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Wednesday, March 2, 2011

FRENCH QUARTER CROSSROADS_entry for Alison's SUPER-SNOOPER blogfest


This has been the kind of day for me that usually ends up with obituaries being written,

but I wanted to participate in Alison's intriguing SUPER SNOOPER BLOGFEST :

http://alisonstevens.blogspot.com/

As it had for the past century and a half, the setting sun took its last look on St. Peter’s street as it transformed to Rue La Mort.

The flooded street sparkled with flakes of burning silver. Beneath the muddy water, spirits swam restlessly, looking nothing so much as seeping blood under the sea.

Though I had seen the transformation a thousand times, tonight’s still hollowed out my chest. My vision blurred. My head became light.

Reality stretched like taffy pulled by some demented demon-child.

The world looked as if I were viewing it from the wrong end of a telescope. My head felt full of helium. I half-expected it to float off my shoulders.

The evening fog became blood mists billowing over the flooded street. The mists became figures out of nightmare. I stood my ground. There were dazed innocents behind me.

The ghost demons fell back to the tried and true, murmuring hollow promises in my ear. I felt off-balanced as if I would fall into madness.

I still stood my ground. Hissing in anger, they drifted off down the flooded Rue La Mort in search of more gullible souls.

A shadow loomed over me. I held onto my Stetson and craned my neck, looking up. There it was in all its hellish glory.

Meilori’s, the Crossroads of Worlds.

Meilori's stood towering over me. Torch-lit iron lacework balconies stretched up high into the foggy night. I couldn't make out the building's top.

The smell of cedar, oak, ash, and lightning strikes filled the air. Screams sounded low in the distant night. Moans of warning murmured as if whispered right next to my ears.

Leathery wings sounded up high in the thick fog that masked the remaining balconies. I heard the thud of a heavy body, the ear-aching screech of talons against steel, and a husky laugh of hunger about to be fed.

It suddenly noticed me and glared my way for a long moment as if pondering its chances, then abruptly flew back the way it came.

I turned and saw the weathered sign hanging above my door :

HERE BE MONSTERS.

Wasn’t that the damned truth?

I saw the gleaming window in front of me.

In strange, flowing script was the one word : Meilori's.

The letters were rippling and flowing into different fonts and colors, some for which science had no names. And that was fitting, for science had no name to describe its owner either.

***
A new favorite song of mine :

24 comments:

  1. Roland, as always you have an extraordinary ability to set a haunting scene. Thanks so much for participating in my blogfest!

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  2. Alison : I'm happy you liked my entry. May this blogfest be all you wanted it to be! Roland

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  3. I'm not in this 'fest but have been enjoying reading entries. You have presented us with superb descripions as always Roland.

    Denise<3

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  4. Very cool! You're very good at evoking a mood with your descriptions, my dear.

    Tessa.xx

    ps. I just bought your ebook for my kindle... I'll write a review once I get around to reading it (sorry long to-read list). I can send it to you to read before I post if you like.

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  5. This is so beautifully written the imagery took my breath away. My friend, you need to get published! Come on agents!

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  6. Very nice excerpt, Roland! I'm a sucker for memorable similes and phrases/images, and I like the spirits swimming in the muddy water like seeping blood, and the taffy-stretched reality. Oh yes, and the husky laugh of hunger. Very nice. :)

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  7. Thanks, Denise. I gave it my best shot. I've just finished writing Victor's entry for the Chase Blogfest.

    Tessa : Thanks for the kind words. And thanks even more for buying my book.

    Print your review as you see it. I would like to see the review once you've done it. But only for curiosity's sake.

    I trust you and your taste. Write what is in your heart.

    Hibbs, the bear with 2 shadows, says you cannot go wrong if you do that.

    He is a grizzly after all with very broad shoulders! LOL.

    Heather : Thank you so much for the kind words. They made my afternoon much better than my morning! And thanks even more for being such a strong believer in my writing's worth. May we both be published this year or at least get a great agent! Roland

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  8. Thank you, Carol. Sandra, my best friend, calls me the prince of purple prose. But she smiles good-heartedly when she does it. I'm so very happy that you liked my entry, Roland

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  9. Creepy and haunting and very nicely done. I love the street name: Rue La Mort. That just says it all, doesn't it?

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  10. Thanks, Mara. Yes, Rue La Mort does say it all -- if any tourist go down its length at night after reading the street sign, they have no one to blame but themselves, right? Have a lovely day, Roland

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  11. I loved the way you presented the changes that occurred. Very descriptive. I also love the 'ain't that the damned truth' quip. I could just hear Sam.

    I was playing with the virtual Gypsy and Roo came to see what was making the sound. She's now chewing on me and making it difficult to type!

    Did you notice that you're now at 800+ followers? Wow!

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  12. As always, you really establish a haunting mood. If I might make a small request, any chance you could do an article on establishing mood through description? You are an absolute master of it!

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  13. Words Crafter : Yes, I am so happy that so many like and enjoy my posts that they decide to follow. It really makes me feel as if my efforts are appreciated.

    Yeah, Sam's a rather wry observer of his world and himself in it. He's a poet forced into a life of violence.

    Shannon : Thanks for the very kind words. And yes, one article on establishing mood through description is being crafted. Thanks so much for liking and appreciating my posts!

    Michael : That last paragraph took a bit of shaping, and that you appreciated my efforts make my evening, Roland

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  14. Hi, Roland! Hmmm, a vampire, maybe? I always enjoy your prose, so colorful! So wish it was popular. *sigh*

    I'd like to know what you think of my
    entry
    !

    Happy Wednesday.

    Elizabeth

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  15. A stunning and intriguing read, Roland. I could feel the words as I read them and a vision formed in my mind's eye.

    Thanks for sharing this song as well, it was very moving.

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  16. A haunted man lives in this haunted place. Someone comfortable with death and misery.

    An evocative scene Roland.

    .......dhole

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  17. Elizabeth : You're very close. Sam is vampiric in nature ... in an Apache monster kind of way. I am still at work and will be until after midnight, then I am on 1st call. Whew! But I promise to read your entry. Sam McCord would have me do no less!

    Melissa : thank you so very much for those evocative words of your

    Donna : You truly hit the nail on the head. You are so insightful. Now, if I can only run across agents who are as insightful! LOL.

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  18. That was so awesome, Roland. I love your description of Meilori's and all that goes on within. Great entry!

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  19. Thanks, Raquel : Meilori's is a spooky crossroads all right. But no one ever calls it boring! LOL.

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  20. Great entry Roland. I love the picture too. Your descriptions were so vivid and real. I was thinking Vampire or a Vampire hybrid of some kind. There is something magical about the old south. A great scene setter!

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  21. Poetic Justice : Blogger ate my last comment to you.

    Isn't this picture haunting and evocative?

    Samuel McCord, as a result of self-sacrifice, had the blood of the Angel of Death mingle with his own. Strange things happened to him becaue of that. As Mark Twain said : no good deed goes unpunished! Have a lovely day, Roland

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  22. I don't think I've ever seen so many similies in such a short time! I was intrigued by the indulgent darkness of this, and I wanted to keep reading.

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  23. Thanks, Teralyn. Samuel McCord has the sensibilities of a 19th poet, trapped in a strange undying existence of violence.

    It was a literary challenge to create an illusion of an educated 19th way of viewing life expressing life in the 21st century.

    It means a lot this neglected morning to see that you wanted to read more, Roland

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