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Monthly Archives: November 2013

Trifecta 104: Companion

This week’s Trifecta Challenge gave us the “companion” as our word. The definition we had to use can refer to one who is employed to live with and serve another. So, here’s “Companion.”

Confession time. I hated Royce. Loathed, even. Everything about him drove me insane, from the pretentiousness of his name to the stupid coat he wore year round. It wouldn’t have been so bad had there been any other kids our age for us to interact with, but we didn’t have that luxury. Growing up in the labs, we were lucky just to have another civilian family around. Of course, the worst part wasn’t anything that I had any real control over. My parents had been hired years ago that Royce might have another child to serve as a companion.

I guess there were a lot of reasons for me to have resented him. I was eight when I first met Royce and his parents, and Armstrong Base was full of scientists conducting research. Royce was the only child of the sole civilian team there, and he was spoiled rotten from day one. I mean, he grew up with the goddamn moon for his back yard. I grew up in Cleveland. Not exactly comparable.

Then my parents were contacted. “Our son is lonely. Can you help?” I know that the money Royce’s parents offered up wasn’t the only reason they shipped me off. I was going to get an education, the best learning environment in the solar system. Only one catch. I was stuck with Royce for life.

“It’ll be okay, Hans,” they said on my arrival. “Your parents are only a call away.” For the first few years, things went well enough. Then Royce started to realize that he could order me around, and thanks to the surveillance around Armstrong, I had to comply. Fifteen more years of that, day and night. “Hans, fetch a water. Hans, I dropped my fork. Hans, I have more money than your pitiful family could ever make in a lifetime.”

I mean, you can’t say it wasn’t pre-meditated. Just cliché as hell. I mean, honestly. It boils down to “the butler did it,” only on the moon.

Trifextra Week 94: Necessity

This weekend’s Trifextra Writing Challenge features something a little different from the standard. Typically, and Trifecta Challenge centers around a inclusion of a specific word, for which we are given a word limit of between 33 and 333 words. However, a little-known holiday happened to roll around this past week, and so our weekend writing was given an appropriate celebratory theme. November 15th is apparently National Erotica Day, and so we were tasked with crafting just such a piece for the “TrifeXXXtra.” Now some of my readers know that this isn’t a typical theme for my writing here, but it’s still one I’ve tackled in the past. As such, I thought this would be a fun chance to expand my writing portfolio yet again. Without further ado, I present “Necessity.”

“Necessity”

I needed to feel him again. There was incredible warmth to his skin, an almost radiant heat in his touch that caught me by surprise every time we made contact. It was like this no matter how long it had been since our last night together.

The simple brush of his hand on mine was enough to send my mind racing, dreaming of what grand adventure he might have been planning. I don’t know that what I felt for him was love, but there was no denying that I felt something beyond physical, whether it was his hands, or his lips, or his tongue… His first kiss brought me to life. The spark of the brushing of our lips carried with it all of the forbidden knowledge I’d yearned for, changing everything I thought I knew.

It was intoxicating to be around him. His favorite cologne smelled like pine trees, and after we’d been together I could still smell it, mingling with our sweat. I would ache for hours afterwards, but I reveled in it. He would shower and leave for work. I would stay curled up in bed, basking in the afterglow. Eventually I’d make my weak-kneed way over to the bathroom for a shower of my own.

We would see each other as often as we could arrange, but it was never enough. He seemed inexhaustible, and always wanted to take me as many times as he could in a single visit. No matter what we would do to mix things up, he would still leave me shivering in ecstasy after each climax.

I wanted him, and I hated myself for it. I was supposed to be strong, independent, not whimpering in orgasmic bliss beneath him, but I couldn’t help the way he made me feel. It ran counter to everything I’d thought about myself before we met. Still, when we found each other, there was something indescribable. I needed to feel him again, and I knew he needed me too.

Go Where There Is No Map

Go where there is no map.
Venture bravely into the
Lands that are yet unknown.
There be monsters, aye, but
There be heroes to slay them.

Go where there is no map.
Wander beyond the familiar
And find the strange and new.
You cannot be lost somewhere
If no one knows the way.

Go where there is no map.
Journey there on your own,
Or with a good friend.
You may be uncertain, aye,
But courage will find you.

Go where there is no map.
Stray from the paths you
Have known since your youth.
Adventure awaits everyone
If they start looking for it.

Go where there is no map.
Take whatever transportation
You find. Feet, bike, jet, train.
The only way to experience
This world is to see it.

Go where there is no map.
Flee the mundane and go
Where your heart takes you.
It is better than any cartographer’s
Work in your life’s quest.

Go where there is no map.
Leave footprints where none
Have ever been, nor will be again.
Blaze your trail and you
Will not be forgotten.

Go where there is no map.
The world you know is
Changing, and it will never cease.
Be willing to make mistakes
On each new road.

Go where there is no map.
No street sign, no satellite.
Be bold and do not falter.
This place is new, beginning
Here is the only thing to do.

Go where there is no map.
Take courage from all you
See and do. Become yourself.
With every dawn, you’ll see
New opportunities.

Go where there is no map.
Venture bravely into the
Lands that are yet unknown.
There be monsters, aye, but
Now you are the hero.

Tonight

“Tonight”

Tonight I floated away from
The world, and I gazed at
The sky, and I watched
The stars fall. Alone in the
Dark, cool in the fading of
Summer. “This must be what
It’s like to watch the end of
The world when you’ve lost
Your reason to care,” I told
Myself. “The skies are falling
But there’s no reason to
Fear it.” And so I watched
For a while longer, until
The waters grew cold and
My eyes grew tired and
The hour grew late.

Grave Circumstances

There’s no sense trying to hide the fact that I really enjoy visiting cemeteries. It’s something that’s been a hobby of mine for years now, probably starting with the fact that there was a small graveyard about a mile from my childhood home. There’s something beautiful and tranquil about wandering from stone to stone, finding names you know, and relishing our mortality. Now personally, I’m all for cremation for myself when I go, but that doesn’t mean I can’t appreciate the solemnity of the final resting place of others.

There’s an absolutely gorgeous cemetery about ten minutes away from my apartment, and I decided it was high time I took a trip to see what I could find. I was not disappointed. I roamed the grounds for nearly an hour, listening to the rain-like sounds of the leaves falling in the breeze, snapping photos with my phone whenever something caught my eye. Some of my favorites are here.

The most fitting thing I've ever found on a headstone.

The most fitting thing I’ve ever found on a headstone.

Meanwhile, near the entrance...

Meanwhile, near the entrance…

Beautiful view of Pikes Peak

Beautiful view of Pikes Peak

Sad but beautiful.

Sad but beautiful.

The way out.

The way out.

 

 

 

 

 

A Cunning Scheme

I told you I wasn’t going to be doing NaNoWriMo this year, and I told you why. That was a clever lie.

Here’s the truth. In less than two weeks, the fiftieth anniversary special of Doctor Who will be airing worldwide. I can’t possibly be expected to be productive in the days leading up to that, especially with Thor: The Dark World premiering last week (and starring the 9th Doctor, Christopher Eccleston as the villain!) and Catching Fire hitting theatres soon. Too much to do, boys and girls. Too much to do. Back to rewatching Matt Smith’s run of Doctor Who and do some writing.

Trifecta 102: Craft

For this week’s Trifecta challenge, our word was “craft.” I present to you a brief pirate story, simply called “Craft.” Enjoy. (Note: I’d missed Trifecta’s notice about Daylight Savings Time affecting the deadline for entries, and so I was an hour too late to submit this for judging. You get to read it anyway, because I’m generous.)

“Craft”

“Very well, I admit that I was wrong. I didn’t think you had it in you, boy.”

I danced the coin across my fingers, watching the old woman’s eyes follow it back and forth. “Clearly, you were wrong. And I had to have done it the way you said, or else news of Raven’s death would’ve already made its way to your ears.”

“Kidd Raven. He’s insistent that his full name be used. And unless you’re far better than I’ve been lead to believe, Kidd Raven would’ve killed you where you stood, had you attempted to gain it by any means other than craft.”

“You fear him that much, then?”

“I’m his captain, at least as of the latest vote.” The woman straightened, and she snatched the coin from me. “And I don’t fear him. I use him. He does what I need him to do, and on an occasion such as this, it means that I needed him to test you.”

I suppose my irritation showed in my face, because the next thing I knew, I saw a knife in front of it.

“If you insult any member of my crew, you’ll not find yourself among the living. Is that clear?”

“Aye, ma’am.”

She pulled the knife away, sheathing it and sitting back down in one fluid motion. “Now then, boy. You want to be part of the crew, and you’ve proven your skill at craft. You showed courage by not flinching before my knife. I’m willing to take you on board, on one further condition.”

“What’s that, ma’am?”

“You stop calling me ma’am and start calling me Captain. You’re making me feel older than I already am.”

“Aye, Captain.”

She smiled again. “Very well, boy. Meet the ship at the dock. You obviously know where. Introduce yourself to the bosun and give him this.” I caught the coin she’d taken from me. “He’ll know what it means. Welcome aboard, Brynden. I think you’ll do well.”

I set off into the night.