Halloween Story Chazwriter Challenge

[Renee750il]

Oh, nice twist, Carrie

Those are all great! I loved Hyia's. Very creepy.

[Zoom]

I am Death. I am Life. I am revered and reviled, fawned over and feared. Rituals are held to summon me, to appease me, to keep me at bay. Prayers pour over my ears in the daylight and softly whisper under my cowl at dusk. People fail to remember that Death always follows Life...always follows Death. Two sides of the same coin.

All the wards set around the thresholds a few years ago by the Traveling Mage had done their work well. A record number of babies had been born since, including the son of Young Andy's wife, despite her frailty and narrow hips. She'd never been the same since, it was a hard birth by any standard, but Andy still had his wife and Ina was able to smile at her son each morning. The Elders in council secretly traded stories of seeing the Lone Specter pacing through town on his midnight steed, frustration evident in the set of both their shoulders. It wasn't natural, they knew, to keep one side from the other. They knew the soul was merely borrowed and it yearned to return to the ether, to later emerge in a new form. A few more years went by and for the first time in memory, grandparents met their second grandchildren. Then their third. Some of the Elders achieved the unheard distinction of Great-Grandparent. And all the while, the Lonely Rider kept watch, pacing through town on his coal black stallion.

I watch the sparks fly from under my horse's hooves as he stamps the cobblestones in irritation. The dearth of souls was wearing on us both. Unity was shattered, my two forms beginning to grate. Life was abundant, with no Death to keep the balance. Dues were long forgotten, the townspeople blissfully unaware of the chaos swirling in the air above them. I alone can see the threads extending from each person, from each soul. In other towns, in normal times, these threads were glittering, gleaming, polished anew with each birth arising from another's death. Now they were tarnished and tattered, battering at each other. The townspeople did not see their elders withering more with each passing year, did not see the babies born less robust. They did not see the flesh falling from my horse, the lack of gleam in my day form. All they saw, all they cared about was not having to say goodbye to their loved ones, even as those so well-loved quietly wished for a release I could no longer provide. The wards ensured that. The wards ensured the world would continue to tilt off balance. The Traveling Mage was no were to be found, even by me, to be forced to lift these wretched barriers keeping me from continuing the natural, ever-lasting cycle of Death.

For without Death, Life loses power.

I am Life. I am Death.

I am Doomed.

[Renee750il]

Harrowing despair, Zoomer!

[skittledoo]

these are AMAZING!!!! Dangit... I LOVE to write... I wish I had seen this thread sooner

[Doberluv]

Originally Posted by skittledoo

these are AMAZING!!!! Dangit... I LOVE to write... I wish I had seen this thread sooner

Skittledoo, if you love to write, write something now. It doesn't have to be just for Halloween. This could be done anytime. Go for it! I love reading all the stories. And I would like to see what you come up with. It's fun, isn't it. We should do this more often.

Zoom, that was awesome. What a concept you thought up. Wow!


(Thanks Renee.)

Oooooh, very nice, Zoom!

And yeah...Thanks, Renee! This was a great idea!