Tag: punishment

OCEAN OF SAND

Careful of who you step on. Find out what happens to this fellow.

Brent tumbled down the side of another sand dune, landing in a crumpled heap at the bottom. Three days of wandering this desert under an unrelenting sky. No food. No water. There wasn’t even night on this desolate world, only glaring daylight. The only signs of life he’d seen since arriving, were the dried bones of past prisoners. This wasn’t a punishment. It was torture.

Spitting gritty particles out of his mouth, Brent struggled to his feet and trudged on. Before he got caught up in it, Brent used to believe in the criminal justice system. That was before he was set up by his best friend. Franklin’s liberal use of bribes had ensured Brent’s conviction.

“Die, or go insane and die.” Those were the choices they gave him before digital transportation. Brent had another – escape and revenge.

The sand beneath his feet shifted, pulling him toward a dark opening. “No!” he cried, scrambling away from the sinkhole.

Nails and fingers raw from digging at the coarse sand, Brent fell into the pit, wondering what other hell awaited him. For a moment, he hung in midair, then woke in the prison transport center. He blinked at the giant hourglass on the table, watching as bits of old bone fell into the bottom portion. Was it real?

“You’ve been granted an appeal,” said his lawyer, holding out a credit transfer tablet.

Brent smiled as he approved the extra ‘lawyer’s fees’. This time he’d have his revenge

Don’t forget to pick up your copy of Wolf Dawn and Star Touched.

Gifted with the ability to wolf-talk, Kara has lived with the wolves since she lost her memories eight years ago. Now at sixteen, snippets of her past send her searching for answers. But the warm welcome she receives in the human village hides more danger than life with the pack.

Eighteen-year-old Tatiana is running from her past and her star-touched powers. Her power to heal may be overshadowed by more destructive abilities. Fleeing the persecution of those like her, Tatiana seeks refuge in a small town she once visited. But this civil haven, in a world where society has broken down, is beginning to crumble. Will Tatiana flee or stay and fight for the new life she has built? Only by harnessing the very forces that haunt her can Tatiana save her friends and herself.

April 30, 2020
ALONE

Does the punishment fit the crime? Tell me what you think.

Lightening flashed across the sky, strangely overlaid across the blue, cloudless view. Half-formed figures and houses appeared along the riverbank. Children laughed as they splashed in the water. There was a village here once, full of life.

“Please. Not again.” The words barely made it past his tightening throat.

Thunder rumbled in the distance. He fell to his knees, trembling. The heavy sack he wore dug into his shoulder. But that wasn’t what caused the churning inside him. It was happening again, just as it had every day since the storm. Unable to stop it, he watched as thick, roiling clouds and an orange wave poured across the valley, obliterating the town.

Children screamed over the roar of the fire. Their anguished cries penetrated past the hands clamped over his ears. Even with his eyes squeezed shut, the image burned into his vision. Nor could he block the smell of burned flesh.

Tears streamed down his face, untouched by the surrounding inferno. Firestorm was his creation. His fault. And it was his order that deployed it. He was the one who turned the world into a blackened, ash filled landscape.

“I’m sorry. So sorry.”

No one offered forgiveness. There was no one left to hear the words. Still sobbing, he pulled a seed out of the sack and pressed it into the barren soil. One seed for every life lost. Doomed to relive the destruction he caused until life returned. A millennia of toil. That was his punishment.

Don’t forget to pick up your copy of Wolf Dawn and Star Touched.

Gifted with the ability to wolf-talk, Kara has lived with the wolves since she lost her memories eight years ago. Now at sixteen, snippets of her past send her searching for answers. But the warm welcome she receives in the human village hides more danger than life with the pack.

Eighteen-year-old Tatiana is running from her past and her star-touched powers. Her power to heal may be overshadowed by more destructive abilities. Fleeing the persecution of those like her, Tatiana seeks refuge in a small town she once visited. But this civil haven, in a world where society has broken down, is beginning to crumble. Will Tatiana flee or stay and fight for the new life she has built? Only by harnessing the very forces that haunt her can Tatiana save her friends and herself.

April 9, 2020
INFINITY

Jacob stumbled to the pool and plunged his head into the water. Somewhere in the back of his mind a voice told him to take sips, but he ignored it, gulping in the tepid liquid. Then his stomach twisted and he heaved.

Exhaustion and dehydration left him trembling in the blazing heat. Once his stomach settled he drank again, this time, small mouthfuls. He closed his eyes to ease the throbbing in his head. If only he could remember how he got here. Two days of wandering this endless, barren landscape and he still had no clue.

A deep rumbling set his heart racing. An earthquake was the last thing he needed. He looked across the deep ravines that riddled the canyon. It went on forever. One of the giant plateaus swayed back and forth and a rock at the top swung around. Two beady black eyes stared at him.

The breath caught in Jacob’s throat. It had to be heatstroke playing with his mind. Rocks didn’t have eyes. He dunked his head again, trying to ignore the sound of grinding stone.

“Share,” said a booming voice.

Jacob scrambled away from the pool, staring at the stone face above him, then waved the creature to the water. The giant tortoise drank deeply then blinked at him.

“Remember,” said the tortoise.

Tears filled Jacob’s eyes. His child, alone, in a locked car. A copper haze covered his vision then he woke to begin the cycle again.

October 6, 2017