B. Morris Allen's Blog, page 12
May 5, 2019
Beginnings 035 – All’s Fair
In a dark, dank cave, the dim glow of spent coals sent spiky shadows jerking across rough walls. The old forces sat in silence for a time, pondering the dismal morning to come. At last, however, one rose to her feet.
“I have done my best,” said Pain, “I have devised weapons that burn, that maim, that crush. My assistants Injury and Torture have worked without rest for decades. My creativity is at an end; I have no more ideas.” She sat back down on her chair of nails.
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“All’s Fair”
Spinetin...
May 4, 2019
Beginnings 034 – Parabolic
An old man sat in a cave, surrounded by an audience that strove to follow him, though he did not move. After a day and a night of silence, he spoke in a creaky voice:
A man chose a massive gravestone,
Of thick granite with deep-cut letters.
“I shall be immortal,” he said.
“So thought Ozymandias,” cautioned a friend.
“Ah,” replied the first,
“But you know of him.”
…
“Parabolic”
Metaphorosis: a collection of stories
Published 22-Jun-2013
About the story: A lonely hermit speaks only in opaque...
May 3, 2019
Beginnings 033 – The Dark Distillery
There’s a gleam of light from up above, and I spin rapidly, throwing my black cape up as a shield. But it’s gone, and the room is dark again, the way it should be. It was my daughter, no doubt; she found the removable knot in my bedroom floor a full year younger than I did. She’s become wayward since my wife had to go, but she’s still young enough to mind her father.
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“The Dark Distillery”
Tocsin and other stories
Published 27-Feb-2015
About the story: What if you could distill and refine...
May 2, 2019
Beginnings 032 – The Dark Still Towers
Dark, still towers rise into the sky, forcing a reluctant sun to struggle past them into the heavens. The towers are out of place on the shifting, turning sand of this desert island. If the island were larger, one might imagine that they were intended as markers, reminders, placekeepers of a sort, but there is clearly not enough sand to cover even one of the structures, let alone all four.
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“The Dark Still Towers”
About the story: A boy trapped on a strange island until a mysterious sailor...
May 1, 2019
Beginnings 031 – Waning
The old king rattled his bones. That was what the younger knights at the table called it, when they thought he couldn’t hear them, when they thought his famously keen senses could be overcome by the riot of laughter and ribald conversation. Despite the fire in the great hall, he shivered again, and Norda smoothed the blanket over his knees, beneath the table. The knees were the worst for painful pops and cracks, but the shoulders were bad as well. Around the keep, they joked about the noise....
April 30, 2019
Beginnings 030 – Shadow
In the highest room of a dark tower in the hills, a raven croaks angrily as the cold winds ruffles his feathers. A clap like thunder drowns his complaint. Sigils flicker on long, fluttering streamers as air rushes to fill a sudden absence at the center of the room. A stray feather swirls below the ceiling, and falls at last on one of the lines chalked onto the paving stones.
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“Shadow”
Red Bug Books
Published 26-Jan-2015
About the story: A hero story in which the heroes never appear. A grap...
April 29, 2019
Beginnings 029 – Hivernaculum
I hold the egg carefully before me with my mandibles and my forelimbs. The egg is smooth and white and beautiful. It is light, but I have just received it from the Queen, and it still glistens with mucus. I must hold it with care. The egg is paramount!
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“Hivernaculum”
BMorrisAllen.com
Published 23-Feb-2013
About the story: A hyperlink story about alien visitors.
April 28, 2019
Beginnings 028 – Maison d’Etre
The house stands foursquare on the corner of Thurman, a stolid, enduring presence of granite and slate. It has been there ‘forever’, the neighbours say, and the earliest photographs of the town back them up. Before that … the Atfalati and Wappato tribes scattered long ago, and I’ve never run across a member I could ask about it.
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“Maison d’Etre”
Tocsin and other stories
Published 27-Feb-2015
About the story: Are you living someone else’s life? Should you be?
A visit to NW Portland inspired...
April 27, 2019
Beginnings 027 – The Matter of God
I was never very religious, though I went to church with friends when I was young; I liked the singing. But my parents were agnostics, and I was too, once I was old enough to think about it. Henry, though… Henry was a deep-down, committed atheist. He knew there were no gods. He admitted that without proof, it was an unscientific attitude, but he just didn’t like the idea of a superior power. He always asked ‘What has god ever done for me?’ More of a DIY guy, I guess, you’d say.
…
April 26, 2019
Beginnings 026 – The First Assembly of God
Science is all about trial and error. It’s hard to get the balance right.
“Insert knob A in hole B, it says here.” Ulayk held up the detailed instruction manual with one claw as he pointed out a diagram with his longest antenna.
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“The First Assembly of God”
Weirdyear
Published 08-Jul-2011
About the story: Putting together a god is a delicate business. Especially if you don’t read the instructions.
I’d wanted to write this story for years.
