the thought of what the sound might’ve been.
I placed the empty glass in the sink and ran out into the hall way. My heart carried on thumping, louder and louder, drowning out the surrounding sounds and her and my sobs.
She rolled onto my feet and the blood slowly spilled out of her wound. I fell to my knees reaching my arms out and holding her. I was careful not to move her much in case of any broken bones. My hand moved and held the back of her neck keeping her upright. The warm blood flowed from the open cut on her head onto my hand. The tears rolled down my face as they rolled down hers.
Her thick, curly black hair hung at her neck covering my hand and tangling my fingers. Her eyes closed gradually and I spoke, almost shouted at her to keep her awake.
“Mum?” I said over and ...
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