The wind purrs through the trees. A crow caws at a distance. A cardinal darts for a feeder in the yard, its wings not quiet silent. On the deck, I hear the clack of the wooden wind chimes, the tink tink of the copper ones. My ears are attuned to this world.
But my eyes are lost in greenery. Not twenty yards away the woods rise. Pines. Oaks. Magnolias. Other trees I cannot name. And blackberry brambles drip with yet unripened fruit. Things are hiding there, though with a little effort I can see them.
Shadows sweep past with wings. Perhaps there are birds high in the air casting them. My mind tells me there are birds. But I do not see the birds; I cannot swear they are there. A moment ago a long silken blackness raced down the bare trunk of a pine. I saw it clearly, an animal shape some three feet long with a sleek head and long tail. It took a while for my mind to say anything about that. It told me I’d seen the shadow of one pine swaying past another in the wind. But I don’t believe it.
I don’t believe it because of the Rorschach scarecrow who conceals himself just below that spot in the bushes. He is painted shades of green and black, and blends so well with his surroundings that the wind blurs his outline. Sometimes I see only his eyes. Sometimes I see the ratty top hat he wears. I’ve never seen his mouth. I don’t know if he smiles. I wonder if he has teeth.
But he is watching me, very very quietly watching me. I suspect the silk-black animal is his familiar.
I wonder if the scarecrow and I can be friends. Should I invite him up on the deck? Would he come? My mind is divided on this subject. One part says the scarecrow cannot leave the woods or he will die in the bright sun. Another part says he’s already here, standing at my shoulder.
I wonder if I should turn my head.
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37 comments:
Sounds like more than your "eyes are lost in greenery" to me, lol !
Very nice.
Charles,
Great stuff! Very nice piece of flash fiction...at least I hope it's fiction...if not, keep that sword handy.
Love it! I am so there.
Charles, Mr. Scarecrow is an illusion made of shadows and leave and I think he wants to be left alone to observe.
Very funky indeed.
Perhaps a bear will come strolling by to offer some words of wisdom.
I am sat at my keyboard and I do not want to turn around...
This is excellent stuff.
I like this. A serene scene to begin, then touched by a bit of menace.
Ahhhhhhhhh!
Heff, I get lost easily.
Scott, partly fiction, partly true. I just have to figure out which is which.
Lisa, thankee. I appreciate that.
jodi, but perhaps he wants tea and crumpets?
G, geeze man, keep that bear away from me.
Thumbelina, ;) thanks for the compliment.
Travis, trying to see the world in a new light.
Sidney, I'll take that as a compliment!
This theme needs to be explored. There is a very good novel in the making here.
But, but, but, the bear only wants to be friends.
I sensed a bit of Edgar Allan Poe in pace and creeping effectiveness of this scene. Nice
Very cool, baby. But no, please don't invite it up on the deck. ;)
That's it! This is the name of my next band!
Wil Harrison.com
Mark, thanks. I do plan to do another scene or two related to this, and see how things flow.
G, it's just that his friendship is so...intense.
BernardL, thanks. Poe has certainly been one of my influences, though I didn't put any Poe consciously into this piece.
Lana Gramlich, I won't need him when I have you sweetums!
Wil, you know, that might make a pretty good name for a band, better than Putryd Bytch, which was my thinking about a name for my own band.
A great piece!
Shadows sweep past with wings - I like this!
Love the idea of it. And yes, I see scarecrows every time. Or witches.
dunno boutcha charles, but i'm compelled to look... to know... even if doing so kills me... at least i'd KNOW!
nice and shivery/spooky :)
Great reading. Fine.
But me, I keep failing Rorschach inkblot tests. Where most people might see a bat, I see a vagina.
...I think I need to get out more.
Oh well.....
Seriously, you got the makings of good "Tales from the Darkside" story here.
Or "Tales from the Crypt".
just an "Aloha"
Just what I needed on a cold, dark winter's morning-- a dose of scary!
Vesper, thanks, I kind of liked that line as well.
pattinase (abbott), I've seen witches myself.
laughingwolf, I generally have to look as well. Almost always.
ivan, I'm not surprised at your Rorschach responses. I suppose it was the projective elements of your writing! ;)
G., I'm thinking it's a bit more tales from the darkside. Not gory enough for the crypt keeper. AT least not yet.
Cloudia, back atcha
Steve Malley, could be I'm just going crazyyyyy!
My perception is, my last attempted comment was lost in space.
But, again -- looks like you're starting to so what you set out to so with the Eisely post. Three cheers!
No scarecrows projected onto *my* porch though, please!
so --> do . . .
Sounds like a good horror story to me!
Erik, If you've ridden trains my friend surely you have seen the scarecrows that follow them!
Sam, and a true one! Well, maybe in my head.
Charles - Don't waste your valuable time looking in to it. It's gotta be a "blogger issue", because I'm experiencing problems, too, especially on Wil's site.
Heff, I've had it happen before. It seems to happen most on sites that have a lot of moving applets.
I saw that you visited my site and left a comment. I responded to your comment with a blog post with a link to your blog. You can check it out here.
http://afantasyfiction.blogspot.com/2009/05/racism-part-iii.html
Great read! Thanks for sharing. :)
i wanna know, so i can decide what to do next... if it's possible :O lol
Rita, I read that. Very interesting post.
Bibi, thank you.
Laughingwolf, ;)
I could call mine "Faces in the bathroom floor". Of course shadows seem more sinister than linoleum.
Jennifer, I see those faces in the tiles as well.
the scene quite envelopes the reader: i feel folded in, a new ingredient added to the mixture, then absorbed, then myself no more.
beautifully done
Alex Moore, thanks. I had fun with this one.
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