03.26.10
Posted by mazzz in Leeds | 36 Comments »
The story I was initially aiming to post for today’s #fridayflash didn’t seem to want to be finished yesterday. Instead, have something silly (well, sillier than my usual…).
It was written as an exercise for the Writers faction of the Leeds Savage Club, inspired by Edgar Allen Poe’s How to Write a Blackwood Article:
1. If you mean ‘bread and butter’, do not by any means say it outright. You may say anything and everything leading up to and around it. But if ‘bread and butter’ be your real meaning, be cautious, and never say it.
2. Every article must include a misquoted French, Latin or Greek saying, such as the use of ‘cul – de – sac’ in the article ‘The Spanish Fly who Never Stopped Dancing’ : “I put my good dancing ability down to being born with a certain cul-de-sac….”
3. The article must be, objectively and positively, absolute nonsense!
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03.19.10
Posted by mazzz in Leeds | 44 Comments »
“You have brought Laura’s ashes?”
“Yes,” he said, handing the urn to the witch. She lifted the lid, peered into the receptacle, then turned her stern gaze towards him.
“I must ask you to reassure me one last time – you are sure she was a pure-hearted woman?”
“She was the kindest person I have ever met,” he said, and the witch’s glare softened as she saw the love in the bereaved man’s countenance. She sighed and put down the urn.
“Fine. I will perform the spell. But you must tell no one of this.” She startled him by grabbing his shoulders and pulling his face towards her own.
“No one,” she repeated, and he nodded vigorously as a bead of sweat trickled across his temple. She didn’t let him go immediately, but continued to stare into his eyes for a few moments longer. He was relieved when she released him; he wasn’t afraid of her seeing into his soul – he had nothing to hide – but he was a little worried he might get a glimpse into hers.
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03.12.10
Posted by mazzz in Leeds | 41 Comments »
She has only to smile at him once, and Spring is her slave. He gives her all she asks for and showers her with almond blossoms. She dances around him and bestows upon him nothing but her playful smile and the twinkles in her eyes. The weeks pass, and Spring feels himself grow weaker as her platinum hair darkens to a soft gold colour, and her playful dance takes on a heat he finds a little disconcerting. She still offers him a smile or two, but the twinkling is now aimed away from him, at something on the horizon that he can’t quite make out yet. As it slowly comes into view over the next few days, the realisation dawns on him. He falls to the ground in agony, and in his death throes he is aware that he lies on a carpet of crushed almond blossoms that were trampled by her pretty feet.
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03.05.10
Posted by mazzz in Leeds | 43 Comments »
Rodolphus walked into the hall, his belly preceding him by a good ten inches. The annual Soulgatherers’ Banquet was in full swing, the waiters struggling to keep up with the demand for the delectable slices. His gaze swept the room until he saw the group he was looking for: Antimus, Tenemius and Tarsus – seven chins between them, three of them Tarsus’s alone. With them stood a young fellow who could only be a new recruit – he was thin as a rake. Not for much longer, thought Rodolphus with a wry smile as he wandered over to his friends.
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02.26.10
Posted by mazzz in Leeds | 50 Comments »
We reach the double doors at the end of the long, grey corridor and the warden ushers us in with a sombre greeting. I want a good view of the proceedings, so I stride towards the front row of seats, my wife’s hand in mine. She pulls me back gently and I see she doesn’t want to get that close; we sit down in the second row and I put my arm around her shoulder. A few more people trickle in and quietly take their seats. No one sits in the front row and only one other person sits on the second row, as far away along from us as possible. Everyone stares straight ahead, not wanting to meet anyone’s eye. At last, after what seems like an age, the correctional officers bring in the monster and march him to the front of the room.
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02.19.10
Posted by mazzz in Leeds | 38 Comments »
The wizard stared at the little girl in horror. She looked up at him with big blue eyes and a small shake of the blonde ringlets that cascaded down below her shoulders. A pair of plump, rosy cheeks dimpled as she smiled at him. It was all he could do to stop himself from shuddering; he had never been this terrified in his entire life.
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02.12.10
Posted by mazzz in Leeds | 41 Comments »
The old shaman looked down upon the village from his vantage point higher up the hill. He sighed at the sight of the people milling around. Not a soul there had seen less than 50 summers. The younger folk had been trickling out of the community for years, flocking to the city in search of … what? He did not know. None who had left had ever returned. Was that through choice, he wondered, or did the city lure them in only to lock its gates behind them?
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02.05.10
Posted by mazzz in Leeds | 43 Comments »
He fed it human hearts, and freshly harvested ones at that. He hated getting them, but the alternative was unthinkable. Every time he was coming down from the high it gave him, his conscience would rear its weak head and he would be overcome with remorse. But as time drew him further away from its last feed, and his last high, he found himself feverish and thinking of the logistics again – how to get another heart for it without getting caught.
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01.29.10
Posted by mazzz in Leeds | 51 Comments »
Cosmonauts Zheng, Masters and Collins looked in disbelief at the images from the satellites.
“This cannot be happening.”
“They’re… They’re…”
“… all gone.”
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01.22.10
Posted by mazzz in Leeds | 46 Comments »
I have not seen a single living human for eight days now, in a city that used to house ten million. I wish I could say the same about dead ones, but one cannot escape the sight of the pyres piled high with plague victims. I will be joining them soon – this morning I felt in my legs the ache that presages the onset of the virus. In a matter of days I will implode. My bone marrow will mutate into an acid-like substance that will melt the rest of my organs, and I will join the amorphous corpses on the pyres.
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