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 basic idea for this story was loosely inspired by the track Ten Crack Commandments (lyrics here) by American hip-hop artist The Notorious B.I.G.

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.

Flowers From Amalie

Flowers From Amalie is a short story I started in 2018, but did not finish until 2019 due to creative difficulties. Flowers From Amalie returns to a more realistic setting, involving Shane and his girlfriend Eva who come across an unusual flowergirl named Amalie in the downtown of their city that they try to learn more about, and eventually, try to help her out the best they can.

Flowers From Amalie can be read right here. It is about 5000 words in length. All constructive criticism is welcome.

Some notes from the author can be found after the jump.

To Be Saved

To Be Saved is a short story I wrote in over the course of 2019; the long lull in-between works came about due to educational and occupational obligations. Unlike most of my previous works, this story takes place in a fantasy setting loosely inspired by the Hungarian culture, featuring diviners who can cast magic to help others in need. To Be Saved focuses on Bartalan, a young man whose past causes him to seek out the help of the only person in the land whom he believes can help him. As Bartalan visits his quarters, he speaks with some students to learn about them, the Hermit Diviner known as Zoltan, and more about himself.

To Be Saved can be downloaded as a PDF right here. It's about 6050 words. All constructive criticism is welcome.

The above image was drawn by Marco Gorlei.

Lunch Break

Lunch Break is a short story based on Orange_Juice's QP Shooting ~ Dangerous!!, initially written in mid-2016 alongside A Warmest Welcome, but I only ended up finishing it in 2019 at the request of some of my jerk friends. Lunch Break is a prequel to the game and doesn't require having played the game to understand it; it features one of the characters from Syura, the Indie Games club president, wandering the halls of her school during lunch in hopes of finding anything for her next project. After a few minutes, she meets someone that can provide her with more than enough inspiration.

Lunch Break can be read right here as a PDF. It's about 2900 words long.

The title of this work was taken from a track featured on a soundtrack of various remixes for the games Suguri and Sora, both of which have been covered in this past.