24 Little Hours
Hey! Do you remember yesterday?
The way we forge memories and move moments from one side of the mind to the other can be convincing.
After that sixth shot when angels start looking good, it’s hard to distinguish righteous glory from sinful dishonor.
The way some live life filled to the brim, regrets spilling down the side of a soon-to-be half-empty glass.
The exact shade of red is hidden in a trick of the light—a question better left for the physicists to solve.
Or maybe I just have these themes flowing through my mind after recording so many videos about Rhean.
Rhean — Fantasy adventure collecting six fragments
Either way, the hangover that follows gorging on forbidden power is a price she knows all too well.
Fallen angel or demoness demigoddess, Rhean would surely resonate with the words of the song.
Oh, what a difference a day made
There's a rainbow before me
Skies above can't be stormy
since that moment of bliss
In the following piece of flash fiction, I drew on that temperance of desires and how dreams mix and flood an otherwise austere image of reality.
I also wanted to play with something that felt a little more Americana. Those are, after all, my origins more or less, and I would rather that adds to than subtracts from the stories I have to tell.
Westward Sunsets
The mountains were so far away they looked like drops of rain in the wind. We could ride for days and never change that view. The horizon less a goal and more a constant reminder of how far there was left to go.
Where we lived, that was a part of life.
“Who are those guys?” A young man, my partner and travel companion, was the first to ask the question that would lead to our demise. Kassos was his name. He was eager for fortune and fame, but there wasn’t much of either left on the plains.
“Who do you think, asshole?” I hit him with a playful tap. Kassos looked up to me. He kept his hair cut short and liked wearing those stupid hats. They were fashionable a decade earlier, but he thought it suited the outlaw look. He tried to hide his features that came with those from abroad—said he wanted to learn to live off the land. So he hid his chin as best he could with exaggerated expressions and growing out his beard.
“Get off it!” Kassos shrugged his shoulders and spat into the smouldering ashes. He was a little lost with me in the outskirts—land he and his kin thought to be ever malleable to the might of men.
“Start picking up the camp. We need to move westward.” We both knew we were being followed. The wolf pelts we wore danced as we shifted our weight to move around the leftover smoke and embers in the air. The same feelings we shared when we were drinking just the night before. It gets cold on the prairie. We compromised stealth for warmth.
“Ohuokhai, you get rich off one big score and think I’ll do all the work?” Kassos let out a roaring laugh across the grass and if they didn’t know where we were before, they surely knew then.
“Shut up, kid!” I punched him again and helped him pack up the rest of our supplies. Kassos was right though, we were on the run and I was already looking tired. The ghosts were never satisfied with a single town and dug into the desert faster than we could paint their skulls. None could say it, but it was the kind of futile fuite that follows a job well done.
“That about does it.” I put out the last of the still-glowing chunks of wood and kicked dirt over the fire pit. Kassos then reached for my arm and helped me stand up straight. We could hear them clearly now. Herds of horses ready to trample us regardless of whose jurisdiction we happened to be in.
“Now don’t think I’ll go easy on you just because you’re beautiful.” Kassos let me go and I limped, nearly falling over my worn legs. We wouldn’t draw attention to my weakening limbs. Not while we could still enjoy the strength to stand together.
“Don’t let the looks deceive you.” I wanted us to share a moment more in that good humor. The joke fell flat, but it was true—we were known for our fashion in some of the local towns. I thought it helped to have a reputation. We weren’t killers, just a pair of robbers who looked out for those who rightly owned the land.
“Ohuokhai…” Kassos looked over at me as we broke down the tent and loaded up the horses. He was worried. We weren’t getting away this time. Our fate had long since been sealed. “Where are we going to go?”
“Don’t worry about that, Kassos.” I pet his horse and nodded upward to signal it was time to go. He followed the order and we were saddled up—on the road again. “Just keep heading toward the sunset and you’ll find a new home.”
“But what if they just keep chasing us?” He was teary eyed as the last of the stars danced across the morning sky. He was too soft for his own good. He didn’t have the balls to kill his fellow man in a last stand. “I don’t think they’ll stop once we reach the new territories.”
“I don’t think they will either.” I let my eyes rest on Kassos and then gave our horses their cues to speed up, squeezing my legs and letting my partner know we needed to outpace the gallops closing in.
But my plan was simple.
In the dead of night, I’d turn to their camp. I’d let Kassos get away. He’d find friends soon enough and that would work for what was really needed. My life for many more. A bargain in the courage still left in my bones.
“Ohuokhai?” Kassos started. “Whatever happens, just tell me you won’t leave me alone.”
“I can’t promise you that, Kassos.”
Short While
What awaits in the margins of my fantastical fairy tales matters little to the emotions they stir. There are ancient stories shared between families and peoples around the world that tackle the same themes of heroes and villains.
I strongly believe that feeling is most present in Maneus and his bloodline’s struggle—an ultimate fight of good versus evil.
Maneus — Philosophically flawed fantasy
However, personal truth matters less than the law would make you believe.
All I can hope for is leaving an impact on those passersby—with my words and my stories.
So, let me know how you feel with a comment or a smile.
I’ll still be here for a long while.
Until next time.
—JMB