Screwed Rapids by The Screwed Arts Collective — Kickstarter

Screwed Rapids by The Screwed Arts Collective — Kickstarter

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Years passed quickly as they tend to do when no one is watching. Ana had become a round faced, awkward little cherub child who's head was slightly too big for her body, so that she managed to tumble over her own feet quiet often. A lopsided halo of mousy brown hair seemed to stick up at odd angles all the time. Mischief followed the child. Or rather, she followed it. Far to clever for her own good, she seemed intent on testing everything she came across. This particular morning, she'd decided to switch her plastic eggs for the oh-so-interesting ones located in the refrigerator. The plan was solid. She'd simply place her own in the box and the special ones into the blue box she carried tucked tightly under one tiny arm.

The worn-shiny linoleum floor stretched out, vast and daunting. Glancing around the arm of the couch, Ana tiptoed forward. Emboldened by the lack of audience, she darted across the room on sure, fat little feet that slapped against the smooth floor. "Aha ha. Hee." Short little fingers clamped tightly together as her face broke into an excited grin, the sound she made an echo of the expression. Victory was so close.

It seemed simple enough. With surgical precision, she extracted the white shelled eggs one by one, replacing them with the slightly yellowed plastic doppelgangers, the tip of her tongue trapped between her teeth in concentration. The seams around the edges had been worn smooth by hours of handling so within the confines of the refrigerator the disguise was nearly perfect. She only had six plastic ones, so once her carton was full the child carefully closed the lid on both boxes and the door to the fridge. However, the temptation to examine the new version of her old toy was overwhelming. Carefully balancing the blue plastic box against her round little stomach, Ana popped the latch and extracted one egg. Turning it over in her hand, she couldn't figure out how it was so smooth. There were tiny little grooves all over its surface. It was fascinating.

Something moved in the corner of her vision and her head jerked around hard. At first she'd thought it was her mother but it was a dark shape. The furtive movement set the little girl's heart to pounding far too hard, although there was nothing at all in the brightly lit kitchen. She saw those a lot and they made her nervous. Quickly trying to replace the egg into her carton and give into the sudden desire to be as far away from there as possible, the tiny oval slipped from her fingers and exploded on the floor. The now freed hand flew to her lips, stifling the OH! of surprise.

Everything forgotten, she knelt quickly to examine it closer. How did they get so much stuff inside? The clear white goo was seeping out into a puddle. Ana poked the yellow bubble in the middle. Did they all have that hiding within? And how come her eggs did not? Two more of the stolen goodies quickly followed suit, as her tiny finger poked through one and the other was smashed under a bare foot, the contents squishing between her chubby toes. "Ewwwww."

The screen door at the back of the house slammed shut, bouncing once with a resounding smack of spring loaded wood on wood. A horrified gasp escaped her lips as her mind blanked once more. This was not the plan. She had intended to be long gone with her purloined prizes before anyone had seen her. Now, they lay in a slimy heap at her feet on the linoleum. This was not good. Abdondoning all hope of saving the eggs, Ana ducked behind the first thing she could see that would hide her - the trash can. Curling into a tight ball and willing herself invisible, she held her breath as the footsteps got closer. Oh no, oh no, oh no, oh no. The mantra repeated through her head, tiny pursed lips mouthing the words silently. Daring to peek, one of her eyes slowly opened. The dark figure she'd noticed scuttling around as she examined the eggs was back and it was behind the trash can with her.

There was no time to make any sound. No shape to recongnize, either, just a lack of light or a thickness of shadow that separated from everything around it and yet cast none of its own. Terror gripped the child, worse now than when the footsteps had gotten closer. She was rooted in place. Slowly, what would be considered a hand if shadows had them, rose and made a gripping motion in the air and Ana could no longer breathe. A sick, twisted hiss of breath escaped the creature as its eyes began to burn.

In the kitchen, her mother had discovered her mess and was furious. "ANA!" The angry voice rang out as the sounds of drawers opening and salt hitting the floor seemed inordinately loud in the stillness. "Ana you come back here this instant and explain yourself, young lady!"

Tears streamed down the little girl's face, unable to alert her mother to what was happening. A cold so intense it burned her skin tightened around her throat. It felt as if her whole body was frozen, trapped by fear and this strange shadow beast. If she could just .... wildly, her left arm flung out and knocked the trashcan over. It thumped against the floor, spilling its contents and sliding forward a few inches. The shadow creature hissed angrily and vanished behind the refrigerator as her mother came into view. Ana was crying hard now, gasping for air and pulling at her clothes, trying to rid herself of the feel of terror.

"Young lady, what do you think you are doing?" Oblivious to what her daughter had just witnessed, Kathleen Benson crossed her arms over her chest and glared down at the huddled girl. "What am I going to do with you? Spank you?"

"No, momma please." She looked up, finding her mother's eyes with her own, her face ashen. Instinctively, she knew it would do no good to tell her mother about what had happened. "Just scream at me."

Mistaking the child's reaction for fear of the aforementioned spanking, Kat's heart melted and she pulled the little girl close with a soft shuckle. "Ok, ok. But, you are in big trouble Ana. Big trouble."

Clinging to her mother, Ana thought it didn't matter. No kind of trouble her mother could dish out would be as bad as what was behind the refrigerator.

*

That night, a fever developed. Ana lay sweating in her bed, pale little body twitching from cold, eyes sunken deep into her too large face. Her mother had left her while she slept, but now it seemed as though the fever was not going to break. It kept getting hotter. The second hand finally came around and Kathleen reached for the thermometer to check the reading. A low whistle escaped her lips. "A hundred and four, almost four and a half." She looked up at her friend Sonya, a cousin and constant companion throughout most of Kat's life.

"Should we take her to the hospital?"

Portals

**This is my attempt at slowly publishing pieces of the whole of the book I am writing. It's a sequel to the first I submitted for publishing. Keep your fingers crossed. Responses welcome**

Portals

by Phoebe Isaacs

“The time of prophecy is upon us. The Old Gods stir once more. Its is the time of my awakening. I have come to pave their way, soften the approaching footsteps as my kinsmen are reborn. The mother goddess is angry, as well should she be. We have been lazy. Watchful guardians sleeping at their posts, while the world ran rampant. But how? As we slept, the knowledge was skewed. The council must be called, these ancient questions answered. Reckoning is now at hand. I am the Goddess Bast and I have come, as will they all.”

The clock chimed the hour softly in the distance, its lovely sound at odds with the grim purpose it signaled. Nhylis stood quietly in the shambled courtyard, a solitary figure robed in coarse green wool. His balding head was bowed in reverence of the ancient elegance present in the room, as each toll struck a worried chord within his heart. Although there was no sound, the man raised his head to find the eyes of his long time friend as he too made way into the oddly mystical aura that pervaded the small area. The moon had risen and the translucent silver light bathed the once white pillars, erasing years of age and neglect with loving grace. The green of the moss covered stones shimmered with fine mist, swirling, creating a cloud like layer on the ground. Even the very air seemed charged with something otherworldly, as though life itself was anticipating their purpose.

Brode was also clothed in a coarse green robe, although his hair was much fuller and longer than his friends. It was also the most peculiar shade of white, as if rather than turning such a color it had always grown exactly that way. He did not speak until he'd reached the other man. One roughened hand settled briefly on the Nhy's shoulder. “Its time. It won't be as bad as you expect. She's much stronger this time.”

Although the gesture was appreciated, it did little to ease the bone deep worry Nhylis had carried about this day for nearly three decades. Almost glacial blue eyes reflected his thoughts, fractals of light contracting around his pupils, changing the patterns within the color, almost in time to the increasing beat of his heart. “Brode, the last time... “ The words stopped. It was unnecessary. Both men remembered clearly what had happened. Nhy's fists clenched as his jaw set hard. “It was too close. I can't lose her.”

“You have no choice. It has to happen now.”

His friend's voice was stern, dry and it infuriated Nhylis. All of the pent up frustration at his own lack of control over the situation, his reservations, his fears, the secret longing he had to see her again which made him feel so guilty because he knew what pain it would be for her, broke his composure and he swung a wild fist into the nearest pillar. Instantly, a myriad of cracks webbed away from the impact of his knuckles. Stone crumbled to dust and covered his hand. In his heart, he screamed aloud the questions that plagued him but he said nothing. His throat was too tight. Besides, the words were pointless. They heard him anyway. One intensely angry stare burned into the night sky for the space of several heartbeats until his breathing calmed and his point had been made. At least now, like this, he could keep her safe. What happened if she wasn't strong enough this time either? Or maybe worse, what if she was and the prophecies were true? How would he protect her then, when he couldn't even find her?

Moving away from the pillar, ignoring Brode's eyes on him and the faint trickle of blood between two of his knuckles, Nhylis made his way to the center of the room where a sleek black cat rested peacefully atop a raised stone table. “Hello my love.” His injured hand touched down upon the cat's back and her head raised instantly, wickedly intelligent green eyes finding his face. Uncoiling her lithe form, the cat stretched low under his hand as it play down his her spine and moved to bump her face against him in obvious fondness. “Its time.” Those few words were all he could manage. His heart contracted hard, closing his throat. I miss you. The thought echoed hard within his soul and the reply came instantly.

Soon, my loved one. Soon. I am ready.

Nodding to Brode, the two men stood on either side of the table as the cat in the center settled into a regal pose, shoulders high with her head lifted and eyes locked on something unseen in the air before her. Of all the ancients, only she had been bound to a physical form. However, the balance of power in the universe was so delicate that had she had not been able to occupy a human form. It would have been far to obvious to those that watched such things. A few had seen their coming, had understood the prophecy but they had quickly been cut down by the ignorant until all that remained was vague superstition and jumbled texts no one could read. Instead, she'd chosen the cat. Lithe, sleek and powerful the beast had been a perfect disguise. Perversely, it left her vulnerable as well. The two men at her side had served her well through the years, one as her protector and the other her teacher.

They'd known this day would come since before they had taken residence in these forms. It was only a matter of waiting until the signs had spoken. Once before the time had seemed at hand, but she had not been strong enough to over come the resistance of shifting one form to another. She had nearly died. It was why Nhylis's heart ached so badly for her now. Briefly, her eyes flickered to his bent head. Not surprisingly, his blue eyes had locked onto hers almost instantly. It had been so hard for him, watching and waiting. So close and yet so far removed was about to be traded for searching, a longing so fierce that neither would rest. The three of them must be reborn now, on this full moon Beltane night. It was time. She could feel it.

A great stillness settled over them. Even the air ceased to move as the energy between them began to take shape. It became tangible, a thin golden string billowing out, binding them together. The pain hit then. Her body arched hard, head flung back as the keenest sound of despair and loss exploded from her throat. Without much fanfare, almost as if she were coming into focus, the shape of the cat on the table blinked once hard, replaced by the kneeling form of a woman, naked. Dark brown hair framed a wild face, the panic obvious in her eyes. Once more and the human form stuck, only the hint of her former cat self remaining in her cheekbones, around her eyes.

One giant breath, to fill lungs far larger than she was used to and immediately she glanced to the men beside her, eyes memorizing the suddenly unfamiliar face of Brode. He brother, her teacher. Her closest friend. She would miss him so badly. Then to Nyhlis. Already, the their physical forms were fading. Becoming translucent. Her thoughts were jumbled, choppy. How would she ever find him again? Her fear echoed in his eyes.

Wait for me?I can't do this without you.

Always.

His reply was the very last thought in her mind. Everything was gone, all of them, and she was falling into nothing. Blackness.

*

Six days later, a baby girl was born in the back seat of a pale blue Volkswagen bus, on the side of highway ten.


It was an uneventful beginning, despite the circumstances. Two would be hippy hold overs, several half lab mutt puppies and one very tiny infant spent the night peacefully as the campfire smoldered into ash. Oblivious to the chaos brewing around them, to the unseen story unfolding, the adults slept soundly while the child's wide, wild eyes flitted around the small interior. There was something she was trying to remember. Something very important, but the stress of the day was so heavy on her eyelids. It would be so easy to sleep. She would forget, but then she would remember. Right?

*

The night settled heavily around the Gulf shore town, the air so thick you could bat it away along with the mosquitoes. Even they moved slower in the thickness. It wasn’t hot yet, but the promise of heat was already there, sticking to your skin.

“Do you still feel guilty?” Without appearing touched by it, two figures gazed placidly at the low key chaos. Someone was being born. At the answering look, the left one sighed. “Don’t.”

“How can I not?” A gnarled hand met a haggard face and then pushed through the bushy mop of stark white hair atop his head. It was a gesture repeated many times over, by the look of things. “There’s been so many….all of them starting better than this. How can she….?”

“We have no choice.” It was a well traveled conversation. “All of the signs…”

“Yes, yes.” The words mumbled out of the old man’s lips, his eyes focusing once more on the scene before them. The moment played out, frozen in time in the eyes of both unseen participants. The baby girl settled easily into her mothers arms; an uneventful entrance to the world to all concerned.

The image turned watery and rippled away and the two were left standing, far from what they had just witnessed. The old man sighed again. “It is done. Now, fate decides.”

“Let us hope she decides in our favor.” A low hum of agreement from the old man sounded softly in the darkness.