Flash Me Friday

Okay, I have to admit I’m cheating a bit this week. This is something I wrote a long time ago and I might even have posted it on my other blog at one time. But I figured, what the heck, at least it’s seasonally appropriate. :-)

the Snow Child

Once upon a time there grew a garden that was so beautiful that even in winter it was a wondrous sight to behold. When the snow fell it covered the trees and bushes in a soft blanket of white so pristine it looked carved from marble. And when the weather changed too rapidly causing ice to form it was transformed into a garden of crystal.

Near the garden was a house, and in the house lived two children, brother and sister, named Damon and Celeste. The house and garden being far from any town or village, they had only each other to play with. However, since it had always been this way, they were quite content with things the way they were.

One day, after a fresh fall of snow, Damon and Celeste decided to go outside to play in the garden. They played tag and threw snowballs, even played hide and seek among the heavily laden fir trees. But it was not long before they ran out of things to do.

"I know," said Celeste. "Why don't we make a snow child?"

"All right," Damon agreed. Damon was always agreeable to whatever Celeste asked of him, she being older than him and he being an agreeable sort.

"It will be much more fun with the three of us," Celeste said.

Together they began to fashion a child out of snow, and because it was Celeste's idea, they decided their snow friend should be a girl too. She had an oval face, with large eyes and a little mouth like a bow. Celeste and Damon were quite talented, it looked just like a real girl.

“She needs some hair,” Celeste said, standing back to observe their handiwork. “She would look too strange without hair.”

Damon thought for a bit. “What about this?” he asked, removing the red woolen scarf from around his neck.

Celeste agreed it was just the thing, and they picked the scarf apart, using the strands of bright red wool to create hair for their friend.

"Now we need to bring her to life," Celeste said, once they were finished.

"How are we supposed to do that?"

“Well," Celeste said slowly, "in the fairy tales, a prince's kiss is usually magic. Maybe you should try giving her a kiss."

So Damon went up to the snow child and kissed her, right on the lips. The children were not at all surprised to see her lips turn red and color suffuse her face. A sudden gust of wind blew from the north and the snow child came to life. She moved, she smiled, and to the great delight of the children she began to play with them.

A while later, the children's father happened by. Though sunny, the day was cold. He decided it was time for the children to go into the house.

"But father," said Celeste. "We don't want to leave our friend just yet."

The father was startled to see a third child in the garden. If it were not for her bright red hair, she would have blended right into the garden with her pale, pale skin and pristine white clothes.

"Well, by all means, your friend is most welcome too," he said, smiling.

The snow child shook her head no.

"Nonsense, my dear," said the father, taking her by the hand. "It's very cold out, your hand is chilled. Come in and get warmed by the fire and then I can take you home."

"But father _" Damon tried to protest.

"Now, Damon," the father replied in a voice that brooked no argument.

Celeste and Damon looked at each other, Celeste biting her bottom lip. The snow child said nothing, only sighed sadly. They went meekly into the house. Celeste and Damon were sent to their rooms to change into dry clothes, and the father took the snow child to the parlor where a fire was burning merrily.

"There you go," he said cheerfully. "You just stand close to the fire to warm up, and Damon and Celeste with be with you in a few minutes."

The snow child stared up at him sadly. Uncomfortable with those big eyes looking at him so silently, the father left the room.

The snow child went over to the window and stared longingly at the magical, white garden. Great, silent tears rolled gently down her cheeks as she began to melt, until all that was left of her was a mound of red woolen threads, and trace of white snow on the wet carpet.

Water - Chapter Seven

This serial is presented in draft form and will be updated each Thursday. Your comments are always welcome!

Prologue ~ Ch 1 ~ Ch 2 ~ Ch 3 ~ Ch 4 ~ Ch 5 ~ Ch 6 ~

Chapter 7

It had been two months since they’d been given their designations. Ravi stood lined up in the main corridor with the rest of the boys from his year group. It was the dead of night. They’d been rousted out of bed and told to dress, now they were waiting for further instructions. The adults were short tempered, almost fearful, and in no mood to answer questions.

Ravi, they’re taking us somewhere! Nereida’s panicked mind voice burst through Kairavini’s thoughts, so forceful he grimaced.

Take it easy, he soothed. I think we’re all going somewhere.

No, I mean right now! I can see ships . . .

Ha! You had me going for a minute. There isn’t room for any ships in here.

That’s what I’m trying to tell you, Nereida’s projection was becoming more frantic. We’re not inside any more, we’re outside. And it’s really dark. Ravi, we’re out side of the facility!

Ravi’s eyes widened in shock. But outside is forbidden!

They’re moving us towards the ships.

Nereida, what’s happening? Nereida?

Nereida was too panic-stricken to answer coherently. All she could manage was to send wave after wave of fear through their mental connection. Ravi stumbled in his place.

“Straighten up there,” one of the technicians barked out.

“All right, let’s go,” someone called from the head of the line.

“You are to move quickly and quietly,” the attendants told the boys. “Stay in your lines.”

The boys were herded swiftly down the corridor, turning at the end towards the main entrance. Though they all knew where the main entrance was, none of them had ever been this close to it before. Several of them hesitated before crossing through the open doors but were prodded along by the attendants.

Nereida was right, it was dark out. Ravi shivered as they were led across an open expanse of ground. Though it was too dark to see clearly he had the sense of a great deal of space around them. It was not a sensation he enjoyed. Was this what had Nereida so terrified? Or could there be something worse waiting for them?

There was a great deal of noise in the distance, thunderous pops and bright flashes. A loud humming filled the air as a dark shape rose and then darted away. They were being hurried to another dark shape, most likely one of the ships Nereida had mentioned.

All at once they were stumbling up a metal ramp towards a dim rectangle of light. There were no seats to sit on; the boys were directed to sit on the floor in two rows, leaving space for the adults between them.

“Damn Arjun and his secrecy,” one of the technicians muttered within Ravi’s hearing. “It would make things so much easier if we could have a little light.”

“We have a little light,” an attendant answered. “Just enough so we don’t end up on top of each other. And it’s not like it’s going to be a long flight.”

“Did you see down in the city?” one of the other adults asked. “He said he was going to create a diversion, and he did. The town’s all but deserted; everyone’s gone down to see what’s happening.”

“I have to admit, I did wonder how he was going to use transports without anyone being the wiser.”

Transports, Ravi thought. That’s what we must be on. But why?

Before he could come up with an answer, the ship gave a shudder and then there was the sensation of movement. Several of the boys began to whimper and the adults moved off to deal with them. Ravi felt a flash of resentment at the distraction, he would have liked to have learned more.

In a relatively short time there was another great shudder, followed by a whiff of cool, damp air as the hatch opened. The boys were herded off the ship and made to wait in a group. When the last boy was on the ground, the hatch closed up and the ship lifted up into the air again. Ravi worked his way through the group until he was close enough to the adults to eavesdrop again.

“Well why can’t we move them into the compound?” someone with an angry voice was asking.

“There was a gas leak, one of the hazards of building right up against a volcano. It’s just temporary until they get it plugged.”

“And what are we supposed to do with them until then?”

“You’re to follow me. There’s a clearing right over here. They’ll just have to rough it for the night.”

Ravi?

Are you all right now Nereida?

The adults seemed to have finished arguing, but Ravi felt no closer to figuring out what was happening.

I’m sorry I got so upset. It’s just . . .

I understand.

There’s a problem with our quarters. We have to stay outside tonight.

Our quarters? What quarters?

There was a glimmer of satisfaction from Nereida’s mind over the fact that she’d found out something before her brother. The whole facility is being moved, not just us. We’re going to have a new home.

Hump Day Hunk

I'll bet he's slippery when wet. ;-)

Prophets and Prophecy - Part OneProphets of Islam – Part I

According to Islamic tradition, Allah has sent prophets to humanity since the beginning of time to communicate His message. The prophets taught the people around them about faith in Allah, and how to walk on the path of righteousness.

Islamic scholars, believe there have been over 240000 prophets in Islam, although only twenty-five prophets are mentioned by name in the Qur'an. Muslims beliefs require belief in all of the prophets and messengers.

1. Adam
Allah created Adam from clay taken from different lands, so that mankind would have white, red, black and yellow forms. He (Allah) taught Adam all the names of everything. (Ch 2:31 Qur’an).

2. Idris (Enoch)
Idris was the the 5th generation of Adam, the first of his descendants to be given prophethood. He is described as: Verily! He was a man of truth (and) a prophet. We raised him to a high station. (Ch 19:56-57 Qur’an). He is also credited to have invented the basic form of writing.

3. Nuh (Noah)
Nuh was sent as a messenger to the people to warn them of what would happen if they didn’t mend their polytheistic ways: "O my people! Verily, I am a plain Warner to you, that you should worship Allah alone, be dutiful to Him and obey me, He (Allah) will forgive you of your sins and respite you to an appointed term. Verily, the term of Allah when it comes, cannot be delayed, if you but knew." (Ch 23 Qur’an) Few of them believed and were consequently washed away in the great flood.

4. Hud
Hud was sent by Allah to the people who lived in Ad (the area between Yemen and Oman) because although they worshipped Allah, they worshipped other gods as well. The people would not listen to his warnings and were destroyed. And as for Ad, they were destroyed for a firious violent wind which Allah imposed on them for 7 nights and 8 days in succession, so that you could see men lying overthrown (destroyed) as if they were hollow trunks of palm trees! (Ch 69:6-7 Qur’an)

5. Salih
The tribe that succeeded Ad were also idol-worshippers and were sent the prophet Salih. The people asked for a clear sign from Allah, but even after they were given it they still refused to believe. In the end they told him: "O Salih! Bring about your threats if you are indeed one of the Messengers (of Allah)." So the earthquakes seized them and they lay dead, prostrate in their homes. Then he (Salih) turned from them, and said: "O my people! I have indeed conveyed to you the Message of my Lord, and have give you good advise but you like not good advisers." (Ch 7 Qur’an)

6. Ibrahim (Abraham)
He was born in Babylonia, well known for its idol worshippers, but was endowed with spiritual understanding of Allah from an early age. He did his best to get his people to worship in Allah alone, but few of them would listen. Then one day he went into the temple and destroyed all but one of the idols. In retribution, the people created a great pit of fire and threw him in. He was, however, saved by his faith in Allah. "O fire! Be you coolness and safety for Abraham." (Ch 21:69 Qur’an)

7. Isma'il (Ishmael)
Isma’il was Abraham’s son, by Hajar. Allah instructed Abraham to take Isma’il and his mother Hajar and leave them in a desolate place. Through the striking of a heel in the earth, a spring appeared and the city of Makkah was built around it. Following divine instructions, Abraham and Ishmael built the Ka’ba, in Makkah, a house of worship for Allah. Upon completion the call went out and people from all over made the pilgrimage to Makkah. It is one of the essential obligations of the faithful to go to Makkah and perform the ritual Hajj at least once during his life time.

8. Ishaq (Isaac)
Ishaq was born to Sarah the first wife of Ibrahim nine years after the birth of Ishmael to Hajar. He lived in Kin'an and was appointed prophet towards his people by Allah. His descendants were men of high spiritual rank and character. He was inspired to do noble deeds and establish right worship, and was generous at heart.

9. Lut (Lot)
Lut was Abraham’s nephew, born in the city of Ur. Lot accompanied his uncle in his travels and when Abraham finally settled in Kin'an, Allah appointed Lut messenger to the people inhabiting the northern valley of River Jordan, specifically the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. The people of this region were morally corrupt and defied the teachings of Lut, often ridiculing and torturing him. Abraham asked for assurances of the safety of Lut and his family, and two angels were sent who warned Lut to leave the region with his family. So we saved him and his family, all, except an old woman (his wife) among those who remained behind. Then afterward We destroyed the others. We rained on them a rain of torment. How evil was the rain of those who had been warned. Verily, in this is indeed a sign yet most of them are not believers. Verily! Your Lord, He is indeed the All Mighty, the Most Merciful. (Ch 26:170-175 Qur’an)

10. Ya'qub (Jacob)
Ya’qub was born at Palestine, one of the twins sons of Isaac. He is noted for carrying on his forefathers legacy of peace and wisdom, and the appointed prophet towards his people after the death of his father. He had four wives and twelve sons who became the progenitors of twelve tribes of Israel. "We gave him Ishaq and Ya'qub. Each of them We made a Prophet. And We gave them of Our mercy and assigned to them a high and true renown." (19:49,50 Qur’an)

11. Yusuf (Joseph)
Yusuf was one of the twelve sons of Jacob and granted the gift of vision at a young age. And when he (Joseph) attained his full manhood, We gave him wisdom and knowledge (the Prophethood), thus We reward the doers of good. (Ch 12:22) His brothers were jealous of the fact he was his father’s favourite and plotted to get rid of him. He ended up a slave in Egypt, where he endured many trials but continued to spread the word of Allah. Yusuf lived for one hundred and ten years. He was buried in Egypt according to the rituals of the land, and when Musa finally took the children of Israil out of Egypt, he took the coffin of Yusuf to Kin'an, to be buried alongside his ancestors.

12. Shu'aib (Jethro)
Shu'aib was appointed prophet by Allah to the people of Midyan and Aykah, who lived on the east of Mount Sinai. He preached to these morally corrupt peoples, but they wouldn’t listen. The people of Midyan were destroyed by roaring thunder and violent earth quakes. The people of Aykah were covered with darkness that emitted fire, destroying most living beings. Only Shu’aib and a handful of true believers survived these calamities.

Be sure and stop by next week for the remaining Prophets of Islam.

Monolatry Monday

monolatry ~ worship of one god without excluding belief in others

Wow . . . I was seriously unmotivated last week. I got my posts done, but that was pretty much it as far as writing went. I went to both my poetry group and my writing group meetings and was empty handed both times. Totally shocked my poetry group. Even when I don’t have a new form to share I at least have a new poem or two.

That’s not to say I haven’t been having ideas, I just haven’t managed to get them out of my head. You know what I mean? I work out an idea in my head and it sits there saying, “write me, write me,” but when I sit down at the computer with a blank document screen in front of me, my fingers stray to the internet and the next thing I know I’m playing Fashion Solitaire on Shockwave. (Hey, don’t judge me until you’ve tried it! :-p)

Anybody watch the Oscars? I used to be an avid Academy Awards watcher but over the years my interest has waned considerably. I don’t know if it’s because I so seldom go to the movies any more or maybe I’m just tired of a handful of people deciding which movies are award worthy. All I know is the whole thing is rather “meh” to me now.

I keep finding books to download onto my Kindle, but the good news is that I’ve started reading more of them. Still, the ratio of downloading versus reading is skewed heavily in favour of downloading. Even if I did nothing but read all day it’d take me years to catch up. ;-)

I started doing the research for my Prophets and Prophecies series last week and I was surprised by some of the things I found. The series is not as I’d envisioned it, but I think it will still be pretty interesting. I love ferreting out information on esoteric things and this series really fits the bill.

What’s Up This Week:
The schedule is up on the side bar, so I’m just giving the highlights here.

Tuesday On Random Thoughts We have Part One of Prophets and Prophecies, which turned out to be part I of the Prophets of Islam. On Random Writings I’ll be continuing to Share the Love.

Wednesday (on Random Writings) Well, Jessica’s done her good deed for the day. Just shows her she’s got a long way to go when it comes to magic. And on Random Thoughts there’ll be another hump day hunk for your viewing pleasure.

Thursday In chapter seven of Water (on Random Thoughts) I think it’s time to move the compound.

Friday We have Passion For Poetry on Random Writings and on Random Thoughts it’s Flash Me Friday where I’ll be doing another picture prompt.

Flash Me Friday

The Chosen

Our people had been nomads, following the herds across the hills and wastelands. We lived in tents of hide that were carried with us, along with what little we possessed. It had been thus for generations, right up until the day we came to the edge of the sea. There we found a new way of life and gave up our wandering ways.

No longer were the tribesmen burnt brown from the sun, no longer did they have the patience to track prey through the desert. Instead their hands and faces became hardened by the sting of the salt air. They became skilled in the ways of nets and canoes. The women learned to dry fish and weave cloth from the beaten reeds of the salt marsh. And so the tribes prospered.

The priests, who were our teachers and also keepers of our records, warned that these changes did not find favour with the gods. The old ways should not be cast so easily aside. But a settled people had no use for gods who seemed always to take, giving nothing in return, and fewer and fewer people heeded the words of the priests. With each generation, the old ways became more distant in memory.

The day that brought the judgment of the gods upon us started much like any other. The men went out in their canoes to cast their nets and the women went to the marshes to gather reeds to beat on the rocks. When the men returned, it was with little to show for their trouble. This was the fifth day the catch was not good. The priests approached Dranin, our chief, for the gods share of the catch but for the first time he refused to give it to them.

“Why should the gods benefit from our hard work while our families starve?” he asked. “These gods of yours are desert gods who know nothing of the ways of the sea and the fisherfolk. Tell them to seek out those who still dwell in the desert. What use are desert gods to fisherfolk?”

Seath, the priest, did not grow angry, but remained calm in the face of Dranin’s words. “The gods are gods over all and must be appeased. They have already grown tired of your miserly ways and chased the fish away from your nets. Spurn them at your own peril.”

But Dranin would not be moved. He had long resented the tradition that expected the best portion of each catch going to the temple for the gods. He had no use for the priests and their gods. Let them catch their own fish.

The people were uneasy. Though many of them not longer paid homage to the temple as their ancestors did, they were still a superstitious lot and the priests were the mouthpieces of the gods. But Dranin was chief and they were used to obeying him.

The next day there was a storm such as the people had never seen before. Black clouds boiled in the sky. High waves pounded the shoreline. Wind and rain lashed at the village. The people shut themselves up in their huts and huddled together in the dark.

The next day the villagers emerged cautiously from their homes. The damage was terrible. Wreckage from several of the canoes littered the shoreline. Nets were ripped and torn, and the communal hut the dried fish was stored in was gone. The salt marsh was churned up, the reeds broken and useless.

Dranin ordered the women and children to scour the shore for what could be salvaged. He and the rest of the men repaired the canoes that were left relatively intact, and then took them out to fish.

Fishing was always good after a storm, but when the canoes returned hours later, the nets were empty. Dranin went to where Seath awaited him on the shore.

“There are no more fish – not for the gods, not for our hungry bellies. I was wrong, and the whole village suffers for it. What can we do to appease the gods?” he asked.

An ordinary man might have gloated at the defeat in the chief’s tone, but Seath was a priest and took no pleasure in the downfall of another. “The gods grow weak on their diet of fish, they need red meat.”

“And where are we to get this meat?” Dranin asked. “There is not one among us who remembers the ways of the hunt, that task belonged to our ancestors.”

Seath looked at him gravely. “Then you must choose from among the people. The sacrifice must be untouched, pure of body and spirit.”

Dranin paled, but bowed his head.

My sister, Jessil was the one Chosen. She was fair and pure, and had just come into her womanhood. A feast, with what little we could gather, was given in her honour. Many gifts were given to her to take with her to the gods.

They dressed her in white and Seath gave her a potion to ease her passing. Then Dranin paddled them both so far out they were just a speck on the horizon. When the canoe returned, only Dranin and Seath were in it.

Within a day the weather cleared and the fish returned. New shoots were seen in the salt marsh, it was only a matter of time before the reeds would be fully grown again. It was declared by the priests that the sacrifice must be made each year. The Chosen one would have a year of plenty – beautiful clothes, the best of the food and drink, and many fine gifts. A great feast would be held in their honour and their name would be remembered for all time.

I can’t wait until it’s my turn.

Water - Chapter Six

Water image

This serial is presented in draft form and will be updated each Thursday. Your comments are always welcome!

Prologue ~ Ch 1 ~ Ch 2 ~ Ch 3 ~ Ch 4 ~ Ch 5 ~

Chapter 6

After spending considerable time droning on about the Program and its importance to the survival of their race, Dr. Arjun finally released the children to go back to their dormitories. The designations to be assigned to them were the ones already in their records, given to them at birth. Once this was done their names would be purged from the records.

“Pay close attention,” the lab technician with the records tablet told the group of boys clustered around him in the dormitory, “Because I’m only going to go over this once. Your designations are in three parts. First comes the identifying letters – WE for wind, FE for fire, AE for aquatic, and EE for earth. This will be followed by your generation number, followed by your result number in your elemental group. Once you’ve passed through tespiro, you will have your power level added to your designation.”

He waited patiently for the muttering to die down before he began reading out names. The boys went up one at a time to receive their designation and have it tattooed on the inside of their wrist. According to Nereida, the same thing was going on in the girls’ dormitory.

“Kairavini,” the technician called.

Ravi obediently took his place and held out his wrist.

“Your designation is AE-03-85.”

“But what does it mean?” he asked, wincing as the laser pen etched it onto his skin.

The technician ignored his question, calling out the name of the next boy. Ravi went back to his place at the back of the group and looked at the characters burned into his wrist. The black lettering was a stark contrast to the white of his skin.

As usual, he hadn’t been paying attention and he struggled to interpret them. AE must stand for Aquatic Elemental – although why wouldn’t it be WE, for water? Then he remembered that the air elementals were being called wind. It stood to reason you couldn’t have two elements with the same first initial.

The first number was his generation number, and since it was three he figured it was safe to assume he was third generation. The eighty-five . . . he guessed that meant he was the eighty-fifth potential water elemental to be born. Pleased with his deductive reasoning, he reached out with his mind for Nereida.

Have you got your designation yet? he asked.

Yes, she replied promptly. It stings on my arm.

I’ll bet I can guess what it is, he said, proud of himself for being so clever.

What?

AE-03 and either 84 or 86.

Wrong, she said, projecting mental laughter at him.

Wrong, he repeated, a frown on his face. How can I be wrong? We’re twins, our designations should be almost identical.

My designation is AEM-03-147.

Ravi mulled it over in his mind. What’s the M stand for?

I don’t know, maybe the girls have different designations than the boys. All I know is that’s what’s making my arm sting.

He didn’t want to worry her, and so he kept the rest of his thoughts to himself. But he couldn’t help but wonder, what did that extra letter mean, and why was her result number not consecutive with his? Ravi had a bad feeling about this.