Medley 1

And there won't be snow in Africa this Christmastime

The greatest gift they'll get this year is life

Some people say there's a woman to blame,

But I know

It's my own damn fault

Challenge

Birthday

My birthday is the day this challenge ends. Write something about birthdays, getting older, or anything you think is related to that. Winner chosen by democracy.

Hthacher

On birthdays

I'm afraid. I'm afraid that as I get older, birthdays will start to lose meaning. My father, and most of his friends, turn 50 this year. Do they care? Does it mean anything to them? Will my annual renaissances start to blur and run together, watercolors on an ever-shrinking blank page? Or will I continue to feel each pulse, each sweeping revolution of the hand? I can't tell for which I'm hoping anymore. Maybe both. Maybe neither.

Will I make it to 50? A few birthdays ago, I didn't think so. I didn't want to. I didn't want to make it to 25. What changed? Me?

Last time I saw my grandmother, she said she didn't want to hit triple digits (keep me off the machines). She married my grandfather in 1969. I wonder how he feels about that? Will he be the one to sign the forms for her? How many birthdays until that happens? I think she's 78 deep already.

In November, I'll hit the post again, pass go, collect my 200. Maybe I'll know then.

Hthacher

Valediction to an Oak

Thank you.

Thank you for sheltering me;

For standing above me;

And for being there.

Always.

Challenge

Who's Got the BEST First Liner? # 2

Can you make us thirsty for an entire novel by writing your BEST first line? Write the BEST first line to the next story that you never knew you wanted to tell. Sell us on your big idea in forty (40) words or less, no more. Draw us in by saying everything to overwhelm our minds with excitement or say just enough to lure us in and have us lusting for the next four-hundred pages. Any Genre is allowed. The object is to grab us at the beginning and to make us never want to let go. Must be done in ONE sentence. Happy writing! I pick the winners and will read every entry!

Hthacher

The World in a Word

Some years, spring drifts away before summer has blustered in, leaving the city in a weak, limp haze.

Hthacher

Him.

It’s him. He’s here for me again.

I remember that night, so long ago, when he first came. It was dark, and quiet, and all the things that upset the primal beast deep inside the souls of men and women. I was sitting in front of the fire mommy built, reading Curious George, wearing my favorite shoes, little white ballet flats. There was a knock on the door. Mommy said, “Hide, darling, hide in the closet.” And when I didn’t respond, she snapped at me. “Now!”

So I hid, and I watched. I watched as mommy walked towards the door, watched as she started to open it, and watched as he kicked it open, trapping mommy under the door. I watched, evan as he, dressed in a dark suit and overcoat, said something, whispered in mommy’s ear. And still I watched, now in horror, as his arm became elongated, narrow, tapered. And I watched... I watched as he reached down and impaled my mother's head through her open, screaming mouth.

And now he's back, and I know I'm in hell already. So I lock myself in the bathroom, open the medicine cabinet, and take the sleeping pills. One, two three, four. I keep swallowing them down, so eager to escape my reality, keep swallowing them, until I can't anymore. As I fade into blackness, I hear his sweet, cloying voice.

"See you in the next world, bitch."

#Horror #Fantasy