The Prediction - changing times

It's that time of year when the leaves are changing colour, the nights are drawing in and we're all asking ourselves what happened to summer (well those of us in the UK, I hope the sun is shining on our international friends). I hope that the beauty of the season will inspire you all in your writing endeavours.
Now before I announce the winner this week, I just wanted to highlight a query that came up in last week's comments. Is it ok to promote other writing sites on here? Absolutely, as long as they are reputable sites then plug away. I very much see this site as a place for everyone to support each other and have some fun writing. So please feel free to let people know about any writing opportunities that are out there - I know that I'll be following up on them!
Now, onto this week's winner. After much deliberation, the person who stood out for me this week was....
.....Marietta Miles with Forgiveness. Marietta -  this piece started gently, a tale of confessional, which seemed innocent enough. But there was a wolf hidden in this sheep's clothing that came bursting forth with ferocity. There was something dark and dangerous within this which really grabbed me and was perfectly written. I urge people to take time to go back and read it.
Runner-up this week is Sandra Davies with The Blacksmith's Wife (part 38). Sandra - really liked the way the power play went back and forth between these two and some cracking turns of phrase (as ever) throughout. A high standard as always.
  
So, applause to Marietta and Sandra as well as to everyone else who entered this week. And a special mention to welcome back MuckieDuckie with a late entry. I always feel a little conscious about people who submit late on as their tales often get overlooked. If you have the time, do go back and have a look at MD's piece as well as re-reading the other wonderful tales.
Ok, onto the words. It's all about the words! After leading me a merry dance across the southern coast last week, I am delighted to announce that I have re-captured my errant tome. I found him deep in the woods, cradled at the roots of an ancient oak. I think it might have been his mother. As I picked him up he purred these words to me:
  • Rabbit
  • Clamp
  • Languish
The usual rules apply: 100 words maximum, excluding the title, of flash fiction or poetry using all of the three words above in the genres of horror, fantasy or science fiction. All variants and use of the words as stems are fine. Just have fun!

You have until 9pm (UK time) Thursday 27 September to get your entries in. New words will spill forth and winners will be announced 9am Friday 28 September. If you can, please tweet about your entry using the #fridayflash #100words or #flashfiction hashtags and blog if you feel like it. Please tell your friends and do give feedback to your fellow Predictioneers - everyone appreciates it!
Right, hop to it!

Comments

  1. Congratulations, Marietta! 'Forgiveness' was (ooh, I hope I don't get stoned for a bad pun!) divine! It touched on the human psyche on so many levels!

    Congratulations, Sandra! I can only echo Phil... the power play and turns of phrase... you do set the bar high in The Blacksmith's Wife.

    MuckieDuckie... It was so good to see you back here! I hope to see more of your always thought-provoking prose. It is a real treat to read your writing.

    Interesting choice of words for this week. Nothing jumping out and slapping me in the face yet, but that is okay. I usually have to sleep on the words a bit, so... no worries!

    And now, back to my honey... the birthday 'revelries' are not quite finished with... hehe!

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  2. Truly astonished and humbled at being selected as runner-up from what was one of the most impressive range of tales there's been - such wonderful use of language from everyone. And yes, Marietta's paid well for many readings, revealing a different aspect every time - congratulations.
    This week's words? Far from impossible, but to stew them into something worthy for the Prediction will take some effort. Thanks Phil.

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    1. I must admit, I haven't been able to keep up with The Blacksmith's Wife do you have them all put up in one place for me to catch up? That being said, I remember the first one, and many others after it. Each installment well done on its own as well as upholding the quality of the whole. You never fail to disappoint and I'm not surprised that you get noticed. Congratulations and keep up the good work.

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    2. Thanks, Muckie Duckie, I have to say the community here, plus the words, certainly makes it a hugely enjoyable challenge - all episodes are to be found at http://sandra-linesofcommunication.blogspot.co.uk/p/the-blacksmiths-wife-serial.html

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  3. Congratulation Sandra. Well done everyone. I find that the writers here on prediction are the best inspiration.Thank you for the kind words. I am digging this dark priest character. Muhahaha.

    I have two more questions, sorry:

    Does anyone read comments once the winner has been announced? I did not finish commenting last night and I wanted to see if I should go back and complete the commenting.

    And

    There is a group on Facebook called The Dark Fiction Guild. I don't know much about them but they post regarding new stories and books. Would it be groovy if I tell them about The Prediction and all that jazz. I was not sure if anyone had heard of them.

    Thanks and have a great weekend. I love this time of year.

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    1. I do, Marietta. I really try to make sure I have commented on each story and I have thanked everyone who comments on mine.

      It's all about supporting one another, right?

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    2. if life permits, yes I go back and comment, I just did.
      The Dark Fiction Guild sounds good, they might like us.
      I don't 'do' Facebook, but yes, could be interesting.

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    3. Hi Marietta, firstly, feel free to let DFG know about this site.

      Secondly, in terms of going back to previous week's posts, my thoughts are that it is great if people have time and can do so for two reasons. I always think that those people who post late in the day receive less feedback but equally, people are missing out on some cracking tales if they don't pop back for a read! However, I don't want anyone to feel a pressure to comment on every story - time is such a precious commodity and I know that lots of you squeeze your flashes in amongst your family, work and social lives (hey, we all have to sleep too!).

      So just a general thanks from me to everyone who has posted, commented or just popped by to read stories in the background. Much appreciated and I am always blown away by the levels of support everyone shows each other.

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    4. Congratulations to you Marietta. I read your entry last week and even though the content matter was dark, it had a beautiful cast to it for me. Does that even make any sense?

      Oh and on a funny note, I wonder what your dark priest would think of my Marie Marchand bwahahahahaha!

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  4. Congratulations to Marietta! I enjoyed your dark cleric tale immensely. Congratulations also to Sandra, whose tale is terribly addictive.

    And thank you to the entire community here. Such a wonderful, supportive environment is rare indeed. I know my writing has improved due to the Prediction. So if you're reading, Lily, much thanks to you, as well.

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  5. Didn't take Seth long to jump on these words.

    Surrender

    Habit drew me to close Nate’s car window against coming rain. Inescapable fate revealed the book.

    Red symbols writhed under gold-leaf, invisible to most, irresistible to me. Hand clamped on the leather spine, I fell into prayer. The answer slid through my wound, blood-ready, stirring long languished memory.

    Down and down and down the rabbit hole, I followed the thread of knowledge lost, desperate to be found.

    Gunshots wrenched me back. I shoved the book into my jacket and raced through Jimmy’s door.

    Nate spun on me, shocked but gun-steady.

    I raised my empty hands, trusting my life to surrender.

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    1. Simple yet lovely words. I do wonder what fate Nate will choose. Great job.

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    2. '...under gold-leaf, invisible to most, irresistible to me.' Beautifully poetic line that held up among the company of other great words. Superb telling.

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    3. Some superb changes of pace in this and, as usual, a cliff-hanger of an ending.

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    4. Great last couple of lines RR, proving the few right words can tell so much of a story. =)

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    5. So ... I followed your link and read the previous entries in this series. Then I re-read this one. At first read this had a hypnotic drugged quality to it. Knowing the full story, the original lightness is gone, and carries so much more weight.

      On an off note, was this series inspired by the TV show Supernatural?

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    6. It's one influence (largely in the performance of that particularly American style of masculinity), as are Rob Thurman's two series: Cal Leandros and the Korsak Brothers. There's also a touch of Ephraim & Manasseh, especially in the struggle to remain moral in a corrupt world. Their different ideas of what that means is part of their conflict. Unlike any of his potential counterparts, Seth is completely fine with being a "monster."

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    7. This piece is beautifully written. Its a pleasure to be here reading it.

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    8. I really loved the sense of getting drawn into the knowledge of the book through touch (reminds me a little of the relationship between my tome and I!!!). Really intrigued to know how that piece of tantalising knowledge plays out. Consistently strong writing each and every week.

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  6. congratulations, Marietta, superb writing. I don't think you accept how good you are.
    Sandra, this serial of yours goes from strength to strength, not surprised you are there at the top of the pile!
    All such talented people, I would hate to have to judge, for sure.
    Rebecca, this is lovely, with such a superb closing line.

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    1. Thanks Antonia - and Rebecca, one possibility for putting your story into chronological order is to also make a separate page for it on your blog, and add each episode at the bottom as and when.

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  7. "Down and down and down the rabbit hole, I followed the thread of knowledge lost, desperate to be found."

    I like that line... it tells so much... laden with emotion.

    That last line... a bit cliffhanger... methinks there is more? :)

    Very nicely done, Rebecca!

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    1. There is definitely more, but I leave it to Ravenways to tell us what happens next. I suppose we should label our series, but I find the challenge of coming up with titles part of the fun.

      If you are interested, the whole thing can be found here, though you'll have to scroll to the bottom, then hit "older posts" and read up the page. Someday, I will figure out how to rearrange it in descending order, but that's beyond my meager blogging skills as yet.

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  8. I probably shouldn't write on an empty stomach...


    FEEDING MOTHER
    By Veronica Marie Lewis-Shaw

    ~~**~~

    From tattered, filthy garments… miasma of her diseased body exudes… dried blood and remnants of past meals a diorama on corpulent, greyish-pink breasts more exposed than concealed.

    Scabrous-nailed… greasy fingers clamp ‘round the furred creature’s quivering limbs.

    Rabbit… its tiny, beating heart… terror echoes across the dank bedchamber.

    “Wouldst thou have me languish from hunger, Monsieur Lapin?” Rotting, half-toothed maw gapes… grinning evil.

    Blood-curdling squeals of the dying creature… sound of bones snapping… muscle and sinew tearing as the bitch-mother… sadistic vivisector… separates limbs from torso… freshets of blood spraying the soiled bedclothes.

    Crimson drips… gristle hangs from lips…

    Sated.


    ~ finis ~

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    1. A gorgeous bit of writing. The images you describe are so vivid and brazen. I can see her chamber. Lovely job.

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    2. Evocative as usual. Visceral and earthy, like a wound exposed in rain soaked compost. I felt disgusted and elated by your words in equal measure. That's my kind of cocktail :) Great stuff.

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    3. Totally repulsive and repulsed - which is what you so well aimed to evoke with these descriptions.

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    4. Aaugh! >_< Gross!

      Very visceral, visual language. I agree with all the other comments, and amongst a wealth of grotesquery the phrase, "rotting, half-toothed maw gapes…" is particularly potent.

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    5. Bitch-mother indeed. Like a proud queen demanding her fill. So very visceral, but leaving me with so many questions. Are you planning on continuing this perhaps?

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    6. Thank you, Marietta, Anthony, Sandra, John and MuckieDuckie! Your comments made my day!

      I was a bit repulsed and disgusted, myself. I am fairly certain I was channeling Miss Lily on this one.

      I thought the same thing myself, MuckieDuckie... when I'd finished. The little bit of back story here does seem to beg for more, doesn't it? We shall have to see how the words speak to me. :)

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    7. Wow that was a gorefest and no mistake. It made me a bit queasy. Impressive.

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    8. When I read this the first words which popped into my head were visual and visceral but I see that everyone else has beaten me to it. All I can do, it seems, is echo the comments of everyone above and applaude the voraciousness of your imagination!

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    9. Thank you, Shaun and Phil! I hope I didn't put anyone off their appetites. :)

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  9. I think you're right, Veronica, my concern is, what do you eat when you are hungry after writing something as startling as that?????

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    1. Thank you, Antonia!

      What does one eat after this? Tina served up the most delicious grilled flank steak salad, with a perfect cucumber/mint dressing. And the steak... not a hint of gristle to be found! My honey does know how to grill a steak!

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  10. I can't even begin to work out where this one came from ... after all, I have spent all afternoon working on a lovely uplifting spiritual magazine ... and then this arrived! Antidote, perhaps?

    Twilight thoughts

    Observe the soft dying day.
    See the rabbit hurrying for the safety of home ere the talons of the bird of prey clamp around its body and rip out its heart.
    Be aware of sad lovers languishing in their loneliness and heartbreak. They have hours to kill before sleep relieves them of their burden of unhappiness.
    Listen to the harvester in the last field to be shorn, cutting the heads from unwilling crops: their sacrifice feeds us all.
    Observe well the fast falling night. For then the killing truly begins – and all that has gone before is as of naught.

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    1. This conjures images of fall and the drama the season brings. What descriptive words you worked. Thank you for sending this in. It was a lovely read.

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    2. Wow a great prelude to the Halloween season. Cinematic in places and such stark reality in others. A dark magick indeed. I had the sense of Laurie Lee's spirit channelled through Lovecraft.

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    3. A vividly evoked slice of pastoral horror beneath the sentimentality.

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    4. That is absolutely gorgeous, Antonia. Twilight thoughts, indeed. =)

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    5. Poignant and melancholy... the horror echoes through this piece.

      This is the poetry that souls crave!

      Brava, Antonia... Brava!

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    6. A stark despair permeates throughout this piece as we move closer towards the end of times. There is a sense of pre-apocalyse here, as if we are witnessing the autumn of existence before the bombs descend. Excellent.

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  11. The Man Who Drank Memories.


    People forgot things around him. Their favourite TV Shows, songs from their youth, all lost down the rabbit hole. Then anniversaries, their jobs and the people they loved. He drank the memories of people.

    He languished in loneliness for years before finding the only doctor that could treat him. People no longer forgot. Not completely anyway. One more session and he’d be cured.

    He walked into the doctor’s office.

    “Are you okay?”

    The doctor clamped his fists around a family photograph of strangers.

    “Do you know who I am?” the doctor wept. “I seemed to have forgotten a few things.”

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    1. Oh wow. Gotcha. It is a great twist. You feel his hope and then at once his loss.

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    2. cold and somehow vampirish gory at the same time. That takes some doing!

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    3. You have a similarly unique and strange imagination as John Xero - and the same ability to drag us in to share it.

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    4. That's excellent, Anthony. Great core concept woven into a dark story and a bleak twist. Keeps me going back for another read. =)

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    5. Brilliantly imaginative, John! And scary as hell... the idea of a being that can do that! Brrrrr... I've got a sudden chill!

      Back in a moment, I need a blanket!

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    6. That's clever Anthony. I liked that very much.

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    7. This has a feel of the old Twilight Zone shows. Despair leads to hope leads to despair again. Clever, clever piece which was told perfectly.

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  13. RUN RABBIT RUN

    ‘Rabbit, rabbit, rabbit – why don’t you give it a rest.’ Sang Alf as he fixed the wheel clamp
    .
    Whistling the tune he walked around the car, it was all prim and proper.

    Sheltering a cigarette by turning his back on the wind he lit it and enjoyed a drag. He picked up his bag and walked off the
    windswept beach.

    His chloroformed wife languished in the car and the frigid North Sea rolled in.

    Into the shore, into the car and with icy determined fingers into her lungs, though the cold had gone to work before the water.

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    1. Nicely done. This is a wonderfully dark image and I love the chilly feel. Well done.

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    2. Cold and unsettling with the comparison of every-day cigarette and chloroformed wife. Well told.

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    3. The chill from the husband's cold, collected manner go to work on the reader even before the icy water... ;)

      Well-structured piece, Kehaar.

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    4. Bleak and brutal. A clinical execution that feels like an ordinary everyday act soon plummets our blood into icy temperatures. Dark and disturbing. Excellent.

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    5. A dark, twisted mind... to do away with one's spouse in such a horrific manner... colder still for his seeming serenity as he sets about his gruesome task!

      Very nicely done!

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    6. Hello clarkythecruel

      I wonder if anybody has ever done that. ;-) An unexpected turn of events. Very enjoyable read.

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    7. Hah, bet he claims on the insurance too (for both car and wife). The bleakness of the scene echoes the calmness of his actions. Well told and I could see you writing this as a longer piece (maybe stretch it across 2,000 words and submit to Thrillers, Killers n Chillers?).

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  14. Late this week, and somewhat tame I fear - think of it as portentous, maybe.

    The blacksmith's wife

    Despite forthcoming fatherhood, Gabriel allowed no languishing; still expected me to skin and gut the animals he brought home. So many were so often full of babes themselves and I disgorged in unaccustomed sympathy e’en as he ate, hand clamped to my quailing mouth as his clutched spoon and bowl of herb-steaming rabbit stew.
    ‘Coney-skins’ he claimed, ‘cleansed and stitched together – a winter coverlet for us, and another for the babe.’
    ‘Or a shroud for me if you persist in forcing me to make it!’ I one especially nauseous day did cry.
    But it passed; I grew big, unaccustomedly contented.

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    1. A pause in the usual violence for a spot of 'domestic bliss'; I'm sure it won't last...

      Great writing Sandra, and a good piece in and of itself, even without the wider story.

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    2. A domestic setting underpinned with the horrors of reality. Stitching together rabbit skin to wear, gutting pregnant animals while bearing a child herself all seem to twist through the mundane to make the scene feel a little uneasy.

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    3. I see what you mean... portentous. A brief calm before another storm?

      This is crafted beautifully, Sandra! It is always such a pleasure to read your prose!

      Evocative and provocative!

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    4. Thank you John, Anthony and Veronica for your reassuring words - much appreciated.

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    5. Sometimes you need a lull in the action and this worked so well, taking us gently into the next act where I am sure more mayhem will ensue. I also love that you used the word coney. It always reminds me of when Sam and Frodo were trekking towards Mount Doom and Sam puts a pair on the pot for lunch.

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  15. So much wonderful writing this week. It seems my mind is once again out trying to fill the great void with stories...


    Oubliette


    Above me I see distant stars, out of reach like blue skies and freedom.

    In every incarnation I have been a thief, and I have been caught.

    Millennia ago, a young soul, I poached a single rabbit from the King's Forest to feed a starving family. Into the hole I went, clamped in chains, forgotten.

    Most recently it was Leporidae gene seeds from the Imperial Menagerie. Rabbits to feed a whole colony. And for that I was sentenced to languish deep in this black hole, made to remember every one of my past lives.

    I long for forgetfulness and death.

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    1. That second sentence is somehow hymn-like, sonorous, and is the pivot for this circular tale.

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    2. One must suffer, else justice has not been served. I love the poetry in the opening lines.

      "I long for forgetfulness and death."

      Dark and powerful... very well written. I love the imagery... sweeping and unforgettable.

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    3. The unsettling claustrophobia of a cyclic existence terrifies me. He tries to be helpful but even karma ignores his deeds and traps him over and over again. That's a horrific thought.

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    4. Love the epic feel to this piece, almost a Moorcockian multiverse captured in 100 words.

      The tragic torment of remembering his past lives and what could have undoubtedly been without capture is a punishment I would not wish on anyone. Incredibly imaginative as always.

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  16. Riven

    Both now unnecessary, the rabbit’s glass-eyes stare accusingly from within the crib. Gently prying the duck from his son’s grasp, the man held the plush toy to his face stifling sobs; hoping his wife’s scent lingered under the smudges lovingly pressed by the toddler’s embrace.

    In that moment, clutching the toy, he allowed himself to forget the day’s anguish. His wife dead of premature birth complications and after languishing, his baby girl too succumbed.

    His heart may be clamped tight in grief, but the boy, at least, would dream easy one last night.

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    Replies
    1. Insidious horror in this, a compulsion to read and re-read in the hope that I've mis-understood. I haven't.

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    2. Beneath the horror... the heartbreak sweeps through this piece.

      Very well done... very well, indeed.

      Like Sandra... I had to re-read as well.. the boy too? That last line... like a stab to the heart, it is... bringing tears to my eyes!

      Brava, MuckieDuckie! Brava!

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    3. Heart crushing start. Then we're hit with horrific intentions that we're incapable of stopping as readers. The uselessness invoked is a great device. Very clever.

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    4. Heavy and harrowing reading Muckieduckie, very dark.

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    5. Ok, you just went and ripped my heart right out of my chest. Such sorrow and heartache within this story. I imagine it must have been incredibly hard to write. The last line added to the raw emotion as the father let's his son have one more night of normality before tragedy tears his life apart.

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  17. Wow, wow, wow, wow, wow! How good are the entries this week? Without going all X Factor, this is probably the toughest week I've had to judge. The quality just gets better and better.

    To throw into the pot is a five minute piece I scrawled on my journey home. Let's see how it finds you.

    Hopalong Henry

    Metal, through flesh, through bone. Stroke after stroke, separating sinew and tendons. It's the only way. Has to be done. Got to change my luck. Clamp down on the bad shit.

    It works with rabbits right? Who ever heard of an unlucky rabbit. Watership what? Oh yeah, right. But other than that? All sunshine and carrots from what I hear.

    Shit these drugs are the bomb. It's like languishing in ambrosia. Fucking nectar of the gods, right! Drifting away, floating now. Focus. Got to focus. Ignore the pain. Think of Bugs Bunny yeah, what's up doc?

    Just one last stroke.

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    1. There's a madness here, interspersed with childhood references to a more innocent time ... but this is far from that. Dislocating insofar as it's hard to be sure exactly what is going on. (and 'five minute scrawl' is just showing off!)

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    2. "Wow... wow... wow... wow... wow... indeed! I certainly do not envy you, Phil!

      Mad and horrific, this one is! Bravo, Phil!

      "Five minute scrawl'? Yeah, what Sandra said! Lol!

      I haven't read Watership Down since middle school. I think I need to add this to my winter book list... thanks for the reminder!

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    3. Love this Phil. Unfortunately I could visualize it all to well. Scary.

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    4. Woah a bad trip to the sound of Looney Tunes. The madness felt real, the operation visceral enough to make me squirm. Sunshine and carrots, love it.

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    5. Thanks for the kind words and sorry for the seeming cockiness! This was one of those pieces that needed to be rushed out to capture the madness required to cleave one's own foot away. Somehow I don't think Henry will end up with much luck after this!

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  18. It's been awhile. How is everyone? Not sure what this is but its what came out when I read the magic words.

    Mixy Rabbit

    The shed smelled of creosote and tobacco.

    “'Sup, blood?”

    The man eyed the frenetic boy with distain.

    “Don’t talk shit. Is that mixy rabbit still languishing out yonder?”

    “Yep, proper manky, eyes all bulging and shizz.”

    “Clamp it with this, and then bang it on the head. I’ll give it to me dogs for supper.”

    He offered his grandson a hazel stick. The boy declined it, full of bravado.

    The old man watched from the window as the boy hit the rabbit with a rotten lump of wood.

    The rabbit screamed and ran around in circles, so did the boy.

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    1. Hmm ... don't suppose I was meant to actually laugh at the end of this, especially because it is horrible and horrorful on several levels. But if rabbits is what it take to get you back here ... then so be it.

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    2. I had a giggle at the end too Sandra. The imagery was so funny. Neat and sharp little vignette here. Love the shnizzle language too.

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    3. Thanks Sandra, Iv'e had a busy few months. I really missed joining in with this. Maybe I will resurrect my serial some when soon. It's good to be back. ;-) Thanks Tony. Glad I made you both laugh. That was intentional.

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    4. Shaun, fantastic to see you back and hope that life is treating you well.

      Great characters, great scene and a great bit of comedy to round it off with. Wonderful to see that you haven't lost the knack for this flashing malarky!

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    5. Sharp and nasty... and that bit of humour at the end?

      Very clever, Shaun! The imagery is both horrific and humourous... I like this one!

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  20. Jimmy stared gape-mouthed at the Peter Rabbit cookie jar languishing in shards on the counter. He’d picked it up somewhere when we were kids. We’d loved that thing. It had helped us believe that monsters couldn’t destroy all the good in the world, in us. And I’d killed it, as my faith had been killed.

    Noises behind made me turn, gun ready. Seth, hands raised and empty. I wanted to fire. One shot to blast away the symbol of his betrayal in a wash of blood and bone. Futile.

    I clamped my eyes shut, lowered the gun, trusting in surrender.

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    1. Brilliant use of 'rabbit' - or did you slip Phil a small bribe, knowing what the cookie jar was?
      I am very much enjoying the interaction of Seth and Nate, and Jimmy. (Re-read the whole tale in its entirety yesterday, which further increases its impact)

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    2. LOL! I did not bribe Phil. When I wrote the previous installment, I'd known I wanted the cookie jar to be something completely incongruous to the gritty feel of the rest of the story, and therefore somehow special. When this week's words were revealed, Peter Rabbit came to mind, and the rest is history. *grin* Thank you. I'm so glad you're enjoying our tiny tales.

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    3. Bribes? I'm allowed to take bribes. Oh crap, why did no-one tell me that before, I could have made a fortune!!!

      Colleen - clever to use the image of Peter Rabbit to show us innocence lost for Seth and Nate. I woul say I wonder where you are going to take us next with this but I suspect you don't know until your dance partner waltzes you to the next scene. Keep them coming!

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    4. The quiet horror of this piece leaves one a little breathless. I especially appreciated the symbolism here... faith and betrayal... in the gritty reality of human failings.

      Very well done, Colleen!

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  21. Damn, forgot to add the title and there seems no way to delete my post in order to fix it.

    Shattered.

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  22. Ok, that's it. I've finished commenting so that's the party over for this week. Hope that you've enjoyed it as much as me this week. Some amazing stories and my head aches just thinking about how I am going to choose between them (or maybe that's just the campari and soda!!).

    Stay awhile and read the tales, comment if you will, but no more entries for now. New words will spill forth shortly.

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  23. Sunshine thoughts all,

    Sandra...brings back memories from my own two babies, ick. Well done I honestly felt sick for her.

    John...I love how your oubliette has evolved, questioning whether we carry our prisons with us Yay

    Muckie...heartbreaking, touching words really sad, the way you change from tender to devastated is lovely

    Phil...this made me wonder what kind of luck he needed, the chaos is pitch perfect as you add that crazy theme song great great

    Shaun...yay always good to read you. Loved this story in a creepy Richard Laymon, Woods Are Dark kinda a way excellent.

    Ravenways...the story felt nostalgic and bittersweet despite the action, to imagine them as children is powerful use of emotion

    Hope I did not skip anyone. If I did I am sorry. See you next week.

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