Certain days become moments of uncommon fortune. Today, luck has met you here. This blog has morphed into a vessel and extend its gangplank to you. Welcome to Scenescaping, a venture into uncharted stories where the readers suggest tale fragments and an author navigates us through them and beyond. Shall we take…
Kyria shredded the propaganda, hurling sweat-drenched fodder at a barrel of flaming tongues. For Momma. Grandpa. Everyone. Scrap phantoms billowed in a taunting dance. She kicked the rusty dragon, splaying its fiery guts across the refugee camp. Cool hands seized her trembling arms. Her ruddy fists dropped. Tears blurred her view…
Violent trembling seized her limbs as Laina ascended the final steps to her floor. Terror amplified each scuff of her boot sole. She gripped the banister's corner and squeezed the peeling surface until it threatened to slice into her palm. With hard swallow, she leaned from the stairwell. Darkness veiled the…
Violent trembling seized her limbs as Laina ascended the final steps to her floor. Terror amplified each scuff of her boot sole. She gripped the banister's corner and squeezed the peeling surface until it threatened to slice into her palm. With hard swallow, she leaned from the stairwell. Darkness veiled the…
Pounding footsteps and silhouettes raced past the sheet-curtained alley windows. A battery of obscenities rattled in their wake. The crunch of flesh triggered groans. Laina crept toward the window. "I think someone's getting hurt." "Best stay clear of the windows after dark." Arden took an empty margarine tub from the shelf and…
Laina took a shaky step into the luminous circle around the pillar candle on the floor. The amulet lay just beyond the light puddle. The flame's reflection flickered in its emerald stone. "Why isn't it over?" She bent and stretched her hand toward the medallion. "Don't touch that." Arden fetched a bar rag…
Simmy curled his long-nailed fingers around the chain at her neck. The fiery metal burned against her skin as he drew the amulet out. "What do you want with it?" Laina pressed the chain against her chest and recoiled. He let it slip from his grasp and slowly lifted his gaze to…
The bus wheeze-squeaked its departure as soon as Laina's boot heel hit the curb. Graffiti tattooed the dingy bodies of buildings and passers-by alike. Half-dressed toddlers screamed from the hips of terse-lipped teenagers. A frigid breeze whipped a fringe of ragged towels and stained clothing on the firescapes. Shoes dangled from their…
"Thanks for the ride." Laina entered her apartment and turned to face Rory. "Goodnight." "You sure you don't want me to stay a while?" The starched collar of his indigo shirt gave a faint rustle as he leaned against the inner frame of the doorway. The scent of his musky-pine cologne…
"Don't be afraid." The detective laid his hand on her shoulder as a door opened in the adjacent room. Beyond a pane of smoky glass, a troop of surly men marched onto a platform. Laina slid her icy fingertips inside her collar and itched under the medallion chain. "Like we told…