When you tell me that you want to learn
and create things as I do,
Ask yourself,
how BADLY do you want to?

Technique is good
Routine is better still
But do you have the dedication?
The drive and strength of will?

A friend will hold your hand
But a teacher soon lets go
You have to drown a little
To learn how that current flows

Don't tell me why you never finish
Just pick it up and move on
I don't care to hear what you DIDN'T do
Tell me only what you've DONE.

Writing Prompt entry

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A shaft of living light crept over the rubble. Small glints bounced off of the walls of the blasted alleyway. The beams lingered for what seemed like an eternity, then melted into shadow again. After a pause, a small form crept from the rubble and hurriedly dropped down a manhole. She turned to see the frowning face of her brother in the darkness.

“They're scanning the whole area, I TOLD you to stay here. Why did you run off?”

“Aw Pete, I just wanted to see...”

“There isn't anything to see. We just wait until he comes back. He promised to be back, he'll be back…” He began mumbling to himself and led his sister down the tunnels to a hole in the wall. They clambered inside and settled into a large circle on the floor. They had been hiding down here for what seemed like an eternity. Pete pulled out a bag of yellowish powder and filled in the scuffed marks. They would be safe if they stay here. The dark was beginning to feel almost comforting, and he was getting used to the smell. Either way it was better than being out THERE.

Sometimes he'd completely forget the before times, before the angels came down, only to have it slink into his dreams.

He remembered the grownups getting very excited about some guy on TV. Something big was happening. He was stuffed into his Sunday best and hurried to some big building. It was hot and loud and some guy was up front talking about sin and war and a lot of things he didn't understand.

A big screen lowered from the ceiling and projected a bowed, thin man walking to a podium. His eyes were tired and glowed like dying embers. His cheeks were streaked with tears. When he spoke, it choked out the sound and invaded the mind of every soul. His was the only voice for those few moments. “I'm sorry. I tried to stop it. I can't save you all, but I will try to do something…HE is coming. Seek the darkness, and for pity's sake RUN.”

The Tired Man's eyes twisted in agony, and he disappeared in a pillar of flame. A great roar poured from the sky.

Things blurred after that. A great shout went up, and the room became a madhouse. Crying, Screaming, and light… so much light. Pete held firmly to his sister's arm, and they ran. The stampede forced the children into the night. The sky was lit with a thousand glowing forms that descended swiftly and shot back into the air, each carrying the limp form of...

The boy fell to his knees and vomited. The world spun and flecks of something wet began to sprinkle down onto the shrieking masses.

A familiar voice shot through his mind,“This way! Close your eyes and run to my voice.”

Pete whirled about, scanning the writhing crowds for who spoke, he faltered and the wrold seemed to stretch and spin.

“Come on kid, RUN!”

The world rushed back and he threw himself toward the sound.

The voice led them to a manhole where a handful of others were already prying at the lid.

“Down here!” The children half ran half fell down the ladder. Small hands grasped for each other in the darkness, eyes shut and trusting the only sound that wasn't screaming. The voice was clearer here, and they felt a warmth pulling them further down.

Some of the children started to fall back as the shock of what was happening began to set in. Pete dared to open his eyes to the inky darkness and glanced back to see… Outlines?

A fierce light began emanating down the tunnel behind them. The light spread like tendrils, searching and feeling every surface. To his horror, he spotted the huddled form of a straggler slumped on the floor. The light grew brighter and the shimmering form of a winged… something, floated down through the ceiling. He wanted to cry out, warn them… But he felt The Voice choke him off. Just as the Light touched the child, it coiled around the form and SNAPPED.

And it was dark again.

This was the last straw. They couldn't move anymore. They sat there, shaking and clutching each other while the shrieks of the chosen echoed down the tunnels.

The Tired Man had come to find them the next morning. The children were exhausted and reeling from shock. The Man gave them little bags of stinking yellow powder, water and a little card with a drawing on it.

“I will come for each of you, kids. Things are pretty busy right now, but I am taking everyone down to a safe place. I will do my best but I need you to try hard too. Don't let the light find you, and if you feel it near, draw this picture with this powder and sit in the middle. It will keep you safe. Don't worry, I will always find you.”

And with that he was gone
____________________________

Pete let out a deep breath. It had been ages since that day, and sometimes he wondered what it was all about. None of the children they started out with were around anymore. Some wandered off. Some couldn't stomach the “food” they'd find, they didn't last long. But rats were plentiful and he was getting pretty good at catching them. His sister was safe as long as she stuck with him but she was too young, and getting too outgoing, and those things were still out there, hungry as ever.

He rubbed in the lines of the massive pentagram, and prayed The Tired Man would find them soon.   

The Unicorn Hunters

Ever since that strange woman was married it had been a blood bath. The herdsmen could no longer venture out with their beasts. The villagers were at their wits end. The Unicorn gored two more locals in the past month. The adults were forced to send their children out to collect wood and send for help, but the woods still held wolves and great beasts who cared not for their purity.

The Temple Maidens rode in on great white steeds, glistening with silver barding embellished with carved bone, and each Champron was topped with a silver horn encased in jewels. The rider's gossamer rainment shone in the sun, and each touch of the breeze would hint at the untouched forms beneath. Each maiden carried a small sword clasped to their hips.

The head Priestess called the village together and passed around a shield to be filled with whatever money they had to offer. Once it was filled they bade the residents to erect the makings of a great pyre, then return to their homes. They should shutter their windows, and that none were to stir from their huts until dawn.

The moon rose high in the night sky as the Priestess stood in the center of the forest. The maidens began to beat a tattoo upon their shields. Their voices rang out clear into the night, luring the scorned beast to their circle.

The unicorn emerged from the darkness. Entranced by the bounty of purity before it, it did not detect the song of binding until it was too late.

A great clamor broke through the forest. Shouts of the maidens and the screaming of horses echoed through the night and then fell silent. Soon the smell of charring flesh wafted from the field.

The sun spread across the fields and the Priestess called the villagers from their homes. She presented a bloodied horn to the village leader, indicating the deed was done. The Corpse was charring in the field and they would be no longer tormented. Mounting her steed, she and her maidens trailed off into the forest.

None noticed that her steed had acquired a more powerful and elegant form in the night. It twitched and fidgeted beneath its armor. The faint glow of the domination spell hidden in the early sunlight.

The switch was complete, the villagers would find the charred remains of a common horse, the bone of its brow scraped as though de-horned.

They would completely break the creature at their base, and in a year she will send out a fresh agent to lure out another Unicorn to the town. Soon The Maiden's army would be completely furnished with the most powerful cavalry in the kingdom, funded by the very people over whom they would someday rule.

A dream of discovery.

 In this dream, I was at a beach park. I was taking a Tai Chi class. When the sun began to set, I focused down the long stretch of sand to a point in a distance. I felt myself pull through space to another beach, at another place. I continued this until I reached a long, curving beach which I knew to be Argentina.

The sand was scattered with thousands of geodes and minerals polished by the ocean waves. I picked up a long, smooth Piece of banded agate, about the size of my thumb. One end was a rich green, which faded from white to a deep clear purple. I walked to the water and found a shattered wedge of Amethyst. It was a rich deep blue fading into a clear purple, with small crystals clinging to it. I put these in my pocket, and phased back to the original beach. There, The class was wrapping up. The instructor did not notice I had left. Twilight set in, and we dispersed into the treeline.

~AE

Another dream of undead

For awhile I had a traveling partner. But they would not stay for long. Partners changed constantly. Sometimes it was trust. Usually it was speed. If you could not keep up, you were left behind. There was no way to carry anyone.

I left many behind.

Animosity would pop up from time to time, but few lived long enough for it to matter. The violent quickly used up their resources. If you were dumb enough to start fires, riot for the sake of some sort of “Anarchy”, or did ANYTHING bright or loud, you may as well have shot yourself in the face. Zombies loved the light and sound. Those morons were all dead in half a year.

I made my business in trade. I collected beads, fabric, small supplies, medicine. When I would hide out, I would memorize literature for survival or stories to trade. Today I needed disinfectant and glove material. I often raided for liquor. You didn't get drunk in this world, It made you slow. You needed it for wounds.

This generation was hopeless. They wouldn't know sanitation if it wasn't in a hand pump.  It wasn't the zombies that killed folks so much anymore so much as disease like diphtheria, cholera, influenza, chickenpox. There was a lot of that this time of year. Children didn't last long without vaccines either. I wondered how long my own shots would stay valid. Tetanus was a big problem, I needed more body wrapping to prevent cuts.

I did my best to sequester myself or hide. I left the group behind for fear of being spotted.  I made my way to a large house in the country. It was a short time before the others caught up but I got what I wanted. A bottle of cheap booze, work gloves, twine, and a few trinkets and necklaces with blue beads.

I considered boarding the house and staying for the night but I was followed by other refugees. They were bringing their sick and their weak, and the zombies were not far behind. Maybe they didn't know but I wasn't about to stay and find out.

 I packed what I could and ran.

~AE

Soot

Anxiety is soot upon my hands

I see it build and I cling to myself, spreading it like paint across my being

It spreads to my life, my home, my loved ones, blotting out the color and light

the Doctor tried to quench the fire to protect me, the embers burned low

Suffocating and sparking, I see It killing me inside and out.

Soon, I wonder,

What is this soot? Why does it come on so thickly?

The soot is my dreams that once burned brightly.

Once fuel, now unused, deformed and black.

Can I see the fire inside?

I cannot simply smolder,

I must burn brightly as the fire in my head.

The fire will cleanse me, and the soot is not there.

The wind takes the ash away, and I am pure again.

-AE

The Dream of Rust

The boat was massive. At shore it contained the hall dimension of the island. However, when the boat launched it was gone. The cargo holds of the vessel were hollow but for a sluice of toxic orange colored fluid. I was to follow a man as he entered codes that I would read off a small piece of paper. It went fine at first, but as I walked I felt lighter and lighter. Soon I discovered I had no shoes, and the legs of my pants were dissolving.

I guess that about when I lost focus, The numbers began to blur, decimals swapped in just as he was turning a valve.

The rust mixture spread and poured into the belly of the ship.

“Somethings wrong” he said. We ran along the corridors to the deck.

We were coming into port, but the gates were closed to the bay.

There were human bodies everywhere, from the docks to the shore. They were still warm beneath my feet

And old woman sat with a great orange cat, looking over a massive valley. The former cove was emptied down to the sea bed. There were bodies stretched as far as I could see, up the rock face and along the brim.

She looked up and said to nobody in particular that they would be flooding it soon.

Then I woke up.

~AE