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Thread: For my special cousin to read =)

  1. #1
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    Short stories:

    Short story:

    Another cycle was near its end; light fading to darkness, heralding the time when their father would arrive home again. The child knew that whatever their father brought back for them would satisfy their hunger, but that wasn’t all that excited her. For it was at the end of each of these cycles, after the hollows in their bellies had been filled, that he would share with them tales and legends handed down since the times of their ancestors.

    The youngster waited impatiently on the edge of the boundary slope that situated higher than the surrounding landscape allowing her a clear view of the endless high-peaked mountains. Too often she had waited knowing exactly where on the horizon her father would appear.

    Slowly, darkness began to engulf the surrounding terrain and the child couldn’t help but feel a little unsettled as to why her father had not yet returned. Her two brothers joined her on the slope, their unease and restlessness mixed with, and amplified, her worry. They watched and waited, looking out across the horizon that lay not far from the colossal mountains that rose well beyond the sky’s misty ocean. What remained of the light slowly faded behind the saddle at the base of the mountains. The last remnants of the bright colours that blazed from it soon left them, only to remain sturdy against the sky’s mist. But even then it did not linger long and left the sky taking with it the warmth and comfort that had been keeping them somewhat secure. Now they stirred, uncertain of what comes next.

    Abruptly, a strangely coloured light appeared behind the two nearest mountains, flickering lightly against their misted peaks. Startled and curious, the children watched as the brightness gradually increased and an oval object emerged from between them with that strange colourful light flaring out beneath it.

    The children’s curiosity turned to awe as the strange shape shone before them.

    The object momentarily stopped before the light beneath it exploded into a brilliant radiance, followed by a thunderous roar. The three siblings cowered together, trying to shield themselves from the frightening blast of light and noise that gradually increased. Abruptly, a piercing crack penetrated the thunderous noise and the ground jerked beneath them, knocking them off balance and momentarily exposing them to the inexplicable, blinding brightness. As soon as the ground had stilled, the three siblings hastily recovered from the shock. The light and object had gone, and the sound of a gentle, cool breeze had replaced the echoes of roaring thunder. There was no indication that anything had even happened, other than the wary feeling it had left with them.

    Long moments passed whilst the children’s gazes remained fixated on the mountains, still unsure if what had appeared would come again. Suddenly, a flicker of movement made the sister aware of a figure emerging from the shadows. Giving a shout to alert her brothers, the three children readied to flee, but what appeared before them stopped them in their tracks, and instead they bounded forward to greet their father excitedly.

    The sister was the first to notice the strange creature that her father carried with him, a creature unlike any she had ever seen. It looked small and frail and no bigger in size than she was. Her two brothers had also noticed the strangeness of the creature and stared at it inquisitively. The father laid the creature before them whilst meeting their curious stares.

    He shared with them the story of how he had encountered it while hunting between the mountains and how there had been others like it that fled at the sight of him into an oval dome hundreds of times his own size, leaving one of their own behind in their haste. The creature had fled in the opposite direction when the others did not come back for it. The father told them of the scorching brightness and thunderous noise that left the dome and shook the ground whilst it chased him from the mountains. He said that when the light and noise had disappeared, he returned to the place where the dome had been and all that remained was a scorched ditch, pitcher than dark and covered an area even wider than the dome had been. He had searched the area for the creature that fled and found it lying lifelessly beneath some rubble that had fallen from the mountains during the blast of light and roaring thunder.

    The father paused and then looked at the creature reminiscently. He remembered hearing of these creatures in tales told by his own father. He also remembered his father telling him how the creatures had named themselves by a single sound. He recalled the sound his father had spoken and struggled to mimic it, “Hu-man”
    The three children looked up from the creature to be caught in their father's stare. Again, but more clearly he said, “Human” and as if hearing it’s named called, the creature stirred.



    Short story 2#:

    When Ivan awoke only faintly aware of his surroundings, he gave himself some time to clear his thoughts. He didn't know what could have happened to have ended up in a place he hardly recognized. Soon he became vaguely aware of a distinct smell, but that wasn’t the first thing on his mind. As he tried to think back to the previous night, he found it hard to distinguish his nightmares from memory, but even still, some clarity returned to him...

    He had been on his way back to the dorm at the University of which he stayed. His girlfriend Sasha had been with him at the time.
    His friend Nial had told him of a shortcut that went through some of the suburbs and led straight to the park not far from the University itself.


    “The park . . .”
    He began to recognize the place he had woken up in and as he picked himself up from the leafy soil he became aware of something more . . .
    “Christ!” Ivan gasped. He looked upon his blood soaked jeans in horror and only then did he realize that his shirt clung to him in bloody shreds.
    Ivan was unable to control the trembles that ran through his body.
    Oh God Sasha! He thought, what the hell happened last night?
    Desperately, he thought back, remembering his nightmares, only they hadn’t been nightmares after all. . .

    He was talking to Sarah as they walked through the park when something hard hit him side on sending him to the ground with an unbearable weight following the fall. He felt something clasp tightly around his neck. At first he was too stunned to act, but now he struggled desperately for breath, but it was hopeless. He could feel the death grip tightening around his neck and he was vaguely aware of popping bones. The jagged points cut deep into his flesh and warm blood oozed down his neck and face. Ivan could hear somebody's cries in the distance, but not at all as distant as they seemed. Abruptly, deaths grasp released it's grip from around his neck and the weight grinding him to the ground vanished. He gasped and spluttered as his lungs filled with air, but the stars would not leave his vision and he was beyond disorientation. He could hear someone screaming and a rumble that vibrated through the ground. He forced his head off from the moist soil to the direction of the cries. At first he had trouble making out what it was before him, but even with his clouded vision he was able to see the monstrous creature. He then realized that the cries he had been hearing had came from Sasha. He could barely see her past the giant form of the lurking monster, but what he could see of her was enough. Tears and eye liner ran down her cheeks in streams and she wore an expression of pure dread, all blood had drained from her face leaving her white as chalk. Ivan managed to raise himself onto his knees and sit back on his heels, blood oozed from the wounds in his neck and his vision became momentarily hazy. He became aware of a burning sensation in his neck and chest and when he was able to see again, he realized he had fallen back over. He felt his arms and legs thrashing convulsively against the ground and became aware of a piercing wail. It took him a moment to realize that the wail he had been hearing was his, but soon that was unnoticeable compared to the burning in his chest that exploded through him like a thousand blistering needles stabbing him from inside out. It only worsened as it spread and again he was only vaguely aware of popping bones.



    Sasha sat in a mattered clump weeping. She almost expected the monster to return. She remembered that she was in a park, but had no idea where that was. She had trusted Ivan to know where they were. Desperately, she tried to push away the memories that had been gnawing at her . . .

    Sasha watched on in horror as the creature lurked towards her leaving Ivan to lay face down in a lifeless heap. She had been screaming so loud that her throat had become like sandpaper and the only sound that escaped her now was a hoarse whimper. Sasha scurried back as the monster closed in, but she didn’t dare take her eyes from it as she did. She felt the backside of her dress pull through a puddle as she dragged herself through the moist dirt. From the corner of her eye she saw that Ivan had risen onto his knees. It would have been a relieving sight had of blood not been spilling from his throat and drenching his shirt. Just as abruptly he fell down and began to thrash violently and released a gut wrenching wail snatching the beast attention from her. Now was her chance to escape, but as she got up to sprint, she saw something that stopped her in her tracks. Ivan was changing, though after a brief moment she wasn’t sure it was still Ivan. Rising from a crouch, what had been Ivan now stood almost as tall as the monster that had nearly killed him. Sasha was able to hear the popping of bones as he stood. Suddenly standing as tall as the beast, what had been Ivan; let out a thunderous roar as it covered ten paces in a single bound taking the other beast hunches from under it. She tried to leap back as they came crashing down towards her, but only had a split second to realize she wouldn’t make it before the beats weight knocked her unconscious . . .


    “Sasha . . .” said a hoarse voice.
    Sasha jumped to her feet whilst she turned to face the person. she had been crying so loud she hadn’t heard them approach.
    Ivan stood before her drenched in blood, but somehow without a single scratch. His blood soaked shirt clung to him in shreds.
    “Sasha, I-I thought that you were-” but before he could finish what he had been going to say, she threw herself against him whilst clinging and sobbing frantically into his chest. She felt him embrace her just as quickly and even more tightly. Never had she believed in myths or fairy-tales, but now no one could tell her what was real and what not. Not after her boyfriend had become one in itself. Not after he had become . . . a werewolf.
    Last edited by Plain&Simple; 11-18-2011 at 01:07 AM.

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