Pity for The Baby Bird

Excerpt from Mother of Mars (Yes, I’m still working on this.)

Rumbling over the rocky landscape, the comforting sound of radio static plays in Cecil’s ears.  Agrippa speaks up.   “How… how do you feel about all this?”  He hesitates.

“It’s been hard to process all of this, Agrippa.”  Cecil sighs, leaning over the front seat.  “I know that I can’t stand that place… the station.  It’s unbearable.  Without my sight, it feels as if my other senses are in overdrive, and I can’t block anything out.  Secundus is quiet… serine.”

“Don’t try to ignore that fact that we’re headed back to that… thing, though.”  Agrippa hums.

“Even if I could ignore it, I don’t think would want to.  Now that I know what I might be dealing with… I don’t know.  It’s comforting.”

“How so?”  Agrippa asks.

“The people at the station… well, I felt like I couldn’t bear to face them anymore.”  Cecil reminisces.  “I’m afraid that when people talk to me, all they see is someone to feel bad for.  Tulia said so as well.  I feel like I can hear the pity in their voice.  Sometimes I feel like I’m just confirming their expectations because all I can do is regurgitate their sentiments.

“I don’t believe that Cecil.  They may be looking out for you, but this isn’t a place where we nurture pity.”

“I know that… but you can’t just deny human nature.  It’s like finding a baby bird that’s fallen out of its nest.  People will want to bring it back to its mother, even if touching it will end up doing more harm than good.  That thing… it doesn’t judge me.  It tries to understand, rather than just judging.  I still don’t know what to make of it, but it’s some solace.”

“Just promise me you won’t lose yourself though, Cecil.”  Agrippa trails off, leaving the rest of the ride silent.

The Voice

-Remember, if you mess this up, it’s on you.  I’m not taking responsibility.

–I know that.

-I’ll tell you what I’ll do if something goes wrong. 

-I don’t need to hear it.  Nothing will go wrong.

–Even though we’re in this together, you’re the one who wants it more.  If something happens, I’m out for good.  There’s no way I can help you if you can’t help yourself, especially this time.

-If you put it that way, it’s just going to make me more nervous.

–You’re the one making yourself nervous.  Don’t get psyched out.

–Of course, you’d phrase it like that.  Can we just do this?

–I want you to think about how badly you need this.  Believe me, it will take the edge off.  It will calm your nerves.  Think about your goal.  Forget what I said about what might happen to you, but those back at home.  They need that money.

-They need that money.

–Nobody has to get hurt.  We just get in and get out.

–Why did I have to bring this gun, then?

–Sometimes people need to be reminded that you’re serious.  Maybe you were deciding that you were serious yourself.  That fact that you’re here means there’s no backing down now.  Do or die.

–Don’t say it like that.  God my heart is beating so fast.

–It’s too late.  She’s looking at us.  You need to act now.  Walk up to the window.

“Who are you talking to sir?  Is there anything I can help you with?”

He looked back at the empty bank lobby for a moment, the morning sun glowing in the windows.  Grabbing the pistol in his baggy sweatshirt pocket, he pulled out the handle and flashed it to her.

“I need you to empty your cash drawer for me, now…  Please.”

The House on the Cliff

 Outland: Chapter 3

I never did find that hatch.  By the time I had dragged my toolbox back, I was too exhausted to go out looking for it.  It’s a shame.  Finding spare parts isn’t really easy.  Finding materials and tools to machine a replacement on this side of the mountains is even harder.  I stretched a tarp over the hole to hopefully block off any debris or such getting in.  Either way, it’s lighter and therefore more efficient.  That’s what I’ll tell myself.

Gulliver had charged up fully that next morning and we set off again. Sitting in the pilot seat, I sat watching the coastline move by me.  The searing sun glared down at me from the center of the sky.

“Gulliver, do you think we’re nearing the equator?  It’s awfully hot.”  I shifted sideways in the seat, pulling myself into the shadow of the windshield.

“Going off our coordinates, we could be there in about a week’s time, Andrew.”

“Excellent.”  I waved my hands through the rays of light being projected on the floor of the cockpit.  “I’m satisfied with this pace.”

After crossing over into the northern hemisphere, we would be one step closer towards island jumping through the Panama region, now a great deal under water.  I’ve heard accounts of the region.  The point where the oceans meet is supposedly beautiful, they said.  Come to think of it, I haven’t seen any other travelers in a while…

The calm sea by our sides, we continued up the coast until the sun had crept up to meet the watery horizon, drawing a bright orange line pointed towards us.  I put up the solar panels to be ready for the next morning, and climbed down to my cabin.  As I took my seat to start transposing the map for the night, I couldn’t help but notice a light out of the side window somewhere down the coast.

“Gulliver?”

“Yes, Andrew?”

“There’s something shining out there.  I’m not imagining it, am I?”  I pondered.

“I would assume not, Andrew.”

“I’ll have to see where it’s coming from tomorrow.  Remind me, could you?”

“I will do that.”

As I continued sketching out the coastline, I couldn’t help taking peeks at the strange light before I eventually nodded off.

The next day, we started moving early.  I kept my gaze focused ahead the whole time, looking for whatever the source might have been.  The wind-bitten cliffs overhanging the beach looked like they had taken a beating the other day from the waves.  Sitting precariously atop one of them, I spotted a grouping of small buildings.  Houses.  It could have been a neighborhood at one point.  A pile of debris at the bottom of the cliffs from various structures that hadn’t made it told me that it probably was no more.Continue reading “The House on the Cliff”

Greasy Valentine’s Cards

Are you just now realizing that tomorrow is Valentines Day?  I certainty was just reminded myself.  Don’t worry if you haven’t decided on the words to deliver to your sweetheart tomorrow, I’m here for you.  If you have been able to look past some of my darker writing, there is romance to be found.  Or grease.  Yeah, that’s grease.  So here’s some deli themed love notes you can deliver to that certain special person.

Hey, we’d make a good sandwich.  We go together like ham and cheese.

fry-guy

I want to love you like my favorite part of the chicken- tenderly.  Because chicken tenders.

 

Not even deli slicers could tear us apart.

 

cut-glove

You put my heart in a pickle.

onion-ring-copy

I want you to be the meat inside my roll. Maybe let’s not go in this direction.

 

Sinking into Skin

“You know I love you, right?” I hear her speak up from behind me.  The voice jars me away from the lines of text inside my book.

“Save it.  I’m in the middle of something right now.”  I move my thumb to my place in the passage and glance sideways at Serina from the chair I had sunken deep into.  She pushes herself away from my seat gracefully, avoiding eye contact.  Her arms are held behind her back, hands grasping onto each other coyly as she slinks around the room.  Tiptoeing away slowly, she acts as if the books on my shelf suddenly catch her interest.

“What are you talking about?”  Serina hums.  “I just want to tell you how much I love you.”

“It’s always the same with you… surprising me like each time you want to do it.  There’s no buildup.”  I replied, sticking my finger between the individual pages to place the book face down on my lap.  The hair on my neck prickles as a gust of wind runs down the chimney and into the room.  The fire wavers and roars back to life, spraying a burst of glowing embers onto the hearth.  Tiny bits of grey ash float down through the air, dancing in the flickering light.

“I guess there’s no fooling you.”  Serina spins on her heel, turning to look at me.  One side of her face is cast in shadow, and I can make out the corners of her lips turn up in a sly smile.

“How many times have we been through this?  Besides, I don’t believe your kind can even feel love, can they not?”  I concede to placing down the book on the rough table besides me, shoving the crystal drinking glass aside.

“Perhaps we do, perhaps we don’t.  We are like you though… we have certain needs.  I’m just fulfilling mine.”  Serina licks her lips, and I grab onto the armrests of the chair, wrestling to rise up from the soft cushion.  The girl daintily twirls around the room like a ballerina, her dark dress catching the air as she moves back to the lounge.  “You’re the one I’ve chosen to do it with.  That’s a privilege, some might say.”

The blood rushes to my head as I get to my feet, and I can feel the room swaying back and forth with each blink of my eyes.  “Who says that?”  I ponder out loud, hefting myself around the chair.  Serina is stretched out on the lounge, bare legs swinging back and forth, casting long slender shadows on the back wall.

“Well… there are others who are simply used, then discarded.  Their existence doesn’t provide anything else than that.   You’re… special.”  Serina explains, as her mouth widens to a devilish smile.  Her silvery teeth gleam behind a pair of supple, ruby lips.

As I hobble to the lounge, Serina shifts to the end, dangling her feet off the edge.  Her knees come together shyly, and her dress drapes down over her alabaster-toned thighs.  I find my own place on the lounge and lay back, pulling my legs to rest on the rough embroidered fabric.

Laying my head back against the firm cushion, I stare up at the ceiling, examining the shadows cast by the hand-carved molding above me.  Serina’s tender hands grab onto my shins, and move upwards.  Glancing down, I spot her obsidian dark hair coming towards me.  Her face pops up from between the wavy bangs hanging down from her forehead, and she makes eye contact.  In the darkness, her pupils widen, focusing on my face.

“Just get this over with.”  I shrug, rolling my head back.

“I thought you would never ask.”  She teases.  I feel her pelvis press into mine, and her arms lean against my chest.  Sucking in a shallow breath, I feel her arms slide down, finding my fingers to intertwine in hers.  Her soft palms caress mine, if only for a moment.

Behind the layers of fabric making up her dress, I can feel her petit breasts pressing into my chest.  My heart beats loud.  She notices, pulling herself back away from me, returning her hand to my torso.  Her hand dances just above where my heart is beating.  I can hear her let out a small, singular laugh and I close my eyes.  Her arms shoot around underneath mine, wrapping around to grab my shoulders from the other side.  Her head shoots forwards and I can feel the strands of hair against my cheek.  Her teeth meet the tender flesh of my neck.

Her fangs sink in.  It doesn’t hurt this time.  It hasn’t for a while now.  It did the first few times she tried it, but even then, the sensation didn’t last long.  I don’t know how to describe it.   Her warm saliva makes contact with my skin, and the bottom set of teeth, flat like normal, occasionally brushe the skin just north of my collar bones.

I can feel her heart beat now.  Her warm, slender body lays on top of mine, unmoving.  Away from the fireplace, the cold air catches up with me, and I wrap my arms around her waist.  She feels tiny, as if I could breaker her if I squeezed too hard, although I know that could never happen.  Serina maintains contact with my neck and doesn’t seem to react otherwise.

The images in my head start to dance, and I can feel a loud thumping in my ears.  Serina’s fingernails, now dug into my shoulders, release.  With a slight moist sound, she pulls away, brushing the long hair out of her face.  I let my arms fall off her waist.

I take a deep breath and catch her gaze.  A small drip of crimson liquid catches at the side of her mouth.  I can see her nostrils flare before she moves her tongue to the side to catch it.  “You taste different.”  Serina announces.  “You’ve been drinking, haven’t you?”

I peer back at the glass on the table.  The two ice cubes from before had melted almost completely, the tiny remaining chunks shining in the light of the fire.  “To be honest, I didn’t dislike it.”  She announced finally, before turning quickly and leaving the room.  “Goodnight then.”

I breath out deeply, readjusting my collar back up around my neck.  My arms feel heavy, and I can’t bring myself to move off the lounge just yet…