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The most profound wisdom often lives in a quiet corner of the night.

"Ascension" Short Fiction Contest

by jevanswriter@yahoo.com (jason evans)
6 Jan 2009 at 10:55 pm

Click HERE for the contest announcement, prizes, rules, and judging information.

CHECK HERE FOR PERIODIC HOST UPDATES
**As of now, I've received 15 entries. Entries are posted periodically in groups of five. (Message: 1/7, 12:05 a.m.)
**Welcome everyone!! The contest is open. Have a blast! (Message: 1/7, 12:00 a.m.)

Index of Entries
BernardL, Crush (#1)
Davidson, Peter, The Heights (#4)
Geraldine, The ... read more

Entry #5

by jevanswriter@yahoo.com (jason evans)
6 Jan 2009 at 10:46 pm
The Gift
by Geraldine

“Better days ahead.”

Her mom had often spoken those words. For two years Carrie had mourned her passing.

Carrie's dad had also tragically died, at the young age of 43. From that day, loneliness and lack of confidence had been her mother's downfall. The biggest downer of all: Cliff, the man she would eventually marry. Carrie had been just 10.

Any semblance of a normal home l ... read more

Entry #4

by jevanswriter@yahoo.com (jason evans)
6 Jan 2009 at 10:45 pm
The Heights
by Peter Davidson

"So you made it?" She said, with studied indifference.

The escalator carrying me towards her faltered. Beyond redemption, its fate like mine, assured.

"Surprised?"

She shrugged. I wanted to brush the hair from her face, hidden behind wind-blown golden strands. Instead she did it for me, removing her sunglasses. Blue, ice-cold eyes appraised me.

"As if I cared, Joe."

"My name ... read more

Entry #3

by jevanswriter@yahoo.com (jason evans)
6 Jan 2009 at 10:44 pm
Son Games Mother
by Catherine Vibert

Tommy gave a long sigh as he stepped off the escalator and walked down the hall into the waiting room. He knew if he didn’t show up, she would take his computer.

“Come in Tommy.”

“This is stupid,” Tommy plopped onto the sofa and crossed his arms.

“We can sit here and talk about that if you like,” the therapist’s voice was calm, sterile, “Or, we ... read more

Entry #2

by jevanswriter@yahoo.com (jason evans)
6 Jan 2009 at 10:47 pm
Forgotten
by ruinwen@yahoo.com – dedicated to my Mom

The air around the silver-haired woman seemed to be far too thin to breathe. Unseen fingers wrapped around her throat and endeavored to strangle her. Each breath became an increasing insurmountable hurdle as she gasped for air. Her heartbeat raced faster than the thoughts parading lightning quick across the screen in her head. She sought som ... read more

Entry #1

by jevanswriter@yahoo.com (jason evans)
6 Jan 2009 at 10:47 pm
Crush
by BernardL

Jake stepped off the escalator. His right lower pant’s hem caught at the step edge, sending him sprawling. The teenager heard catcalls and laughter from the teenagers passing by. He pushed himself up onto his knees.

“Are you okay, Jake?”

Jake twisted to his left, looking up with surprise into Cassie Loring’s concerned blue eyes as she put a hand on his left arm, auburn hair ... read more

Love Song

by jevanswriter@yahoo.com (jason evans)
2 Jan 2009 at 1:30 am

If he would only take me
use me, break me
abuse me, wake me
He'd make me happy

--Love Song, Cruel Black Dove

She washed her hands and hung her lab coat by the door. Clean and embroidered white. Her thumb throbbed from pipetting all morning. Her head creased in pressure-pain.

In the elevator, she stood taller than the assistant lab director. He strutted his Yale diploma like a ... read more

Living Ghosts, Part 1 (Christmas Past)

by jevanswriter@yahoo.com (jason evans)
30 Dec 2008 at 11:10 pm
(The past couple of years has been an intense time of delving into, analyzing, and (hopefully) better understanding myself. Now, when I look back at images of my past, I see them differently. Perhaps, more clearly. This series will share some of those musings.)

Santa was friends with my neighbors.

Each year, this family would host a Christmas party of sorts for the neighborhood kids and parents. Her ... read more

Thaw

by jevanswriter@yahoo.com (jason evans)
29 Dec 2008 at 12:55 am

If you were lost
and gnawed to a carcass of cold
Warmth would be your nectar
and even the blessed hellfires
Would welcome your hearth to hold

Contest Preview - "Ascension"

by jevanswriter@yahoo.com (jason evans)
27 Dec 2008 at 10:10 am
For all of you celebrating Christmas/Hanukkah/Kwanzaa/Winter Solstice, I hope you had a wonderful time! We're still recovering....

I promised a new Clarity of Night contest to kick off 2009. Since my last contest was in the summer, I'm pumping this one up! More and bigger prizes!! First place will earn you $50 in booty. Also, we'll have a guest writer joining us after the entry period closes. She h ... read more

Happy Holidays!

by jevanswriter@yahoo.com (jason evans)
24 Dec 2008 at 12:27 am

Wishing you and your loved ones a wonderful holiday season! May your merriment be plentiful and your company warm.

--Jason and Aine

Knelt at the Solstice

by jevanswriter@yahoo.com (jason evans)
22 Dec 2008 at 12:00 am

Ink of the solstice
Stains the hours bereft of sleep
Cling to candlelight and flickering greens
Celestial nights, our souls will keep

Pulse

by jevanswriter@yahoo.com (jason evans)
18 Dec 2008 at 11:56 pm

As they sat close, he brushed a fingertip down the curve of her neck. Slow. Painting her portrait skin.

"But why do you find vampires so exciting?" she said.

"You want me to try to explain it?"

"Yes."

"Well," he said, drawing the caress back up to her chin, "it's the jumble of all the primal emotions at once. The predator. The prey. Hunger. Conquest. Sacrifice. Sex like pain, or death, but so much str ... read more

Here We Are Now, Entertain Us (Smells Like Teen Spirit)

by jevanswriter@yahoo.com (jason evans)
17 Dec 2008 at 9:36 am

With the lights out it's less dangerous
Here we are now
Entertain us
--Nirvana, Smells Like Teen Spirit

"You're getting tired of me, aren't you?"

"Me? No."

"It's okay, if that's the way you feel."

"No."

"Sometimes you seem so annoyed."

"Sometimes I am annoyed."

"And sometimes you won't even look at me. Like now."

"I need a drink."

"Right now?"

"Can't think of a better time. ... read more

Evergreen

by jevanswriter@yahoo.com (jason evans)
15 Dec 2008 at 12:01 am

He weaves
on the shadow-side
(or she)
forests darkly tangled
becoming paths
of synapses
and recollections
our feet dirtier
for years up to the knees.
Blaze into our chlorophyll
our sun-scorched leaves
propel our roots
into crowded ground
and sigh.
Tonight
moonlight loves
whisper in branches
eternally grown
evergreen.

Upcoming Contest

by jevanswriter@yahoo.com (jason evans)
15 Dec 2008 at 12:03 am
We are due for another Clarity of Night short fiction contest, don't you think?

Okay, overdue.

Here's what I have in store for you. Since I've missed a contest somewhere along the way, I've decided to increase the prizes for this one. At the very least, First Place will carry a $50 prize! I haven't decided on adjustments to all the other prizes yet. Also, I will be posting the photo early (the w ... read more

Fun Friday

by jevanswriter@yahoo.com (jason evans)
12 Dec 2008 at 2:20 pm
If you're like me feeling the stress of the holiday season, you don't want to overtax your brain. So how about a little fun again?

This time, it's group story time! I'm going to start a story below. In comments, add one or two sentences to move the story forward. Every so often, I'll copy all the comments into the main text for ease of reading.

I can't wait to see where the group mind takes us!

* ... read more

5 O'Clock Road

by jevanswriter@yahoo.com (jason evans)
10 Dec 2008 at 12:20 am
I started playing music in grade school. French horn. A few years later, I quit.

But that's not to say that music didn't deeply fascinate me. I picked it up at age 17 with the piano. I wanted to learn, really learn, the intricasies of music and theory and composition, but felt like the information bounced off a wall in my head. It wouldn't penetrate.

When I was 29, I picked up the bagpipes and ... read more

Leeward

by jevanswriter@yahoo.com (jason evans)
8 Dec 2008 at 1:10 am

I remembered you. How we laid there afterward. How your breathing smoothed as if silky sleep tucked over you. Even as my fingers rippled the color of your hair.

I remembered sunset clouds. Plaid woven and warm. Your eyes painting the dark with things I couldn't see.

Your skin glowed like a mountain in last light.

A mountain I climbed. And claimed.

Only to drift down, the climber claimed.

Into the ... read more

Fragments

by jevanswriter@yahoo.com (jason evans)
2 Dec 2008 at 11:30 pm

Rose light blooms in the clouds. Caresses a heartbeat into snow.

Phantom colors.

Phantoms.

Why do I keep coming here?

Tree branches click a cold cadence in the wind.

The sky is so beautiful. Almost alive.

Every second, it dies.

A gun shot rolls down the valley. Not harsh. Like distant thunder. Too far away.

Maybe it's enough to remember.

Maybe.

But cold is cold, and I like the sting on my hands.

It's ea ... read more

Delicious Pain, Part 2

by jevanswriter@yahoo.com (jason evans)
1 Dec 2008 at 12:01 am
(Catch Part 1, HERE.)

What doesn't kill us, makes us stronger.

There is the kind of pain that hits us from the outside. An illness. A setback. An unexpected failure. Yes, you bleed, but also learn what it takes to heal. The next time you'll be more prepared, maybe you'll navigate around the pain altogether.

But that's not the kind of pain I'm talking about.

I'm talking about the kind of pain you ... read more