A Christmas straggler

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Delirium Jane: Part I

The corpse was dead. It was dead for real. It was not the purple intestines hanging from its stomach cavity or the missing left eye that assured me of this. Nor was it the maggots writhing under its skin or the stomach churning stench of rotting flesh. No, the only thing that gave me comfort, that the dead man would not reach for me and moan for his brethren, was the perfectly round mark of a bullet entry wound in the middle of his forehead.

“Jane! Stare at it too long and maybe it will get up and try to eat you,” a harsh, gravelly voice yells from behind. “Is that what you want?”

“No, Sir,” I say.

“Then get to work!”

I drive my stainless steel drag hook into the corpse’s soft flesh and jerk, catching hold of the clavicle.  You learn in short order not to rely on flesh and tissue alone. Only the recently dead have the tension required to stay together; more decomposed bodies tend to fall apart when you start to pull on them.  I drag the corpse across the field to Lewis, where he's using a pitchfork to heave the dead into a burn pile.   

“Hey Jane! Over here. Gimme a hand with this one,” Emily calls.

I start toward the teenage girl. There are a dozen of us out in the field on clean-up duty today. That’s what you get for being “useless.” In my previous life I had been a public relations mouthpiece for one of the big defense contractors. Before everything had fallen apart I would spin even the worst of public disasters to look like they had been not only intentional but also critical to national security. I had been held in high esteem for my ability to save the hides of the powerful and I had been well compensated. But that was a different time and my silver tongue hasn’t gotten me out of clean-up crew yet.

Lewis had been a lawyer. Sam had been an HR director. Tom had been a Senior VP of something. Chris, John and Carson were accountants and MBAs. We had all been someone important, but now none of that mattered. We had no real skills so we were relegated to the dirty work. Somehow we had managed to survive the initial outbreak, mostly because we had a knack for reading personalities and hedging our bets with the right people. But once the rules were defined and some semblance of society was regained we found that social status had been reshuffled and we were no longer at the top. There was no place in this new world of death and survival for legalese and buzzwords.  

At the top are the real leaders, those that are honestly capable of inspiring followership and creating innovative solutions to terrifying problems. The next tier is made up of what had been the blue collar workforce: welders, electricians, mechanics, plumbers, farmers, and anyone else with a useful trade that could actually produce something. Below the doers is the soldier class, those that can wield a weapon or fire a gun. Technically, eventually, all of us fell into that class but some are better at it than others; some did it for survival, while others thrive as warriors. And then at the bottom are those without skills and those without bloodlust. We, who had once run the world, are now the grunts.

“Big one,” I say to Emily and hook onto a bloated shoulder.

“Fresh, too,” she grimaces.

A body is heaviest right after death. First death, that is. After a corpse has bled out, its organs putrefied, and its water weight lost, there is little left to a body. Obvious as it is, this is something I had never considered prior to being assigned to the clean-up crew.

Together we haul the corpse, making small talk and avoiding thinking about who the man had been.

“Have you decided who you are going to apprentice with?” I ask.

“Ma wants me to go with Carolyn Thomas.”

“She does beautiful work. Lewis has one of her sweaters. It’s rare to find that these days.”

“Yea . . .”

“But you don’t want to work with her?”

“It’s nothing against Carolyn. She’s great. I’m just no good with needles. I can barely sew my own buttons back on; much less make real clothes for people.”

“Emily, don’t worry about it. That’s why it’s called an apprenticeship. She’s going to teach you what you need to know, not the other way around.”

“Yea . . .”

“So what do you want to do?”

The girl sighs. “I always thought I would be a writer. But . . .”

“Hey someday we will need writers again. We will get this mess cleaned up and we will have newspapers and books and all that stuff.”

Emily shrugs.

“We will. Look at how far we have come in just two years. Most of us were still running from the dead, fighting to survive. Now we are part of a community again.”

“I guess.”

“In the mean time, go talk to Keith.”

“Olsen? The engineer?”

“It will be technical writing but he’s been looking for someone to help him with his notes and writing up repair and maintenance instructions. You’ll get plenty of hands on mechanical experience but he also spends quite a bit of time designing improvements. A little creativity will go a long way working with him.”

“Huh, I hadn’t really thought about doing something like that.”

My next thought is interrupted by an echoing gunshot on the edge of the field.

“All right kiddies, that’s our cue to GTFO. Lewis, torch off that pile. The rest of you get back behind the fence,” the clean-up boss yells.  

Emily and I finish dragging the corpse to the now blazing fire and quickly but carefully make our way back to the safety of the fence, leaving the gunners to drop the approaching herd of cadavers. Job security for the clean-up crew.

“Emily, whatever you do, make sure you learn a skill that won’t earn you a permanent spot on the clean-up crew.”

Continue with Delirium Jane: Part II

Santa Loves Me

Merry Christmas. I hope everyone is enjoying the holiday season. I know we are all very sad that we survived the apocalypse and that there haven't dead corpses running around looking for some face to chew on, but I do have to say that I have had a nice couple of days. I did a little skiing. Good food. Good friends. Good family. We even had a little bit of snow today. But the best part? Check out what Santa left in my stocking.

Merry Christmas! I hope Santa brought you something as violently delicious.

The Apocalypse in 8 Acts

People are wicked excited about today, the 21^st day of December in the year two-thousand and twelve. Me? I’m not so humstrung; I play with the idea of the apocalypse every day. In fact, I’m pretty sure that the apocalypse actually began the day I graduated college and became a “real person.” But I have decided, just in case the world does explode into the fiery inferno of hell and this is my last opportunity to write something, I should make the most of it.

My friends Apples (short for Appleton) and Molly are hosting an Apocalypse Party at their house in the middle of nowhere. Upon leaving town (some of you might even consider “town” a stretch) you drive thirty minutes through cow country and then turn onto a small but paved road. After a few minutes the pavement disappears and you will turn onto increasingly smaller dirt roads until you are on little more than a goat path through the woods. Though these roads are relatively short in distance, less than two miles in total; they are, paradoxically,  excruciatingly long and it will take you no less than twenty minutes to reach your destination. The potholes are like craters and boulders reach up out of the gravel. So, unless you have a death wish; hate your automobile; or have four-wheel drive, a lift kit, brush guard, and all-terrain 35s; you take your time and pray that you don’t meet another vehicle.

Once you arrive at their home you will find yourself in a large field with a log cabin placed in the middle. Behind the cabin is a bog where only the beavers and the black-flies go. In front of the cabin is the more sanitary and usable pond. The other two sides of the field are bound by pines thick with puckerbrush.

Tonight, I will be driving out to this party to ring in the apocalypse with a bonfire, debauchery, firearms, and possibly snowmobiles (there is a blizzard currently scheduled). And so, the following is a series of 8 flash fictions, or perhaps non-fictions, depicting ways that tonight could go horribly wrong, or horribly right (depending on your perspective). The setting will be constant, my friends’ party; as will be the cast of characters: Apples, Molly, Fish (me), Clark (my roommate), Tony (my brother), Alison (Tony’s girlfriend), Laura (my best friend), Gary (Laura’s husband), and a few other expendables who are on the guest list but I don’t actually know. 

So without further ado, I bring you The Apocalypse in 8 Acts.

Act I: Disgrace

The party goers stared in awe at the angel or demon, whichever the case may be, standing before them. He was lean, muscular, and stood a full head above even the tallest in the group. His jet black hair was swept back into short spikes. Giant, black feathered wings sprouted from between his shoulder blades. When he had arrived his massive wingspan has blotted out the moon. Their expanse and inky nature seemed to suck all luminosity from the scene; not till he had landed and neatly folded them, did the light return.

He stood proud and dominant, seemingly unaware or unbothered by his nakedness. Perhaps it was the scythe that he carried with him that kept him from feeling shame or humiliation.

“Tell me what great deed have you done for humanity?” His voice boomed and the mortals quaked as they felt his words reverberate within their souls.

“Who, among you, can step forward and lay claim to having made the greatest impact on this world?”

His questions go unanswered.

“Are none worthy?”

“Then tell me this; who, among you, will do a great deed for humanity? Which of you, if given the chance, will create something beautiful, discover something profound, or become a great leader?”

Still, his questions remained unanswered.

Anger and disgust flashed in his eyes and his powerful wings spread wide. “Mortals! You have been given the greatest of gifts and you ignore them. You have no desire, no will, no pride, and no confidence. Take heed and fear my words, for all of you shall feel my wrath before the night is through.

“You have one hour to unanimously produce the most promising among you. I shall allow him to live. Fail to produce him and all shall perish.”

 With a whoosh of air, he alighted and disappeared into the winter sky.  

Act II: Abominable

“Apples, how the hell are we supposed to have a bonfire in this shit,” Fish asks as she pops the top off another beer.

I look out the window. The second real snowstorm of the season is showing no signs of letting up. “Don’t worry about it, kid. Fire melts snow. Best possible time to have a bonfire.”

“Whatever, let me know when you get it going. I’m staying here where it’s warm,” she says and plops down on the couch.

“All right pussies, let’s get this started,” Gary says, “Clark, get the whiskey.”

Clark grabs the bottle of Jameson from the kitchen table and we put our coats on.

Outside, I curse as I try to get the pile to light. I had spent the better of the week prepping for the fire and stacking up brush from around the yard. It had been brown and tinder-dry, ready to go up in flames without warning just this morning but with a mix of snow and rain sleeting down everything had become wet and nothing was going to behave.

Clark bends down next to me and takes the lighter from me. “Let me try.”

“Be my guest.” I step back and take a swig off the bottle of whiskey Gary hands me. “Shit, it’s nasty out here.”

“Good night for an apocalypse,” Gary laughs.

“True story, bud,”

“Fuck! This paper is all too wet. There is no way we are getting this thing going.” Clark gives up and reaches for the whiskey.

“Screw it. The girls had the right idea,” I say.

“No shit. If this is the apocalypse, they’re gonna’ survive while we’re out here dickin’ around in the snow and ice,” Gary adds.

As I head back toward the cabin, I pause at the sound of a branch breaking. I stare into the woods, looking for the source of the sound.

“It’s heavy snow, branches break,” Clark says.

“I think there is something out there. See, next to that birch tree.” I point into the shadows. The sun sets early this time of year and with the storm there is no moon.

“I don’t see anything,” Clark says.

“Just give me your flashlight,” I demand. He hands it over and I flick it on. The beam settles on the birch and persuades the mysterious shadow to move as it dodges the light.

“What was that?” Gary gasps.

“I told you there was something out there.” I swing the flashlight in an arc trying to locate the shadow.

Suddenly, the ground begins to rumble and shake. An earthquake? No, it’s not the ground. It’s a growl. As the realization hits me, the beam of my flashlight finds its target. The light reveals a creature covered in white fur that must stand at least nine feet tall. Its eyes glow red from a canine face. It lets loose a shrill howl that echoes throughout the night, only slightly muffled by the snow. Seconds later, the sound of falling snow is broken by three more howls, each from different points around the yard. 

“GTFO,” I yell at my friends. Without waiting for a response from them, I spin around and sprint towards the cabin. The deepening snow makes it difficult for me to run; each step is fought by slush and ice. Behind me I hear a scream and then a savage wet ripping and cracking.

I don’t look back. I keep running, but the heavy, sloppy mess around my feet makes the distance to the cabin impossibly far. I hear another shriek of pain and angst, quickly silenced by more ripping and shredding. My throat burns as I fight down bile. In my panic, I slip on the greasy ground and fall hard to my hands and knees. Howls let loose all around me and I know that I am next.  

Act III: Delayed

“Give it up, Tony, you’re lost,” Alison says from the passenger seat as we bounce down the ever narrowing dirt road.

“I’m not lost. We’re almost there. I think . . .” I say.

“Just stop and ask someone.”

“Stop and ask someone? Who the hell would I ask?” I take my hands of the wheel and gesture to the woods around us. “Maybe you want to go back to that junkyard where oldsmobiles go to die?”

Just the thought of the place makes me shiver. We had seen the last sign of a neighbor back a mile where there were dozens of oldsmobiles, all in rough shape, parked haphazardly in the woods. There had also been a half-assed fence that couldn’t possibly keep anything in or out and I, for one, didn’t care to find out which purpose was intended.

“Chicken? Bok buk buk bok,” Alison clucks at me.

“Look we’re here,” I say as we pull into the clearing. The fire is roaring and it looks like there are quite a few people standing around it. “My sister is already here.”

“We’re late.”

*

“Hey guys! I brought the good stuff,” I say and wave my bag of homegrown as I approach the fire. It is eerily quiet except for popping and crackling of the bonfire. There are a dozen people staring into the flames, standing perfectly still with their shoulders slouched and arms hanging by their sides.

From a distance, I recognize a few people: Apples, Molly, Clark and my sister. No one turns to greet me. No one acknowledges me.

I put my hand on my sister’s shoulder. “You high or what?”

She turns around slowly to face me. The fire flickers and casts shadows on a gaunt and hollow face. Her eyes are blank and unintelligent; a loan moan escapes from her lips. I step back without taking my eyes off from her, my movement seems to snap her from her trance because she lunges toward me. 

I take another step backwards and stumble into arms that wrap tightly around me from behind. My cry of surprise quickly turns to a shriek of pain when my hidden captor clamps onto my cheek with his teeth and then rips away the soft flesh. It is only then that I notice the inconspicuous bite on my sister’s shoulder.

Act IV: Tongues

“Dude, she’s speaking in tongues,” Gary says.

“She’s just drunk off her ass.”

He shakes his head. “Look at her.”

I look at Fischer, she sits cross legged on the ground less than a foot from the fire and stares intently into the flames. After a moment I notice her lips moving ever so slightly.

“Hey, Fish! Who ya’ talkin’ to?” I ask.

She ignores me and continues her discussion with the fire.

“Face it, man. Your woman has lost it.”

“Yea, it’s probably time to get her into bed,” I say with a sigh. It looks like it will be a long night of taking care of Drunky McDrunkerson. I rise to my feet. “C’mon kid, it’s time to get you to bed before you hurt yourself.

As I approach, her head snaps up. She is more alert than I had thought. In a single fluid and agile motion she hops from her crossed legged position to a low crouch that makes her look like a hunting feline. It gives me pause. Her eyes glint in the light of the dancing flames. She is beautiful and feral and, in that moment, I want nothing more than to embrace her, and love her, and be loved by her. And then, in the fraction of a second that it takes to blink, she is gone; I am left staring at an empty patch of dead grass next to the fire.

Act V: Snowmageddon

“It’s a good thing you guys planned to stay here anyway,” I say, looking out the window. The snow has piled up quicker than any of us expected.

No one acknowledges my remark. The bonfire and all other outdoor activities had been quickly postponed by the weather. No one even wanted to go play around on the snowmobiles; the wind is whipping and the bitter cold has driven any motivation from our souls. Instead we sit around playing cards and drinking spiked coffee and hot chocolate.

Around midnight the snow is halfway up the window. Four feet. That is some serious snow. Maybe Alaska gets snow like that, but we do not. It takes a winter full of storms to get this much ground coverage. I have never before seen it in a single storm.

At two in the morning, a high pitched screech jolts me awake. I run out of my room and look down at the main living space from the second floor balcony; Molly follows close behind. Below my friends are waking up bleary eyed, scattered about in sleeping bags. The large picture window has cracked from the weight of what has to be more than eight feet of snow behind it. The window groans and fights against the mass. I watch in horror as the window finally gives way, shattering in glittering shards on the floor. The snow immediately begins to pour in, seemingly joyous at its space to grow.

Gary and I scramble to the basement where we grab a sheet of plywood, some sheetrock screws and my screw gun.

With the window blocked and all of us wide awake, we sit around listening to the creaking of the house as it holds back the elements. The power goes out and it begins to get cold in the cabin. Another window breaks under the strain of the relentless storm.

Molly takes a swig off a bottle of Jack. “It has to stop soon.”

Act VI: Heat Wave

“I thought it was supposed to snow?” I ask. The sun is just setting and it is unseasonably warm. It must be my imagination, but it seems to be getting warmer as the sun sinks lower and lower and the sky darkens.

“Molly, no complaining. Just be thankful we don’t have to stand around a bonfire in a blizzard,” Alison says.

“I’m not complaining; just commenting,” I say.

*

“Wow, that fire is hot!” I say, stepping back from the flames. The distance does little to calm the slight burning sensation on my skin.

“It’s not the fire. It’s fuckin’ hot out,” Apples says, walking towards the fire. He has changed out of his jeans and hoodie into a t-shirt and shorts.

“Babe, are you crazy? It’s the middle of December,” I say.

“And it’s fuckin’ hot,” he replies.

I look around the fire pit; our guests are backed well away from the flames and have stripped off their outer layers. Beads of sweat are forming on my own forehead and I can’t shake the burning tingle of my skin.

Apples hands me a fresh bottle of hard cider, I gratefully accept it and take a drink to quench my parched throat. 

“Ugh! Why didn’t you get me a cold one out of the fridge?” I demand.

“I did.”

I force down the rest of the bottle; it is piss warm, as if it had been sitting in the sun all day.

*

Sitting around a dying fire, kept alive only for its light, we sweat in the heat. The thermometer on the tree outside the kitchen window says it is ninety degrees. We have stripped to our underwear and are thoroughly blitzed from chain drinking every liquid in the house and then promptly sweating out the water content.

“That’s it! I’m going swimming,” Alison squeals. She runs towards the pond shedding her bra and panties as she goes. The rest of us are quick to follow. She dives in with a splash and her blood curdling scream stops us in our tracks. We watch in revulsion as she drags herself from the water onto land and her flesh sloughs off in large sheets; leaving behind wet tissue, glistening in the bright moonlight.

Her screams stop and she collapses in a heap. Apples and Tony rush forward; Tony grabs her under the arms and Apples grabs her by the feet, together they carry her to the cabin

Suddenly, it is unbearably hot. So hot. I can’t remember ever being so hot. The tingling burning sensation on my skin has escalated to the feeling of being on a spit. My lips are cracked and my throat dry; my head throbs from the heat, alcohol, and dehydration. It hurts to think and it is hard to breath. I’m not even sweating anymore.  

I am vaguely aware of Fish as she comforts a sobbing Laura. Then, I remember Alison. Is she ok? Where is she? I remember her being carried from the bank of the pond. How long ago was that? It seems like it was hours ago, but it could have been only seconds. Turning towards the cabin, I catch sight of the pond; it boils violently in the silver light of the moon. And then I am enveloped in suffocating blackness.

Act VII: The Hunt

The flames of the fire double in height and turn green as they give birth to a demon sent for malignant purposes. The creature is slight, only three and a half feet tall, with long sinewy arms and legs. His thin scaly tail, nearly as long as he is tall, whips and flicks about, reminiscent of a cat’s. But don’t be fooled by the creature’s diminutive stature because his lizard face reveals clever eyes and hides a devious mind.

The demon looks around and frowns, momentarily disappointed that his spectacular miracle appearance went unnoticed; the party goers are all out of sight, refilling their refreshments. His mood quickly brightens as he sees one of the humans emerge from the cabin. His thin lips spread to a wide smile and expose a mouth full of jagged, needle-fine, teeth that reflect the light of the moon.

As the flames revert to orange and yellow, the demon mutes his own scales to a matt black which allows him to vanish into the night. His hunt has begun.

Act VIII: Last Call

“It’s kind of beautiful in a morbid we-are-all-going-to-die kind of way,” Molly says.

I take another sip of my margarita. “Yea.”

“How long now?” Laura asks.

“It’s interfering with my cell reception. Weather.com said an hour about forty minutes ago,” I say.

“I’m gonna need a re-fill,” Laura says with resignation.

I pick up the pitcher of the green liquid and pass it to my friend. “This is the best part about drinking in the winter. The snow keeps your drinks cold without ice.”

The still of the night is broken by the high pitched whine of snowmobiles approaching.

Clark pulls up and lets the engine idle. “Wanna do it?”

“Sure,” I say as I climb on behind him. We fly off into the darkness, towards the cabin for one last tryst before the end of the world. I don’t bother to say goodbye to my friends who remain reclined in lawn chairs, drinking margaritas in the snow, and staring at the giant ball of flame hurtling in the night sky towards the Earth.

Copyright © 2012 by Leigh Fischer

Ringing in the Apocaylpse

How do you plan to ring in the apocalypse on Friday?

Check back on Friday to see what's in my survival bag and maybe  I'll have a new short for you as an added bonus.

Doesn't feel right.

Over the last few weeks I have been slow to post. I have been focused on promoting my book and as a result I have not written as much as I would have liked. This morning I got up and said "Fish, you're going to sit your ass down and work on something. No advertising, no selling, just writing." And that was the plan.

Plans change. My plan changed. See, the thing is, I write horror. I dream of the apocalypse. I create monsters. But today we do not need horror. Today, I do not need to create a monster. Today, we are faced with real life horror and tragedy. We are faced with a real life monster. It just doesn't feel right to create something gruesome and grim when it already sits in our backyard gnashing its ugly teeth.

I couldn't do it. I couldn't bring myself to add more fear to the world on a day that has already seen more than its share. 

I love my genre and I rarely consider the work of my peers and heroes gratuitous. Horror has its place. It provides an escape. It allows us to explore the deepest and darkest depths of our imaginations. It allows us to create something that shouldn't be possible. But I can't go there today. I need to be in the light. 

And so, I have a challenge for you. Do something beautiful. Create something from love. Create a smile or laughter. Do something that brings this whole damn apocalypse of a day to a screeching halt. Counterbalance the monstrous deed. Do something in the light.

My thoughts are with the families in Newtown and the religious fence sitter in me hopes that there is something else waiting for those little kids, maybe even a second chance. 

Do something in the light. 

Wicked Good Deal Wednesday!

Act fast and get your zombie fix while Rising Tide is free on Amazon. Today only!

http://www.amazon.com/Rising-Tide-A-Novel-ebook/dp/B009GTWYG4

Get Ready for a Wicked Good Deal on Wednesday!

http://www.amazon.com/Rising-Tide-A-Novel-ebook/dp/B009GTWYG4


Tomorrow, for one day only, Rising Tide will be free on Amazon. Tell every zombie lover you know!

90 Days

90 days? Psh! That's nothing. Right?

Well, that is what I keep telling myself. I have decided , beginning Friday, I will enroll Rising Tide in Amazon Select. 

The good news: Amazon Prime members will be able to borrow my book for free. Also, Amazon will do some heavy lifting and run promotions.

The bad news: I have to grant Amazon exclusive rights for 90 days. That means I can't even give away copies on my own website. 

I feel like giving up my ability to share my book as I please is a bit like a mother dropping off her child at daycare for the first time. 

Oh well . . . suck it up, Fish, it's time to try and get some real exposure.

So, if you would like to get your zombie fix with a free copy directly from yours truly, you have until Friday to do so:

Step 1: Like "Rising Tide" on Facebook

Step 2: Like or share one of my posts

Step 3: Send an email to leighfischer83@gmail.com and request either a PDF, MOBI, or EPUB

If you wait too long, your only option will be Amazon. 

A voice found

Found

“You have a very promising career right here. You know that, don’t you?” Mr. Philips says. He sits behind his desk with his hands folded neatly. His phone rings but he ignores it, he doesn’t even steal a glance to check the caller ID.

I am the one to break eye contact and I divert my eyes to the window behind him. I focus on the greenery and blooming spring trees, they are at odds with his stark white office. A squirrel scampers out onto the limb of the nearest tree. It is thin from the long winter but it is energetic and full of life and freedom. It brings a smile to my lips.

“Kate?”

His voice brings me back inside and my smile vanishes as I lose my connection to the fuzzy critter outside. “Yes, Mr. Philips. I know.”

“There are going to be excellent opportunities in the very near future. You just need a little patience,” he says. His brow is furrowed and the intensity with which he stares at me makes my stomach flip-flop.

The dread that has been building in the pit of my stomach makes me want to give in. It makes me want to surrender and say ‘yes, I’ll be a good little powder monkey,’ but I can’t. Not now. I have come too far.

 I take a deep breath. “I know. But this isn’t about my career. It’s more personal than that. I feel like this is the right decision.”

Mr. Philips frowns and finally drops his gaze to his folded hands. He unfolds them and tents them, tapping his fingers together. Suddenly he looks ancient and tired. His thinning hair seems just a little bit thinner. The grey seems a little bit greyer. His bright eyes, always ready for a challenge, look cold and dull. “I understand, I just . . . I had hoped you would be my replacement.”

My shoulders slump under the weight of the guilt that is piled high. “I know, Mr. Philips. I feel terrible about this.” I feel like I have betrayed him, like I have abandoned him. “I want you to know that appreciate everything that you have done for me.”

He nods but continues to look like a broken man.

“I feel like . . . I just feel like I would regret missing an opportunity like this.”

“Yes, Kate. I understand. Since it seems like you have made up your mind, I wish you the best of luck.”

*

“Miss? What would you like to drink?” the flight attendant asks me.

I am slow to respond. I had been staring out the window at the endless clouds, re-playing the conversation with my boss over and over again in my head. “Uh, I’ll have a Coke. Thanks.”

*

“You can’t be serious about this?” my mother screams. She is furious. Her face is beet red and a vein stands out in the middle of her forehead. Tears stream down her face.

I stand in front of her with my arms crossed defiantly. But there is nothing defiant about me; I can’t even bring myself to speak.

“It has just been the two of us for so long and now you’re going to leave me?”

I had promised myself I would stay strong and stand my ground but I can feel my resolve breaking apart as the tears begin to well.

“Aren’t you going to say anything? Or are you just going to stand there and stare at me?”

My throat burns as I try to hold back the emotion and I try to make the words come out. “I have to do this,” I whisper.

“What?”

“Ma, I have to do this. I want to see the world.”

She glares at me, deadly fire dancing in her eyes. She rakes her hands through her dark hair and shakes her head.

“Ma, I’m afraid I’m gonna spend my whole life in that office, just working. I want to do something crazy. I’ve never been anywhere. I’ve never done anything.”

“It’s just two years?”

I nod.

The fire in her eyes dies to a smolder. She crosses her arms and shakes her head again. “I guess you’re gonna do what you wanna do.” Her voice cracks and sounds weak. I have never seen my mother lose her fight, until now.

*

I awake to the ding of the plane’s intercom.

“This is your captain speaking. Please return to your seats and put on your seatbelts. We are approaching a little weather and may experience some turbulence. Thank you.”

*

“What do you mean you don’t want to get married?” Andrew asks as he rolls out from beneath his jeep.

“I can’t marry you,” I squeak.

He jumps up from his creeper and stands in front of me wiping the grease from his hands on his coveralls. “Is this about that damn job? I told ya if you really wanted to go, I’d go with ya.”

I shake my head ‘no.’

He wraps his arms around me. “Baby, I love ya. I’ll do anything for ya, even if that means movin’ half way around the world ta’ live with them China people.”

His arms are so safe and secure. His words are so comforting. He does love me. He always has. The tears flow freely as I nuzzle into his shoulder. I have caused so much disappointment. How can I do this to him? How can I do this to the people that love and trust me? How can I just walk away from everything I have here?

I push away from his embrace and cross my arms to keep him from trying again. “I have never been alone. I have never been on my own. I have to do this. I have to find out about myself.”

His face falls flat as he realizes I have made my decision. “I’ll wait for you. It’s only two years. I’ll wait for you.”

“You don’t have to,” I say, letting my eyes drop to the ground.

“I’ll wait for you,” he says.

*

My eyes snap open as my stomach drops and there is a collective shriek from the other passengers on the flight. I am jostled about as the plane shutters and shakes from turbulence. The little yellow masks have dropped from the overhead.

“Ladies and gentlemen we have experienced a rapid drop in cabin pressure, please put on your oxygen masks and remain calm,” a female voice says over the intercom. Despite her request, she sounds anything but calm.

I reach for the mask and place it over my face. I turn to the man sitting next to me and I see his eyes are wide and filled with fear. Children are crying and the woman behind me is sobbing. The plane groans and creaks. It dips and pitches. The plane sounds as if it is going to rattle to pieces. A man begins what sounds like a prayer in some foreign language; he is quickly joined by others until it is a panicked chorus, pleading to whatever god they follow.

I have abandoned my family. I have left everything I have ever known. I have left my only home. I am all alone on this plane that surely seems like it will never meet its destination. But somehow I am calm. There is something oddly reassuring about this horrific situation, as if it is validation that I needed to experience more; that I needed to be my own person and find my voice. Well I have found my voice and if I make it safely through this, I will make sure to use it. 

Copyright © 2012 by Leigh Fischer

A new short from the down deep

Rapture of the Deep

“Did you see that?” Larson’s mechanized voice buzzes in my ear.

“Larson, maintain operational silence.” My voice comes out high pitched and incomprehensible, like one of those damn singing chipmunks on crack. After a moment of lag I hear my mechanized voice over the com system.

Larson knows better than to squeak so much as a ‘yes, Master Chief.’ He’s a good kid and damn fine diver, but he is too friggin’ jumpy for a mission like this. He aced his quals and can lay a mean weld at 500 fsw, but he sees too many ghosts. The oppressive pressure of more than 450 psi squeezing in and the suffocating blackness of the deep gets to him. Instead of being satisfied with the meager light thrown out directly in front of us by our headlamps, he lets his mind create demons that fill the abyss beyond his short arc of knowledge. The kid sees too many ghosts to walk the depths blind.

On 10 November 2013 at 0130, the USS George Washington sat in the South China Sea and watched a Chinese transport bird disappear from radar. The Commander immediately pulled back all vessels and planes in the vicinity and placed his squadron on alert, he was not getting blamed for this one.

At 0410, I got the call to rouse my crew and be ready on the Sasebo tarmac by 0600. At that point it became a game of hurry up and wait. Moving the SATFADS team is a marvel of modern logistics. We are six of the most elite deep divers in the world, two control centers built into the shape of standard shipping containers, and a bang-up surface support crew. Give us three C-130s and platform and we can put men on the ocean floor, more than a thousand feet down, anywhere in the world.

By 1800 we were installed on the USS Denver and prepping to make our first dive. The Chinese bird sat in 1,200 fsw (publically we only dive to 1,000) and it was to be reconnaissance only. Easy peasy. We’d drop in the water, take a look around, give the brass some fuzzy footage to analyze till the cows come home, and then we would hop in the bubble, ride to the surface and decompress for the next nine days.

Easy peasy. That’s what I kept telling myself. Routine mission. Keep calm. Breathe steady. The brass tells us what we need to know to get the job done and we always get the job done. Get in, do the job, get out, go home to your family. Hooyah! But it’s hard. Left in the dark long enough, even the Master Chief will start seeing ghosts.

“Master Chief, is it true that they called us?” Larson had asked as we prepped for the dive.

“Kid, it doesn’t matter who called who. The boss says dive, so we dive. That’s all that matters,” had been my answer. It was straight out of the textbook. It shut him up as we finished our checklists, but the kid is smart. The same thing that was gnawing on me was gnawing on him. Since when did the Chinese start calling us for recon missions on their lost military gear?

At 1200 fsw the pressure is unimaginable, almost unbearable. It squeezes in around you and fills every nook and cranny, always looking for that beautiful balancing act of equilibrium. Here the ocean is master, and no other element dares to challenge it. All light from the surface is blotted out. The astronauts claim with arrogance to walk the most inhospitable environment imaginable. They are wrong. At least they have vision. At least they have the sun and stars. At least they have the view of home. Walkers of the deep, we have nothing but the eternal darkness of the planet’s hostile bowels.

It takes years of training to develop the fortitude and focus required to tune out and ignore the monsters the brain creates to fill the emptiness. It’s inconceivable to the mind that there is nothing filling the void beyond our infinitesimal lights and so the mind dances and plays. It creates and destroys. It becomes god and devil simultaneously.

There is a madness that consumes you as a diver in the down deep. A fine line between raving lunatic and glorious adventurer. The solitude engulfs you. Even though your partner stands beside you on the rocky bottom and you have a direct line of communication to him and the surface crew, you are completely alone and yet completely dependent. You are hours from the surface and days from being able to breathe unassisted. Even once you are back on the surface in your chamber you still must endure the painfully slow climb as they drop the theoretical pressure by minute increments. You must suffer with the knowledge that if anyone was to undog the hatch prematurely, you would die instantly as you embolized and every airspace in your body exploded to balance the equation and create splendid equilibrium. It is this knowledge that creates a shiver that even the hot water lines coursing through your dive suit can’t counteract.

“Master Chief, there it is,” Larson says. His mechanical voice doesn’t relay the trepidation I am sure is there.

Grey particles of both life and death swirl and dance before me, obscuring the visibility. But sure enough, the edge of a wing pokes into sight at the far reaches of our beams. Step by step, we move our weighted boots closer and closer to the wreck. We wade slowly and deliberately, the pressure of the deep resisting our every move.

“Blackman to Surface,” I say, “I confirm Larson’s sighting. We have located the target.”

“Roger, proceed with tagging.”

“Aye,” I answer. I keep my words short. They are precious in the deep. The narcosis is ever present, always drifting just out of sight, like the ghosts. Too much effort, too much exertion and it can take over. I’ve seen greater men than I, debilitated by terrifying fits of maniacal and deadly laughter brought on simply by the squeak of their vocal chords under the influence of nothing more than helium and pressure. 

I make my way to the fuselage of the plane, looking for a strong anchor point. I can only see bits of it at a time, illuminated in the small swaths afforded by my headlamp. The rest of the craft belongs to the demons of the dark.

“It looks to be intact,” Larson’s voice echoes.

“Yep,” I say.

“There is a pad-eye here.”

I cast a sidelong glance toward my partner and illuminate his bulky form, trying to avoid his face. He has located the gaping entrance of the forward crew door, which has been blown free and is absent.  I move to his side and a pull a surface marker from my belt. I clip it to the pad-eye, pull the cord and watch as the CO₂ cartridge faithfully does its duty and inflates the yellow bag, a rocket to the surface pulling 1,500 feet of line.

“Marker One released,” I say.

The seconds tick by; they grow and stretch into minutes and then an eternity. Time is unnatural at depth.   

“Marker One has been sighted. Commence external survey,” the Surface confirms.

“Aye,” I say.

Larson and I move slowly around the craft, an exaggerated dance with the supreme element. Each step is heavy and deliberate. Each step is exhausting. No movement is wasted. We take turns watching the other’s umbilical, our lifeline to humanity.

Larson’s initial assessment is largely true. The aircraft is intact. The windows have been crushed in from the pressure and the nose gapes open from a water impact. There are signs of warping and stress from the depths but there are no signs of critical failure. This plane was not shot down. Whatever brought this mistress of the skies to the abyss was borne from within.

“External survey complete,” I say as we return to the crew door.

“All vital stats are normal. How do you guys feel?” the Surface asks.

“Good to go,” Larson says.

“Hooyah,” I answer.

“Proceed with internal survey,” the Surface orders.

“Aye,” I say.

I dim my light and look directly into Larson’s faceplate. His eyes are wide and can’t hide the fear the way his mechanical voice does. “Are you ready for this?”

Before the dive, I had warned him. There would be corpses. It’s the nasty detail of this type of work. He is not new to death. Most of us serve as public safety divers at some point in our careers. There, it is our duty to bring lost souls to rest. He told me once about a little girl he had pulled from the intake of a sewage treatment facility. She had fallen into the river, drowned and become lodged downstream. No, he is no stranger. But in the down deep, it is different. With the jungle drums pounding in your ears, the pressure pushing in, the blackness enveloping you, and the ghosts taunting you; you can’t know for sure how you will react.

Larson bobs his head. “Hooyah.”

I turn back to the penetration. Dark tentacles of imagined demons skirt the edge of my vision as I stare at the mouth of the cave.  Why is only this hatch blown? If you were going to evacuate, why wouldn’t you go out the jump door? Is the fate you are escaping so grim that you would risk hitting the prop or the wing?

I can feel the madness creeping ever closer. Even the Master Chief sees ghosts.

Larson pulls himself in through the door and disappears. I shake my demons free and follow behind.

“Oh fuck . . . fuck . . . fuck,” I hear Larson’s mechanical voice echoing in my head.

“Larson, your heart rate is through the roof. Get it under control!” the Surface screams through the lines.

 “Chief . . . Chief. I’m narcn’ hard man,” Larson’s voice echoes inside my helmet, eerily calmed by the mechanical tuner.

I push in deeper and stand next to him. Our lights cast ethereal shadows in front of us. My jaw drops and I have to fight the urge to vomit.

“Help me Chief I’m narcn’.”

There are corpses strewn throughout the cabin. I count four; there may be more but our lights limit our view. They half float, half lay on the aluminum deck material. They are mangled; they look as if they have been torn apart. One is missing an arm; another’s eyes have been ripped from their sockets. Entrails, crushed by the pressure to lean ropes, have been ripped from the cavities of all those visible. I have retrieved bodies from plane crashes before and never have I seen injuries like these. Nor does the damage look to be done postmortem by the creatures of the deep looking for a meal. In fact the crabs, hagfish, and other scavengers are conspicuously missing from such a feast.

From the corner of my eye, I see Larson fall to his hands and knees in the slow motion of the deep. I watch as his body convulses and I know he has vomited into his helmet. Part of me envies him, but my brain knows the results could be deadly and my training won’t allow it.

“Chief, something’s wrong . . .  they shouldn’t be moving. Why are they moving?” echoes in my helmet.

I step further into the cabin. The gruesome corpses are not the only casualties of this flight. This was a transport flight and on either bulkhead is a row of soldiers, strapped into their flight seats. There must be at least sixty of them. Why didn’t they try to get out? When the plane went down, why didn’t they evacuate? Why did they just sit here and watch as the cabin filled with water to take them to a grave in the South China Sea?

But for all my questions, Larson’s is the ultimate. Constrained by their harnesses, the corpses writhe and move as if reaching for me. They seem to be pulling at their restraints, trying to get to me. Their arms are all outreached and their fingers claw at the water. They’re eyes are black, stained with the blood of their burst eardrums and capillaries. Their jaws snap open and closed.

“Blackman to Surface. Something is wrong. I . . . I don’t know if you guys have fucked with the gas or something, but this dive is over,” I say and turn back to Larson.

“Surface confirms abort, return to the bell.”

I pull the diver to his feet and guide him out of the wreck. There is no sprint, no mad dash. In the down deep movement is without urgency, without emotion. We retrace our umbilicals back to the bell and we climb inside for the ride to the surface.

“Chief, did you see what I was seeing? They were moving, like they were trying to get at us.”

The Surface did not confirm what they had or hadn’t seen through the video feed. They were silent on the status of our gas. They were silent on our neurological outputs. I have known narcosis. I have danced with her treacherous creations. But never have I shared the same hallucination with another diver. Never had it been so controlled, so consuming, yet so sane. I had not been lost to the madness and I had been able to easily and rationally walk away from the vision. That was not narcosis.

“Don’t worry about it, kid. Just the ghosts of the deep,” I lie.

Copyright © 2012 by Leigh Fischer

Small Business Saturday

I'm back! I am also quite pleased to say that I only checked my e-mail once during this past week. That is what I call a vacation. Sure my number of blog hits and new Facebook fans took a serious hit because of it, but it was totally worth it. Every now and then you just have to step back and get away from the old glowing screen.

So I'm back and pumped up just in time for Small Business Saturday.

An independent author trying to sell her self-published book, yep ultimate small business. Small businesses work hard and rely on the strength of friends and family, high quality, commitment to customer service, and good word of mouth. They don't have the networks or the personnel redundancy to take a break or delegate the workload. When a small business owner takes the day off they loose profit, sometimes even income. So vacations and time off tend to be few and far between.

Small business owners do not know the meaning of "not in my job description." They are CEO, CFO, President, Manager, Secretary and Janitor. They work every job at anytime. They don't have working hours, they work until the job is done.

These hardworking people run the businesses that drive our economy. They brew the coffee at your favorite little cafe. They flip burgers at your local diner. They sell you that half-gallon of milk at the corner store you stop at on your way home from work. They knit that fabulously soft sweater you got your grandmother for Christmas last year.

They are your friends and family. They are your neighbors. Without them you loose variety, independence, creativity, and true customer service. Without you, they are nothing. Skip the door busters and the box stores, support your local small businesses.



If you would like to support this small business, here are a few ways you can help.

1. Pick up a copy of Rising Tide at http://www.amazon.com/Rising-Tide-A-Novel-ebook/dp/B009GTWYG4 or https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/252930

2. Get a free copy by Liking Rising Tide on Facebook and sending an email request for a PDF, MOBI, or EPUB to leighfischer83@gmail.com

3. Share this page with your friends and family. A simple re-post or thumbs up goes a long way.

Thanks for your help. I hope you had a great Thanksgiving and are looking forward to the approaching holiday season!

Make Zombies a Part of Thanksgiving

Survive the family Thanksgiving shenanigans with a copy of Rising Tide.

Beginning Friday I will be off, surviving my own holiday shenanigans. So if you would like a free copy to help get zombies involved in your Thanksgiving, shoot me a request by tomorrow night.

Instructions Here


Happy Thanksgiving!

The Wager

From the beginning of time, my brother and I have played a game. Over and over again we have watched the pawns drag themselves from the boiling seas onto the land. We watch as they morph and change, as they grow and learn. I cheer and my brother curses as their creativity begets beauty and love. My heart breaks as I watch their knowledge give birth to civilization and with it competition, aggression, and hatred.

It is always the same.  We watch them rise, so graceful and elegant, only to fall into the abyss. Their creations are stunning and unique, never exactly the same but always an echo of the shadows of their failed brethren. They begin as the most basic of elements and transform into the most complex of alchemists, forming technology far beyond our own ingenuity. But despite their resourcefulness, since the beginning of time, no matter the scenario, the result is unchanged.

The most infuriating part of the contest is that the prediction of their demise is their own. The names that they have for it are numerous: Doomsday; Ragnarok; Armageddon; Mokushi; Reckoning; Apocalypse; Kali Yuga; Judgment, they all foresee the end, yet not once have they altered their ultimate path.

After an eternity of repetition I have finally realized their tragic fault. Though they have named their destruction, they do not possess the grand vision of the gods to understand the true nature of their annihilation. Their myths rain down fire and brimstone and tell of cataclysmic events. They see it as retribution from enraged idols. They view the end as one moment in time where suddenly they will cease to exist.

For all their brilliance, they could not be more wrong. The rules explicitly state that neither my brother nor I may intervene. Mankind is a furiously burning blaze that cannot comprehend the eons and epochs that pass in the single blink of my eye. To me, yes, their end is as swift as the snuffing of a flame. But to these fast moving creatures, their true Armageddon is so slow and gradual that it will always go unnoticed.

I had hopes for this current consignment. So many times they have been on the brink and, to my surprise, been able to pull back from the ledge. But now I sit upon my perch and watch as the seas rise and listen to my brother’s gleeful laughter and I know that I have, again, lost.

I tire of this game. To never win, to never see success, is disheartening. There was a time, with every new round, when I felt hope and a naive optimism. Every new culture that was birthed was a new opportunity for utopia and ascension to nirvana and divinity. But to continuously watch such magnificent beings perish at the hands of their own devices, tears at my soul. Perhaps this will be our final match and after an eternity of trials and failure I will finally cede the wager to my brother. 

Copyright © 2012 by Leigh Fischer

WANTED: HORROR ARTIST

Know someone who has an eye for the dark and disturbing? Someone who likes to spend their time doodling demons and monsters of their own twisted creation? Someone who has an imagination filled with apocalyptic visions?

I am looking for a starving artist to help add some visual character to my short stories.

This is not currently a paying gig, but it is an opportunity for artists in different mediums to help each other out. My own promotional efforts will be linked with your work. So, every time I get a new "like" or a sell a book your work will be seen.

Think about it. Hit me up (leighfischer83@gmail.com) if you have ever wanted to have a story to go with your devilish designs.

New Formats!

A comment from a would be reader got me motivated today. I took the next step and prepped the format of Rising Tide for Smashwords distribution. It took a few hours and I had to re-size my cover a bit, but I think I've got it.

You can now purchase Rising Tide in the following locations.

Amazon (mobi) - http://www.amazon.com/Rising-Tide-A-Novel-ebook/dp/B009GTWYG4

Wordsmash (epub, pdf, mobi) - https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/252930




You can still read the first three chapters at http://thefischerapocalypse.blogspot.com/p/rising-tide-preview.html



Also, I am still offering free copies to Facebookers willing to help spread the word.

Step 1. Go "like" http://www.facebook.com/RisingTideANovel
Step 2. Like or re-post one of my wall comments or updates.
Step 3. Send an email to leighfischer83@gmail.com and request either a mobi, pdf, or epub file format.

That's it!

Mammoth Tenderloin

Boy could I use an apocalypse today. A horde of brain munchers pounding down my door would really  help distract me from life and put things in perspective. 

You know the worst part of having a bad day? Knowing that your drama is inconsequential and life is actually pretty damn good to you. I have a roof over my head, food in my belly, a loving family, and good health. That should be enough. That's all that really matters. But the thing is, no matter how many times you tell yourself that, it doesn't make you feel any better. It's part of the human condition. We always want more, we always want better. 

Wanting more and wanting better is not a bad thing. If humans didn't have the drive to learn, grow and improve we would still be living in a cave, chomping on raw meat. But sometimes I feel like sitting in a cave and chewing on mammoth parts might be better for my mental health. But then again, I wonder if I might be sitting in a cave, pissing and moaning about how Grog got the liver and tenderloin and I just got the leftovers.

Sigh. Such is life. Oh well ... tomorrow is another day and there will be more to follow. I'll just have to fight harder for my tenderloin the next time. 

  

Postpone the Apocalypse! Go Vote!

I make it a point to keep my politics separate from my work. Sure I  have my own set of beliefs, biases, ideals, and interests and they will always influence my writing. There is no way around it. These are things intrinsic to who we are and they shape everything that we do. But, I take care and make it a point not to thrust my political views upon anyone. I write to escape, to entertain, to thrill, not to lecture or sway. I may pontificate from time to time, but not to convince you that you are wrong and I am right.

But voting is not a partisan issue. I don't care who you vote for, just make sure that you do it. It is a far greater thing to vote and lose knowing that you participated than to sit idly by and let choices be made for you.

I know, I know. I can hear you now. "The system is broken." "One vote doesn't matter." "All politicians are full of shit." Yes, yes, I know. Trust me I know. I come from a teeny tiny state with only four electoral college votes and on top of that, they can split the vote. Yes, I am familiar with the feeling of insignificance.  But that is not the point.

The point is standing for something, no matter how hopeless, and taking responsibility for yourself. The day that we start relying on others to make the right decisions will also be the day that we lay out the red carpet and herald in the apocalypse.

Think of a post apocalyptic scenario. Pick one. Zombies. Plague. Nuclear war. Aliens. Whatever floats your boat. You have that vision? Now, what kind of government is there? Where are the polling stations? How many parties are there?

Huh? What's that you say? You see warlords, dictators, rule by the biggest gun and survival of the fittest. But what about the elephants and the donkeys? Gone you say?

Do you know why they are gone? Because people have given up. The dead walking the Earth? Big deal, that's a bad day, maybe a bad decade. Nuclear fallout? Yea, that's a bad century, maybe a bad millennium. But none of these scenarios become an Apocalypse until all hope is lost and we given up trying to survive.

I know what you're saying. "Fischer, you're crazy. You can't compare not voting to giving up on survival."

But here is my answer to you. If you don't have the fortitude to stand in line for ten minutes to check a little box to stand up for what you believe in, how the hell do you think your going to be able to stand up against a horde of undead trying to eat your face?

GO VOTE! 

https://www.google.com/elections/ed/us/vote

Halloween Withdrawal

I don't know about you, but I am quite distraught that Halloween is over. It's the one time of year when it is socially acceptable to express your twisted and demented creativity. No one questions your gory creations or your violent prose. But 31 days is all we get. One short month to let loose and be accepted for the terrifying images that unfold within our imaginations.

It really isn't fair. Christmas gets to sprawl across the better part of four months and then sometimes even makes an appearance, for some strange reason, in July. Christmas is the holiday of charity, love, and kindness; and therefore you will be ostracized for trying produce anything evil or monstrous during Old Saint Nick’s reign. 

During the 31 glorious days leading up to All Hallow's Eve, we are gods; heralded for evoking nightmares and bringing our demons to life. But the rest of the year we are relegated to the dregs of society, considered merely low brow entertainment. 

"There is no class in horror," they say. "There is no skill required." 

I reject this sentiment. I will not be pigeonholed onto one page of the calendar. I will battle year round for the nightmares that dwell within us all. Stand with me and together we will fight the good fight! 

Part 6

Continued from Part 5


 Ox swings the door wide and stands in doorway, blocking my view. His curse is just barely audible. "Sir, this doesn't look good."

  "Proceed," Dragon answers. "Back in formation. Tighten up. No mistakes."

  Immediately, Squirrel and Otter fall into place on my right and left, Dragon falls back behind us. As Ox cautiously moves further into the Dungeon and away from the door, I begin to see what had him concerned.

  We enter onto the mezzanine that overlooks the laboratory called the Dungeon. I have no idea who it was that first started calling it the Dungeon, but it is fitting.

  It is a cavernous lab in the bowels of the building, filled with tools and machines only understood by the pasty engineers and scientists that call this place home.  One quadrant is filled with cages of an assortment of monkeys, rodents, and other test subjects that howl for their freedom. Other than the designated zoo, to the uninitiated, there is no rhyme or reason to the equipment scattered throughout the lab. There are dozens of computer work stations and everywhere that you look there are rows of test tubes or a mass of wires pulled from some unfinished project. Large constructs and machinery take up great swaths of the floor.  Cubical dividers are placed haphazardly; I imagine that their location changes daily at the whims of the Gods that rule this place. The creative genius of the minds at work in this space have to be allowed freedom to flex and move, to grow and contract.

  Today, it looks more like a dungeon than ever. It glows red with emergency lighting and it lacks the hustle and bustle of the brilliantly scatterbrained and perpetually distracted.There are signs of violence; shattered glass covers the cement floor where beakers and test tubes have been smashed. Workstations have been overturned and their contents left broken on the floor. But it is the bodies that make this place look like a mid-evil dungeon. The mezzanine is too high and the lighting too dim for me to see the details, but it doesn't take a coroner to identify a body as dead when it is sprawled unnaturally in a pool of dark liquid. From my perch I can see at least a dozen. From my knowledge of this place I know that that there must be more. A lot more.

True-Self: Concluded

In honor of All Hallow's Eve I have posted the conclusion to True-Self. Trick-or-Treat!

From the Water

  I crawled from the water. Born of the raging sea, I was spit out from the depths of the darkest abyss. I rode the great curling waves of my mother’s design to the shore of the huddled masses. They crowded together in fear of what they did not understand and what they could not control, little did they know that control and knowledge is all a fanciful creation devised to help them cope with the enormity and magnificence of the Gods.

  For a millennium I incubated in the tremendous pressure of my mother’s unfathomable womb, until I cried out and demanded my freedom. At first I was refused; she said I wasn’t ready. But I would not be dissuaded and I began my ascent to the human world without her blessing.

One after another, she sent her henchmen to thwart my attempt and drag me back to the realm of her influence.

  First, it was the monsters of the void that dangled crystalline lights of splendid distraction; their glow so sublime my voyage became nothing but a forgotten dream. After a decade in a trance of ecstasy, I remembered myself and resumed my expedition.     

  Furious, she sent the ancient one; a great behemoth of teeth and fury who had watched in horror as his brothers left the sea and abandoned their fins for claws and fur. He fought bravely with honor and loyalty. He vowed that he would never again allow his kin to leave the place of perpetual darkness and everlasting life. He was bested, unable to contain the power of my curiosity. He nodded his great prehistoric head and bowed to my strength. I sent him back to my mother with a message of commitment and dedication.

  Next, she sent a demon invisible to all but her. He did not attack with fangs or poison. Brute strength was not his forte. Instead, he brought the vicious message from my great mother that she would wake Poseidon, himself, if I did not obey. Indeed the threat gave me pause, but I pushed forward and prepared to meet my end.

  She did not rouse the Nautilus King. I had called her bluff. Even the grand mistress of the moon doth not dare disturb the Great One’s slumber. I glided forward, ever upward, carried by my powerful strokes of fin and determination.

  Sensing my eminent success, out of sheer desperation, she sent the kraken to reason with me. His muscular tentacles dominated the epic battle that wore on for a century. His cunning matched my every move and I thought for certain he would be the victor. Never before had I faced a foe so fierce and so clever. I grew envious of his abilities and wanted them for my own self-serving desires. As my jealousy matured and developed, I gained sight of the aura of his prowess. As I continued to brawl and tangle with the ancient beast, I began to devour the gleam that surrounded his every move. It filled me and became my own until at last he was nothing more than an empty husk of his former self.

  Invigorated by my newly obtained power, I roared at my mother and challenged her to send her fastest and strongest soldiers; to them, I would do the same as I had the others. For a year I floated silently and waited for the Goddess’s answer. When at last it came, it was from a small unassuming surface dweller. The message was simple. It is time for you to meet your father, my son.

  After centuries of fighting against them, my mother’s currents carried me swiftly to the surface where my head emerged to draw in the salty breath of my father. He welcomed me with winds of heroic proportions. My mother’s surge and my father’s gusts married and created foam and spray; together they paid tribute to my coming of age. Their union spawned a sibling, though short lived she would be, to guide me to my ambition.

  My young sister pushed forth and drove me up onto rocky shore. Suddenly, I was filled with doubt and called into question my judgment, crying out that I had been wrong. The immense goddess I called mother had been right, I was not ready. My sister pummeled the shoreline with the winds of our father and the rains of our mother. She roared that she had not been born only to die. She had been created and formed with a purpose, to deliver me unto a world without fins and gills. Her wrath was intoxicating and soon had me convinced.

  I dragged myself out of the water, weak limbed and awkward as a larval creature controlled only by miniscule flagella and the dominance of the tide. At last I stood on my feet and was able to grasp the truth. My dying sister’s rampage echoed my sentiments. I had crawled from the water. It was not I who was not ready, but humanity. 

Copyright © 2012 by Leigh Fischer

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, or stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise without written permission of the publisher.

Edition: October 2012

Hurricane Special

The wind is howling, the power is flickering, outages have been reported. I think it is time for you to hunker down with Rising Tide.

Step 1: Go to http://www.facebook.com/RisingTideANovel and hit like.

Step 2: Email me at leighfischer83@gmail.com and tell me if you want a MOBI or a PDF.

Don't worry, zombies don't like hurricanes.