Yup, a totally new kind of post arrives. All thanks to 'James Wymore' and the wondeful people at Curiosity Quills Press.
Its time for a flash fiction by 'James Wymore' celebrating release of "Exacting Essence', which is out today.
Enjoy.
Scooped
James Wymore
Todd Price shoved his hands deep into the pockets of his tan trench coat. The cameras, the boom mics, the strange electrical equipment with wiggling needles set to detect odd ranges of electromagnetic waves—he’d seen it all before dozens of times. In a dark building, late at night, the pseudo-uniformed members of the Salt City Union of Paranormal Detectives, or SCUPD, bustled quietly around the dilapidated building. Outside the full moon peeked out between storm clouds, sending high contrast shadows across the dusty wooden floors.
Deadly serious, the ghost chasers used only the dimmest of red lights to find their way when then the moon was obscured. Stepping softly, they couldn’t help the occasional creak from decaying boards. Each time it happened one of them would whisper, “That was me,” to keep the record straight about which sounds they had made and which might be super natural.
Todd already knew he was wasting his time. These people didn’t even understand ghosts. The odds of an old, abandoned house being a haunt were truly minimal. Most ghosts didn’t last a month—this place had been empty for decades. Ghosts usually manifested in cities where violent crimes occurred. They didn’t sit in rocking chairs, whiling away the hours in a dilapidated Victorian building.
“There!” called one of the crew. “Keep the cameras rolling.”
Todd turned to the shadowy corner of the room. No moonlight crossed this section beyond the stone fireplace. Todd moved from the edge of the wall where he’d been silently watching, to get a better view.
“Are you sure?” a woman with gigantic headphones asked from behind the table of equipment.
“Run it back.” They all kept their eyes locked on the dark corner while she uncovered the small monitor, flooding the far side of the room with bluish light.
“I saw it,” the larger ghost hunter said. “Just there again.”
“It shows up on the camera!” the woman said, pulling one headphone off.
“Keep it rolling. Don’t stop for anything.”
She covered the monitor again and they spent the next hour in rapt attention. Each time thunder rolled outside, Todd saw a small smile break across their faces. SCUPD has their best evidence to date.
* * *
Late that night, in his dreams, Todd Price found the old house again. The trees surrounding the property were black and leafless, growing freely in the forgotten gardens and the long dirt path up the property. Here, in Essentia, the dreaming world, the dreamers had been making this place into a classic movie-style haunted house.
One of the members of SCUPD must have dreamed here. Such dreams would be common for paranormal obsessed locals. Suddenly Todd found his interest piqued. In all the times he’d reported on people chasing the supernatural, he’d never seen a dream equivalent so very dense and well built. Could this really be the one? Was there really a ghost living here?
After years of growing jaded by hoaxes and amateurs, Todd found it difficult to hope. Yet a glimmer of excitement lifted his spirit. He savored the moment, pulling out a cigarette and lighter. For just a moment he stopped himself. Am I dreaming or awake? Dreaming. He struck the lighter.
This scene was too dark for the waking world. What’s more, he never carried actual cigarettes awake. He’d sworn them off for her. And when she died, he vowed to never go back. His constant craving would remind him forever of his lost love. But here, in his dreams, he could take some relief.
As the small cloud of exhaled smoke rose to join the heavy black clouds above, Todd stepped onto the soft wooden porch. The doorframe had been broken, so he just pushed the door. It made a marvelous moaning sound as it slowly revealed the interior.
Just like the one he’d seen before falling asleep, this room had a tall fireplace on the far wall. There in the dark corner, an old woman rocked in a wooden chair.
“Hello?” Todd said.
She looked up with a distant stare. “Who are you?” He could feel her trying to feed off his interest.
“I’m Todd Price. I’m a reporter. I’d like to ask you some questions.”
“I’m not dead,” she said. “Just makes a little show once in a while for the fellers on the other side. It’s what they made me to do.” She offered him a toothless grin.
“You’re not a ghost?”
“Not a bit.”
“You’re a nightmare, given life by all the ghost hunters.”
“You’re smarter than the last reporter.”
“The last reporter?” Todd couldn’t believe what he was hearing.
“Sure, came a couple days ago asking all kinds of questions. Said I’m going to be famous.”
Todd wagged his head. SCUPD had been scooped.
About 'Exacting Essence' -
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Remember waking up late in the night after a nightmare? Your mother holding you tight and whispering everything would be all right? She lied.
Evil clowns haunted Megan’s dreams for years. Even though nobody ever said she was crazy, she knew they were all thinking it. With her life falling apart, she turns suicidal until a new therapist suggests the impossible: dreams are real. Nightmares are living, breathing predators, feeding off dreamer’s fears by exacting essence.
Most, of course, forget theirs as soon as they wake up. Megan is not so lucky. She is also not so powerless.
But is even a power nurtured in her dreams enough to fight off the horrors lurking just beyond the veil of sleep?
Date of Publication:June 12th, 2014
Cover Artist: Alexandria Thompson (http://alexandriadior.deviantart.com/)
Goodreads:https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/21844359-exacting-essence?from_search=true
About the Author -
Tall tales and imagination filled James Wymore’s formative years as he moved around the American West. Constantly in pursuit of a gateway to another world, he failed to find a literal door to another reality. However, he learned to travel everywhere fantastic through writing.
As an adult, James voyaged to other continents, where new philosophies and cultures fed his desire to see life from different perspectives. He then immersed himself in studying nature, in the hopes of finding a loophole. Along the way, he continued creating stories about alternate worlds like the ones hiding just out of sight.
James finally settled in the Rocky Mountains with his pet wolf, Kilgore, and started publishing his work. With three books and six short stories in print after just one year, he celebrates the best supernatural portal he’s found so far—the mind.
Social Media Links:
Website | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads | Amazon
Check out my review of the authors last novel 'Salvation' and also 'my interview' of the author regards to that novel.
Its time for a flash fiction by 'James Wymore' celebrating release of "Exacting Essence', which is out today.
Enjoy.
Scooped
James Wymore
Todd Price shoved his hands deep into the pockets of his tan trench coat. The cameras, the boom mics, the strange electrical equipment with wiggling needles set to detect odd ranges of electromagnetic waves—he’d seen it all before dozens of times. In a dark building, late at night, the pseudo-uniformed members of the Salt City Union of Paranormal Detectives, or SCUPD, bustled quietly around the dilapidated building. Outside the full moon peeked out between storm clouds, sending high contrast shadows across the dusty wooden floors.
Deadly serious, the ghost chasers used only the dimmest of red lights to find their way when then the moon was obscured. Stepping softly, they couldn’t help the occasional creak from decaying boards. Each time it happened one of them would whisper, “That was me,” to keep the record straight about which sounds they had made and which might be super natural.
Todd already knew he was wasting his time. These people didn’t even understand ghosts. The odds of an old, abandoned house being a haunt were truly minimal. Most ghosts didn’t last a month—this place had been empty for decades. Ghosts usually manifested in cities where violent crimes occurred. They didn’t sit in rocking chairs, whiling away the hours in a dilapidated Victorian building.
“There!” called one of the crew. “Keep the cameras rolling.”
Todd turned to the shadowy corner of the room. No moonlight crossed this section beyond the stone fireplace. Todd moved from the edge of the wall where he’d been silently watching, to get a better view.
“Are you sure?” a woman with gigantic headphones asked from behind the table of equipment.
“Run it back.” They all kept their eyes locked on the dark corner while she uncovered the small monitor, flooding the far side of the room with bluish light.
“I saw it,” the larger ghost hunter said. “Just there again.”
“It shows up on the camera!” the woman said, pulling one headphone off.
“Keep it rolling. Don’t stop for anything.”
She covered the monitor again and they spent the next hour in rapt attention. Each time thunder rolled outside, Todd saw a small smile break across their faces. SCUPD has their best evidence to date.
* * *
Late that night, in his dreams, Todd Price found the old house again. The trees surrounding the property were black and leafless, growing freely in the forgotten gardens and the long dirt path up the property. Here, in Essentia, the dreaming world, the dreamers had been making this place into a classic movie-style haunted house.
One of the members of SCUPD must have dreamed here. Such dreams would be common for paranormal obsessed locals. Suddenly Todd found his interest piqued. In all the times he’d reported on people chasing the supernatural, he’d never seen a dream equivalent so very dense and well built. Could this really be the one? Was there really a ghost living here?
After years of growing jaded by hoaxes and amateurs, Todd found it difficult to hope. Yet a glimmer of excitement lifted his spirit. He savored the moment, pulling out a cigarette and lighter. For just a moment he stopped himself. Am I dreaming or awake? Dreaming. He struck the lighter.
This scene was too dark for the waking world. What’s more, he never carried actual cigarettes awake. He’d sworn them off for her. And when she died, he vowed to never go back. His constant craving would remind him forever of his lost love. But here, in his dreams, he could take some relief.
As the small cloud of exhaled smoke rose to join the heavy black clouds above, Todd stepped onto the soft wooden porch. The doorframe had been broken, so he just pushed the door. It made a marvelous moaning sound as it slowly revealed the interior.
Just like the one he’d seen before falling asleep, this room had a tall fireplace on the far wall. There in the dark corner, an old woman rocked in a wooden chair.
“Hello?” Todd said.
She looked up with a distant stare. “Who are you?” He could feel her trying to feed off his interest.
“I’m Todd Price. I’m a reporter. I’d like to ask you some questions.”
“I’m not dead,” she said. “Just makes a little show once in a while for the fellers on the other side. It’s what they made me to do.” She offered him a toothless grin.
“You’re not a ghost?”
“Not a bit.”
“You’re a nightmare, given life by all the ghost hunters.”
“You’re smarter than the last reporter.”
“The last reporter?” Todd couldn’t believe what he was hearing.
“Sure, came a couple days ago asking all kinds of questions. Said I’m going to be famous.”
Todd wagged his head. SCUPD had been scooped.
About 'Exacting Essence' -
Evil clowns haunted Megan’s dreams for years. Even though nobody ever said she was crazy, she knew they were all thinking it. With her life falling apart, she turns suicidal until a new therapist suggests the impossible: dreams are real. Nightmares are living, breathing predators, feeding off dreamer’s fears by exacting essence.
Most, of course, forget theirs as soon as they wake up. Megan is not so lucky. She is also not so powerless.
But is even a power nurtured in her dreams enough to fight off the horrors lurking just beyond the veil of sleep?
Date of Publication:June 12th, 2014
Cover Artist: Alexandria Thompson (http://alexandriadior.deviantart.com/)
Goodreads:https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/21844359-exacting-essence?from_search=true
About the Author -
As an adult, James voyaged to other continents, where new philosophies and cultures fed his desire to see life from different perspectives. He then immersed himself in studying nature, in the hopes of finding a loophole. Along the way, he continued creating stories about alternate worlds like the ones hiding just out of sight.
James finally settled in the Rocky Mountains with his pet wolf, Kilgore, and started publishing his work. With three books and six short stories in print after just one year, he celebrates the best supernatural portal he’s found so far—the mind.
Social Media Links:
Website | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads | Amazon
Check out my review of the authors last novel 'Salvation' and also 'my interview' of the author regards to that novel.
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