Cold – VisDare 43

Here’s my latest offering for Anonymous Legacy‘s photo-inspired prompt, VisDare. This week’s prompt word is ‘Memory’. The rules are simple:

150 words – or less.

Post entry to your blog and “link in”.

(Please – no erotica or graphic violence.)

DON’T FORGET to read and comment on others’ entries!!

The photo is below, and my piece follows.  Let me know what you think, and give it a go yourself, why not?

– Cold – 

“What is it?”

“They called it a butterfly.”

“And what did it do?”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, everything must have a use.”

“Is that what you’ve been learning in classes?”

“Everything in this life must have at least one purpose.”

“… Because that is what went wrong before? Is that what they taught you today?”

“Yes, Mother. We have learned from our mistakes.”

I take one final look at the etching before closing the book – a remnant of times past. I should be pleased that my daughter is such a good student. And yet…

“Mother?”

“Yes, Lucy?”

“I will call you by your first name from now on. Sentimentality serves no purpose. Not in these times.”

“As you wish.”

I hold the book close, yearning to feel the whisper of butterfly wings on my face, just one more time.

My daughter is as cold and hard as stone.

anonymous-legacy-160x160-black

What Lies Beneath – Alastair’s Photo Fiction

Here is my offering for Alastair’s Photo Fiction this week, inspired by the photo below.  Why not take part? And why not visit his photography and writing blog to take a look at his other photos…?

Copyright - Kattermonran

Copyright – Kattermonran

– What Lies Beneath –

The four seasons are a distant memory – those days are long gone. Now we have The Dry and The Wet. I miss the crunch of autumn leaves underfoot, the mists hanging in the valleys at sunrise.

The onslaught of rain is tough at first. One day, the sun is high and fierce enough to leave us all parched at each ragged breath, the next the air is heavy, clouds low and pregnant with water. After a few weeks, the downpour ceases for a while, puddles lie still. It is this time that will find me, toes touching the very edge of one of these glistening pools, watching, waiting, staring.

“Alison? Alison! I’m here.”

The voice is faint, as if my imagination is playing cruel tricks. But this is real, agonisingly so.

The Washed Away, they call them. Most believe that they were drowned in the Flood Times, when the heavens opened for four long years. But I know the truth. Yes, they were washed away, but not drowned. Just taken down; down to The Below.

“Mother! It’s so good to see you!”

We smile, making do. It’s all we have.


 

Denied – dVerse Poetics (Halloween version)

This week’s dVerse Poetics has us writing ghostly tales, but with a comedic twist. Such fun! It is very windy here on the coast tonight, and according to the weather forecast, worse is to come tomorrow evening – so my offering has picked up on that, as you will see!

I hope you enjoy it – and please visit dVerse to read all of the other creations!

– Denied –

The winds they howl and moan tonight
They say they’ll bring the folks a fright
Tear down trees and windows break
The gales will keep us all awake

‘Tis Halloween, the ghosts and ghouls
Should roam the earth and steal our souls
But the weather has them beat
And whipped them all from off their feet

They’re wrapped around the chimney stacks
Caught in trees, trapped in shacks
The wind has sucked away their cries
And turned them dumb, to their surprise

They clench their fists and gnash their teeth
Their tortured souls find no release
The one night of the year for fun
Has left our ghastly ghostlies glum

Frustrated in their scary games
They feel let down, a sense of shame
That dawn is almost on their heels
And not a scream has been revealed

From the throats of human prey
The winds have stolen fear away
The storm dies down, the daylight looms
The scary fiends are bathed in gloom

‘Twas Halloween, a terrible night
For ghosts that die to cause a fright
Mother Nature upped her game
The ghouls were silenced – what a shame!