Ruins

Cassie crept away from the clearing, into the woods, quietly at first, careful of every twig, every rock. They hadn't seen her, didn't know that she was there. On some primitive level, Cassie knew that a single sound would alert the monsters to her presence, and so her movements were almost silent in the blackness of the forest. Only when she felt a safe distance away from the campfire at the castle ruins did she begin to run.

She was engulfed by darkness.  Branches grabbed at her hair and snatched at her clothing, and still she ran, swallowing her screams.  She had no idea which direction she ran.  Her mind held only one thought, and that was to put distance between herself and what she had seen.  Cassie ran until she collapsed to the floor of the forest, her breath coming in great gasps of air, a cramp gripping her side. Tears flooded her face, her mind replaying what she had seen at the campsite.

Roiling fur, growling, howls in the dim light of the campfire, Max at the center. Shadows emerging from the fallen stones of the ruined castle keep. Blood spurting, everywhere. Blood.

What just happened? Were they attacked by a pack of wolves? It was as if Cassie stood at the edge of a discovery her brain could not grasp.  Did she really just leave her boyfriend Max to die? Why did she let ever him talk her into camping at a haunted ruin? Cassie hugged her knees to her chest, the firmness of the tree at her back reminding her of her reality.

A twig snapped.

The full moon burst out of the clouds, illuminating where Cassie sat.  She stared at the shining eyes encircling her, moaning, as whatever hope of escape died. 

"Cassie!" Max stepped into the clearing, flanked by a pair of enormous wolves.  "Why did you run?"

It took her a long time to stop screaming after that.



This week's prompt is the third definition of the word GRASP.










It inspired my imagination and I hope it inspires yours this week. Here are two pictures to get you started.

Religion, but Not Politics. Rambling thoughts

I was just reading about the cleric who issued a fatwa against Islamic terrorism. It's about frakkin' time.  There are how many Islamic clerics out there, and it's taken all this time for one of them to get up the courage to issue a fatwa?  Of course, the fatwa would have more merit if it came from say, the governing body of clerics for Islam, but that's not going to happen.  The reason it's not going to happen is that Islam, being a religion, is ultimately about butts in seats.  These days we all seem to like our religion light and fluffy with a side of positivity.  Any actual truthiness regarding the validity of terrorism or any other sensitive issue would 'offend' and people would go somewhere else.   Religion should always be about truth, whether it's a good truth or not. Sometimes we all need a good swift kick in the backside to tell us that we are on the wrong path or have screwed up.

Most of the time, I am okay with hearing the truth, even if it is bad news.  Rip the bandaid off quickly so I can move along. Yet sometimes, I find myself in a state of Delay, trying to keep myself from knowing the truth about something before I am ready to deal with it.  I'll avoid my boss if I suspect that she wants to yell at me about something(usually ever day).   One of my friends told me today that she was going to stop digging for information about her philandering husband because she really didn't want to know any more. She was searching for a truth, but didn't like what the truth was telling her, so she stopped searching.  That was probably good for her peace of mind.  I suppose in that kind of a situation it is necessary to protect your emotional self.

We have become stunted in our spirituality.  We expect to be forgiven by both God and Man no matter what the crime,  our sins washed away without any consequences so we can be fluffy like happy clouds. We don't remember that part where, after we confess our sins, the priest says to "sin no more".  In other words, it's okay if you screw up, just don't do it again. In my experience, this doesn't happen.  We all seem to want absolution so we can go out and sin some more instead of sinning no more.  Why is that?