The Sudden Raid

 

The Sudden Raid was a shot story that I quickly jotted over the course of December 2020. It acts as a sequel to one of my older works from 2016, Seeds of Dread, though it is not necessary to read the previous story to understand this one. The Sudden Raid features a return to Claire's old apartment without her old flatmate. As she prepares for the upcoming holiday on her own months later, however, she discovers that Johan's last encounter with her had far greater repercussions than she ever expected. In the end, she not only learns about what happens in the city she lives in, but also what happened to Johan.

The Sudden Raid can be read right here, and is about 3000 words long. All constructive criticism is welcome.

The above image was taken by myself without the use of filters, as part of photo challenge to take a shot of our nightstands as a joke. I added the card later and re-shot the image in the midst of writing the story, as the card itself served as an inspiration for the work. Further inspiration came about due to one of my friends jokingly saying she would start an overly-realistic campaign for a tabletop RPG, which made me think about what would really happen if certain stories happened within the confines of reality.

A close-up of the card can be found here, while the backside, which details the backstory and inspiration for the illustration, can be found here. While Michele Gauthier reportedly still does woodblock printing, Beaver Quill Studio has since moved to Grand Junction, Michigan.

Into The Dead Downtown

Into The Dead Downtown is a short story I wrote over the course of a few months starting in about August. A return to my usual form of writing from my more experimental previous work, Into The Dead Downtown features two survivors of the apocalypse, Milly and Emil, and their attempts to elude numerous rogues in a run-down city, alongside a mysterious building that appears to have all they need to survive a bit longer.

 In some ways, this work acts as a counterpart to my previous short story, Over the Horizon, featuring a rather different view of what would happen if the end of the world happened overnight.

Into The Dead Downtown can be read right here. It is about 3000 words long, and as usual, all comments and constructive criticism are welcome.

The above image was taken in 1982 of Beirut's Green Line in Lebanon. During the Lebanese Civil War that lasted from 1975 to 1990, numerous areas of Beirut were separated along religious lines, as to prevent further infighting; the lack of human activity in these partitions sometimes caused foliage to overtake the crumbling infrastructure.

For All New Guards

 

 

 

 For All New Guards is a short story I wrote over the course of only a few days in July. For All New Guards is a unique work, having been written in not only first-person, but also featuring a stream-of-consciousness narration, as well as returning to my pre-publishing days, where I started off by writing war fiction. Furthermore, it was also heavily inspired by a falling out I had with a friend, and how I still remain somewhat haunted by what was and wasn't said between us.

For All New Guards is a set of instructions from Mishka, a veteran prison guard, to all of his fellow new recruits on how to best monitor any and all prisoners during a war. He has three simple rules for them to follow at all times, regardless of whatever happens or whoever ends up in there.

 

For All New Guards can be read right here, and at only about 1100 words, it's a rather short read.

The above image was taken in Douma, Syria, after a particularly vicious battle between the Assad government and Syrian rebel forces; rain in the days following the fighting led to the blood washing through the streets of Douma. As of this writing in 2020, the Syrian Civil War continues unabated; I myself was still a high school student when the fighting first began.

The Unwelcome Visitors

The Unwelcome Visitors is a short story I wrote in late 2019 to early 2020, and acts as another fantasy story. The Unwelcome Visitors focuses on six sorcerers who barely know one another, united by a common goal of helping a city ravaged by a recent calamity. After their introductions in a train's dining cart and during their eventual arrival, however, they quickly discover that they may not have much choice in the matter, especially as they start to learn about what possibly happened beforehand.

The setting for The Unwelcome Visitors is heavily based on Belgium, and I attempted to include some references to its history and culture within the continent. I also included some dialogue partially written in French, Flemish, and German, the three official languages of Belgium; hopefully, the context will be enough for readers to understand them. 

The Unwelcome Visitors can be downloaded as a PDF in the following formats:

 Complete
     Part 1
     Part 2

In total, The Unwelcome Visitors is about 9000 words long. Any and all constructive criticism is welcome.

And once again, these characters may reappear again in another story; I have grown rather attached to them and the setting.

The above photograph is that of Namur Railway Station, a train station in Belgium, taken some time before 1914. I felt it was rather evocative of the setting I was trying to create for the story. Namur Railway Station is still in operation and is currently one of Belgium's most-used railway stations.

Freÿr was based on an actual city in Flanders, though Namur Railway Station is actually situated in Wallonia, the French-speaking region of Belgium.

Further Down The River

Further Down The River is a short story I wrote from February to May of 2020. Akin to my previous work Over the Horizon, this is again a short story again inspired by an image I had seen many years ago (drawn by Jesper Ejsing, posted above). Further Down The River is about two ecologists, Nello and Cirilla, on a river expedition through a new jungle as they struggle to discover anything worthwhile; on the tenth day of exploring, they finally encounter something worth logging in their increasing monotonous notes.

Further Down The River can be downloaded as a PDF right here. It's about 2900 words. All constructive criticism is welcome.

Jesper Ejsing's online portfolio can be found here, and a blog post about the above illustration, The Trap, can be found here.