And the Bitch is gone....an exercise in writing.

[dr_mabeuse]

Into the north with the knuckles of the wind in my eyes.

---dr.M.

 

[CrimsonMaiden]

.

 

[carsonshepherd]

East will take you to a busy city street.



In a crowd I'm at my most alone. I don't know these people, but they're staring at me. What's wrong with me? As they pass some of them look at me, some ignore me, but most purposely look at the ground; instead of invisible I'm something for them to avoid.

Do they know?

I think they do. I think they can see how different I am - they know I don't belong here. Wide open spaces are reflected in my eyes and when the city dwellers see the sky, they don't know how dark it can be when no lights pollute its darkness.

 

[Evil Alpaca]

I headeded East, the sun burning the undersides of clouds with purples, reds and oranges as it rallied its forces against the dark, the cold and the fog to regain dominance of the sky. An old country crooner whose sun had set many months earlier told me of the Devil's herd getting chased across the sky . . . chased by a single rider. As he chased them west, I wished him well, as I exchanged my home for his.

 

[SadieRose]

Lovely piece, Abs.... Delicious sense of danger...

Here goes nothing ...



As I turned back towards the horizon where the sun would rise in a little under six hours, the main road through Dakar was still bustling with noise and activity. After the darkness of the side streets this chaotic assault on my senses set me reeling. Rich, vibrant voices called across the streets and down from windows, out of shop-fronts in a miasma of tongues; smatterings of French conversation warred with a zillion words in tongues that eluded my ear. The roar of a vehicle engine and the blare of a horn made me jump to the kerb as a battered military vehicle growled by on my right, close enough to touch. The exhaust and the churning wheels left a trail of dust and gasoline twisting in its wake.
Dark faces crowded suddenly around me, smooth and beautiful like abony carvings, eyes bright and wide, lips richly red and teeth like pearls exposed by their brief, close, shared laughter. I felt wrapped in their humour but somehow excluded. It was as though I did not exist. They parted around me and passed into the next side street and were gone.
I reached behind my ear for the joint I had rolled on the verandah of the Hotel Paris after supper and leaned back against the wall of a whitewashed block, three storeys high. Above me, on a balcony, rhythmic African music played and a bird squawked accompaniment into the night. My shirt clung sweat-damp to my naked back, it was not cool, not even now in the heart of the night. The flame from my lighter flickered and I inhaled deeply, jangling nerves soothed by the sharp fumes of the marijuana.
As I turned back down towards the Hotel foyer, I saw two faces that did notice. They were watching me closely from across the street, lean and dangerous in their dark blue uniforms, automatic rifles hanging from their hips like a casual threat. Light from the store fronts and houses glittered off the badges of authority they wore pinned proudly to their broad breasts. As I quickened my pace, lengthening my stride, they followed at once, pushing away from the wall, moving like hunting sharks across the street to intercept me.
My heart beat faster and I avoided their eyes now, trying to sidle past before they reached my side of the road. Too late... Hastily, I pinched out the remnants of my smoke and tucked the stub behind my ear again; a small, nervous gesture they would soon make me regret.

 

[cheerful_deviant]

The Ocean

“I’m gonna try and dry out a bit and get warm. Maybe catch a few Z’s. You ok for a while?” Jessica asked from the front of the cockpit.

The quiet question snapped me back from my distant thoughts and I looked at the dark silhouette a few feet away. “Yeah, I’m fine. You go ahead.”

“OK, but call me if you need me.” She turned and with a feline grace she slipped down the ladder into the cabin. It was to dark to see but I heard the cabin hatch cover slide closed.

I looked back to the distant horizon and took a deep cleansing breath, letting it out slowly. The air carried a salty tang but also a fresh smell from the heavy rains that had passed a few hours ago, as if the air had been washed clean. I could still taste the salt on my lips from the spray during that storm. Not all that surprising considering how violent that storm had been.

But as quickly as it had come, the storm had passed. There was now little evidence left on the boat to show what had happened a few hours earlier. One ripped sail, a lot of wet clothes and a cold, tired and exhausted crew.

The small display on the GPS repeater glowed green when I pressed the illumination button to check the time. A little past three AM. Well, maybe that storm actually hadn’t been over all that quickly, I thought. It had actually lasted about ten or twelve hours. No wonder I was exhausted I thought as a shiver ran through me. Exhausted and cold. But now that it had blown over, I couldn’t bring myself to go to bed no matter how inviting is was. The ocean this evening was far to magnificent to miss.

The long rolling swells and stiff breeze were the only sign of the storm that was left. All of the clouds and their cargo of rain had passed on about two hours ago, leaving a sparkling clear sky overhead.

I checked the compass and gave a slight turn to the wheel before I went back to studying the night. The boat dropped down into the troughs of the waves, and my view was of dark canyon of water, reaching high over my head in all directions. But as we rose to the crest I could see all the way to the dark, unbroken horizon in all directions. Only two other boats running lights were visible of the forty boats that were racing in this leg of the race. The feeling of solitude and peace was wonderful. The only sounds were the soft rush of the hull through the water and the singing whine of the wind in the rigging.

I hunkered back in the bench to attempt to get out of the cold wind as much as I could. One hand lightly gripped the wheel as I tipped my head back and looked up into the sky. The view was breathtaking. Millions of tiny points of light sparkled down on me from the heavens. I marveled at how many more stars could be seen way out here that could be seen form back home and how much larger the sky looked than it did from on dry land. There seemed to be a hundred times more stars than I had ever seen. The arm of the Milky Way could clearly be seen in a long hazy swath that cut diagonally across overhead. Looking up at all of those millions of stars suddenly made me feel very small and insignificant, but it also gave me a profound feeling of peace.

After what may have been a few minutes of maybe a few hours, a single streak of light shot across the sky. The blazing streak caught my attention and the though occurred to me that I should make a wish but the only thought that would come to my mind was that I wanted to stay awake all night so as not to miss any of this incredible night on the ocean.

 

[Kassiana]

South will take you to the ocean.

I blinked and saw the piney forests I remembered from childhood. It had been over ten years since I'd visited Douglas, but the moment I opened my eyes I recognized it. It was the corner we stopped at just before we entered the green groves that led us to the ocean.

I couldn't speak. My throat was clogged and my eyes filled with tears as I took my first steps forward. On the right, there was a farmhouse with the pale blue sky and holy words from Genesis painted on it. On the left were trees and familiar cabins, summer homes for travelers like me. Oh, I knew they were there even though my weak eyes betrayed me and obscured my vision. I could smell the pines, the fresh air. I felt the wind pushing at me as I walked, the rhythm as familiar as my own heartbeat. Even the sounds were the same, whooshing and rushing the closer I got to the beautiful blue expanse I loved.

Trees all around. I walked through green arches, houses mostly hidden in the near-forest. Here and there were large blue and red glacial rocks, used as decoration. The sky was mostly hidden by the entwining branches above, but where it peeked through it was the pure blue of winter, the rare color I only saw at home on days that imprisoned me.

Everywhere were familiar landmarks. The blue and white house on the corner that was Shirley's summer home. The turn to my left would take me to my aunt's former cabin where I spent weeks as a child, among white wicker chairs and dark oak floors. Up ahead was a small antique shop and a pathway that led to a house covered in cobblestones. I didn't have to look at it to see it.

I cleared the tears from my eyes when I finally heard the waves, strong as ever, crashing into the shore. I saw the staircase leading down and even though I could not see the water yet, I knew it still waited for me.

The path was sandy at first, a thin layer of sand over dark earth, gradually becoming hidden under more sand as my tired feet hit the slope. The wooden staircase down from there showed the same water, the very same, glowing green at the horizon and deep blue closer to shore. The beach looked as beaches do, that golden brown color. The huge dark rock was still there, battered by the waves but standing tall. The waves were fierce today, but I didn't care about the glimmering whitecaps or the slaps of water against the shore. I was going to feel that water on my feet today. Now.

I ran to the water, leaving the trees and road and homes behind. All that mattered was reaching my former refuge, the place on earth I most loved. I sobbed as I reached the water's edge and was smacked with a large wave that soaked me from the waist down. I knelt and let loose all the tears, all the loss, all the desire to return, as the green water soaked into me and chilled my body.

 

[ABSTRUSE]

SOUTH

She sat on the beach feeling the ocean breeze cool her skin from the heat that lingers from the now setting sun. Off to her left two seagulls noisily argued over the remains of some small sea creature. Pulling herself up she wrapped her arms around her knees and closed her eyes, taking a deep breath she inhaled the sea’s perfume. The roar of the waves perpetually crashing to the shore and then receding again lulled her into a dream of a time long ago.
She dug her toes into the warm sand recalling back to the day they flew the kite and how she cut the bottom of her foot on a piece of broken shell. Flinching a little as she remembered the stab of pain and how she became weak at the sight of her blood spreading over the wet sand only to be washed away by the waves.

“I am now a part of the sea.” She thought to herself. “Blood sisters forever.”

She smiled to herself imagining her legs taking on a new form and being replaced by iridescent scales and a tail. Her mermaid reverie was interrupted by the sounds of footsteps coming from behind her and stopping next to her. She felt the brush of his sleeve against her forearm as he bent in and kissed her cheek. He smelled fresh from the shower, a clean soapy smell surrounded her and she felt salty from the sea air that clung to her skin.

“Paint it for me.”

“Paint what, love?” he asked.

“The sunset. Paint it for me.”

He smiled as he looked over at her, she looked like a Hollywood starlet with the red and white polka dot scarf wrapped around her head and the dark glasses.

“I don’t have my brushes or paints.”

She let out a slight sigh. “You know what I mean.”

“Yes love, I was only teasing. The sun is a mix of orange and magenta like a huge circle cut from paper and clouds of the same color blend are like tendrils that spring from it only done in a transparent watercolor wash. It’s as though her fingers are reaching across the sky as they grab hold of the horizon allowing her to lower herself down to sleep. The waves are tipped in dollops of a purple impasto with spattered flecks of gold and the sea itself is a glassy Prussian blue. If you weren’t paying attention you would miss the pastel greens rubbed between the other colors, as they are so subtle. The rainbow is there, all colors of the spectrum accounted for, love. Every hue, every variant, primary, secondary and tertiary represented and displayed.”

He paused for a few moments letting her take it all in before he stood up and brushed the sand from his jeans.

“She’s three quarters gone now, Shall we go back to the house?”

“Yes, let’s go home.” She smiled as she felt his hands take hers and pull her up so she was standing directly in front of him. “Thank you for my painting.”

“I told you I would always paint for you, love.”

He gently placed a kiss on her forehead and placed her arm around his before turning towards the house.
The familiar clicking sound no longer made him feel uneasy and even though he felt the need to support her, she had quickly managed to learn how to master the cane and negotiate her way back and forth from the house and the beach. He should have known that something as small as the lack of sight would keep her from her beloved ocean.

 

[ABSTRUSE]

EAST.

The city streets were exceptionally busy today with people rushing to and fro. I don’t know why they always have to rush about, it’s not like they don’t have enough time, well most of them anyway.
I’d have to walk a few more blocks. I should have paid more attention to my drop off point and calculated to land a little closer to the park. City blocks are so long.
It’s not that I don’t like to walk mind you. I could walk for hours on the shorelines or in the forests just taking everything in down here. So many souls here in the city and so few of them stop to take a good look at the world around them. Even in the bleak gray concrete buildings one can find hidden beauty if one takes the time to look. They breeze past each other by not even looking into the faces of those that they go by or bump into as they rush along. They don’t bother to hear the stories of so many interesting lives. They don’t smile enough or even say hello or excuse me. Little blobs of wasted flesh living, and I use that word lightly, in the confines of concrete and asphalt dreaming of the coulda, woulda, shouldas of lives not well spent.
Underneath the layers of dirt and grime are colors, ignore the smell of diesel and oil and you can smell sweet perfumes, delicious foods and flowers. Yes flowers, you can find them in the park or in the stalls of street vendors. They miss out on a variety of tastes too. Refusing to go into an eatery because of a person’s nationality, as if a birthplace should make a difference over the fact that there is something incredibly wonderful to experience behind a door. It’s really very silly I think.
I’m only a block away from the park now and my overcoat is making me very warm. I can’t take it off for obvious reasons.
I used to hate the city assignments but I’ve learned to love them, as there became more and more of them. More of us have been added to the list over the past decade. There were other jobs I could have chosen, but this one had a certain appeal to me. I like the one on one interaction.
Speaking of which, there he is right on time. Sitting on ‘his’ bench, reading the daily news, his paper bag which contains, one banana, one cheese sandwich, one hard boiled egg already peeled and wrapped in plastic, one salt packet and a napkin, cloth not paper. He has a cup of coffee, the only thing he will purchase, sitting close to him. He sits and reads his paper, front to back, carefully folds it when he is done and then sets it on his lap as he pauses for a few moments to watch the others walk by him. For ten years this has been his routine, it never varies and weather is rarely a factor. Ever since his wife went home he decided to not sit alone in his tiny apartment in front of the television wasting away. He was too old to work and too healthy to die. This was his way of still being a part of the world without really having to get involved. His only son was lost in Vietnam and he would look at men that would be about his son’s age and wonder what would have happened if he had lived.
On occasion another gentleman or woman would join him and they would recall time long gone. Sometimes he would get asked to join in a game of chess or checkers, but most days were spent watching the world go by.
His life was by no means melancholy in fact he found a special peace within himself. He considered his life to have been a good one despite his now being alone. There were no regrets, no cries of anger, no repose of giving up all and wasting away. When his time was up he thought, he would be ready.
Well my friend today is that day. I sit next to him on the bench and greet him; I like to make it as pleasant as possible and hopefully not frightening at all. We chat for a bit and I can tell he knows who I am. He’s looked into the gap in my overcoat when I sat down and has seen my wings crammed inside. Our eyes meet and he smiles, we both find a certain peace in all of this and at that second we are the only two beings in the world idly sitting on a park bench. He goes to gather his things, stops and laughs softly realizing he won’t need them. I tell him how his wife and son are waiting for him, he asks if he should comb his hair and I straighten his tie and tell him he looks very handsome. He tells me he’s a little nervous, not to worry I say, I still get nervous too.
And so on an early fall day on a little park bench in a big, big city a little old man seems to be asleep with his paper in his lap and his hands folded neatly on top of the paper. People will walk by until eventually someone notices that he has passed on in his sleep.
They missed earlier on when he walked hand in hand with an angel of death nervously chatting about whether his wife would still want to waltz with a little old man, only after I told him the dancing is allowed and even encouraged.
He promised to teach me the quick step.

 

[ABSTRUSE]

bumping in the hopes I can provoke more to write something.

 

[English Lady]

West :


I feel like burglar walking through this small village so late at night. My purposes are innocent and good I can assure you but the village seems to frown at me as I slowly and quietly walk along the main street towards my own home.

There isn’t another human out here now under the faded brilliance of the winter moon. Not another human would dream of being awake at such an un-leisurely hour in this sleepy, conservative English village. Each cottage seems to be snuggled in on itself, huddled against the cold wind and whipping rain that keeps hitting against my un-scarved cheeks and below my hat exposed forehead.

Each house is dark and dim. So dark in fact it is hard to believe anyone lives inside them. I would believe this in fact if I hadn’t seen each one lit up earlier in the evening, families and individuals milling about in living rooms and kitchens.

When it is so quiet and so still like this it makes me feel like streaking. Yes even in this cursed English weather. I feel like running and screaming across the manicured lawn in the central square, ripping off my clothes and spinning around and around yelling in my nakedness.

Of course I’d never ever be allowed to live anywhere near here ever again if I did do that so I keep on walking past the village green and the chocolate box church and onwards to the outskirts of this ghostlike time and to my own home.

 

[ABSTRUSE]

Thank you EL.........now keep your clothes on and keep walking...LOL.

 

[English Lady]

damn and I was going to take'em all off.... *grins*

 

[ABSTRUSE]

damn and I was going to take'em all off.... *grins*

oh WTF, it's a porn site.......go for it!!! Maybe it will inspire others to write about it.....go through each of the paths!

 

[English Lady]

hmm well i'll see where the path takes me

 

[ABSTRUSE]

bumpdity bump bump.

 

[EnglishMuffin]

bumpdity bump bump.

uh-huh

 

[ABSTRUSE]

uh-huh

Oh yeah.

 

[impressive]

bumping in the hopes I can provoke more to write something.

Workin' on another -- north this time.

 

[ABSTRUSE]

Workin' on another -- north this time.

thank you babe, I can't wait!

 

[Alex De Kok]

Thinking about a story, this popped into my head -

* * *

West I go, ever west, searching. When I reach the village it is quiet, too quiet. No men, no women, no children. No noise. An echoing nothingness of silence. The air is still, heavy with the smell of death, the sweet stink of putrefaction, the smoky aftertaste of burning. I turn a corner, the wall blackened by fire, the roof of the cottage collapsed in on itself. Charred remains of door and windows, of furniture. Of people. An orchard on the corner is now a ragged wasteland, skeletal trees pointing charred splinters towards the sky, the fresh blue trebly-damned sky of summer.

A noise startles me and I wheel, heart pounding, to see another charred roof collapse in on itself. Trembling, I pause, and then I hear it. Slow, heavy, dragging. Click of claw on rock. The crossbow is already cocked and I raise it, trying to still the tremor in my hands. It doesn't see me and I steady myself, aiming, firing, then diving behind the broken wall as the bolt smashes into the dragon's eye.

* * *

Alex

Edited to add: I just realised, I wrote this in present tense! Something I normally avoid like the plague . . .

 

[ABSTRUSE]

Thinking about a story, this popped into my head -

* * *

West I go, ever west, searching. When I reach the village it is quiet, too quiet. No men, no women, no children. No noise. An echoing nothingness of silence. The air is still, heavy with the smell of death, the sweet stink of putrefaction, the smoky aftertaste of burning. I turn a corner, the wall blackened by fire, the roof of the cottage collapsed in on itself. Charred remains of door and windows, of furniture. Of people. An orchard on the corner is now a ragged wasteland, skeletal trees pointing charred splinters towards the sky, the fresh blue trebly-damned sky of summer.

A noise startles me and I wheel, heart pounding, to see another charred roof collapse in on itself. Trembling, I pause, and then I hear it. Slow, heavy, dragging. Click of claw on rock. The crossbow is already cocked and I raise it, trying to still the tremor in my hands. It doesn't see me and I steady myself, aiming, firing, then diving behind the broken wall as the bolt smashes into the dragon's eye.

* * *

Alex

Fabulous........I was pulled in and smacked hard with the claw...bravo!!!

 

[impressive]

North

Their trip north to the state forest was a spur of the moment thing. Neither woman knew that heavy snow was forecast for evening; they were just thrilled with the opportunity to get away for a weekend. There was nothing planned, nothing contrived. The spontaneity made it perfect.

It started snowing soon after their arrival and showed no signs of stopping; already, eight inches blanketed the earth. Their rustic cabin had no electricity to begin with, so they didn‛t miss it when the winds, ice, and heavy snow took down power lines across the region. With a fire roaring in the stone fireplace, they sipped hot chocolate and warmed their toes at the hearth. Conversation covered a wide variety of topics, and silence, when it finally overtook them, was introspective rather than awkward.

Just what prompted Sam to lean over and kiss Jess may forever be a mystery, but Jess responded with a fervor that left no doubt she was ready. Perhaps she hadn‛t even known it herself until that very moment. Regardless, there was no turning back now. They‛d done it – taken the next step, crossed the line. Whatever they called it, it meant the same thing – they were now well on their way to becoming lovers. For better or worse. Come what may. These thoughts zipped through Sam‛s mind as she finally held her closest friend in her arms. It had been a long time coming – years – every step of the way an exquisitely tantalizing journey of discovery.

For now, it was absolutely sublime -- and the best was yet to come.

 

[ABSTRUSE]

Re: North

Their trip north to the state forest was a spur of the moment thing. Neither woman knew that heavy snow was forecast for evening; they were just thrilled with the opportunity to get away for a weekend. There was nothing planned, nothing contrived. The spontaneity made it perfect.

It started snowing soon after their arrival and showed no signs of stopping; already, eight inches blanketed the earth. Their rustic cabin had no electricity to begin with, so they didn‛t miss it when the winds, ice, and heavy snow took down power lines across the region. With a fire roaring in the stone fireplace, they sipped hot chocolate and warmed their toes at the hearth. Conversation covered a wide variety of topics, and silence, when it finally overtook them, was introspective rather than awkward.

Just what prompted Sam to lean over and kiss Jess may forever be a mystery, but Jess responded with a fervor that left no doubt she was ready. Perhaps she hadn‛t even known it herself until that very moment. Regardless, there was no turning back now. They‛d done it – taken the next step, crossed the line. Whatever they called it, it meant the same thing – they were now well on their way to becoming lovers. For better or worse. Come what may. These thoughts zipped through Sam‛s mind as she finally held her closest friend in her arms. It had been a long time coming – years – every step of the way an exquisitely tantalizing journey of discovery.

For now, it was absolutely sublime -- and the best was yet to come.

HOORAY!!!!
and Sam and Jess were there........Imp, you exceeded my expectations!

 

[impressive]

Re: Re: North

HOORAY!!!!
and Sam and Jess were there........Imp, you exceeded my expectations!

Now to make it REAL.