Alt Mythos Archives

August 5, 2005

Stacy: Encounter

Five times I killed it. Five times it came back.

The old man said I was marked, had been since the first time it saw me. It could find me anywhere using that mark. It could even come back from the dead, drawing on my own strength to cross over. But then maybe "dead" for them wasn't the same as "dead" for us.

The door shuddered as something large slammed repeatedly against it. I hadn’t run far enough, it seemed. This time would be different, though. This time, I’d been doing my homework.

I stepped inside the pentagram and waited.

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September 13, 2005

Stacy: Unexpected

"Psst..."

The girl turned to see an ancient man in a battered top hat sitting next to the Tilt-a-Whirl. She clutched her doll tighter and inched forward.

"Ain't gonna hurt you," he wheezed.

Still she hesitated. The old man chuckled, then moved much quicker than he ought, touched her forehead with a single finger. She blinked and the world rippled. She gasped as a fairy flitted by with a corn dog. A giant strode through the midway, stepping carefully. She turned back to find the old man gone, a wizened gnome in his place.

She screamed until she was 14.

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September 14, 2005

Stacy: Weary Unto Death

The pain in my head grows with each passing day. The physickers say it will eventually have my life. Nothing assuages the ache now...neither the white crystals nor the black tar. Rum still helps me to the sleeplands, but never for very long.

The only thing that makes the pain at all bearable is the needle of the Chinaman. I rather fancy I look like a disreputable sailing man with all this ink on my body, but the respite from pain is more than worth the disfigurement, and a gentlemen never is without shirtsleeves.

It will be over soon enough.

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September 19, 2005

Stacy: A Slight Revision

"...and shall hang by the neck until dead, dead, dead."

"This is a sorry end," thought Calico Jack Rackham as he was led from the courtroom and out into the sweltering Jamaican sun. He wondered where Anne and that twat Mary had gotten to after their arrest, hoped they’d managed to escape.

As the noose was fitted around his neck, Jack saw a flash of white on the edge of the crowd. Anne Bonney herself, disguised in stolen finery...and pointing a pistol at his heart. "I love you," she mouthed, and pulled the trigger.

"That's me bonny lass," whispered Jack.

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October 4, 2005

Stacy : Passages

Mother always said, 'Don't run with scissors'. They must’ve taught that in school and she dutifully passed it along, never having tried it.

I jogged along the path, breathing easily. Not many runners this early in the morning, just me and the squirrels.

Ahead the path curved behind a copse of trees, and my heart beat faster. I pulled the scissors out of my pouch and held them angled into the wind. A thin keening noise escaped from the tip as they sliced, ribbons of reality streaming behind me. A quick sidestep and I was through to the other side.

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January 3, 2006

Stacy: First Wife

I hear the noise before I can see it. The monotone chanting scrapes like a burr across my ancient nerves.

Centuries I've been gone and still with the chanting.

I turn my head towards the light, eyes still blurred from my long sleep. I flex my claws...when did I get claws?...and the chanting falters.

I can smell them, these humans, and that's one thing that hasn't changed. They stink of soft living and ease, no whipcrack of hardship has ever befallen these.

My vision clears and I spring to my feet, wings unfurling. Let's see what we remember about hardship.

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September 25, 2006

Stacy : Warning

From: The Office of Zodiacal and Astrological Oversight

For General Release:

Effective immediately, the zodiacal time heretofore known as "Scorpio" shall be subdivided to "Scorpio" and "Hellbitchica." Hellbitchica will begin November 17th, and run through November 22nd. Any individual choosing to voluntarily seek out a mate originating from this astrological period shall be deemed mentally incompetent and stripped of all authority, voting rights, and their driver's license.

The general public is advised to steer well clear of those hailing from Hellbitchica, and pregnant women due during that time should look into having elective C-Sections to avoid the associated negative influences.

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September 26, 2006

Stacy: The Bargain

Mia darted into the cloakroom and slammed the lock home. She stood, panting for breath, trying to comprehend why one of Anton's assassins was at the bar, looking for her. She hadn't done anything...lately. But he'd totally deserved it.

Her eyes roamed around the graffitti-scrawled room, looking for an escape, a shotgun, anything. Her eyes lit on words written in elegant copperplate, out of place as a fluffy bunny.

"Problems? Call 555-2365 to make them disappear. Terms reasonable."

The door shuddered behind her as a booted foot slammed against it. Shaking, she took out her cell phone and dialed.

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October 5, 2006

Stacy: You Were Saying?

"Come away..." the balloon cried, its whisper voice blending with the soughing wind.

"I have to stay here," said Teddy. "My boy needs me."

"You will be forgotten..." whispered the balloon.

The shadows deepened as the sun sank lower in the sky, and Teddy shivered. To be abandoned, forgotten? He could dream of no worse fate.

“I’m staying here,” he shouted at the dwindling balloon. “For as long as I’m wanted!” Balloon laughter floated back to him.

“You’re doomed… Doomed to rot alone, doo-…” The balloon popped suddenly as the altitude overcame it.

Below on the hill, Teddy laughed delightedly.

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October 6, 2006

Stacy: Wild Thing

She approached the body cautiously, nostrils flaring at the acrid scent brought to her on the dry wind.

The man did not appear to be breathing, nor was he moving, yet there was no sign of blood. She stepped carefully around the body, over deep tire tracks, and the multiple footprints of others. She nudged his hand experimentally. No response. Bolder now, she touched his face, but his open eyes stared at the dusty ground, unseeing. The cord around his neck stirred in the breeze.

The coyote gave the body one last sniff and trotted off to join her pack.

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