So, I keep saying that I'm back and that my posting will get back to normal...and then I take another week off. Well, this time it's for real. No more distractions. I'll be posting Monday/Wednesday/Friday once again and here's how it's going to be: Monday's I'll be posting something about film making (convenient since I'll be shooting two short films this month), Wednesday's will be a general post with observations or updates about writing, and Friday's will be poetry.
As I mentioned, I've got two films I'm working on right now, "Merlin in Love" and "Scream for the Whisperer" (I posted an older draft of the script which you can read here). We held auditions earlier this month and have begun auditions...but that stuff, sadly, makes for pretty dull reading, so let me tell you a story, or actually two stories.
*
Morgan was not having a very good start this week, work was frustrating, school was terrible, but the last straw was when, yesterday, an old man wandered out into the middle of the street right in front of her car. There was no way she could have stopped in time and she struck the old man. He was already fading fast when Morgan got to his side.
"I had to see you...one last time," the old man said, blood in his mouth. He died there in her arms.
Morgan couldn't take anymore this week, and called in sick to both work and school, opting instead to go to her favorite park and try to forget what had happened. The park bench was a bit chilly but not uncomfortable as she ate her lunch.
"Excuse me," said a voice, "may I sit down?"
Morgan said yes without looking up at the newcomer, engrossed in her own thoughts.
"Have we met yet?" asked the man at her side.
His voice was strangely familiar, though definitely not one of her friends, possibly an acquaintance. Morgan glanced at the man and felt her jaw drop. It couldn't be, he was dead, the old man from yesterday.
"Right," said the old man in an understanding tone and extended his hand in greeting, "my name's Merlin."
*
Melissa really didn't care for Sophie. She was arrogant, ignorant, and attracted far more attention from the male customers than she deserved. If it weren't for the fact that Sophie was a Speaker, able to command magic by simply speaking normally, Melissa would have fired her long ago. Still, Speakers were rare and usually didn't stoop to such a menial job as waiting tables. Every other waitress Melissa had hired before Sophie was, at best, a Shouter, and they were all but useless. Not only did they have to shout to command magic, they also had to be so specific that a single command could take several minutes to construct. Perhaps it was Sophie's personality flaws that made her unemployable in a better job. Whatever the reasons were, Melissa didn't ask. She tried to minimize how much she had to talk to Sophie. At the moment it was nearly midnight and she, Melissa, was finally on her way home. She'd forgotten to command the cupboards to open before sending the dishes to them and had to put the broken plates back together. She was still muttering under her breath, frustrated with herself for making such a stupid mistake, when she tripped over something on the sidewalk. In the dim light of a nearby street lamp, Melissa saw what she'd tripped over: a leg stuck out at an odd angle from the dark alley Melissa had been passing.
Melissa followed the leg and into the alley until she found the face. Sophie stared blindly up into the night sky, blood spattered around her mouth and dribbling onto her neck.
A foot scuffed from deeper in the alley. She looked, and as she did the shadows seemed to pull away from the walls, coalescing into the form of a man.
"scream for the whisperer," he muttered. The air around him wavered and then Melissa began to scream.
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