The Monk’s One Word – Part Two

(Make sure you read Part One here.)

No one suspected that one word would have such power. The crowd that had gathered was still. The Internet stopped; no tweets, no status updates.

“Life.” The word hung in air, as the mystical monk stepped down from the podium. As mysteriously as he appeared, he vanished. The world sat waiting, expecting more, anticipating an encore, but none was given.

What did he mean? It was the question in the silence that everyone seemed to be asking. It was on the face of all those there in the crowd, and on the lips of every news anchor. What was the life the monk spoke of?

That was when things took off, in the worst way.

Immortality

They were late. Not that I was expecting them to be on time, they weren’t before everything happened. But I had secretly hoped that almost 100 years of separation would have created some kind of excitement or urgency in them.

I reached into my vest pocket and pulled out my watch. I’d only been waiting a half hour; and what was half an hour when you were immortal?

What If? September 11th Never Happened

September 11th was a terrible and world-changing event. Those lost will not be soon forgotten, nor will the effects soon wear off.

But what if September 11th didn’t happen the way we know it? What if the FBI stopped the terrorists the day before, leaving those four airplanes to fly to the destinations undisturbed? What would our world look like now?

What if?

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The Final Sacrifice – Part Two

(Be sure to read Part One before you read any further.)

There was a time when a sacrifice to the god Nuak was a regular part of life for the Great Nuakta people. The regularity of these sacrifices depended on the moon. Modern science calls it the “supermoon”, when the moon is closest to the Earth. We call it “The Rise of Raku”, the brother of our god, Nuak.

Our religion has been called ‘violent and wildly barbaric’, but told a story that spoke to our people for generations. And it was this story that helped shaped our daily lives, and what was to come next. The gods Nuak and Raku were born in the sky. Nuak reached out his hands and grabbed the Sun and Earth. They were his birthright, his playthings, his place. What was left was the Moon. Raku reluctantly held onto it. But every so often, Raku would lean in, towards the Earth and Sun, in an attempt to steal them from his brother.

The Book Of Wonders

The Book of Wonders.

What a terrible title, really. Wonders does not begin to explain what this book was capable of.
Legend told that whoever held the book, not necessarily the owner, but whoever held the book in their hands, would hold the knowledge that they sought in that moment.

The pages were all empty. Every single one, from cover to cover. But as soon as you held it in your hands, it was full of everything you would want to know.

Where the lost cities went, how diseases were cured, how the female mind truly works; every mystery was revealed.

With the Book of Wonders, knowledge was power, and power was limitless.

In the years that I had it, I toppled empires. I earned billions of dollars. I saw the patterns and roads the world and rode them to glory.

But then something happened.

The Friar Game

I’d been called to a lot of strange crime scenes in my day. Weird ones, ones where the body is mutilated. Ones where the cause of death was so unclear that we walked away with dozens of possible murder weapons.

But those were always in the city. Once or twice a small town or hamlet would have a bizarre murder that needed a pro’s help. But still, I’ve never been called out to the desert before.

Let Darktober Begin…

“Your stories always have a hope element to them. Try to write something that is bleaker.”

What? I thought, though my face conveyed my emotions perfected.

“Every story that you have submitted has had a downside, a problem, but there is an undercurrent of hope. Something will happen for the better. There must be a way out of this. And that is fine. There are some great novels out there with a hope undercurrent. But I want you to stretch yourself. Write something dark, and we’ll publish it in time for October.”

Oh brother. Clearly, my editor wasn’t reading my stuff. Didn’t she see what I wrote for Canada Day? it was all bleak. Almost prophetic when you think about it.

But, fine, if she wants dark, I’ll write dark. I’ll write dark and scary, bleak without a hope undercurrent. It will be so dastardly and evil, we’ll have to change the name of the month. It won’t be October. Nah, that’s for kids. This will be Darktober!

Alright. A new, dark, Darktober story….hmmm.

Life And Death At The Bus Stop

It started innocent enough, but it turned dark really fast.

We were standing at the bus stop, just waiting. The “we” was the regular crowd that gathered under the 3rd Ave street sign. Enough of us gathered there every day that we became our own little community. We’d help someone out if they were short a couple cents for bus fare. We’d tell each other time. One time, someone even bought bear claws for us all.

It was a happy place, where a smile would be given for those looking gloomy. But not today.

The skater punk started it all.

“I think that death is underrated.”

The Return Of England’s King

In the last days of the great King Arthur, it was prophesied that he would return to England in the hour of her greatest need.

Whether people thought it was a mere legend or histotrical fact, the prophecy lasted through the years. In 1914, the Great War broke out, and England looked for their returning King. But he did not show. When the battle was finally over, in 1918, the number of faithful believers started to dwindle. If this World War was not the hour of greatest need, when would that hour be? How terrible would things need to be for Arthur to return?

Happy Birthday Canada

What kind of trajectory was Canada on in 2016?

Where was the Great White North heading?

What were the goals of the nation, the priorities?

How were people thinking and voting for, spending their time and money?

I wish I knew. Then maybe Canada wouldn’t be in this mess.

From what I have learned, what started us all down this path was a new tax measure. They had called it a “tax on carbon”, which is a joke really. All life on what’s left of this planet is made up of carbon. What it really was, was a tax on emissions. But no one liked the sounds of “emissions tax”. And if it was called “emissions tax” then the big companies and factories might actually have to change or pay. The government didn’t want to lose any jobs or employers or business, so they only taxed the middle and lower case.

I will say this about the Canadian government of the past. They stuck to their gold plated guns, and screwed over 99% of their country.

In 4 months, 56% of the country was in debt up to $80,000. No one could afford to drive to work, and businesses couldn’t afford to be open, yet alone have employees. The whole economic system collapsed under the weight of this new tax.

And then things got worse.