¦ Creature of the Day ¦

Manticore: A Persian legendary creature. It has a body of a lion, head of a human, crazy wings and a wicked scorpion tail. This is one bad mama jama.  

                         ~ Now for a literary snippet ~

 The creature, dark and evil climbed out of the black pit that once held it captive. Centuries ago the old region cast a mighty spell, locking the manticore up.

Years it stirred in the abbess, waiting for the day. With the decay of humanity, the wise and great all killed in the name of equality. The powerful spell that kept the creature at bay, now forgotten, swept away with the winds of pestilence.

The manticore spread its dusty wings, feeling its strength returning and roared a terrible, great roar.

~ Juicy Character Snippets ~ Disrupted Utopia

                                        • Continued •

The fact still remained that Winston had given up on the idea of Utopia.

    "Mother, you don't understand the tragedy," Winston shouted with passion. His face was a deep plum color and dripped with perspiration.

    "I'm sure we can find another hobby shop close by," Marjorie started the car.

    "The plague that had be fallen me, I managed, no, I persevered in my painting!" Winston opened the box containing his orc army and groaned. "All for what? Twenty dollars?"

    "What did the guy quote before?"

    "Oh, it doesn't matter." Winston picked up a figurine. "You see this guy right here?"

    "Yes," Marjorie pretend to look.

     "See his axe and the color scheme I did?" Winston held the orc right in front of his mother's face. "Look at the blood, the detail, he alone is worth twenty dollars!"

Marjorie nodded and sighed at the same time. "How is your girlfriend doing in Chicago these days?"

Winston put the orc back in the box and closed the lid. "The strumpet hasn't written me in weeks, she could have died for all I know."

     "Have you ever thought about visiting her?" Marjorie said, sounding positive.

     "I am much too distressed to even think about traveling abroad."

Chicago was only one state over.

    "I will pay for everything," she dangled the carrot.

   "Mother please," he pinched the bridge of his nose. The plague threatened its return, more painting was in order. "Take me to my favorite ice-cream parlor, I need sustenance for if I am to overcome this defeat."

Marjorie changed lanes and said nothing.

The Peach Clock Countdown

     There is this tree, a beautiful, forbidden, naughty, peach tree that has tormented me for years.

    The owners of this covetous tree take pride in their juicy orbs, that hang always out of my reach. The branches that loom above the sidewalk, public property, are always harvested in the night. Not one peach is left for the public to get their grubby mitts on.

    This year, I'm taking one. 

     My stealth victory will be rewarded as I take my first bite. This peach will be the king among peaches. Long have I waited to taste these little darlings. Stay tuned, as the countdown continues for my sneaky harvesting.

~ Juicy Character Snippets ~ Bridge Ladies

                                             • Continued •

          Marjorie fiddled with her lucky bra, irritated. The left strap was beginning to dig into her shoulder, causing her some discomfort.

      "So, I did as you advised and didn't make dinner tonight." Marjorie said. She released her firm hold of the bra strap and it snapped back into place.

      "Did he raise a fuss?" Silvia asked. Her ancient-looking hands shuffled the deck of cards. Sloppy in her shuffling overturned cards would catch and stick out like royal slivers.

      "Winston didn't seem to care," Marjorie said, flatly.

       "Well what about his laundry?" Rosa asked.

        "I stopped that months ago."

        "So is he washing them at least?" Betsy questioned.

        "No, he gets them dry-cleaned." Marjorie smiled faintly. "You should have seen the Chinese guy laugh when Winston gave him a pile of sweatpants to clean.

All four friends laughed at Winston's expense.

        "What about chores?" Silvia suggested, she quickly began dealing out the cards. The first card to all four players got flipped over and was showing. No one seemed to take notice. 

       "I suppose I can try that again," Marjorie said. "I gave up when he refused to load the dishwasher, stating the absurdity of having to just dirty them again. He has been eating off paper plates for years now."

        "Isn't he interested in girls? What happened to that one girl who use to pal around with him?" Rosa collected her cards and started organizing them.

       "Moved to Chicago."

        "I got it!" Silvia smacked the card table, knocking over Betsy's Diet Coke. Betsy huffed and shot Silvia a nasty look. "You offer to pay for Winston to fly out to Chicago, give him a chance to catch up with his friend." Silvia finished.

      "And when he does," Rosa chimed in. "That's when you sell your house and buy a tiny one room apartment."

      "I have far too much stuff for some tiny apartment." Marjorie stated.

     "Two words," Silvia tapped her nose. "Yard Sale." 
          




                   

~ Juicy Character Snippets ~ Under the Weather

                                             • Continued •

Feeling under the weather, Winston had stayed locked in his room for most of the week. Food wrappers and various cans of empty soda accumulated outside his door letting his mother know that yes, in fact, he was still alive.

    "Winston, dear, I'm going out with Silvia." His mother said, gently knocking on the door. Tonight was bridge night and she was wearing her lucky 40 DD bra. "Want me to bring you back something?"

     "Stop that infernal tapping, you know I have a headache!" Winston bellowed through the door.

    "I'll be back around midnight," she said knocking louder.

    "Yes, yes, go away!" He roared.

     "I didn't make anything for dinner, but there are some cans of soup in the cupboard."

     "I haven't swallowed that poison since I was thirteen! I am quite capable of feeding myself."

His mother started playfully kicking the soda cans against his door. The door opened in a furry.

      "What, what, what?" Winston asked, his bloodshot eyes distressed with the natural light coming in from the hall.

     "I just wanted to see you," she said kindly.

     "Mother, you don't even notice when I shave."

 She looked over her only child. Overweight and hairy. "I told Silvia to pick me up."

      "Thank you for informing me. Anything else you have to prattle on about bathroom visitations, perchance?" He finished.

      "I love you," she kissed his sweaty forehead.

Winston mumbled those three words back and shut his door. Waddling over to his desk, ignoring his wedgie and resumed his figure painting. He had three orcs left to paint in his Warhammer army.

~ Juicy Character Snippets ~ Winston

       The five pound potato pants could no longer hold the twenty pound girth that cinched their way into the stretched denim. Winston was what some call pudgy. Being a man of thirty-eight years, it no longer bothered him that he still lived at home, or the fact that his mother still bought him pants. Which would explain the tight fit.

       Winston was a man of conscience. A martyr to the cause of negligence and A.D.D.  He often felt that he had been short changed in life, but happily accepted his defeat with pork rinds and his vast collection of Italian opera CDs.

      His mother on the other hand, wanted her basement back and stealthy began sabotaging her poor Winston.

Summer Blast Off!!!

My short story that I won 3rd place will be published July 28th! Come join us on Facebook for the Launch Party. Below is the publishing schedule for Creative Prose Publishing, my name looks fabulous.  

Creative Prose Publishing

• June 30: Cover Reveal of Tifani Clark's Shadow of a Life (see it here)
• July 7: Cover reveal of Rachel Stiber's Elise's Choice
• July 14: Q&A with authors Jamie Canosa and Debra Chapoton
• July 28: Launch party and release date for Beginnings, an anthology based on famous first lines*
• August 11: Launch party and release date for Tifani Clark's Shadow of a Life
• August 25: Launch party and release date for Rachel Stiber's Elise's Choice
• September 8: End of Summer Launch party and giveaway, featuring all of our authors

*Beginnings features stories from our writing contest winners, authors: Laurie Treacy, Jamie Canosa, M.M. Roethig, and Candace Gleave