Blog – Page 33 – mindescapes.net – Art Works by Jim Sponseller

The Full Moon Rises, A Foto Flash Fiction

The rays of the moon beamed through the slats of the barn siding where Simon had chained himself once again. He could not be allowed to hurt anyone else and he knew of no way to end this curse, save death. He had too much hope for that.

The transformation took him, snarling in pain as his limbs became wolf-like. Hair sprouted all over, claws emerged from his hands and his mouth became a salivating snout complete with sharp fangs. He had lost count of how many moons had come since this curse was laid upon him. He had NOT lost count of his victims.

Dear Nicole had been the first. His high school sweetheart. They had parked one night on lover’s ridge, preparing to watch the super harvest moon rise over the nearby mountain range. The evening had been going well, until the moon did rise. Once its rays settled on him, he began to convulse. The transformation took him. Neither knew what was happening and Nicole was frantic thinking Simon had gone into a seizure. She hovered close, too close, he slashed her throat.

The next, poor little Freddie who lived at the end of the street. Snapped his neck like a twig. A twig that would not see 10 years of age. Rosa, Michael, Marie, the Tailor sisters, several he didn’t have names for but their faces still lingered in his mind.

He tried for awhile to get to the forest as a full moon approached. This worked, mostly, if he was far enough from town. He wasn’t always though, as one lone jogger learned fatally. So here he was, now chaining himself through the ordeal.

The transformation complete, lost in the animal he’d become, he surged forward. The slack in the chains pulled taught and he was held in place. A deep howl escaped his throat at his frustration. Then he surged again, the slight sound of cracking wood could be heard as well as felt through the chains. It wasn’t going to hold. Who was going to pay for his curse this time?…

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This is my entry for the Foto Flash Fiction Challenge hosted by Donna McNicols.

Full moon photo courtesy of dbmcnicol @ pixabay

Thanks for reading and have a restful night under the full moon. If you aren’t a werewolf anyway 😉

Jim Sponseller – mindescapes.net – 2019

Could It Be Heaven?, A Tale For Monstrous Halloween

Running late, as usual, I grabbed my keys and rushed out the door. Instead of my garage I walked into a white covered land.

I quickly turned back and tried the front door instead. Again the white colored land stood before me. Oh great! Now I’m really going to be late, I thought to myself.

Nervously, I stepped out into what I initially thought must be snow but the temperature was way too warm for that. Comfortable really, not cold as I had expected. Looking around I could see that the door I emerged from appeared to belong to a small chapel, a warm glow coming from inside. It made me wonder if I had stumbled through a back door into heaven. No pearly gates, No St. Peter, just boom, here you are! Except there were no angels, no other people, and no God to be seen.

As I was pondering the place, the light went out in the chapel. The door slammed closed. I rushed over, tried to pull open the door but it wouldn’t budge.

How long would I be here? Will the door open again? Does time mean anything here?

Many questions, few answers. I hope time will tell!

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This was my response to prompt #10 of the Monstrous Halloween prompt set, All of the doors leaving your house open to another dimension, where do you end up?

Find more fun Halloween prompts here:

Word of the Day Challenge: nervous

Chapel in the snow image by jplenio @ pixabay.

Thanks for reading and have a good night!

Jim Sponseller – mindescapes.net – 2019

Thanks For The Call, Dad – Monstrous Halloween

This post is prompted by the Monstrous Halloween series of writing prompts #9, The phone rings at midnight, who’s calling?

I thought I had better lead off with that as the introduction because this isn’t my usual little poems and short stories.

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The phone rings at midnight, who’s calling? My father, I would hope. He died suddenly and unexpectedly of a massive heart attack a little over 8 years ago now. There were no good byes, no I love you’s. In fact, I’m not sure if he knew how much we would all miss him because we weren’t a family free with the I love you’s. We had an OK relationship, though looking back I feel I asked for too much while giving too little back. That there is no way to settle that up now is what weighs most heavily on me.

There is a lot that has happened in those years since. I finally found an amazing woman whom I have married and we have started a family. I would love to tell him all about that. I have been on a few trips to Europe and taken several cruises. He always wanted to travel and expected to do some once in retirement. It would have been nice to be able to share a cruise with him or see the interest on his face when visiting a medieval castle. His sudden passing is one of the reasons I have tried to do more traveling now rather than some day.

Mostly, I would like to tell him I love him and how much I appreciate all that he did for me and our family.

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While not Halloween related really, who would you like to have one last phone call from?

For other fun and interesting Halloween prompts visit:

Thank you for reading and have a great day!

Phone image by Alexas_Fotos @ pixabay

Jim Sponseller – mindescapes.net – 2019

Nearly Bare, A Holding On Poem

Nearly bare, this branch below,

Home to just this pod,

Leaves have gone, not much to show,

Still it’s holding on,

Reaching out, into the sky,

With this bit of red,

Allowed this branch, to catch my eye,

And see it’s not yet dead.

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This mostly bare branch caught my eye, waving in wind. Had to stop, take this pic, give this tale a spin 🙂

OK, it isn’t so much a spin as a perspective. I just found the branch interesting and liked the blue sky background.

Thanks for stopping in and have a great day!

Jim Sponseller – mindescapes.net – 2019