FREE KINDLE FOR PC

FREE KINDLE FOR PC
So you can read my books

Saturday, September 4, 2010

GHOST OF A CHANCE_CHAPTER 24_SEPULCHRE OF THE PAST


{"Half forgotten things

in the depths of time ...

they lie with significance, waiting for the simplest sign of life ...

Disconnected things, you exist within a kind of truth,

and the consequence of a consumated trial of fire."

- Sarah Blasko.}

{You would think that a ghost couldn't feel dread. But I do. I know what's coming next.

Samuel Clemens here. I was feeling pretty frisky. I should have know better.

We were in Meilori's, the supernatural New Orleans jazz club where the dead, the undead, and the living could kill one another.

The ghost of Marlene Dietrich had dispatched the vampire Nazi, Strasser, though his head was still squawking.

Now, I see so much I should have seen -- seen and warned Roland. Let his words from his journal take it from here. The hot tears are blurring my eyes.}:


As the ghost of Lauren Bacall straightened from jamming her napkin into Strasser's mouth, her slit skirt fell open, revealing a lot of shapely leg.

Marlene stiffened as parts of her anatomy came to attention.

My Lakota vision swirled about her, the years blurring away like phantoms of displaced time. To my eyes, she was young, early teens.

Eyes haunted even so. And I stiffened, seeing that the art of the saber wasn't the only thing her step-father had taught her.

Lauren smiled and spoke in that smoky way of hers, "Thank you, Marlene. Any way I can thank you?"

The ghost of Humphrey Bogart looked uncomfortable. Me, too. Mark Twain literally bristled.

"Valkyrie, you make me want to spank you."

Marlene spoke to him but looked at me. "I am what I have always been."

"Not always," I said, seeing the specter of her step-father hovering over her teen's face .

Marlene's eyes closed like fists. "There are times when I hate that Lakota gift of yours."

I shook my head. "Who said I considered it a gift?"

Lauren looked at me with heavy-lidded eyes and laughed throatily, "That's right. They call you DreamSinger."

She studied me for a silent moment. "What can you tell me of my past?"

Bogart looked even more uncomfortable, though he tried to hide it.

Lauren spoke to Marlene : "I was flattered by your attention. Generally women are better than men -- they have more character.

I prefer men for some things, obviously, but women have a greater sense of honor and are more willing to take a chance with their lives.”

My Lakota blood whispered a bitter song to me, and I answered the question softly,

"That in the past, as in the present, Mr. Bogart has always been loved by Lauren of the long legs and sexy smile."

Bogart smiled wide and relieved. "That's Bogey to you, kid."

Mark Twain squeezed my shoulder. Marlene stabbed me with haunted eyes.

"And what do you see in me?"

I paused. How to speak my heart, here in this place where shadows had ears?

"What does love look like, Marlene? It is beyond the microscope and past the length of hope. I cannot put it into clumsy words."

I reached for her hand. She pulled it away. She stepped back into the shadows.

Bogey's face became rock. He reached down and pulled his trench coat from the chair back next to him.

"Here, kid, put this on. It'll match your fedora."

He helped me on with it and bent his head next to mine, whispering so softly I almost missed his words.

"Dames can forgive you everything, son, except forgiving them."

A shadow fell across the lot of us. And Marlene and Mark Twain turned to face the figure approaching us. Together, they literally spit one word :

"You!"
***


9 comments:

  1. This was fun. I felt like I was in the middle of a muddled dream.

    Thanks for your visit to my blog today.. and especially for the very kind words.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hilary : "Muddled Dream" is my middle name. My parents had a strange sense of humor. If you would like to read the first chapter of my serial, GHOST OF A CHANCE, tap your cursor on the sidebar on Marlene's face.

    Thanks for visiting. Roland

    ReplyDelete
  3. Interesting wordplay here. The interaction between Marlene and Lauren is tantalizingly sexy. Loved the men's embarrassment.

    .......dhole

    ReplyDelete
  4. Whew, it's hot in here! Hmmmmm, I think I don't like Marlene's dad too much, though. Nope. So, Hemingway finally showed up, did he? Well, he's got some 'splainin' to do!

    Still having computer issues but a resolution is in sight, yaaaay!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Hi Roland, Great blog and post! It's so nice to meet you! I love Lake Charles and have 63 cousins, there! Thanks so much for visiting/following my blog and for your nice comment! Have a fun holiday!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Wow! what a cool blog...very creative. You put an interesting twist on an old concept. With the exception of The Godfather (my favorite movie of all time), I've never ventured to watch classic films. However, after checking things out here, I might rent a couple and see how I like them.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Wonderful, Roland. I felt like I was right there in the smoky room with them. "beyond the microscope and past the length of hope..." Love the way you turn a phrase. Great post.

    Edge of Your Seat Romance

    ReplyDelete
  8. I struggle with your black blue and purple color scheme. I guess because my eyes are no longer young, 20 20 vision, and yes I am not really Xena. Darn it.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Hi Roland, I'm catching up. Sort of. I read through your blogfest entries but didn't comment.

    Is Hemingway back?? ~that rebel, Olivia

    ReplyDelete