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The Friday Muse – Tinson’s Door (Part 2)
Curiosity had always scratched at his insides, luring him into the fields of science, technology, and astronomy. The Black Door, however, was something completely different. It was something that fell between the shelves of Tinson’s chosen fields of research. The Black Door was something supernatural, something alien. Something bizarre.
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The Friday Muse – Tinson’s Door (Part 1)
Tinson felt a strange mix of loneliness and contemplative freedom being in the common study room this late after everyone else had already retired for the evening, even though on most nights, the scientists and scholars who came to this place usually stayed late into the night and early into the morning to drink in the knowledge and research available in the mid-sized study hall.
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From the Ashes
You may kill a fire. And everything you know falls to dust and ash. Yet the remarkable treasure in this seemingly hopeless pile, is hidden deep within. The burning embers incarnate the perpetual desire to go from spark to flame. - Akilnathan Logeswaran
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The Friday Muse – The Princess of Para
The frosted glass allowed the morning’s luminescence to bleed into the castle, filling the hallway with bright white light that flowed gracefully across the white marble flooring, the brownish-gray walls, and the ivory doors of the servants’ quarters. The scent of bacon and potatoes filled the wide corridor, signaling breakfast, but the silence that permeated the thick tile and even thicker walls gave the illusion it was still night when everyone slumbered and hid from the darkness within the darkness. Irasta walked barefoot across the tiles, the undersides of her feet chilled by the lingering cold that seized the fortress each night. She momentarily missed the comfort of her own…
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The Friday Muse – Hidden
Blood soaked the carpet, surrounding Rune like a blossoming rose. What he thought would have been the killing blow by Hastings simply put him in a state of misery he had never experienced before. His skull ached as if it were being tightened in a vice, and the rest of his broken form cried out in echoes of pain that mimicked the agonizing cries of a banshee. He didn’t have to guess that his wounds might be fatal by this point. And even if they weren’t, he knew Hastings would finish the job once he was finished cleaning up his wounded face. But the fact that Rune might be at…
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Small Sacrifices
The receptionist at the front desk wore a long white lab coat, but Brittany doubted she was a doctor. Or a nurse. Or in any way related to the medical field. She carried a bit of weight in her stomach and cheeks, and she smelled like wildflower-scented soap. Her scent was much like that of Brittany’s grandmother, and it made Brittany want to throw up. Just show me where to sign. The clipboard rose over the counter like a starship and landed in front of Brittany’s trembling hands. She noticed her black nail polish had chipped on several fingers. She couldn’t remember the last time she had painted them. She…
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The Friday Muse – Jennifer Glass And The Resurrection
The sound of the hammer hitting those awful nails made Jennifer Glass sick to her stomach. Something about the way the instrument hit iron or the fact that those nails were piercing the flesh of an innocent man, sent her stomach reeling. That was awhile ago, before He was lifted to the cross. Jennifer fought the urge to lurch forward, although she knew it would ease her nausea to do so. She didn’t dare move, though there was no reason she couldn’t or shouldn’t. Those gathered around the foot of the large cross couldn’t see her, but it didn’t stop her from feeling a pang of anxiety that she might…
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The Friday Muse – Level 3
Blood. Lots of blood, smeared on the walls, smeared on her face and arms. It was thick, and it smelled sweet. She inhaled a deep breath and fell in love with the scent. She would wear it as a perfume if she could. The blood wasn’t hers, of course. This fact alone would have supplied some level of relief for X88 if she cared. But she didn’t care. She didn’t have the time nor the strength to care about those she had to mow through to get to Level 3. The day had rewound like it always did. At 11:59:59 the night before, the day – the program – restarted,…
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The Bus To Providence
The heat is what drove her to near madness. The desert was not kind to visitors mid-summer, nor did it care to have anyone spoiling its serene botany and verdant wildlife. If it were a person, if it dwelt among us in human form, the desert would be a harsh lover with a heart of stone, one who only made contact with others to fulfill its need for rainwater. Josephine took a seat on the dry and dusty bench, setting her purse down next to her. Surprisingly, the bench looked like it hadn’t been used in quite some time. But if the rumors were to be believed, this bench was…
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The Friday Muse – The Unending Staircase
Made of concrete, the small thirty by thirty structure sat alone in a vacant parking lot. A single black door against all-white cement was the only indication that people were meant to enter and exit the structure. The lot itself belonged to a grocery store that had been torn down long ago. Nothing else resided for miles along Highway 17, even though the highway was a main artery connecting Fenneston to Fairbanks. Pam spotted the uncanny landmark while passing through on Highway 17 on her way to Fairbanks. In fact, she passed it many times on her multiple trips to Fairbanks. She always found herself curious as to why the…