Poor Imp
imp forgets what was writ
Epic Novelist
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300 Points
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 Posted: Tue Oct 24, 2006 11:04 pm Post subject: Halloween 2006 Contest: Il Diavolo |
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Il Diavolo
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So I made a pact with il diavolo. Ill-advised was not my thought at the time - far from it, I’d made the deal of my life.
But unease seeped into my chest with the blood that seeped into my sleeve, threading neat diagonals in the crumpled linen. Always got to my heart; the knotted, breathless fist beneath my ribs clenched until my throat ached and the night looked like Hell in high water.
‘Sign.’
…my cuff, all crimson no white.
‘In what? no ink.’
I laughed. Easy to laugh ignorant. Ignorance’s my weapon, dull, blunted - unfortunately double-edged.
‘Your ink, friend. My pen.’
I can laugh hysterically too - God, it hurt. Flame between bone and skin and blade at my wrist -
Unsteady, I traced; if it were legible after my dripping shirt-cuff ran over it, I hope none will blame me.
‘Severino Abandonato…’ he said.
‘You can read that mess?’
Here my laughter got to my heart, and I almost thought his pallid skin was veined, inside-out and ebony eyes hollow.
‘I can see,’ he said. ‘Signed, sealed, promised. Until the end.’ And with a languid salute, he left - the narrow street empty.
I didn’t have the paper; didn’t have a spattering of my own blood; and couldn’t catch my breath.
So I made a pact with il diavolo if he exists. Ill-advised is an idiot’s word for life, and living means risking life, doesn’t? Only unease kept its fist in my heart.
…far from it, I had the peculiar twinge in my thoughts like memory. Déjà vu of death - death I’d never have, would I? I’d made the deal of my life. Reeling, I set my aimless way out, feet drifting towards the wharf through tangled alleys and threaded light. Blood still, wet under my clenched fist…and the night wavered, Hell in high water. |
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'We experiment with ourselves in a way we would never permit ourselves to experiment with animals and, carried away by our curiosity, we cheerfully vivisect our souls.'-Nietszche |
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Sureal
(i are RITER!!!)
Epic Novelist
Gender: 
Age: 20
Joined: 10 Feb 2005
Posts: 3093
Reviews: 452
Country: England
300 Points
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| Posted: Thu Oct 26, 2006 5:20 pm Post subject: |
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I really like the wording of this - it really seems to compliment the story well.
Good luck with the contest  . |
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Started the first draft of The Broken on the 7th September, 2008.
Chapter One // Chapter Two
4,300 words down, only 95,700 to go! |
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Plus-One
Junior Writer
Gender:
Age: 18
Joined: 29 Oct 2006
Posts: 48
Reviews: 20
Country: England
319 Points
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| Posted: Wed Nov 01, 2006 8:30 pm Post subject: |
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| Hey! That was great, nice job! (I suppose I should expect it from someone with the reputation you have =p) |
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"Nostalgia's just not what it used to be..."
Don't worry, if I use two keyboards I can double my typing rate! |
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