Tales of the Dead

Tales of the Dead

Dead Among the Dark

With looming darkness and locked doors, she felt the cold seeping into her bones as the glare of a red stained blade flickered in the distance.  The world stood still and the birds fell silent, time froze over and she found it hard to breathe. Nowhere to run, nowhere to hide, destiny approaches, and it wears a black hood.

Fighting the Freeze

Alone in the snow with freezing hands and shaking legs.  My whole body was light blue and most feeling was gone. I didn’t know what would come next and I wasn’t ready for it.  My old life was ending and I didn’t know if a new one would start. My head became light, and my heart pumped even faster knowing that it would soon stop.  I wanted to escape, I wanted to run, but even if I did, the cold would follow. I fell flat on my back and with my last breath I said “I don’t want to die”.  

Helheim

In Helheim where the souls of the damned freeze, lives snakes who feed on the misery of those who are chained.  These snakes made of gold and silver are tools to the demons below and are the bane of life and happiness. They slither in the blood of their victims and revel in the joy that their prey will never die.  Their venom is made with the fear of those who once lived, their fangs made of bones broken. They thrive on all that is unholy and obliterate what remains of hope.

The White Room

My voice echoes bounce around the room, everything was bright with white noise. The ground was white tile and walls were shimmering mirrors, everything was clean and shiny.  This wasn’t earth, where was I? Last month I turned eighty two but I looked no older than twenty one, my clothes were all white and my face well shaven. Was I dead? Was this heaven or hell?  I screamed for an answer, there was no response. I walked around the room, there was no doorway. I punched and pounded at the mirrors, nothing would break them. I was trapped, I was scared, I was left alone with my thoughts.  I sat on the ground a waited, waited for something, anything, nothing happened. I wished it was a dream, but I knew it wasn’t. This nightmare was real, and I was living in it, assuming I’m still alive.

By: John Hocher

Reviews

[Vivian Fisk]

"Helheim" to me is gorgeous. The precious metal forms of the snakes, intriguing; these hard metal snakes slithering through veins is beautifully visceral; their teeth made of reconstituted bones is brilliant; and the venom made of fear? I can feel it coursing through my own blood. In 92 words you've painted a hugely detailed and inhabited world.

I liked everything here, but Helheim was so superb it stood out to me. Bravo!