K.A. Ashcomb's Blog, page 11

Day 102 Ruminating And Writing

Dirge

Your life was never yours
You knew not how to be
I watched you wither away
As you pushed me aside
Now you lie there
On the dusty ground
I mourn you every day
There’s no life to celebrate

King Arthur

The towering horse stood on the set. He had been able to avoid riding rehearsals thus far, but now the director had hunted him down. He wondered if this would end his short stardom at the big stages; that it had been a stupid thing to lie on his resume about all the brave deeds he could do. T...

Day 101 Ruminating And Writing

Drop

The huge gap between the mountain tops divided the landscape into two rifts. It was a certain drop to death if she made even one mistake when crossing it with her makeshift bridge. She had been building it for a few days now, having lost her rope and other gear. Underneath her, the world had gone to hell. The creatures had suddenly appeared, killing everyone in sight. She had run to the mountains. The terrain she knew well. But a few days later, one of those creatures had followed her an...

Day 100 Ruminating And Writing

Tear

The breaking news rolled on the screen, warning not to go outside. A massive tear had sunk the highway in the inner city, taking some of the morning traffic with it. They were reporting an unknown gas leak coming from the entire area. There was an image of the army securing the scene, and people were poking around it in hazmat suits. They didn’t know what had caused the event.

She had been there, trying to get to work, when the ground had swallowed her. But the thing was, unlike the o...

Day 99 Ruminating And Writing

Crocodile

The huge reptile moved along the waterline. It swayed its body from side to side, making the swim look easy. She had never seen a crocodile live before, and seeing it through the fence felt like she hadn’t seen one now either. This felt too controlled, but what she had read about the reptiles made her glad that there was a fence between her and the creature, so ancient and magnificent, yet with a short temper and finely tuned hunting instincts. It was a thing of beauty despite the f...

Day 98 Ruminating And Writing

Mercy

I heard it in her words, her kindness masking a hint of pity. She was being merciful. I shook off her words, her pity, and superiority. I would fight my way out of this as I had before. She didn’t need to look at me like I was dead meat. The minor injury to my wrist wouldn’t hold me back.

I clambered back up, letting my broken wrist hang beside me, switching the blade to my left hand.

“You don’t know how to give up,” she said.

“No, I guess not,” I let out.

“I let you walk aw...

Day 97 Ruminating And Writing

Famine

Industrial crops began to fail one after another worldwide. No one knew what was going on. The crops dried on the ground despite irrigation. Only small patches of home farms were spared, but it wasn’t enough to feed the population. People started fighting.

Now, a year later, we still don’t know what happened to the crops. It’s still impossible to farm on an industrial level. The world looks nothing like it was back then. The societies came down. There’s chaos left.

I have been mo...

Day 96 Ruminating And Writing

Freak

The neighborhood children ran around me, shouting, “Freak, freak!”

All they see is my bald head, my lack of eyebrows, and my towering figure. At first, they were scared. They sniffed around me to see if I was dangerous. When they deemed me a gentle, freak giant who never said a word back, they started their name-calling, cycling around me with their bikes.

The adult thought of me as half-witted. They said nothing to their children. They barely greeted me as I walked by. I was not ...

Day 95 Ruminating And Writing

Faith

Let me have faith
Real faith for tomorrow
Let me have hope
Hope that tells me all this has a meaning
Let me have more than the minerals and the bones
Let me have soul
Let me have a universe
I don’t need a God
I just need magic

Snake

The snake slithered around the little girl. She let out a loud giggle and smoothed her hand over the snake’s back. It was always around her, not letting her be by its side. The snake was enchanted. It was her guardian, her defender. It was her father’s dying g...

Day 94 Ruminating And Writing

Curdle

She fought against the pain in her chest, trying to ignore the pressure around her that made her blood curdle. It was a familiar pressure. It had been there since she was a child. She could remember it following her around. It was never pleasant. It wasn’t malicious. It was just nasty and hungry like a depression.

She didn’t want to be back here at her childhood home. But her father had died, and it was her duty to go over his things. She had almost been able to forget the pressure,...

Day 93 Ruminating And Writing

Cross

The two roads crossed each other. It was said that if you looked carefully, sideways, cross-eyed, you could see the Devil at midnight in the intersection. If you were brave enough, you could make a deal of a lifetime. So the story went. So it had gone for centuries, told by one generation to another, whispered before bedtime. Everyone in the town knew the story. Everyone had been tempted at one time or another. So it was. So it would ever be. Dreams were meant to come true.

That was ...