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Thursday, June 23, 2011

FRIDAY ROMANTIC CHALLENGE_THE NIGHT I DIED



Due to my work schedule, Thursday has become Friday!

Don't you hate when work does that to you?

Denise and Francine have given us the theme, LOVE HURTS :

http://fridaynightwriters.blogspot.com/

My 399 word entry is from CREOLE KNIGHTS :

Samuel McCord is walking deep into his club to face what he believes will be his last showdown. Before he dies, he wants to say goodbye to an old friend, Oscar Wilde.

Sam is wearing the spurs of Hephaestus. The first artifact the Olympian made. A gift for Aphrodite. A gift which maimed him. Finding them long ago, Samuel had given them back to Hephaestus, hoping the Olympian could undo the past.

Not even Olympians can do that miracle. And so, Hepaestus both loved and hated Samuel for the attempt.

In the chamber which is Wilde's eternal party, Samuel finds him speaking to the courtesan Cora Pearl and Count de Morny, old friends from his days aboard the cursed DEMETER :

I walked into the chamber. The piano changed tunes mid-chord. Beethovan's Moonlight Sonata began.

I turned to see who was playing. I saw grim features under shaggy brows. Hephaestus.

Oscar Wilde was bending his head next to the cold sunrise of Cora's hair. He laughed. Then, he smiled and spoke to both the courtesan and Count de Morny in low conspiratory tones.

"You ask what I stole from Samuel. Why his words, of course. One evening I spied what he was writing to his beloved Meilori."

Cora hushed, "You actually read one of his love letters to Lady Meilori?"

"Indeed. What were the words? Ah, yes :

'What can I tell you by letter? Nothing that I would tell you in person.

The heart of love travels not by pen and ink. Your presence here would not make you any more real, for I feel your fingers in my hair, and your cheek brushing mine.

The air is full of the music of your voice. My soul and body seem no longer mine but mingled in some strange way with yours.

I feel incomplete without you.

Always and Forever, Samuel.'"

Hephaestus glanced at my spurs as he played. The Olympian's fingers sparkled magic.

A day seven years dead echoed around me. The night Meilori left me. The night I died.

Hephaestus had been playing the Moonlight Sonata then, too. He must truly hate me to make me relive it.

Once again I smelled her jasmine perfume, looked into jade eyes narrowing in rage, heard her velvet voice becoming ice.

"You are leaving my side for her?"

"I'm only trying to make sure the adoption goes through, Meilori.Eve is Mossad. I'm having to pull every string I have left in Israel to insure ..."

" ... your whore has a family for you."

"No, Meilori. You're my family, my world."

"I ... I cannot give you children -- so you make that wanton ..."

"You know Eve's not that way."

"I know? I have seen how she looks at you. You must think me blind. Kiss me, Samuel. Kiss me the liar's kiss that says 'I love you' but means you only love yourself."

She slapped me and stormed out of the chamber and into the night, taking with her my soul.

I jerked at the memory. The pain jolted me back into the present. Hephaestus smiled.
***

17 comments:

  1. Roland- I drifted through this piece with Samuel. Love hurts really bad for your MC. Poor guy. Makes me very curious what all transpired. Thank you for posting this little morsel.

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  2. Hello Roland.
    This is deep stuff. Sam sure has his hands full of trouble & turmoil.
    Intriguing snippet.

    The music is a great accompaniment, my wife loves classical music and has it playing all the time.

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  3. Summer :
    Thanks. There are layers here, of course. Samuel actually only wanted to help the woman, Eve, have a child to love in order to melt her Mossad-frozen heart.

    As Meilori really knew.

    She faked a rage in order to be able to go to her sister's aid without endangering Sam.

    Little did she know, her sister's plea for help was but a ploy to slip her sister into frozen time --

    which is why Sam can't sense her. (He assumes it is because Meilori has washed her hands of him finally.)

    Andy :
    I'm glad you liked my snippet. And MOONLIGHT SONATA is one of my selections of classical music. Have a great end of week, Roland

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  4. Hi,

    O.K., so I'm stuck on Tom Sellick... Scrub that, meant Sam McCord! Shove over Meilori, or your time is up.

    Another lovely snippet,R.

    Must just say I'm way behind on my reviews of novels at the mo, so a mass review page looks likely!

    best
    F

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  5. *Sigh* - What a beautiful start to Friday....Moonlight Sonata (a favourite) Samuel McCord and lines like, 'The air is full of the music of your voice.' Heavenly!

    Such hurt.

    Have a great weekend, Roland - hope your AC is working again.

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  6. Fascinating excerpt - love your use of 'Moonlight Sonata' as the background for the heartbreak, I could hear it in my mind as I read - and then discovered you'd put a link to it!

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  7. Intriguing how you've grouped Greek gods with ?late 19th century? partygoers like Oscar Wilde.

    Did Meilori get her kiss, or slap him and leave prior to that? (I was rooting to see/feel the kiss, before the slap.)

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  8. Francine :
    Like you, I see Tom Selleck as Quigley when I picture Sam McCord. Sam is a gentleman. He's patient as he awaits your review.

    You're welcome, Vicki.

    Margo :
    Yes, Sam is never alone nor is his world quiet for it is filled with the memory of the music of Meilori's voice ... in happier times.

    Paula :
    I love the MOONLIGHT SONATA, don't you. Sam does, too, but for much different reasons!

    Beverly :
    Alas, only the slap. Yet in NEW ORLEANS ARABESQUE, both Sam and Meilori share their long-sought kiss as they discover home again : each other's arms ... while the world ends in fire around them at the End of All Things.

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  9. Oh, this is so sad! Well done, Roland.

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  10. Thanks, Lydia :
    I tried to follow you on Twitter but the site was overwhelmed at the time. Sigh, Roland

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  11. I listen to the Moonlight Sonata at work - I have a collection of piano classics - when I need solace.

    Yes, this is tragic, both the song and the excerpt. The letter to Meilori had me crying for love Roland Dear, and I don't do that often.

    I'm not posting RFW this week; again. *sighs*

    Got lots going on; but it is stuff I enjoy. I'm happiest when I have guest bloggers, and reviews, beta reads and critiques to send out.

    I don't blog much when I have so much excitement going on. I'll stop by as often as possible :)

    I hope your publishing career is all you dreamed. I love your covers, and book blurbs and the awesome trailers you have posted.

    Thank you so much for letting me listen to one of my favorite sonata's :)

    ........dhole

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  13. Donna :
    The broken AC in my apartment has crippled my time on the net. Ouch. I've missed you.

    Thanks for the very kind words. My publishing career is in its infancy so I do not expect too much from it. But I give it my all.

    Someday! LOL. Roland

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