In 2003 I wrote a few fictional articles for Halloween. One of these articles entitled, “Living Hell”, was one of my favorites.
So this year, I decided to make it into an audio file for Halloween.
This decision was a last minute one, and I basically wanted to see if I could throw something together quickly.
It’s taken me several hours to accomplish, because like anything involving a computer there were many stumbling blocks that got in my way.
In the end, I managed to cludge together a fairly decent attempt at entertaining audio.
I hope you enjoy listening to this file as much as I enjoyed writing, and now reading, it for you.
Click here to listen...
Showing posts with label Halloween. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Halloween. Show all posts
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
Friday, October 31, 2003
Living Hell - Fiction
The goblin lunged at Marcus, his intent clear. Revenge.
Witches, ghosts, vampires, princesses and a variety of sports figures witnessed the battle. None of them seemed interested in joining in, which was unfortunate for the little goblin. On this night, he would lose the spoils of his door-to-door efforts. The candy would go to the victor, and in this case, as with the other ten children before the goblin, it would be Marcus.
Marcus was evil. Not just because on Halloween night he stole candy from kids, but he was evil in ways that many normal people would never imagine evil could be. The professionals all agreed that Marcus had some sort of imbalance in his chemical make up. Almost all recommended that he be institutionalized for the protection of others. For some reason, Marcus fell through the cracks, and roamed the streets looking for trouble.
The police knew him well. From petty crimes, to torturing animals, Marcus has done it all. Unfortunately, nobody really knew Marcus. Nobody could even fathom the depths that Marcus had sunk to in his daily rituals. On the surface he presented an image of somebody to stay clear of, and most people in Los Angeles did just that. There was the typical staring, pointing, and talking as he passed, but that was all.
Marcus turned into an alley and entered into an abandoned store by pulling up the corner of a long-forgotten chain-link fence that was meant to secure the door. Inside, the place was nothing but a large empty room, filled with trash here and there, and many years accumulation of dust. There was a noticeable trail where the dirt had been trod, leading to a door on the other side of the room. Marcus followed the path he has taken hundreds of times before, and opened the door that led into the darkness of a storeroom below.
This was where Marcus called home. One dim bulb provided what little light Marcus required to do whatever it is he did down there. A small hotplate, microwave and refrigerator made up his kitchen, and a broken card table propped up on one side by a cardboard box was his only table. In one corner was a pallet with some blankets on it that he called his bed, in the opposite corner was a large hole in the wall.
Marcus tossed the candy from the nights haul onto the table, grabbed a handful and shoved it in his pocket, then walked through the hole in the wall which led to a ladder, and down into the sewer system. Once in the sewers he reached into a dark alcove and produced a small flashlight. The light clicked on and Marcus could see little things scurry from its beam. He felt most at home here among the rats and roaches, and enjoyed interacting with them from time to time. He directed the flashlight into the darkness and used it to guide him through a maze of tunnels until he reached his destination.
The door was closed, and if you hadn’t been looking for it you could easily walk right by. Marcus didn’t know what the room had been designed for, but it was perfect for his needs. The little room had power to it, and Marcus pulled the chain on the fluorescent fixture he had installed with some old wire he had found.
The light swayed back and forth throwing wild shadows around the room. Surprisingly, this room was better furnished then his home. There was a stainless steel table, and a long countertop with jars and a variety of odd instruments that seemed to be collected from many different professions from automotive to medical. There were a few cages in the room, some looking like plastic kennels you would use for transporting your pets, and others merely made from wire and sheet metal.
The table itself had nylon straps bolted to the sides in about six different locations, and it could be moved into various positions from standing straight up, to lying flat and low. Over the table was another light that circled a large magnifying glass. This was what Marcus considered his laboratory. This was his private place where he could perform ghastly experiments.
Nothing was safe from his work. The local rats, cats, dogs, and even the roaches themselves have all contributed to his quest for knowledge. What exact knowledge he was trying to obtain, was anybody’s guess. Marcus himself had no clue why he did what he did, all he knew was that he enjoyed his work, and saw no need to change how he performed it.
This was a rare occasion when he had no patience in the lab. The place was quite for now, but he was formulating a plan that would involve a few dogs, the candy he had gathered, and electricity. A smile grew on his filthy face as he began to plan the various experiments he could try, and what else he would need to do the job properly.
Marcus left his secret room, secured the door, and made his way back through the filth to the ladder. As he climbed the ladder his foot slipped from one of the rungs and he fell backwards about 15 feet onto the hard concrete below. He gave a grunt, and went to pull himself back up, but nothing happened. He could not move anything. He tried again, but not even a twitch of his fingers could be managed.
Laying there for a while Marcus thought that soon he would start feeling better and could once again move. He seemed to be able to see just fine, and breathing didn’t appear to be a problem. So he lay there a while looking at the intricate patterns of the walls. He noticed the ladder that betrayed him had a broken rung on it, and that must have been what caused him to fall.
Marcus had nothing but time on his hands. His mind began thinking of many new things he could do in his underground laboratory. Although he had yet experiment with humans, he had been toying with the idea for some time now. Maybe it still wasn’t too late tonight. The little kids were running around in their costumes, mostly unguarded. With everyone in costumes, and running amok, it would be the perfect time to gather a human specimen. His plans for the candy and electricity changed from using a dog, to using a small child. Then he saw movement on a pipe overhead.
His eyes were somewhat adjust to what little light the fallen flashlight was providing, and he could make out a rat scurrying along one of the many pipes that lined the ceiling of the sewers. Then he noticed that one was actually on his stomach, but he could not feel anything. He noticed it was doing something, but he could not see just what from his angle. The he saw it.
The rat had a little piece of flesh in his mouth, and some blood on his fur. Marcus began to panic inside, but still could not move. As he lay there, helpless as he could ever be, he saw more and more rats begin to crawl all over him. He knew they were tearing at his flesh, but could do nothing to stop them.
A cockroach crawled over his face, tickling his check as he crossed, then disappeared somewhere into his shirt. For a moment he was elated that he had felt the roach on his face. Perhaps he was getting better, and could soon show these rats who the boss really was down here. Another roach showed up, but this one stopped near his nose. The tickling of the tiny feet soon gave way to little painful sensations. The damn roach was biting his nose!
Terror welled up inside Marcus as the roaches and rats began to arrive in larger numbers. Hope was gone that he was ever going to be able to move. He tried to pinch the inside of his nose closed as the roaches ventured further into his nasal passages. He closed his eyes as they started crawling all over his face. He peeked out every now and then when he thought he had a clear moment. The rats now joined in with the roaches nibbling at his face, and the pain was excruciating but he could not scream, or move.
Marcus was trying to blow a rat away from his mouth when the flashlight started to dim. It wasn’t long before the light went out completely. Now Marcus lay in complete darkness, and the pain on his neck and face became surreal. He could feel a roach, or a rat, trying to chew on his eyelids as he tried to keep them tightly closed.
Nobody noticed that Marcus never came around anymore. He was one less vagrant to point at, stare at, and to wonder about. There were many more to fill his place as the weird and the strange on the streets of Los Angeles. There were no missing persons report filed, and no memorial services for him. Marcus had merely disappeared from the Earth.
Somewhere in the sewers of the city of angels, Marcus was distributed to feed the needy. The life of Marcus was finely worth something to nature, as a source of food.
Witches, ghosts, vampires, princesses and a variety of sports figures witnessed the battle. None of them seemed interested in joining in, which was unfortunate for the little goblin. On this night, he would lose the spoils of his door-to-door efforts. The candy would go to the victor, and in this case, as with the other ten children before the goblin, it would be Marcus.
Marcus was evil. Not just because on Halloween night he stole candy from kids, but he was evil in ways that many normal people would never imagine evil could be. The professionals all agreed that Marcus had some sort of imbalance in his chemical make up. Almost all recommended that he be institutionalized for the protection of others. For some reason, Marcus fell through the cracks, and roamed the streets looking for trouble.
The police knew him well. From petty crimes, to torturing animals, Marcus has done it all. Unfortunately, nobody really knew Marcus. Nobody could even fathom the depths that Marcus had sunk to in his daily rituals. On the surface he presented an image of somebody to stay clear of, and most people in Los Angeles did just that. There was the typical staring, pointing, and talking as he passed, but that was all.
Marcus turned into an alley and entered into an abandoned store by pulling up the corner of a long-forgotten chain-link fence that was meant to secure the door. Inside, the place was nothing but a large empty room, filled with trash here and there, and many years accumulation of dust. There was a noticeable trail where the dirt had been trod, leading to a door on the other side of the room. Marcus followed the path he has taken hundreds of times before, and opened the door that led into the darkness of a storeroom below.
This was where Marcus called home. One dim bulb provided what little light Marcus required to do whatever it is he did down there. A small hotplate, microwave and refrigerator made up his kitchen, and a broken card table propped up on one side by a cardboard box was his only table. In one corner was a pallet with some blankets on it that he called his bed, in the opposite corner was a large hole in the wall.
Marcus tossed the candy from the nights haul onto the table, grabbed a handful and shoved it in his pocket, then walked through the hole in the wall which led to a ladder, and down into the sewer system. Once in the sewers he reached into a dark alcove and produced a small flashlight. The light clicked on and Marcus could see little things scurry from its beam. He felt most at home here among the rats and roaches, and enjoyed interacting with them from time to time. He directed the flashlight into the darkness and used it to guide him through a maze of tunnels until he reached his destination.
The door was closed, and if you hadn’t been looking for it you could easily walk right by. Marcus didn’t know what the room had been designed for, but it was perfect for his needs. The little room had power to it, and Marcus pulled the chain on the fluorescent fixture he had installed with some old wire he had found.
The light swayed back and forth throwing wild shadows around the room. Surprisingly, this room was better furnished then his home. There was a stainless steel table, and a long countertop with jars and a variety of odd instruments that seemed to be collected from many different professions from automotive to medical. There were a few cages in the room, some looking like plastic kennels you would use for transporting your pets, and others merely made from wire and sheet metal.
The table itself had nylon straps bolted to the sides in about six different locations, and it could be moved into various positions from standing straight up, to lying flat and low. Over the table was another light that circled a large magnifying glass. This was what Marcus considered his laboratory. This was his private place where he could perform ghastly experiments.
Nothing was safe from his work. The local rats, cats, dogs, and even the roaches themselves have all contributed to his quest for knowledge. What exact knowledge he was trying to obtain, was anybody’s guess. Marcus himself had no clue why he did what he did, all he knew was that he enjoyed his work, and saw no need to change how he performed it.
This was a rare occasion when he had no patience in the lab. The place was quite for now, but he was formulating a plan that would involve a few dogs, the candy he had gathered, and electricity. A smile grew on his filthy face as he began to plan the various experiments he could try, and what else he would need to do the job properly.
Marcus left his secret room, secured the door, and made his way back through the filth to the ladder. As he climbed the ladder his foot slipped from one of the rungs and he fell backwards about 15 feet onto the hard concrete below. He gave a grunt, and went to pull himself back up, but nothing happened. He could not move anything. He tried again, but not even a twitch of his fingers could be managed.
Laying there for a while Marcus thought that soon he would start feeling better and could once again move. He seemed to be able to see just fine, and breathing didn’t appear to be a problem. So he lay there a while looking at the intricate patterns of the walls. He noticed the ladder that betrayed him had a broken rung on it, and that must have been what caused him to fall.
Marcus had nothing but time on his hands. His mind began thinking of many new things he could do in his underground laboratory. Although he had yet experiment with humans, he had been toying with the idea for some time now. Maybe it still wasn’t too late tonight. The little kids were running around in their costumes, mostly unguarded. With everyone in costumes, and running amok, it would be the perfect time to gather a human specimen. His plans for the candy and electricity changed from using a dog, to using a small child. Then he saw movement on a pipe overhead.
His eyes were somewhat adjust to what little light the fallen flashlight was providing, and he could make out a rat scurrying along one of the many pipes that lined the ceiling of the sewers. Then he noticed that one was actually on his stomach, but he could not feel anything. He noticed it was doing something, but he could not see just what from his angle. The he saw it.
The rat had a little piece of flesh in his mouth, and some blood on his fur. Marcus began to panic inside, but still could not move. As he lay there, helpless as he could ever be, he saw more and more rats begin to crawl all over him. He knew they were tearing at his flesh, but could do nothing to stop them.
A cockroach crawled over his face, tickling his check as he crossed, then disappeared somewhere into his shirt. For a moment he was elated that he had felt the roach on his face. Perhaps he was getting better, and could soon show these rats who the boss really was down here. Another roach showed up, but this one stopped near his nose. The tickling of the tiny feet soon gave way to little painful sensations. The damn roach was biting his nose!
Terror welled up inside Marcus as the roaches and rats began to arrive in larger numbers. Hope was gone that he was ever going to be able to move. He tried to pinch the inside of his nose closed as the roaches ventured further into his nasal passages. He closed his eyes as they started crawling all over his face. He peeked out every now and then when he thought he had a clear moment. The rats now joined in with the roaches nibbling at his face, and the pain was excruciating but he could not scream, or move.
Marcus was trying to blow a rat away from his mouth when the flashlight started to dim. It wasn’t long before the light went out completely. Now Marcus lay in complete darkness, and the pain on his neck and face became surreal. He could feel a roach, or a rat, trying to chew on his eyelids as he tried to keep them tightly closed.
Nobody noticed that Marcus never came around anymore. He was one less vagrant to point at, stare at, and to wonder about. There were many more to fill his place as the weird and the strange on the streets of Los Angeles. There were no missing persons report filed, and no memorial services for him. Marcus had merely disappeared from the Earth.
Somewhere in the sewers of the city of angels, Marcus was distributed to feed the needy. The life of Marcus was finely worth something to nature, as a source of food.
Monday, October 13, 2003
Life of the Party - Fiction
Jake McDaniels pulled the heavy wool cloak over his head, and fastened the antler buttons up his broad chest. He grabbed his brush, and pulled it through his wavy blonde hair watching each stroke in the mirror. Thinking that the cloak was going to be messing up his hair all night, he slipped his brush into the ample pockets.
Jake hated parties. It wasn’t so much the party aspect, or the chance to meet with friends and have some fun. After all, during normal gatherings he was usually the life of the party. He didn’t like the direction that parties always seemed to head. As the night goes on, people tended to have way too much alcohol, and they start to show their otherwise suppressed emotions. Normal people by day, the nightlife of a party would bring out their ugly sides.
The women get blubbery, and start to cry at the drop of a hat about this boy or that, and why they have not found someone as good as him. Never mind that they would be obnoxious and snooty to most of the boys at school. They would not remember the outpouring of their souls when the night had passed, or at least that’s what they would claim
Men, on the other hand, would start to become fearless. Most think they have become the world’s greatest comedians, and tell all of the jokes that were never funny in the day time. Vocabularies would degrade, and cussing, and yelling over the music would begin. Almost certainly there will be a fight, and someone would go home embarrassed, or sometimes even in an ambulance.
Musing why he even decided to go to this party, Jake knew that at a costume party he could be someone different. He didn’t have to be the football hero under his mask and cloak. In fact, he enjoyed the idea of making everyone at the party wonder exactly who he was. It always wigged out the girls, and he loved the idea of being the mysterious one.
In the light of day, when it wasn’t October 31st, Jake always felt like he was on the spot. As if he had to perform for his friends and maintain the image they always demanded of him. The costume party was the perfect place to see how people live out of the limelight. It felt good, and Jake was sitting on a couch watching others maintain their status in the social ladder when he caught her eye across the room.
She was a vision. Not in a storybook romance sort of way, but in the sense that he was drawn to her gaze immediately. The room between him and her seemed to go out of focus, as his eyes honed in on hers. Normally, Jake would have been worried being caught just fixated on a woman, but he could not bring himself to look away.
His head was spinning, and it felt as though he was coming down with something, but the sensation was only coming from his peripheral vision, the gaze into her eyes was sharp and steady.
The edge of her lips raised slowly into the cutest little smirk he had ever seen. Without breaking the gaze, her eyelids closed slightly to increase the effect that she was flattered by his attention.
Just then, a group of people wandered between the two, and the connection was lost. When the group moved on, and he could once again regain his view of the far side of the room, she was gone.
Jake’s skin became clammy, and deep inside he began to panic. Where the heck did she go? His eyes darted back and forth across the room searching for any sign that she was there. Anyone near him could not tell there was anything different occurring inside of him.
He didn’t want to come to this stupid party, and he shouldn’t be wearing this dumb costume. At least then maybe she would recognize him and he could use his athletic prowess to snare this awesome woman.
Suddenly a hand was on his shoulder, a drunken boy was trying to guess who he was. He was joking with his friends and they were all making guesses as to Jakes identity. Jake wanted no part of it, he was on a mission, a mission to find this mysterious woman and at least let her know that he was a football hero, maybe then he would have a chance.
It must have been an hour, or at least it seemed that long to Jake, when he finally spotted her out in the back yard, near some trees, staring into the water of a pond. The moon was full and high in the sky. It’s bright light casting a beautiful silvery glow on everything outside.
As he was watching her, she glanced sideways, just over her left shoulder, and reconnected that compelling gaze. Jake’s legs went weak, and he once again began to sweat. Why was he acting like some giddy school boy, he was the star of the football team, and not prone to be awkward when it came to women. She was somehow different.
There was not the usual fresh and innocent look that most girls had that was his age. Something about her was different, more seasoned. Perhaps she was a world traveler, an exchange student maybe, which would explain why he has never seen her at school before.
Was she wearing a costume? He didn’t notice it before, because he was so transfixed on her eyes. Her dress looked like it was dark purple from what he could tell in the glow of the moon, and she was wearing a dark choker necklace with some sort of stone in the center. Her make up was applied to give her a very pale appearance, and she had jet black hair. It was the usual female vampire look, but she really pulled it off great!
Jake had to meet this woman before she disappeared again. As he started toward her she turned in the direction of her gaze and faced him square. The pond was still, and as he got closer Jake could see the reflection of the surrounding trees on the surface of the pond. His eyes looked at her once again, and this time there was no coyness from either of them. Jake knew he was approaching her purposefully, and she had to know his course was for her alone.
Not a word was spoken as he got close to her, and she reached up and pulled his mask off, and down his hood, revealing for the first time that night who he really was. Did she know him? If she did, there was no reaction from her.
The lady in purple took his hands into hers after what seemed like forever, and Jake leaned down as she turned her head and he kissed her long and hard. His tongue darted in and around her mouth as he tasted her, and enjoyed it completely. He felt the sharp vampire teeth of her costume, and it excited him even more knowing that she was just as unknown to him as he hoped he was to her.
He pulled her away just a bit, and once again stared into her eyes. Not wanting to ruin the moment with words, he took in her features so that he might remember them forever should she depart after this night was over. Even under her pale makeup, her skin was smooth and looked like the surface of a china doll. Her eyes were a dark brown, almost black in this light, but he could see little features within them that intrigued him even more. She was exotic and beautiful, mysterious and passionate, yet they have never spoken.
She felt cold and he knew that the dress she was wearing did not have the ability to warm her up adequately. He wrapped his arms around her to warm her, and her lips once again met his with another kiss of longing and need.
Jake was lost. His mind was completely drawn into pleasing this woman, and to keep her warm and safe on this cool night in the garden. Their kissing subsided as he maintained his embrace, and she held him tightly as well. He began kissing her neck, and nibbling on her ear, afraid to break the bond, or to even speak and destroy the spell of the moment.
He felt her kissing his neck, and breathing heavily in his ear. She was enjoying this as much as he was, and he was completely, and utterly hers. Was it the passion of the moment, the beer he had drank earlier, or the sickness he thought he was coming down with earlier? He wasn’t sure, but he was once again getting light-headed.
Instead of warming his new found love up, he seemed to be getting colder. Oh God, what a time to be getting sick. It was just like the fates to do something as cruel as this. He held on to her tightly hoping the sensation would once again pass.
As he stood there clinging to her, and enjoying her attention, Jake lowered his eyes once again to the surface of the pond. That was odd he thought. It looked like he was just standing there by himself with his arms in the air. His eyelids became heavy as the cold seemed to sink into his bones. Was he dreaming this? Was he hallucinating?
The mysterious women in purple relaxed her hold on Jake, and let his lifeless body slide slowly to the ground. She looked once again at the party going on in the house across the yard, gave a slight smile, then turned and walked into the trees.
Jake hated parties. It wasn’t so much the party aspect, or the chance to meet with friends and have some fun. After all, during normal gatherings he was usually the life of the party. He didn’t like the direction that parties always seemed to head. As the night goes on, people tended to have way too much alcohol, and they start to show their otherwise suppressed emotions. Normal people by day, the nightlife of a party would bring out their ugly sides.
The women get blubbery, and start to cry at the drop of a hat about this boy or that, and why they have not found someone as good as him. Never mind that they would be obnoxious and snooty to most of the boys at school. They would not remember the outpouring of their souls when the night had passed, or at least that’s what they would claim
Men, on the other hand, would start to become fearless. Most think they have become the world’s greatest comedians, and tell all of the jokes that were never funny in the day time. Vocabularies would degrade, and cussing, and yelling over the music would begin. Almost certainly there will be a fight, and someone would go home embarrassed, or sometimes even in an ambulance.
Musing why he even decided to go to this party, Jake knew that at a costume party he could be someone different. He didn’t have to be the football hero under his mask and cloak. In fact, he enjoyed the idea of making everyone at the party wonder exactly who he was. It always wigged out the girls, and he loved the idea of being the mysterious one.
In the light of day, when it wasn’t October 31st, Jake always felt like he was on the spot. As if he had to perform for his friends and maintain the image they always demanded of him. The costume party was the perfect place to see how people live out of the limelight. It felt good, and Jake was sitting on a couch watching others maintain their status in the social ladder when he caught her eye across the room.
She was a vision. Not in a storybook romance sort of way, but in the sense that he was drawn to her gaze immediately. The room between him and her seemed to go out of focus, as his eyes honed in on hers. Normally, Jake would have been worried being caught just fixated on a woman, but he could not bring himself to look away.
His head was spinning, and it felt as though he was coming down with something, but the sensation was only coming from his peripheral vision, the gaze into her eyes was sharp and steady.
The edge of her lips raised slowly into the cutest little smirk he had ever seen. Without breaking the gaze, her eyelids closed slightly to increase the effect that she was flattered by his attention.
Just then, a group of people wandered between the two, and the connection was lost. When the group moved on, and he could once again regain his view of the far side of the room, she was gone.
Jake’s skin became clammy, and deep inside he began to panic. Where the heck did she go? His eyes darted back and forth across the room searching for any sign that she was there. Anyone near him could not tell there was anything different occurring inside of him.
He didn’t want to come to this stupid party, and he shouldn’t be wearing this dumb costume. At least then maybe she would recognize him and he could use his athletic prowess to snare this awesome woman.
Suddenly a hand was on his shoulder, a drunken boy was trying to guess who he was. He was joking with his friends and they were all making guesses as to Jakes identity. Jake wanted no part of it, he was on a mission, a mission to find this mysterious woman and at least let her know that he was a football hero, maybe then he would have a chance.
It must have been an hour, or at least it seemed that long to Jake, when he finally spotted her out in the back yard, near some trees, staring into the water of a pond. The moon was full and high in the sky. It’s bright light casting a beautiful silvery glow on everything outside.
As he was watching her, she glanced sideways, just over her left shoulder, and reconnected that compelling gaze. Jake’s legs went weak, and he once again began to sweat. Why was he acting like some giddy school boy, he was the star of the football team, and not prone to be awkward when it came to women. She was somehow different.
There was not the usual fresh and innocent look that most girls had that was his age. Something about her was different, more seasoned. Perhaps she was a world traveler, an exchange student maybe, which would explain why he has never seen her at school before.
Was she wearing a costume? He didn’t notice it before, because he was so transfixed on her eyes. Her dress looked like it was dark purple from what he could tell in the glow of the moon, and she was wearing a dark choker necklace with some sort of stone in the center. Her make up was applied to give her a very pale appearance, and she had jet black hair. It was the usual female vampire look, but she really pulled it off great!
Jake had to meet this woman before she disappeared again. As he started toward her she turned in the direction of her gaze and faced him square. The pond was still, and as he got closer Jake could see the reflection of the surrounding trees on the surface of the pond. His eyes looked at her once again, and this time there was no coyness from either of them. Jake knew he was approaching her purposefully, and she had to know his course was for her alone.
Not a word was spoken as he got close to her, and she reached up and pulled his mask off, and down his hood, revealing for the first time that night who he really was. Did she know him? If she did, there was no reaction from her.
The lady in purple took his hands into hers after what seemed like forever, and Jake leaned down as she turned her head and he kissed her long and hard. His tongue darted in and around her mouth as he tasted her, and enjoyed it completely. He felt the sharp vampire teeth of her costume, and it excited him even more knowing that she was just as unknown to him as he hoped he was to her.
He pulled her away just a bit, and once again stared into her eyes. Not wanting to ruin the moment with words, he took in her features so that he might remember them forever should she depart after this night was over. Even under her pale makeup, her skin was smooth and looked like the surface of a china doll. Her eyes were a dark brown, almost black in this light, but he could see little features within them that intrigued him even more. She was exotic and beautiful, mysterious and passionate, yet they have never spoken.
She felt cold and he knew that the dress she was wearing did not have the ability to warm her up adequately. He wrapped his arms around her to warm her, and her lips once again met his with another kiss of longing and need.
Jake was lost. His mind was completely drawn into pleasing this woman, and to keep her warm and safe on this cool night in the garden. Their kissing subsided as he maintained his embrace, and she held him tightly as well. He began kissing her neck, and nibbling on her ear, afraid to break the bond, or to even speak and destroy the spell of the moment.
He felt her kissing his neck, and breathing heavily in his ear. She was enjoying this as much as he was, and he was completely, and utterly hers. Was it the passion of the moment, the beer he had drank earlier, or the sickness he thought he was coming down with earlier? He wasn’t sure, but he was once again getting light-headed.
Instead of warming his new found love up, he seemed to be getting colder. Oh God, what a time to be getting sick. It was just like the fates to do something as cruel as this. He held on to her tightly hoping the sensation would once again pass.
As he stood there clinging to her, and enjoying her attention, Jake lowered his eyes once again to the surface of the pond. That was odd he thought. It looked like he was just standing there by himself with his arms in the air. His eyelids became heavy as the cold seemed to sink into his bones. Was he dreaming this? Was he hallucinating?
The mysterious women in purple relaxed her hold on Jake, and let his lifeless body slide slowly to the ground. She looked once again at the party going on in the house across the yard, gave a slight smile, then turned and walked into the trees.
Saturday, October 11, 2003
Halloween, A Religious Holiday?
Ever since I could remember there have been people that have claimed that Halloween was really about worshiping evil, and should be condemned. They don’t celebrate it, they scoff at those who do, and they generally like to make you feel like you’re a bad person for doing so. Luckily not all people feel this way; many have Halloween parties and activities.
Is Halloween about devil worship? Is it a holiday for witches? Do the dead walk the Earth? Time to set the record straight about just exactly what Halloween is, and I think it will surprise you…
Since the United States is such a young country compared to the rest of the world, many of our holidays started long ago in countries far away. Halloween is no different. Far as I can tell, it began as a Celtic tradition.
The ancient Celts celebrated the years harvest and end of summer on October 31st. The harvest festival is called, Samhain (sow-en), to ring in the Celtic New Year. Since this was also the time when the sun was losing its hold in the Northern hemisphere, and winter was coming on, superstitions called for this night as the time when the veil between the world of the dead, and the world of the living, was at its weakest.
Festivities for the harvest during the day turned to protecting themselves from the dead at night.
People would put out the fires in their homes so that the dead would not be attracted to their house. They would instead build large bon fires on the hill tops to honor the sun, and possibly to attract the wandering souls to the bon-fires and away from their villages.
It was no holiday for children, but adults would dress up as spirits to scare way other spirits that walked the Earth looking for bodies to inhabit. During this time it was common to blame things on the “tricks” of spirits much like we refer to gremlins doing things today.
When the Celtic people were conquered by the Romans, they were not very receptive to changing their ways to the Roman beliefs. As with all religious conversions, the Romans had to come up with some way to integrate these people into their own traditions.
In 835 Pope Gregory IV moved the celebration of all the martyrs (later all saints) from May 13th to Novemeber 1st to coincide with the pagan celebration of Samhain. With this move the Romans also integrated the celebration of their harvest traditions, and the celebration of their Goddess Pomona, the Goddess of fruit and trees. The apple, common to many Halloween traditions such as bobbing for them and dipping them in caramel, was the symbol for Pomona.
All Saint’s Day is a day to worship the Saint’s, or the Holy Ones (All Hallow’s). The evening before, or the e’en, of All Hallow’s is where we get the combined name of Halloween. Essentially, the night before All Saint’s Day, thus, Halloween was created by the Roman Catholic Church. The term Hallow’s Eve means the Holy Evening.
On November 2nd the Catholic Church also has All Soul’s day, which is the commemoration of and prayer for all of the souls in purgatory.
On Hallow’s Eve people would go door-to-door asking for bread or cakes and in return, they would say a prayer for the recently deceased from that household. It was believed that when people first died, they would linger a bit before actually passing on. These extra prayers would help their loved ones on their way.
Trick or treating probably emerged from the “tricks” played on people by the spirits of the Celtic belief, and the “treats” gathered by the Roman beliefs. Today, the tradition has evolved into our children dressing up as all manner costumed beings, and going door-to-door asking for treats.
Since many modern Christian religions no longer have the deep associations with Saints, and don’t celebrate All Saints, and All Souls, it is understandable why they may come to view Halloween as nothing more then commercial trappings with an evil connotation.
So you see, the intent of Halloween is not evil, but to protect ourselves from evil, and to honor those who have died. Instead of wasting your energy worrying about superstitious beliefs that are unfounded, embrace Halloween as a time to reflect on the lives of those who have passed-on recently, and a time when children of all ages, can dress up and have fun before winter is upon them.
Happy Halloween!
Is Halloween about devil worship? Is it a holiday for witches? Do the dead walk the Earth? Time to set the record straight about just exactly what Halloween is, and I think it will surprise you…
Since the United States is such a young country compared to the rest of the world, many of our holidays started long ago in countries far away. Halloween is no different. Far as I can tell, it began as a Celtic tradition.
The ancient Celts celebrated the years harvest and end of summer on October 31st. The harvest festival is called, Samhain (sow-en), to ring in the Celtic New Year. Since this was also the time when the sun was losing its hold in the Northern hemisphere, and winter was coming on, superstitions called for this night as the time when the veil between the world of the dead, and the world of the living, was at its weakest.
Festivities for the harvest during the day turned to protecting themselves from the dead at night.
People would put out the fires in their homes so that the dead would not be attracted to their house. They would instead build large bon fires on the hill tops to honor the sun, and possibly to attract the wandering souls to the bon-fires and away from their villages.
It was no holiday for children, but adults would dress up as spirits to scare way other spirits that walked the Earth looking for bodies to inhabit. During this time it was common to blame things on the “tricks” of spirits much like we refer to gremlins doing things today.
When the Celtic people were conquered by the Romans, they were not very receptive to changing their ways to the Roman beliefs. As with all religious conversions, the Romans had to come up with some way to integrate these people into their own traditions.
In 835 Pope Gregory IV moved the celebration of all the martyrs (later all saints) from May 13th to Novemeber 1st to coincide with the pagan celebration of Samhain. With this move the Romans also integrated the celebration of their harvest traditions, and the celebration of their Goddess Pomona, the Goddess of fruit and trees. The apple, common to many Halloween traditions such as bobbing for them and dipping them in caramel, was the symbol for Pomona.
All Saint’s Day is a day to worship the Saint’s, or the Holy Ones (All Hallow’s). The evening before, or the e’en, of All Hallow’s is where we get the combined name of Halloween. Essentially, the night before All Saint’s Day, thus, Halloween was created by the Roman Catholic Church. The term Hallow’s Eve means the Holy Evening.
On November 2nd the Catholic Church also has All Soul’s day, which is the commemoration of and prayer for all of the souls in purgatory.
On Hallow’s Eve people would go door-to-door asking for bread or cakes and in return, they would say a prayer for the recently deceased from that household. It was believed that when people first died, they would linger a bit before actually passing on. These extra prayers would help their loved ones on their way.
Trick or treating probably emerged from the “tricks” played on people by the spirits of the Celtic belief, and the “treats” gathered by the Roman beliefs. Today, the tradition has evolved into our children dressing up as all manner costumed beings, and going door-to-door asking for treats.
Since many modern Christian religions no longer have the deep associations with Saints, and don’t celebrate All Saints, and All Souls, it is understandable why they may come to view Halloween as nothing more then commercial trappings with an evil connotation.
So you see, the intent of Halloween is not evil, but to protect ourselves from evil, and to honor those who have died. Instead of wasting your energy worrying about superstitious beliefs that are unfounded, embrace Halloween as a time to reflect on the lives of those who have passed-on recently, and a time when children of all ages, can dress up and have fun before winter is upon them.
Happy Halloween!
Saturday, October 04, 2003
You Don't Know Jack
"I was just thinking about the life of a pumpkin. Grow up in the sun, happily entwined with others, and then someone comes along, cuts you open, and rips your guts out." So says Buffy the vampire slayer.
Why do we cut open pumpkins, carve little faces on them, and then insert candles for the final touch before using them to decorate our homes on Halloween?
It turns out, that this all began a long time ago in Ireland. The Irish have a story about a man named, “Stingy Jack”.
Jack was a very bad man. He stole things from others, and was about as cheap as they come. He’d love to wander through yards looking for things he could steal, and taking food from other people’s gardens. He loved to eat turnips, and stole these every chance he could get.
One day, some say on All Hallows Eve, Jack was in a tavern drinking when the devil appeared because it was Jack’s time to go.
The devil is not very bright in this story, so Jack manages to convince the devil to let him have one more drink. Being the stingy man that he was, Jack also wanted the devil to pay for the drink. The devil pointed out that he had no money.
Jack reminded the devil that he could change into anything, and talks the devil into turning himself into a coin to pay for the drink. When the devil changed into a coin, stingy Jack grabbed the coin and tossed it quickly into his coin pouch. It turns out that there was also a cross in his pouch, which prevented the devil from changing back into himself.
After a long time screaming and cussing at Jack, the devil was finally worn out and asked Jack what he wanted. Jack told the devil he had to leave him alone for a year. The devil agreed, and as soon as Jack opened his pouch the devil vanished in a puff of angry smoke.
One year later, while Jack was traveling down a road, the devil pops into view. He reminds Jack that a year has passed, and he’s come to collect his soul. Jack agrees, but once again talks the devil into something. He asks the devil if he would go up a tree and pick an apple for him.
While the devil is up the tree, Jack pulls out his pocket knife and quickly carves a cross into the tree trunk. The devil is trapped in the tree and once again strikes a bargain with Jack. This time, Jack wants the devil to leave him alone for 10 years, and to never take his soul.
The devil concedes, and Jack goes on his way. Nobody knows how the devil finally got out of that tree. Perhaps it’s a story for another time.
As fate would have it, Jack never makes it for ten more years and drops dead.
When Jack shows up at the pearly gates, would you believe they wouldn’t let him in? Instead they sent him straight to hell…
When Jack arrived at the gates to hell, the devil took one look at him and reminded Jack that he had made him promise to never take his soul. So Jack was stuck in limbo with no place to go. As he started out, it became very dark and Jack pleaded with the devil for a light.
The devil, apparently not all bad, tosses Jack an eternally burning hot ember. Jack could not carry this hot spark, so he hollowed out one of his turnips, and cut some holes in the sides so that he could use it as a lantern. This is how he became known as Jack of the Lantern. Over the years, the term was shortened to Jack ‘O Lantern.
In Ireland and Scotland people would cut open turnips and potatoes and carve scary faces in them the same way Jack did, and placed candles in them to scare off Jack and other bad spirits. The English use large beets to do the same. When immigrants came to the United States they found less turnips, but found these great large pumpkins which were softer and easier to carve. Thus, the pumpkin became one of the main symbols for Halloween the world over.
So now, you do know Jack!
Stingy, Jack O’ Lantern.
Why do we cut open pumpkins, carve little faces on them, and then insert candles for the final touch before using them to decorate our homes on Halloween?
It turns out, that this all began a long time ago in Ireland. The Irish have a story about a man named, “Stingy Jack”.
Jack was a very bad man. He stole things from others, and was about as cheap as they come. He’d love to wander through yards looking for things he could steal, and taking food from other people’s gardens. He loved to eat turnips, and stole these every chance he could get.
One day, some say on All Hallows Eve, Jack was in a tavern drinking when the devil appeared because it was Jack’s time to go.
The devil is not very bright in this story, so Jack manages to convince the devil to let him have one more drink. Being the stingy man that he was, Jack also wanted the devil to pay for the drink. The devil pointed out that he had no money.
Jack reminded the devil that he could change into anything, and talks the devil into turning himself into a coin to pay for the drink. When the devil changed into a coin, stingy Jack grabbed the coin and tossed it quickly into his coin pouch. It turns out that there was also a cross in his pouch, which prevented the devil from changing back into himself.
After a long time screaming and cussing at Jack, the devil was finally worn out and asked Jack what he wanted. Jack told the devil he had to leave him alone for a year. The devil agreed, and as soon as Jack opened his pouch the devil vanished in a puff of angry smoke.
One year later, while Jack was traveling down a road, the devil pops into view. He reminds Jack that a year has passed, and he’s come to collect his soul. Jack agrees, but once again talks the devil into something. He asks the devil if he would go up a tree and pick an apple for him.
While the devil is up the tree, Jack pulls out his pocket knife and quickly carves a cross into the tree trunk. The devil is trapped in the tree and once again strikes a bargain with Jack. This time, Jack wants the devil to leave him alone for 10 years, and to never take his soul.
The devil concedes, and Jack goes on his way. Nobody knows how the devil finally got out of that tree. Perhaps it’s a story for another time.
As fate would have it, Jack never makes it for ten more years and drops dead.
When Jack shows up at the pearly gates, would you believe they wouldn’t let him in? Instead they sent him straight to hell…
When Jack arrived at the gates to hell, the devil took one look at him and reminded Jack that he had made him promise to never take his soul. So Jack was stuck in limbo with no place to go. As he started out, it became very dark and Jack pleaded with the devil for a light.
The devil, apparently not all bad, tosses Jack an eternally burning hot ember. Jack could not carry this hot spark, so he hollowed out one of his turnips, and cut some holes in the sides so that he could use it as a lantern. This is how he became known as Jack of the Lantern. Over the years, the term was shortened to Jack ‘O Lantern.
In Ireland and Scotland people would cut open turnips and potatoes and carve scary faces in them the same way Jack did, and placed candles in them to scare off Jack and other bad spirits. The English use large beets to do the same. When immigrants came to the United States they found less turnips, but found these great large pumpkins which were softer and easier to carve. Thus, the pumpkin became one of the main symbols for Halloween the world over.
So now, you do know Jack!
Stingy, Jack O’ Lantern.
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