Trick And Treat

Oh my goodness. These are absolutely wonderful!

Evil Squirrel's Nest

Good squirrel, bad squirrel.

It just wouldn’t be Halloween on The Nest without a brand new, freshly carved Squirrel O’Lantern!  This year, the good pumpkins sold out way faster than expected, and by early last week when I normally buy my pumpkin each year, they were already long gone with no more coming in!  I had to settle for smaller pumpkins, which ruled out any elaborate carving designs… and I got the idea for this as I was sifting through the bin of midget pumpkins and bought two of them.  Meet Trick and Treat, the 2019 squirrel o’lanterns!  I plan on putting one on either side of the door tonight, and we’ll see if the normally few kids that trek through will be willing to brave wind chills in the 20’s for a chance to ooh and aah over my gourd carvery.  Oh, and I guess some candy too….

If…

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How to write a humour column

Drinking Tips for Teens

People sometimes come up to me and ask, “Excuse me, what’s the price of this cabbage?” to which I reply, “Sorry, I don’t work in the Produce Department; I simply enjoy the refreshing mist when they water the lettuce.” But sometimes they also ask, “How do you write a humour column week after week?”

After I ensure myself that they’re not asking “why” instead of “how,” I explain to them the long and complicated creative process, by which time the store is starting to close and they regret not simply ordering Chinese.

But I see you, reader, have plenty of time on your hands, given that you’ve even made it this far, so let me provide you a peek under my brain-lid where the creativity mice come up with the words, though more often than not just sit around scrolling through their Twitter feeds.

The first ingredient of a humour…

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5th Halloween Poem Contest – 1 Week Left!

A Halloween Tradition!

Writer's Treasure Chest

Picture courtesy of http://preventioncdnndg.org/

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Deadline for the contest is

October 31, 2019 – 9 pm Pacific Time

Hurry up!

Every author and poet are invited to participate and deliver a “Halloween-Poem” to my email address:

aurorajean.alexander@aol.com

together with their picture and a link to their website, a social media account or blog

• Your poem needs a Halloween theme.
• Your poem needs a minimum of 99 words.
• Your poem has to be delivered to my email address between October 10 and Halloween, October 31, 2019, at 9 pm Pacific Time.
• Your poem has to be delivered together with your picture and a link to your blog/page.
• Please avoid violence, bad language, and sexual content within the poems. It would be disqualified.

Thank you very much for participating and making it very hard for the jury to decide on the winners!

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A Road Too Narrow and A Bridge Too Far

cosistories

She was on a road too narrow.
Too narrow to be rightfully called a road.
Too narrow for a car.
Too narrow for a cavalcade of motorcycles.

It was wide enough for only one.
One to walk down.
One to travel and get lost on.
Lost in one’s own thoughts.

And so she traveled on alone.

***

He was on a bridge too far.
Too far away to connect with anyone or anything.
Too far to find.
Too far away to see.

It was a forgotten bridge.
Because it was too far away for anyone to remember.
Too far away for anyone to travel to or on.

No cars traveled down it.
No bicyclists pedaled down its way.
No roller bladers swung their arms and hollered,
“Hey! Get out of my way!”

So, he walked down the bridge.
And he was all alone.

***

Her road was below his bridge.

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More Vampire Art From Jason Kemp (I absolutely LOVE these)

Vampire Maman

If you’re visiting Vampiremaman.com, and especially if you like Halloween and Vampires, you’ll love the art of J. Harrison Kemp aka my friend Jason Kemp of Tenkara Studios.

I posted the first batch of Vampire Art of Jason Kemp earlier this month. Here is the second group. SQUEEEEEEEEE. OMG I love these SO MUCH. Thank you Jason. xoxoxox.

I have to stop for a second and admit in my cold Vampire heart that the top four images have my heart (especially the top two). Oh my goodness. Ask any Vampire. That said, the rest are utterly fabulous too.

Tenkara Studios are presently the sole domain of author and illustrator J Harrison Kemp, or Jason as the dust bunnies call him. Within the halls of his labyrinthine workspace, a sprawling Wunderkammer, or wonder-room if you will, we find the artist surrounded and overly influenced by the many intricate objet d’art of…

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Pinnacle of Sadness

cosistories

He found her standing alone on a pinnacle of sadness.

There was no breeze.

Her blue dress hung down in straight lines. Her white stockings had seen better days. Her white pinafore was gone to points unknown.

She had chopped her blonde hair to shoulder length, but the ends were uneven as if they couldn’t remember the right way to grow out again.

He cleared his throat.

He removed his hat and cleared his throat again. “I’m here.”

“I know.” Her voice was no longer that of a child. It was sad and worn out.

“Will you come back with me?”

She didn’t respond.

“Alice.” He tightened his grip on his top hat’s brim. “Alice, will you come back with me?”

“I can’t. My heart is no longer intrigued by oddities and bizarre things. My heart has aged and grown weary.”

“Then, come with me. Find your inner joy again.”

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5th Halloween Poem Contest – 1st Group Of Submitted Poems —

Writer's Treasure Chest

Picture courtesy of: http://preventioncdnndg.org/

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Please respect each authors’ and poets’ copyright. The rights remain with the writers. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without expressed and written permission from each of the poems author’s is strictly prohibited and violates copyright laws in the country you are reading this work in as well as in the country you are trying to re-publish this work in. – Aurora Jean Alexander

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The Hunt…

By

Christopher Graham

It was Halloween night, the full moon was bright,
why did you choose the witching hour
to explore this old house, where not even a mouse,
would eat any food, it would be sour.

Then a spooky sound, echoes around.
Claws, clickety, clacking on the floor.
You look all about, and know without doubt.
They’re coming from just outside the door.

Suddenly … silence … there can be no more pretence.
You know, that they know…

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Burning Question #62: Things that go bump in the night

Vampire Maman

From Ghoulies and Ghoosties, long-leggety Beasties, and Things that go Bump in the Night, Good Lord, deliver us!

You’re sleeping. You wake up in the wee hours of the morning. It is still dark outside. You hear something.

You’re home alone. You hear something. You don’t know what it is. Your cat growls under her breath. Your dog whimpers and curls by your side.

You hear music…

The wind howls outside, the rain pours own, stairs creek, doors slam without notice, it sounds like something or someone might be on your back porch, in your hallway, or maybe even running a bath.

Or you might hear a thump and then a voice saying “awwwww shit.” Something just went bump. What was it?

Halloween is coming soon, along with even more things to go bump in the night.

Burning Question #62: What goes bump in your night?

Please feel free…

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Short Story Sunday: Leaving Victor

A new Tangled Tale

Vampire Maman

A new Tangled Tale for October 13, 2019 from Juliette aka Vampire Maman.

Leaving Victor

The Creature watched as the figure in the large overcoat and hat came through the door. The man walked with a slight limp. He smiled at The Creature as he took off his coat and hung it on a peg.

“Igor, you back. Doctor left,” said The Creature.

“Gone for three days. That gives us plenty of time,” said the man with the limp as he took off his hat and shook out his hair.

“Nice do,” said The Creature. “Igor look good.”

“I needed something different.”

“You look like hipster. Short sides. Longer top. Igor look stylish.”

“It isn’t Igor anymore. It never was Igor,” said the man.

“No Igor?”

“Victor called me Igor. It was a derogatory term due to my handicap.” Then he reached around and pulled a pillow out of the…

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Love in the dark, and in the light that always shines

Vampire Maman

This weekend will my mother’s 490th birthday. Everyone will be in at my brother Aaron’s house to celebrate as only a Vampire family can celebrate. Tellias and Eleora, the Ancient Vampires, the elders of the family will be here. Unlike the powerful and cruel Ancient Vampires in so many fictional stories my dear Tellias and Eleora have gentle hearts. Oh sure, they’re still Vampires, but it isn’t anything you need to worry about.

This is something I posted a while back (October 2015). Enjoy. And remember to stay close to those you love.

Eleora couldn’t remember what she did yesterday, but she could tell stories of her childhood in excruciating detail. My daughter and niece sat next to her, holding her small hands in theirs. They looked like three young women about the same age. My Clara is 16, Lauren…

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