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Friday, July 22, 2011

COMING HOME_NEW ORLEANS ARABESQUE


It is time for another Friday ROMANTIC CHALLENGE given by the always fascinating Francine Howarth and Denise Covey.

Today's theme is COMING HOME.

My 400 word entry is from the sequel to my CREOLE KNIGHTS : NEW ORLEANS ARABESQUE (in the process of being written.)

The cosmic conjunctions have aligned. The Nameless Ones strain at the unraveling barrier between them and our world.

After 7 years, Maija has released her sister, Meilori, from the bubble of frozen time in which she encased her in a trap of deceit.

Why?

To see her face when she tells Meilori that her beloved Samuel McCord lies dead by the tentacles of an exiled Nameless One he killed before dying.

The undead rabbi, Ben Teradion, is comforting the devastated Ningyo. He is Death’s measure to stop the invasion of The Nameless Ones.

Maija turns to mock the rabbi with the truth of his role, not realizing you simply cannot kill a man whom Death will not take. Shrouded in the Threads of Night, Samuel McCord, bleeding and battered, stands invisible beside her :



Maija laughed. “Death saved you for tonight, rabbi, to speak the name God gave Himself, that when uttered outside the Holy Temple would rend the very universe.”

Ben Teradion said, “No!”

Meilori whispered, “Death has come to revel in the end of life. For her, the death of the entire universe would be ecstasy.”

Ben Teradion husked, “But then --”

Maija nodded. “Nothing stands in the way of the Ningyo Empire to re-enter our home plane.”

The rabbi cried, “No! The Nameless Ones would return to our world!”

“Who cares?”

Meilori gestured, black energy hissing at the ends of her fingertips. “Samuel would have cared.”

The other Ningyo’s circled her as Maija husked, “Now, you die.”

I dropped the Threads of Night. “Don’t make me spank you.”

Maija yelped, “McCord!”

Meilori took a half-step back. “Samuel!”

“Do I know you?”

She looked as if I’d knifed her, and I regretted my joke. “For seven years, the hope of seeing you again got me up each morning.”

She mewed like a kitten and rushed into my arms, her lips hungrily seeking mine. An electric connection completed deep inside me. The world made sense again.

I was home.

A trilling vibrated around us. Maija’s portal was opening.

I heard feet. The Ningyo’s were about to jump us.

“Padre, trust me. Say God’s name!”

Maija leapt forward. The rabbi bellowed.

His lips worked as if he shouted one word, but I heard the sentence he said two thousand years before as he burned before the Roman emperor.

“The parchment burns, but the words fly free!”

The sound flowed into nothing human --

as if Life had come to know itself by the simple act of hearing it.

It came from all directions. The lower notes rumbled as if from the depths of the earth. Higher vibrations trilled as if from the stars in heaven.

I was a human tuning fork, the marrow of my bones trembling. The vibrations cascaded around me and Meilori in a waterfall of sound.

Her jade eyes, first wild with fear, soon grew as deep as the love I felt for her and she for me. A sunburst exploded with us in its burning honey center.

For the first time in two hundred years, I felt warm. Meilori smiled, then kissed me.

The universe might be ending. I didn’t mind. In her arms, I was finally home.

***

14 comments:

  1. Hi oh masterful storyteller! I've missed your writing whilst travelling. I was wondering what you'd make of Coming Home, but you're clever! I loved this excerpt, especially - I was a human tuning fork, the marrow of my bones trembling. The vibrations cascaded around me and Meilori in a waterfall of sound. A great finish line too.

    Denise

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  2. Frozen in time...that's about as cool as time travel. Different planes of excistence...again love it. To love again after so many years of being frozen in time...nice touch. You are definitely a romantic. :)

    A sunburst exploded with us in its burning honey center. (That manages to be simultaneously beautiful and erotic.) Did I mention I love your writing?

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  3. Powerful writing, even if I didn't understand some of it!

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  4. Hurry up and finish! I. Must. Read. This. You are a master with a pen (or hands rather) that lay down the most amazing words. Seriously.

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  5. WoW! Well you certainly took me on some journey! You had me laughing at "I dropped the Threads of Night. Don't make me spank you."
    Despite all the craziness happening,I do love the underlying romantic essence...love still burning between Sam & Meilori even after all those years!

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  6. I read the first few line and stopped because I'm busy with Croale night and I won't be able to stand the suspence. I can't wait......so the plot thickens. SO EXCITED

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  7. Maija is a classic baddie, right down to the dramatic dialogue.

    Since this is a WIP - possibly it's in earlier sections, but we need to know why the rabbi will trust McCord - it seems that he doesn't want to say the word, though Maija wants him to, and then it's a good thing...? I'm confused, and I read it, carefully, three times.

    I like the way your described him voicing/sounding the word, and its effects.

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  8. Hi,

    Darn it, you've got me hooked again, and I'm soooo in love with Sam! Just love the electricity between him and Meilori, and I keep hoping McCord is going to force Maija to "Shut the fuck up" and, that he spanks her arse into the bargain. ;)

    BTW a Texan features in my snippet for this challenge: a WWII story line.

    best
    F

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  9. Denise :
    I've missed you, too. I hope your adventuring was fun. Thanks for liking my little snippet of Sam and Meilori "coming home."

    Matthew :
    Thanks. Samuel just won't quit. Ever. I'm glad you liked seeing him again.

    Laila :
    Samuel tips his Stetson to you. Yes, Meilori was frozen in time for the 7 years Sam thought she had left him. Bad Maija!

    I'm really glad you like my writing. Being appreciated helps me keep on keeping on!

    Paula :
    Sorry about the hard to understand parts. That's the trouble with excerpts : it's hard to bring poeple up to speed without boring them! Glad you liked what you read.

    Heather :
    You made my weary late night much brighter with your own words. NEW ORLEANS ARABESQUE is shaping up, but I am writing Victor's sequel, MORE THAN A NAME at the same time. Whew! That is some chore! Victor's 3rd book, SOMETIMES THERE'S NO VICTOR, takes the same ending as NEW ORLEANS ARABESQUE but from Victor's perspective.

    Have you read FRENCH QUARTER NOCTURNE and CREOLE KNIGHTS? They are the two books that lead into ARABESQUE.

    Andy :
    Sam keeps his frayed sanity by his sense of humor. I'm glad you liked it. And Sam finally gives Maija that spanking in THE LEGEND OF VICTOR STANDISH!

    Samuel and Meilori have been mates since 1853. Like the tempestuous sea, Meilori is violent and subject to severe mood swings -- but she loves Samuel with an abiding love. And Sam is constant like the Texas sun in his love for her. Glad you liked this snippet.

    Wendy :
    I hope you enjoy CREOLE KNIGHTS. It literally has a "hell" of an ending! LOL.

    Beverly :
    Yes, excerpts are inexact creatures. Sorry about that. The undead rabbi sees destroying the universe to stop the Nameless Ones as worse than just letting them in, allowing a few humans and the rest of the universe to live.

    Maija is indeed a vicious being. Think the Dragon Lady become eternal and almost all-powerful. Brrrr.

    Francine :
    Samuel loves you back (but don't tell Meilori!) Maija does get her spanking from Samuel in THE LEGEND OF VICTOR STANDISH, but Victor has the queasy feeling that Maija secretly enjoyed it!

    I'm heading over to your snippet now.

    ***
    I am still exiled from my sweletering apartment with its internet access -- which keeps me from visiting all of you, my friends. I hate it. By the way, I am still at work. Sigh. I need a vacation! Roland

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  10. The mesiah coming home; and gets to kiss the girl as the univers unravels around them.

    A bang up job on the theme Roland :)

    Hope you're staying cool.

    ......dhole

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  11. Your writing is powerful... A fantastical home coming. Well written.

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  12. You really do convey through Sam's emotion the fact that he now at home with his lady.

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  13. Donna :
    Poor Sam is no Messiah - just a battered Texas Ranger standing between the wovles and the sheep as he has done for nearly 200 years. Alas, I am in an oven still. Sigh. Thanks for reading and caring. Roland

    Kiru :
    Thanks for the very kind words. They mean a lot as I am melting in here!

    J.L. :
    I tried to do Sam proud. Thanks for the compliments. Have a great end of week, Roland

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