Shadow

All parents should read this.

musing

A life in the shadows was difficult, but Jimmy preferred it that way. At first it bothered him when no one took him serious. But than he relished it.

They way everyone treated him, you’d think Jimmy was a homeless kid. Even his family treated him like an outcast.

Jimmy’s older brother, Roger, was the only planned child. According to his parents, Jimmy was a mistake they couldn’t afford.

It wasn’t until Jimmy’s senior year in high school, when he was named one of the best ballplayers in the state, his parents took an interest in his life. The weren’t even aware that Jimmy was one of the smartest kids in school, and consistently on the honer roll. Roger was supposed to be the smart athletic type.

Four years later Jimmy was the toast of the town when he was named to Major League Baseball’s all rookie team.

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More of a Good Thing – Short Story Update

An easy reference for more great short stories. Have fun and happy reading. Feel free to share with your friends.

Vampire Maman

Hey, I’ve just updated the Short Story page on Vampiremaman.com

Click on the links on the sidebars or CLICK here to go to the page.

A good portion of the posts on Vampiremaman.com read like short stories, but the list here is of stand alone stories that don’t necessarily follow the tales of my life with my husband, kids and assorted Vampire Mom adventures. A lot of the stories have nothing to do with parenting, or Vampires.

You’ll find over eighty Gothic romance, horror, humor, urban fantasy, literary fiction, and other of unexpected tangled tales. Most stories are written by me, but I am also honored to have a few talented guest authors.

This isn’t the complete list but it will keep you busy for a while. Keep checking back for more, and don’t forget that every Sunday is Tangled Tales Short Story Sunday.

And as always, expect the unexpected.

~ Juliette aka…

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Billow of Darkness

Beautiful words.

DiAnne’s Scribbles & More

repeat-repeat-useA billow of darkness 
hangs silent over the land
Haunted by the memory of 
our long lost paradise.
Too tired dreams flow down 
swift rolling waters,
forever in chase of a world
that’s departed.
We’ve used our forces 
and shown our might, 
Acting on empty screens
with eyes stoic and vacant, 
We now have to admit,
we have had enough
The march of tears from
hollow eyes has begun.
Our towering psyches
have scourged us to the depths,
We have bled  in private and public 
from both sides of our soul,
The mad-mad motion of this world
Has left us searching for lost hope
On an unknown and distant shore.

© DiAnne Ebejer

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Were you molested by Dr. Atkinson?

I’m sharing my friend’s story about an orthodontist who would grope and otherwise molest his patients. I will call my friend Matilda.

In the late 1970’s when she was a teenager she went to an orthodontist in Carmichael, CA named Dr. Atkinson. He had a busy practice on Fair Oaks Blvd., near Marshall.

Matilda remembered that he was a nice looking man who liked to talk a lot. His receptionists and assistants were friendly, except for one young woman. The unfriendly one wore heavy eye make-up, and had nasty looking long finger nails (assumed fake.) The waits in the waiting room were long – often over an hour.

Dr. Atkinson liked to talk about his airplane, and other expensive things he had. He also had five or six children, and a wife.

He also would molest and grope his female patients while he cheerfully talked.

Matilda said when she grew up, as a teen in the 1970’s that nobody would have believed her. Her parents were from a generation where a respected doctor would NEVER do anything like that. The words of teenage girls were not valued.

Parents were too busy worrying about teenage boys. It wasn’t the boys they needed to worry about. They should have worried about predatory adult MEN who preyed on children, teens, and young adults.

At the high school there were rumors about a couple of male teachers who took nude photos of female teachers. There were also rumors of at least one of the teachers having sex with star struck young female students. Nobody reported these men. Nobody would have listened to students.

But back to Dr. Atkinson….

Matilda compared notes with other girls at her high school who went to him. They all experienced the same thing.

This man would feel up, grope, and molest girls while they sat to have their braces tightened. He took advantage of them. He knew they wouldn’t talk. Their experiences would forever be unseen.

He took something from these girls. He took away their self-worth. He took away their sense of safety. He took away any sense of trust they might have had with adult men. He made them feel like they didn’t matter.

After forty years it still makes Matilda angry and uncomfortable.

If YOU were molested by Dr. Atkinson please share your story. I want this guy to be called out publicly for what he did. He is a pervert and what he did was WRONG. 

He would be in his 80’s now (or late 70’s.) He might still be alive.

A dentist who had an office a few doors down said Atkinson had vanished without a trace. Nobody knew where he went.

I don’t care if he wife or kids read this. I want them to know that he was a bad man. I don’t care if he was a good father – he was a horrible person who took advantage of young girls who were afraid to speak up. These were young girls who did not know they could speak up. They had no voice. 

For anyone else out there who is reading this: Tell your children, teens, and young adults in your life that NOBODY can grope, molest, touch, grab, poke, kiss, or do ANYTHING to your body without your consent. Tell the young people in your life to immediately REPORT anyone who does this to them. Let them know that YOU will believe them.

Matilda kept silent because she didn’t think anyone would listen. When she told the story to her family years later they acted as if she had said nothing. It was uncomfortable. Don’t be uncomfortable – be brave and take the side of your child, your young friend, your niece or nephew, your brother or sister. Take the side of the young person who has been hurt.

Don’t be silent. Come out of your comfort zone. Be there for young people who are prey to these monsters like the orthodontist Dr. Atkinson.

 

https://dailypost.wordpress.com/prompts/unseen/

 

 

Vampire Maman

Welcome to Short Story Sunday. I’m so happy to feature this story from 17-year-old author Adelia Hoff. Thank you so much Adelia. This is a real treat.

Charade

by Adelia Hoff

The black haired male saw her light. The white haired female saw his silhouette. His red eyes darted over her small campsite. Her blue eyes issued an unspoken challenge.
“May I join you?”
“Please do. It’s been a while since anyone has.”
He moved over, sitting opposite of her.
“Your face seems familiar. Have we met?”
“I . . . don’t think so.”
They both knew this was a lie. They knew who the other was, yet they kept up this mask of familiar newness. The silence was comfortable. The male caught her eye with a soft smile.
“If it’s not too rude, why are you here?”
She returned the smile.
“I’m looking for someone.”
“Heh, so am I. What’re…

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The Pretender – City of Zombies

Time to get out your flame throwers. City of Zombies is back!

Teraphobia Blog

Eric stared up from the floor.  His head pounded.  Silver racks of milk, solidified within the plastic containers, sat waiting for customers that would never come.  A breath of putrid air rushed past him and escaped into the darkness.  Eric turned his head and the muscles in his body seized.

“What the hell!”

It laid against the glass.  A gore-covered, mutilation of human life.  It’s bare sockets, for eyes, staring through him.  It’s hands, skin barely hanging on the remaining digits, pushing against the grimy glass.

Eric slid away from the abomination and toward the darkness.  His lungs held his breath hostage as he stared at the gore staring back at him.

“Gary!!” Eric laughed.  “You scared the crap out of me.  I literally have it running down my leg.  “That was a good try.” He continued as he stepped back and into the darkness.

“Now where did I put…

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The Arranged Marriage

I’m honored to feature work from 17 year old Adelia Hoff. I’ll be featuring more of her work in the near future.

Vampire Maman

The Arranged Marriage

By Adelia Hoff

The young woman is dolled up –
an offering from one family to another.
She has never seen her husband-to-be,
but she loves the farmer’s son –
The boy who comes from far away
Whose hair is like gold and eyes are like jade.
Her mother says that this marriage will be honorable –
so the girl, bound by tradition, and her own sense
of right and wrong,
does not object.
But she hopes, secretly,
that the farmer’s boy,
with his strange language and talks of love,
will take her away.
This is not to be, though
Because this is not a fairy tale
And there is no happy ending.

design

I’m honored to feature work from 17 year old Adelia Hoff. I’ll be featuring more of her work in the near future.

Thank you Adelia.

~ Juliette aka Vampire Maman

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Short Story Sunday: Tell Tail Heart (or A Literary Tale)

Vampire Maman

A Literary Tale

He woke with a start.

THUMP THUMP THUMP

THUMP THUMP THUMP

Immediately he thought of The Tell Tale Heart, that story of horror written by Poe.

Bolting up in bed and now awake he realized it was just the thumping tails of his brother’s wolfhounds. Why had he agreed to take care of the beasts for the week?

These huge beasts were no Baskerville Hounds. They were sweet and goofy. Sure they could kill, he supposed they could kill, but they were just happy dogs. Large dogs with large hearts. Large dogs who needed to go out and leave large piles in his yard. And they needed to do that RIGHT NOW.

All week long he’d been obsessed with trying to find the story that matched his life. No Jane Austin. No Thomas Wolf. Maybe a touch of Charlotte Bronte or Donna Tartt. A little Dave Stone or

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Short Story Sunday: I’ll Take Care of You

Vampire Maman

The headache was real. He opened his eyes and squinted at the sun coming through the window and tried to remember what had happened the night before.

“Oh you’re up. Look at the sunlight. Tell me how you feel.”

“Like I’ve been hit by a truck.”

“Do you feel alive?”

He looked at her sitting in a navy blue wingback chair wearing nothing but a smile and black silk stockings held up by red garters. He thought of her as a girl, not from her age but by the way she acted. She had been cute for a while but the cuteness became annoying and practiced.

He got out of bed and looked for his robe. She watched him with a smile on her face that was part wonder and part greed. Memories started to come back. Against his better judgement he’d taken her home and to his bed. Then…

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