Austin Briggs's Blog, page 51
October 5, 2012
Matter of the Heart
“Okay, Bob, this isn’t funny anymore. Let me up.” I tugged at the ropes around my wrists.
“You said you loved me.”
I tried moving my feet to no avail. “I do love you.”
“And last night, you said your heart belonged to me.” He turned, holding up a carving knife. “So I’m taking it.”
Matter of the Heart is a post from: Aztec Books
October 3, 2012
My Heart
“How much do you love me?”
“More than you could imagine.”
“Even if I’m a heartless bitch sometimes?”
“I always forgive you.”
“It’s only because I haven’t found the right heart yet.”
“Well, now you have me.”
“You’re right. Your heart should last me a long time.”
“What?”
“Nothing. Go back to sleep, Mi Corazon.”
My Heart is a post from: Aztec Books
Passionate Crime
“There, you look lovely,” said Michael,
adding the finishing touch of lipstick onto his wife’s lips.
Her smile was fixed.
It had been two years now since her death,
being a mortician had its advantages.
The cabins log fire blazed.
He began to read his poetry.
Turning the page, he read,
“love is…”
r.j. saxon
Passionate Crime is a post from: Aztec Books
October 1, 2012
Flash Story Winner: Sep 2012
Hi all, there we go – September is over. It’s been a great month, with some very nice entries in our Flash Story contest.
First, I wanted to address some questions that folks ask quite regularly. I’ve also added the answers into the contest rules.
(a) Does the author retain copyright? — Absolutely.
(b) Can I post a story that’s longer than 55 words? — Nope.
(c) Can I submit more than 1 story in one month? — Please do so, if you’d like.
(d) Can a non-fiction piece enter the contest? — By all means.
(e) Where’s the button to post my story? — Right here.
Okay, with that done, let’s get to the winners. Are you ready? 
From all the excellent stories this month, I want to highlight these five, which, I believe, were truly marvellous:
The Art of Dragon Taxidermy by A.R Vincent.
As the Sand Falls by Anwyelle Arkais.
The Doublecross by Michael Coady.
Boiler Room by Emma Alder.
Subconscious Deception by r.j. saxon.
It kills me not calling out the other stories (simply check out Julia Becca‘s Just Kidding to see what I mean). I even thought of launching a more controlled voting system to lift some responsibility off my chest. But I want this contest simple and straightforward, without mucking about with vote counts and deadlines… so I’ll have to keep “judging”, as imperfect as this approach is.
Alright, let’s get those drums rolling.
September 2012′s winner is — ta-da! — Hold on, I really can’t make up my mind this month.
I’ll go with two winners.
These are two wonderful stories that have everything in them: the conflict, the dry irony, the dialogue and the evocative milieu, and even some character development — all in 55 words. Well done, guys!
Let’s roll those drums again…
Winner # 1: The Doublecross by Michael Coady.
Winner # 2: As the Sand Falls by Anwyelle Arkais.
These two aren’t listed in any order, and both receive the monthly prize of $55 each. Congrats again, Michael and Anwyelle.
Now, for October, let’s talk about Love, but in a dangerous, Halloween sort of way:
“Love is…”
Flash Story Winner: Sep 2012 is a post from: Aztec Books
September 30, 2012
March 13, 1519: Saving Stranded Priest
In the long list of instructions that Hernán Cortés had received from the governor or Fernandina (Cuba) Velázquez, under whose orders he had sailed to Yucatan, was a mandate to find several Christians believed to be stranded on the coast.
That document deserves study. It instructed Cortés to treat the locals with “much kindness”, find more about Amazons and dog-faced people living in the forests, and, above all, to serve God.
The six lost Christians were mentioned several times, showing just how important it was to find them.
However, there was no trace of them on Cozumel; but the local Mayas did say that two Spaniards were living in the nearby mainland town of Chaktemal.
After an argument with the local chiefs who didn’t want to send their own men to Chaktemal for fear of their death, Cortés dispatched three ships caring over fifty Spaniards and some natives of Cozumel to fetch the lost men.
A week passed with no news, then, after a few more days, the small expedition returned empty-handed.
Cortés, restless after a long stint of inaction, ordered his fleet to depart. They sailed to Isla de Mujeres, and there began an interesting chain of delays that helped one of the stranded Christians reunite with the people of his faith.
First, one of the important ships sprung a leak. Cortés decided to return to the friendly Cozumel, where the damaged ship took a few days to get repaired.
Second, when all was ready, the wind changed, causing another day of delay.
Third, Cortés decided to hear mass before sailing off, because March 13 was a Sunday and his most important dictate was to serve God.
Just after that mass, a canoe arrived from the mainland. One of the three men in it addressed the Spaniards in their native tongue, thanking God for his miraculous salvation.
The man was Gerónimo de Aguilar, a Franciscan friar shipwrecked at the Yucatan coast some eight years earlier.
Aguilar claimed that another surviving Spaniard, Gonzalo Guerrero, had decided to remain among the Maya, for he was ashamed of his tattoos and wanted to stay with his Maya wife and three children.
Whether Guerrero ever existed is unclear, although other Conquistadors later claimed to have corresponded with him and reportedly saw his body after he got killed in a skirmish with a Spanish force. There could’ve been more than one Spaniard who had decided to go native; alternatively, Aguilar may have invented a man with a conveniently common name to emphasize his own return.
In any case, Cortés got his reward for almost two weeks of waiting. Having spent that many years among the Mayas, Aguilar spoke their language. Although he had lost complete fluency in Spanish, he became a perfect interpreter for Cortés.
March 13, 1519: Saving Stranded Priest is a post from: Aztec Books
September 29, 2012
Feb 24, 1519: Idols Smashed to Pieces
Cozumel, or Kúutzmil in the local Maya language, was home to the Red Goddess of childbirth, Ix Chel. Her temple was the place of pilgrimage from the mainland Yucatan. A priestess spoke to the pilgrims from inside a large, hollow statue of Ix Chel that stood in the main shrine.
This goddess was popular with young women who wanted their marriages to be fruitful. There was, in fact, a smaller pilgrimage site just north of Cozumel – an island now called “Isla Mujeres” where the Spaniards found abundant images of Ix Chel, as well as many female travellers.
Cortés put an end to that ancient worship.
It’s possible that on Cozumel, for the first time in his life, Cortés witnessed human sacrifice, or at least saw the evidence of it inside one of the island’s temples.
Incensed at what he saw as Devil meddling in the affairs of men, Cortés gathered the intimidated locals—at the very least, the village leaders—to deliver a sermon, in a move that would become so characteristic of his activity in New Spain. Just how effective that sermon was, with the inadequate translation by the Maya fisherman Old Melchor captured earlier, is anybody’s guess.
So intimidated the villagers were, in fact, that they offered no resistance when the Spaniards rolled most of the statues of their gods down the steps of their temples.
They still did nothing when Cortés ordered the insides of their temples white-washed, a wooden cross erected on top of Ix Chel’s pyramid, and images of Virgin Mary placed in many shrines.
That day may be considered the birth of the Mexican syncretism. The statuettes of the Virgins were dressed in local clothes, and the Spaniards left the large hollow statue of Ix Chil intact—for a while, at least.
The cross may have simplified such merge of faiths, for it was meaningful to both sides: the Mayas used it a one of the symbols of the rain god, although their cross was covered in chalk.
Here’s a somewhat romanticised painting of the Conquistadors pulling down a native idol during the siege of Tenochtitlan two years later:
Feb 24, 1519: Idols Smashed to Pieces is a post from: Aztec Books
Aranpubs Was
Aranpubs was a chain with the impersonal, totally tired rep of the big box stores, instead of being unique and totally local.
To his best friend, Aran said, “We can’t survive this.”
Nikasio replied, “Yes, we can. Trust me.”
Which kicked off the biggest bar-hopping practical joke in the long, venerated history of practical jokes.
Eve.
Aranpubs Was is a post from: Aztec Books
September 23, 2012
Feb 21, 1519: Hernán Cortés Arrives to Cozumel
Hernán Cortés arrived to the island of Cozumel, or, as it was called by the Yucatec Maya, Kúutzmil (Island of the Swallows) on February 21, 1519.
The expedition had agreed to sail to the island because it had the closest known harbor; and because of the reports of some Christians stranded there. Saving those Christians was one of the orders Cortés had received from his governor Velazquez.
A bad storm scattered the expedition almost immediately after its departure from Cuba (then called Fernandina). When Cortés arrived to the island, five out of ten ships were already there, importantly that of one of his most influential business partners, Diego de Alvarado.
Alvarado, used to treating the “primitives” as slaves in his boisterous career in the Caribbean, had already managed to rob the main village (situated where San Miguel de Cozumel now stands), seizing food from the farms, some gold from the temples, and even villagers. The people of Cozumel, unable to repel the sudden invasion of hundreds of armed Europeans, had fled into the forest.
Cortés brushed aside the habitual approach of the Spanish explorers and didn’t join the looting. Instead, he scolded Alvarado, imprisoned his pilot, and demanded that all the detained people and stolen property be returned.
While waiting for the remaining ships, Cortés explored the island. He was impressed with its stone temples and main buildings, so superior to everything he had seen in the Caribbean, its sophisticated food, and, most shockingly for him, its pictorial books.
The Spaniards found a noble woman who had stayed behind in the village. Cortés placated her with gifts, and she agreed to invite the others to return.
And so the conquest of Mexico began in earnest: by Cortés attempting to make friends with its inhabitants.
At that time, around 10,000 people lived on the island. A mere generation later, only about 300 inhabitants were still alive after the smallpox, brought by a later Spanish expedition, ravaged the island.
Feb 21, 1519: Hernán Cortés Arrives to Cozumel is a post from: Aztec Books
As The Sand Falls
I watch the sand trickle softly downwards. “So I’m really going to die?”
“Uh-huh.” The cloaked man in the corner said absently, looking at the knick-knacks on my library shelves.
“This is the part when you tell me you’re kidding.”
“Really? Sorry, I’m unversed in mortal slang.” Death said, taking the hourglass. “Well, let’s go.”
As The Sand Falls is a post from: Aztec Books
September 21, 2012
The 3
Crafted by fate muses sing and the plot is sewn with fingers stressed by the lyre’s wont. They tease the host who struggles still to strike the chord again. Her blood shed tears thus rush forth in a cacophony of cries, but when struck true fear is lost and truth is in her eyes.
Liam O’Hare.
The 3 is a post from: Aztec Books
