Cherished Muse
by wildiris

Comment:
He felt rather strange, and wondered what had happened. The last he remembered, he'd been hiking along the path that he frequented often, just another hike like any other. He remembered turning the corner and... yes. Yes, he remembered, faintly, seeing something there, floating. Some kind of misty, thing. It had been glowing slightly, and he had cocked his head in bewilderment and then...

... and then nothing. He had blanked out. All was darkness after that.

He shuddered, and thought perhaps he must have had some kind of weird fainting spell and a hallucination to go with it. That had to be it. Weird glowing floating things don't just happen. This was reality!

He sat up from where he lay, and rubbed his head, his vision still slightly cloudy, and realized he couldn't really focus properly. As he sat there trying to get his eyes to work properly, he suddenly heard a loud snap from behind him. With a gasp he spun around and his jaw dropped in shock.

There, before him, was a giant mantis. It was almost the same size as he, and the incomprehensibility of such a thing nearly tore his sanity from him. He stood there and gaped, and then, as his eyesight began to recover, he noticed that it was not a giant mantis after all, for everything around him had become immense. The leaves were the size of sofas, the grasses as tall as houses, and the trees, the trees were beyond the scope of his comprehension.

His mind suddenly refused to process what he was seeing, and he was cemented to the spot, sitting there, gaping. Then, the mantis cocked its head, seemed to consider him for a moment, and with a reflex faster than one could measure it snapped at him.

He screamed as it came away with a chunk of arm, and then, with a second lightning jab, the screaming stopped.

Gazania
by paynekj

Comment:
In the most unexpected place imaginable, it awoke. There, among the lazy field of summer flowers, with the grasses blowing in the breeze, and a silence about that place, it suddenly found itself alive, and conscious.

It didn't know why, or how, or did it even much care, for it was like to a newborn in its thoughts, and because of this it was mostly instinct that governed it then, and with instinct came the basics of thought. Those of confusion, fear, and hunger.

And as it cast about, desperately searching for a way to settle that hunger, that so blinded it to all else for the moment, it came to the realization that it could not move from this spot, anchored to the ground by a single stem, and there was no food within reach. Then the fear and confusion became terror and anger, and it reached its face to the sky and gave a great cry of frustration, it's many yellowed teeth bared, and its lament went unheeded.

Blue Eyes
by CindyG

Comment:
"Look up honey!" came the call, and she looked, for that voice was the voice of love and comfort, but also of command. She looked, and saw the camera there, and had expected it, for wasn't it almost always there, clicking away, a constant intrusion in her busy little life of play and discovery? Of course it was, but she didn't mind so much. It made her mother happy, and she did like to look at herself on the screen.

She looked up, and squinted in the bright sunlight that sone down, and gave her light little smile and was frozen in an instant of time, and her mom gave her the usual thank you and smiled back, and then it was done and she turned back to her play and quickly it was forgotten by her, for her mind was young and fickle and prone to distraction and was lost to the imaginations of the next moment.

Yet her mother stood there, and checked the shot, and smiled and watched her daughter play, and felt such a rush of love for her in her chest that it was almost painful, and she cherished every little moment of time that she could capture.

a flower has power, remember the sixties... it's all about love, just ask the pixies...
by JeniY

Comment:
It was the happiest day of her life. He'd just asked her the ultimate question, of marriage, and would she? He'd treated her to the most wonderful dinner, and they had spent the rest of the evening making love, like they had never made before. Earlier in the day, she had found out that she'd won the job of her dreams.

To top it off, as a small gift to go with her beautiful ring, he had presented her with an exotic flower. Something, he said, he had found in a curious little floral shop that he'd never noticed before, but the flower had been in the window and it had caught his eye and he knew he had to have it for her. It was gorgeous, with an electric blue sheen to the white of its petals, and a deep yellow center. Its scent was like that of the ocean breeze and when smelled, almost brought a sense of renewal and energy.

And so, after their love making, as they drifted off to sleep, she smiled warmly as she gazed upon that flower on her stand, and as she drifted off, the flower, well, the flower began to glow, but she saw none of it, she was already in the land of happy dreams.

The flower however, was not asleep. It sat in the vase in which she had put it, and it was awash in a soft and glowing light. Little slivers of what looked like electricity shot across its petals and its center was like a maelstrom of activity. The sparks and tendrils of energy expanded, and began to shoot out from the petals, and the flower shook and toppled the vase off the stand. It tumbled to the ground and shattered, loosing the flower onto the marbled tile where it lay, pulsing and shooting energy out from every petal.

She sat bolt upright, woken by the shattering vase, and stared. Now, shocks of energy and electricity were shooting through the room, lighting it like day, and as she stared with complete shock, a bolt reached out and encompassed her fully, and her back arched, and she was struck rigid with a silent scream.

Later, when the sun peeked above the horizon, her fiancee finally awoke, having heard nothing from the night, and turned over to greet his love with a kiss, but his lips fell on empty air. Confused, and now fully awake, he looked at the spot where she should have lain, and stumbled backward with a scream of his own. There, on the sheet, was only a pile of ash.

And peeking over the edge of the bed, a feral grin on the rudimentary version of a face that it had, was a giant flower.

And it was alive.

Baby Blue Eyes
by bauerfan71

Comment:
Even in a young life, sometimes, there is fear and worry. No human is a stranger to these emotions, not even the very small. So it was that she sat there, watching, nervously chewing on her fingers, the threat of tears in her eyes, the empathy evident in her every feature.

She watched, and worried, and wondered. Why were they doing this? What was going to happen? Why was he yelling?

And just as she was about to cry, as she was about to lose it completely, it was over, and she stifled a relieved giggle, and everything was OK.

Yes, Ernie was only teasing Bert, and hadn't really thrown out his bottle cap collection.

She sighed and then laughed out loud as Cookie Monster came on screen.

She did so love Cookie Monster.

Mono Lake South Tufa
by mycelium

Comment:
In ancient times, it had been the site of evil and dark magic. It had a reputation for torture and death. An island of black stone, a tower in the center, home to beings and sorcerers from the deepest parts of nightmare.

Then came a day when the peoples of the mainland banded together to fight the evil there. They launched an attack en masse, sending countless ships filled with the bravest of knights and the strongest of warriors. For months the battles raged. Fire poured down on them, and lighting blew their ships apart. Poison gasses greeted those that tried landfall. Yet on they fought. More and more good people died, but ever more they defeated more and more of the evil there and took it down with them.

Finally, on one bright morning, the tower was finally breached, and the chased the sorcerer there from his place upon the pinnacle, where he had commanded his minions. The forced him to flee, and somehow he managed to get by most of the guard, but his magic was spent, and he was forced to enter the waters without any aid, yet he was still strong. He swam for his life, while they followed. He swam for his life as spear and arrow rained down around him. He swam for his life, and just as he reached the shallows and began to pull himself from the waves, a bolt of pure light, enchanted by the very gods, struck him in the back, and he was instantly turned to stone.

And there he remains to this very day, his skeletal face sticking out from the surface, and none dare go near. For there is an aura of blackness surrounding that spot, and the legends say that one day he'll break free from that prison, and return to terrorize the lands once more.

Splash
by ShutterHack

Comment:
The call came in that afternoon. Trouble in the Pod! What could be done!? We need help!

With a sudden leap through the waters, he came. Flash Porpoise! Oh, there was nothing he couldn't do. No job too big, no deed to small, no danger too frightening.

Flash Porpoise! Hero of the Sea, savior of the less fortunate, wonder of the undersea mammalian world.

Go Go Flash Porpoise!

Sunset Stroll
by tmhalling

Comment:
It sat there and waited, a heart as black as the deepest night, though there were none that realized it. There were none because it left none remaining to tell. None remaining to go back to their people and open their eyes to the evil that was he.

It sat there and waited, and sure enough, in time, came two more towards it. Two more that walked gladly and happily and took in the colors of the falling sun. Two more that knew nothing more than the pleasant breeze on their faces and the still lingering warmth in the air. Two more that had no idea of the doom that they were heading towards.

It sat there and waited, and they grew ever closer, and its branches shuddered with anticipation, and its bark dripped sap as if the thing salivated at the thought of what was to come. Closer, and closer they came, and it began to reach out, reach out to entrap them in it's farthest limbs, to...

... and then they stopped, and they held each other, just out of reach, maddeningly out of reach, and then they turned and began to stroll the other way, back from where they had come.

If it could have screamed, it would have. Deafeningly so, for they were getting away, and it could do nothing, rooted to this damnable spot! It did what it could do, however, and rustled madly and woe to the crow that would land in its branches tonight. Woe to any living thing that came near!

This time, this time it had lost out, but there would be a next time.

There was always a next time.

Solitude II
by BMacD

Comment:
It bubbled and burbled and went on its way, as it had done for so many a year.

Where it began, and where it did end, was not there and was certainly not here.

A provider of life and a vessel of death, and a path for those lost on their way.

Let us honor the brook as it runs ever cool, 'cause I've run out of things I can say.

RURAL STATION - HEADING NORTH
by whitewolf

Comment:
As the sun dropped on the idyllic scene, Old Man Bartleby closed up shop on another lazy day. Not too many folks took the train anymore, and though he still had rather steady work, it wasn't like it was in the old days.

No, back then this place was always a scene of such barely ordered chaos, meetings of old friends, hurried gentlemen and harried mothers, and all the social trappings of being the main source of transportation for any small and populated village of its kind.

Now, he was lucky to see a couple hundred people a week, and then only if a sight-seeing tour came through. However, it was work, and he loved what he did, and Lady Marple still came through to see her son out Biddeford way now and then, and he always had a wonderful chat with her, and kept abreast of the family and the goings on of the big city.

He sighed, and locked the door, and began his journey home, and so it was that he missed the growing sound of activity on the far side of the station, by the track. Had he been there still, and had he been quiet enough or lucky enough to not startle them, he would have been amazed, and full of wonder and of fear, for gathering there in the deepening dusk were the phantom shapes of people. People that quickly grew more solid, yet remained quite ethereal. People dressed in old costumes with the flavor of the old days, before the advent of the car. People milling here and there, talking amongst themselves, waving to each other, and looking as if they were expecting to leave at any second.

And as the sun finally disappeared over the horizon, and darkness settled in like a blanket on the chill of the evening, another sound was heard. The whispering call of a train whistle. It would be like a rush of wind to our ears, but at its call the ghostly figures all looked up, and happily gathered on the tiny platform, and indeed, they could be seen inside the station as well, though it was locked up tight.

The train, itself just a whisp of thought gliding through the air, pulled up to the station and stopped. It also took on a more prominent stature as it solidified to sight, but only just enough, and with a call from its phantom conductor, began to board.

The people seemed not to touch the ground as they boarded the train, and those inside the station simply walked, or simply moved, through the shuttered doors of the building, impeded not by any physical structure, until they too were lost to the interior of the train. As soon as they were all on board and settled, it sounded its whistle again, this time loud enough to silence the crickets and frogs, and pulled away.

For 40 nights, this spiritual scene had played out, and another night passed once more, and to what end these ghostly memories of the past went on to, none would ever know.