Miranda Kate's Blog, page 12

Mid-Week Flash Challenge - Week 275

This week's picture prompt was taken by, Italian photographer, Anna Ovatta. Sadly I have not been able to find a website for her. She used to be on 500px, but her page no longer exists. She has taken some stunning shots, I found this article showing some of them.  

A bright inspiring picture, but that gives me even more reason to go the opposite way: a dark tale. 

The General Guidelines can be found here.

How to create a clickable link in Blogger comments can be found on lasts week's post here. 

There is also a Facebook group for Mid-Week Flash, if you fancy getting the prompt there.



Building Blocks
Damien fought the urge to kick the arch of stones over, and instead slumped down on the beach next to it. He looked closer at its design and for a moment marvelled at how it maintained a perfect curve suspended in the air. He wondered how the builder had done it, and then realised that the art would now be lost – as would all design and building and a million other human skills.

There was only him now, alone out here on the beach. A part of his brain told him that he couldn’t be the only one, not when there were so many billion people in the world, but he knew he was, being as he’d been the only one with the antidote. And this wasn’t just some silly little infection like the stream of novel viruses that went round the world a decade ago, oh no, he’d engineered this one to be much stronger.

He’d been inspired when watching Contagion and decided to see if he could match it. It was one of the benefits of being a fully qualified chemist who had mastered in infectious diseases. He’d set up his own lab after that film and managed to get his hands on what had been considered innocuous viruses and bacteria, and combined them with different animal derivatives. It had been fun and interesting and definitely his thing.

But an antidote was imperative if he really wanted to see it through. If he didn’t survived how could he watch it unfold? It had been so much faster than the film version and the response in trying to halt it nowhere near as effective. There was no day that everyone got vaccinated and could go back to normal; as expected the infection had mutated and ramped up, wiping out huge swathes of people. Strangely the rich were the first to fall this time, rather than the poor. He’d had a chuckle about that as everyone knew money meant nothing if you weren’t healthy. It had been like watching one of those domino competitions on telly; who would fall the fastest?

Damien hadn’t been stupid, he’d prepared for it. He’d bought a self sustainable tract of land, and considered all eventualities and gone off grid before releasing it. He’d booked up his round the world trip and taken his time, enjoying it all, leaving little bombs ticking all over the globe, counting down to d-day. It had all gone smoothly.

He’d tried to make the infection so that it wouldn’t wipe out the wildlife, but some species had been affected, which was a shame but to be expected when it started to change and adapt. He’d made it his mission to travel round and release any caged wildlife he could find and inoculate it. He’d made a list of the key places and plotted a trip. He’d covered everything - or at least he thought he had.

It hadn’t occurred to Damien what being truly alone would be like. He might now have the world to himself – he could cover a lot of the landmass if he was careful and resourceful - and a completely empty world might be a nice idea, but being and living alone wasn’t quite like he had imagined. In fact, he’d had no concept of it at all. Not really. The entire point of the human race was community and connection. And even though he’d shunned that when everyone had still been here, there’d been people all around him who he had interacted with every day whether it related to working, shopping or using services. Plus there were friends who he’d kept in touch with, all be it in a limited fashion. He was beginning to wonder if he should have left at least one survivor for a bit of company. But it was too late now. It was just him, for the rest of his life.

Mid-Week Flash Challenge - Week 274

This week's picture prompt seems to trace only to Alamy stock photos, along with Zuma press, not particular individual named as the photographer. However, the picture does appear on websites about abandoned things and this place is called Ponyhenge and is in Massachusetts in the US. As its name suggests, Ponyhenge is a collection of plastic ponies and rocking horses sitting in a field about 14 miles west of Boston. The first ponies started appearing sometime around 2010; over the years, the collection has grown exponentially and will frequently rearrange into circles and rows. How did the first pony appear? Who adds and organizes the collection? Do the ponies come alive when we're asleep? No one seems knows. It’s Ponyhenge nightmare!

Thus a dark tale is required. 

The General Guidelines can be found here.

How to create a clickable link in Blogger comments can be found on lasts week's post here. 

There is also a Facebook group for Mid-Week Flash, if you fancy getting the prompt there.



Haunted Horses
‘I’ll take you there.’

‘No, I’ll take you there.’

‘No, I will.’

‘Pick me, I’m faster.’

The young boy spun inside the circle of rocking horses as each called out to him wanting him to pick them to take him on a ride. He couldn’t make out the destination though, it sounded like Bambi. He’d seen what they had done to Bambi and didn’t want to go there at all. But they kept on calling out to him.

‘I’m the smoothest, you’ll love me.’

‘No, I’m much smoother, my joints don’t squeak.’

‘I’m the youngest here; you’ll find me the best yet.’

Then they started rocking to prove their point, each of them pushing forward and back, harder and harder, until they started rocking in unison, the momentum making them shuffle along the ground, sliding on the wet grass, getting closer and closer to the boy.

He was frozen in terror as he watched their wooden nostrils flare and their chanting words echo round the circle:

‘Ride me! Ride me! Ride me!’

He didn’t want to ride any of them; he just wanted to go home where he would be safe with his mum and dad. Why had they encouraged him to come here? Why did they want him to be scared? Why did they want him to be trampled by rocking horses? What had he done wrong?

He started to cry hysterically, calling for his mum. He knew she wouldn’t come – she couldn’t hear him from their home which was more than a mile down the road. He’d come here alone after his dad had told him about this place, and suggested he check it out.

The horses stopped chanting when his tears had started, but they continued to rock. Then the boy noticed that this had slowed too, some had even stopped. And once he fell silent he could hear shuffling as they moved back to their original positions.

He took the opportunity and ran for his life, sprinting back to his bicycle which he’d left on the ground by the gate, and ran with it, jumping on while it was moving, not daring to look back, just wanting to get the hell out of there.

That night he didn’t tell his parents about his visit; he didn’t think they’d believe him, instead he lay awake in his bed trying to block out the sounds of their whispered chants coming through his bedroom window trying to entice him back.

Mid-Week Flash Challenge - Week 273

Hello, I'm back after a nice long break, after a busy two months, which included a holiday, procrastinating about writing a book, and trips here and there. I start afresh with a Tricky tale, as I brainstorm the third and final (for this storyline) book. I haven't written one since Week 269.

This week's picture prompt is a photo taken by Shanghai Hannah. She posted it on twitter for a #SundayPix theme called Liminal (the spaces between). She said: 'One of the no longer used entrances to the ancient Chinese water Town Xitang'. That is in Jiashan County, Zhejiang, China.  

The General Guidelines can be found here.

How to create a clickable link in Blogger comments can be found on lasts week's post here. 

There is also a Facebook group for Mid-Week Flash, if you fancy getting the prompt there.


Blood River

Tricky hadn’t used this entrance into the city before; it was old and disused thus perfect for her clandestine plans. She had no doubt that there were spies all around having a good nose at what she was doing. The alarm had been raised; they knew she was missing, even if they hadn’t managed to find her yet. The trees and the birds were very effective at creating diversions and distractions. She might have thought she was better off without the company of furry or feathered companions, but she was wondering if she should reconsider.

The water sloshed as the boat approached the metal-studded doors. They creaked in their old age when they opened and pushed back the water. They were remnants from a city that had been in the far east of the world before the shift, along with the rest of Chestwick. But there’d been no survivors from that city due to the landmass being so close to the epicentre of the event. The entire piece of land had been submerged by the sea and then risen again, as was evident from all the rivers and waterways in and around it. This had made it a prime location for trade as the washed out buildings were accessible by water.

She turned the oar in its lock to steer it through the doorway, and glanced into the water on either side of her, resisting the images the name conjured: Blood River.

It had been how they’d known there were no survivors; it had been chock full of dead bodies. But the red colour hadn’t been blood as many believed, but instead a bacteria that had thrived on the high salt content in the water, after the receding seas had left it there. And although the bacteria had died off over the last century as the salt content had reduced, the name had stuck. People still liked to spread rumours of it being blood; those that hadn’t been given the opportunities Tricky had. They hadn’t learnt about water and chemistry. She’d come from a privileged background, although most wouldn’t know it – which was just how she liked it.

As Tricky guided the boat into the tunnel behind the doors she tried to recall the image of the map Nathan had sent her during one of their medie sessions. She knew some of the layout of Chestwick, having visited a couple of times in the past, but this time she was taking a more discreet route to get to The Baron. Annie had told her he was expecting her. She only hoped he would come alone. She really didn’t look forward to the conversation ahead of her, but she especially didn’t want an audience when she did.

Tricky tried again to come up with an opening sentence but couldn’t, short of hello. Giving a father bad news about his son wasn’t something you could prepare for; you just had to hope that they didn’t punish the messenger. Would he believe her? Would he support her? She was now on the run and nowhere was safe. She had no idea what she was going to do after this. There would be no returning to her cabin, not with Nathan there; she needed to keep him as her secret ally. She couldn’t stay anywhere that was familiar. She had to disappear, and maybe that was exactly what she’d do, vanish into another time until Tumelo had resolved this – if he could resolve it.

But something niggled at her, and Tricky knew what it was: while Douglas Bottle was alive even another time wasn’t safe, no matter where it took her – or when. Could he track her? She knew there were ways of doing it but did he possess them? She didn’t know, but with what he had shown her so far, it was quite possible. And she had to think in those terms now; underestimating him had almost cost her, her life. She wasn’t going to do that again, oh no, not Tricky. She was going to live up to her name this time.

Review: Johanna & Sebaster's Big Day Out, by Michael Wombat

Johanna & Sebaster's Big Day Out by Michael Wombat
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Another collection from Michael Wombat that includes short stories across a range of genres, some humourous some dark, with some poetry thrown in. I also love his little footnote at the end of each one - with the occasional apology which made me smile!

There are definitely laugh-out-loud moments in this book, but there are some sad and dark ones too, so be ready for a roller coaster ride of well written tales.

I recommend this really enjoyable read.

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Review: The Institute by Stephen King

The Institute by Stephen King
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

It's been a long time since I have read a Stephen King book that I felt was really up to his old standard, but finally here it was, and as always it's like returning home with the familiar engaging writing style, and well developed characters. For a moment I thought we were revisiting elements of Firestarter, but it took a different path, although it was just as compelling.

The story follows a terrifying idea of what could be going on behind government walls, and how they could be persecuting and exploiting children who have some minor telekinetic or telepathic ability. It's dark and it's gruesome in places and as a parent I didn't always find it easy to read, but Stephen King had already set up the would-be hero at the beginning, so I knew there had to be a resolution of sorts, although I had no idea how that was going to go.

It was tense and gripping and it made me look forward to going to bed so I could keep on reading. And it consumed a 3½ hour flight from holiday. King also manages to interject comments about the present day state of the world and recent politics, really grounding the reader and keeping them connecting.

A brilliant addition to your Stephen King collection, if like me you are a Constant Reader.

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Mid-Week flash on hiatus

As I was on holiday last week and have a new book out today and then from tomorrow National November Writing Month starts, I have decided to put #MidWeekFlash on hiatus probably until mid-december. I just need some extra space in my head at the moment.

This is only the third time in the five years that I've done this, but DO feel free to write for ANY of the previous posts (including this picture). There are no time limits on these challenges and you can browse all the all the previous either here on this blog, or join the facebook group and find them in the photo album (now called Media in the new interface), including a link to the post on the blog.

Happy Halloween - and Happy Publication day to Unsailable Sea! 🥳

Happy Halloween! It's here! It's finally here! 🥳

It's publication day for Tricky's second book, Unsailable Sea, book two of Tricky's Tales. It follows directly on from Dead Lake, Book one of Tricky's Tales. There will also be a third book, some time next year. This particular storyline is a trilogy, but I am confident Tricky will come up with another story to tell. 

The blurb:

Tricky by name, Tricky by nature

Buggeration! Without knowing it she’d been recruited into unearthing Carter’s bloody network, just as The Baron wanted!

When Lucien Dufray’s cat and flock of birds turn up at Tricky’s cabin, she knows something’s wrong. But when her crystal ball shows her one thing and Adric tells her another, Tricky becomes suspicious – which might be her natural state, but there was nothing natural about Dufray’s disappearance. Adric wants her to find him, but had Dufray been kidnapped or had he turned traitor?

Between her mother’s jade calling to her in the forest of Ferriston, The Rabble, an untrustworthy fae collective directing her to the Unsailable Sea, and her spy glass showing her Dimitry Stanislav, one of her mother’s murderers, Tricky is confused.

The only witnesses to Dufray’s exodus were his menagerie, so Tricky’s best friend Annie sends for an old friend, Nathan Rothschild, who can communicate with cats, and her ex-girlfriend, Safa Odeh, who can communicate with birds. Together they try and piece together what happened that night.

What they uncover is a plot deeper than the network’s underground bunkers, with more twists than Tricky’s sexual desires. Will she find Dufray, or will she risk capture? Either way she needs to keep her wits about her and remember she’s the tricky one.

Dead Lake is a dark paranormal fantasy novel set a few hundred years from now in a post-apocalyptic world. After a massive shift of the tectonic plates decimated the world and its population, life on the remaining landmass has returned to simple living, with money, rulers and religion no longer tolerated.

Mid-Week Flash Challenge - Week 272

This week's picture prompt was created by Lisa Shambrook - fellow author and friend, and incredible artist too. Visit her Instagram and have a look - she even has a shop on etsy, called Amaranth Alchemy, from which I have bought several Crystal Grid prints because I love them. She makes some amazing things. She is also a huge dragon lover, and writes about them, especially in her brilliant series, The Seren Stone Chronicles - the second one is coming soon (I hope). 

I'm not sure I can channel dragons as well as Lisa, but I've given it a shot. I quite enjoyed it too.  

The General Guidelines can be found here.

How to create a clickable link in Blogger comments can be found on lasts week's post here. 

There is also a Facebook group for Mid-Week Flash, if you fancy getting the prompt there.



Wave of Fire
“They’re up there.”

“I know.”

“So what are we going to do?”

“I don’t know.”

“They’re waiting.”

“I can see that!”

Petunia was fed up with being pressured by everyone all the time. She’d make the decision soon enough, but it wasn’t an easy one. Sacrifice was never easy – not if you had an honest heart. That’s what her dad had taught her. They might be another species and look different, but life was life. They had consciousness too.

But they had gained in numbers and were spreading out, and that might mean more food for the dragons, but it had also caused fatalities. They were gaining knowledge and ground, and their fire sticks were lethal.

Jacoby was getting impatient. He tapped his tail end on the stone floor.

“Why are you dallying? It’s perfect out there! We have good cloud cover, with partial moon light; we can easily catch them unawares. They’ll be all huddled in those funny domes they’ve built.”

“Out of grass no less.”

“Exactly. Easy pickings.”

“And food.”

“Yes! Come on Petunia, give the signal, let’s get this show on the road.”

She was bolstered by Jacoby’s certainty and confidence. They could do this; there were enough of them and if they did this properly, they could actually clear an area and claim back the lower grounds, rather than having to live up here in the cliffs.

Yes, it was time.

“Okay.” She stepped forward and took a deep breath, feeling the heat stir in her belly. Then she blew it out, sending a stream of flame in an arc, making it clear to all those already in the sky and those on the cliff-face terraces that it was happening. They were going to do it.

Jacoby took off and Petunia joined him as the air filled with the sound of beating wings. The warm air had lifted off the ground now that night had fallen and it was balmy sailing on the current, as they gathered in their numbers and moved into formation with Petunia leading the way.

They’d voted her as leader after she’d taken out a small settlement to the east. She’d had no choice; they’d taken down three of their finest. She might have been able to deal with that better if she hadn’t watched them over the ensuing days, cut the bodies up and use them as a food source. That had incensed her and also scared her. What if they started to hunt dragons on a regular basis? Or worse, enslave them and breed them as they had done with other smaller ground dwelling species.

No, they weren’t having that. They were the dominant species and needed to remind them of that. Tonight they would redress the balance and take out their largest settlement.

The air was thick with tension as they spaced out and slowed their wing beats to reduce sound as they approached. There were some small fires burning both inside their little domes as well as outside. But they didn’t see any of them running around on their funny double protrusions. Good. It meant they weren’t as likely to scatter and alert any of the outer lying settlements and gather a resistance – at least not tonight. Petunia suspected they would have to continue their campaign over many nights until they had decimated enough of their numbers to be controlled.

She dropped down and the others followed. There was a collective inhale and they all breathed out, their flames sweeping the ground in parallel lines, creating wave after wave of fire as they were at least twenty dragons deep. None of this species would be able to live through it.

When they lifted up on the other side, Petunia circled and watched the ground closely, but saw no movement. Dragon’s had keen eyes, even in the half dark and would easily spot escapees. There were none.

But to be on the safe side, Petunia nodded to her flanking companions to go in opposite directions, and they breathed a ring of fire around the entire place just to be certain.

Once they had all reassembled, they flew over the blaze and headed back to the mountains to regroup and decide which settlement to pick for the following night. Although Petunia would also be keeping a keen eye on the aftermath tomorrow and be ready for any potential retaliation. It occurred to her that they had just declared war. It was the first time it was against another species. It felt cathartic to heal clan division through a joint venture. 

Mid-Week Flash Challenge - Week 271

This week's photo is one of the rare ones that I can no longer trace. It's all over pinterest linking to a site called Derelict Metropolis, which has a huge catalogue of pictures of abandoned and derelict, all linked to their owners, but the links don't work anymore - and  the filter for the type of picture is also defunct, so it took me hours of scrolling to find this one. It is linked to a Flicker account that no longer exists. I don't have the name of the photographer, just a title/handle: 'The Last Word (by Day Of The Dead - Chernobyl in 1 Week). From which I can only ascertain that it was a picture from Chernobyl.

Just enough to pique your curiousity this week. 

The General Guidelines can be found here.

How to create a clickable link in Blogger comments can be found on lasts week's post here. 

There is also a Facebook group for Mid-Week Flash, if you fancy getting the prompt there.

Dear John

If you are reading this, then I am sorry we aren’t here. It means you did at least manage to make it back, which I’m thankful for, but I fear you will be putting yourself at risk.

Elliott and Charlotte are with me, of course. They are currently feeling well, but I fear that will change if I don’t leave soonest. I can only hope you have found the house intact, because I know there’s a chance it won’t survive either. If bricks and mortar can’t survive this thing, I’m not sure any of us have hope.

The news on the radio keeps reading out symptoms of the airborne stuff, but that’s never been my concern, it’s the stuff seeping through the skirting boards. I haven’t dared touch it or let the kids near it, but no one’s talking about it on the radio. Both the neighbours have gone – or at least aren’t answering their doors – so I’m not sure if it’s part of it. All phone and internet signals went down last week so we are completely cut off.

I’ll head for my mother’s so you can look for us there. I have no idea how far this thing has reached, and how long it will go on for. It’s put the world into such turmoil. Men and their silly games, playing with things they shouldn’t. And we thought nuclear war or generators would bring about the end of the world – how foolish we were!

Stay safe my beloved. I hope to see you again, if not in this life then the next.

My love always

Madeline xx

Review: The King's Peace, by Kevin Hammond

The King's Peace by Kevin Hammond
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

An opening novel to an epic paranormal fantasy. If you love Raymond Feist, you will love this series too.

We follow Nathaniel, a thief, who, after the King is killed in his bed and an enemy is seen in blackships off the coast, is recruited into an army garrison and joins a company of soldiers trying to reach the southern garrison before all hell breaks loose. The background of the storyline is based on the idea of gods using humans and demonic creatures as pawns for their games, and it is played out in the Kingdom of Erenon through various dark and supernatural characters.

It's intriguing, dark, and more gruesome than anything Feist offers, but to those of us that enjoy a little horror mixed in with our dark, suspense-filled paranormal epic fantasies, it hits the right spot.

I look forward to reading the next one and seeing where this story ends up.

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