An Old Dilemma, New Crime #Newcago1 #fiction #disease

I inhale it every night before 6 – Courage (my dead lover’s not mine)

I looked at my watch.”5 pm time for the cops to crawl into hiding.” I chuckle. ” I don’t have the luxury of steel bars.”

A long banshee like scream bites into the last flicker of day and the night begins.

Decency’s doors are closed and it’s just me and the bad guys.

I threw the paper down. “Ramping up early?”

“I’ll try to stay decent baby.”

“I know you will Sam.” I heard her voice echo in my head as I inhaled her lily.

***

Another long night banging around in the trashcans of Newcago,  I needed a drink.

“A tall soda and a cheese steak at Tony’s sounds like the way to end a night.” I was the only company I kept these days.

I noticed the dame – she was a looker. I couldn’t get a read on the guy beneath the brim.

“Yeah, the regular,” I nodded. Sally and I go back to days when drinks came from the hose in the horse’s mouth.

I couldn’t help but hear dollface coughing then breathing hard. Her face turned blue in the matter of a minute.

Too late to call 911;  her beautiful lips were pinched and her brown eyes glazed over.

“The disease squad will be here soon,” I said under my breath.

When I looked back over, I noticed something was missing. The lout she was with had sprinted off. The sparkler around her wrist was no longer sparkling.

“Baby, Newcago is not like life on the farm…” I said to no one.  “Playing is for keeps.”

***

I pulled this series up from my 2013 archives. If you enjoy noir (more sepia) crime stories you might enjoy these as I breathe a bit of life through my Covid-19 protection gear into them.

 

 

“Q” Quill by Leslie Moon #atozchallenge

Today is “Q” for A to Z challenge. This week I am stepping into the writer’s circle and writing a  microfiction serial set in the metropolis of NewCago. It’s a bit noir, paranormal, crime and even some fiction. Though this is a serial, I do understand some of you will be dropping by via A to Z so you can read each day as stand alone microfiction.

The NewCago series – Missed , Never, Oldest Trick, Poison

Murder is certainly not a new concept even the techniques get rehashed.

I was just cleaning up a scene where the victim had been stabbed with a poisoned quill – his own.

“Check his manuscripts,” I heard a whisper pass my ear.

” Luz, honey where do I start? There are piles of books and notebooks.”

“We need you to move on here, Sam.” The officer in charge was hustling to get behind the evening’s bars.

I put several notebooks in a satchel while he wasn’t looking and hoped he hadn’t heard me talking to my dead girlfriend.

***

That night- I was nodding off, with a notebook in my hands, when I heard a voice. “This is what they killed me for.”

The notebook opened to a page where the words were in his blood, “High officials are taking bribes from the gang bosses.”

“That’s not news.” I shook my head at the realization I was talking to another dead person.

“Yeh, but pretty boy is selling us out. You don’t do his bidding, he turns your kids and grandkids into body parts.”

“I’ve heard whispers of a chop shop for organs. I was hoping it was a sick rumor.”

“Nope, our guy is hi-bred evil. He’s turning the best and brightest into canned goods.  He killed me for the articles I sent to the Daily that will never get printed.  Not Now.”

“Ok Pen Man, there’s a red circle around his name.”

I grumbled under my breath, “Luz, The list is getting long. Too long.”

And then there was the morning news to deal with…

Some A to Z bloggers worth visiting today:

771. When A Lion Sleeps, Let It Sleep	772. Into The Ravenous Maw (WR)
773. An American in Basel (PR)	774. The Newest Vazquez’s
775. Writing, Reading, and Life – Katie Doyle (MY)	776. Life from an optimist’s point of view
777. It’s a Wonderful Blog	778. Life Under Microscope(WR)
779. The Chronicles of Lavanya	780. Blabbin’ Grammy
781. The Travel Type (LI)	782. Madness of a Modern Writer (AC)
783. Hello. IAmPhat	784. . Pink
785. Word Splash	786. Elissa Kane, Author (WR)
787. Like, Totally Retro	788. Star Trek Sci Fi Blog
789. Take 25 to Hollister	790. Sentamizh Pen
791. The Travelling Blackberry	792. Born to be a Tourist (TR)
793. Panorama – The Spectrum Of LiTerature	794. Points To Ponder (PR)
795. The Ranting Monkey	796. Teardrops On My Book
797. Azia DuPont Blog	798. Nature Of A Momma
799. A Tent, A Caravan, 4 Wheels And Me	800. AM Station (WR)
801. After The Honeymoon	802. Adventures in Storytelling @ blogspot
803. Be Nice and Follow the Rules	804. Lumuhand
805. Byrdwords (WR)	806. At Home, Writing
807. It’s All Good!	808. The End Justifies the Journey
809. Ozzypip Quilts (CR)	810. CRACKERBERRIES
811. CRACKERBERRIES (AC)	812. Wild Woman’s Wolf Pack
813. Berijoy’s’ Bliss: The Ups and Ups of Daily Living	814. BETTERTHNTHERAPY @ WORDPRESS. COM
815. The Wonderland Files (ME)	816. Erin’s Ramblings/Crochet by Erin
817. Siouxsies Musings	818. The Immarcescible Word
819. Shonna Slayton, YA Author (WR)	820. Divine Interruptions

Never Together by Leslie Moon #atozchallenge

Today is the N for A to Z challenge. This week I am stepping into the writer’s circle and writing a week long serial set in the metropolis of NewCago. Its a bit of noir, crime and even some fiction. Though this is a serial, I do understand some of you will be dropping by via A to Z so you can read each day as stand alone microfiction.

The first of the NewCago series – “Missed”

I remember the first time we saw each other – We hadn’t seen each other since we were kids out in the country.

Then everything went haywire. Caesar took what he wanted including the lives of my parents.

At 17, I fled – their night screams chased me for years.

I was entranced by New Cago; she beckoned with her dazzling lights and her rich satins. I didn’t know about the slime underneath until it owned me.

Sam didn’t know how I was making it, I didn’t have the heart to tell him.

 When I wrote,  I told him I had a job and my own place.

Yeah, some call  it a job. The men liked my blue eyes ‘that girl has spirit!’

 But what the hell there was money and a bunk.  I wasn’t locked up in someone’s vault and the temple goons stayed away.

Caesar was murdered and we all celebrated in fountains of bubbly. Within days, the gangs took over and I learned to shoot a gun.

A gang lord wanted to claim me as “property rights.”

Sam showed up just when they were forging my personal chain.

Sam  always could look straight down to my heart. He knew but never said a word.

Sam was something those gangsters were not and they feared him.

Evil never sleeps though and on my birthday someone took a lucky shot.

Dog gone, I’ve pulled Sam into this rotten city and now I’m dead.

 My real name is Lucerne which means ‘Life.’  My blood is a type of antidote Medicago they call it. That’s why when the bullet passed through me and into Sam he didn’t die.

Sam, do what you’ve gotta do – my blood will keep you alive.

 

 

 

Image attribution:”75 Medicago sativa L” by Amédée Masclef – Atlas des plantes de France. 1891. Licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons – http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:75_Medicago_sativa_L.jpg#/media/File:75_Medicago_sativa_L.jpg

Did you know there are more than 10,000 children orphaned by Ebola in West Africa? Many of these children have nothing and are stigmatized by their communities (and extended family). We are trying to find a way to raise funds to help. More info here.

Enjoy these A to Z participants today:

621. Words from Sonobe	622. Mental Indigestion (WR)
623. AJ Blythe’s Cozies	624. A Life Examined
625. Life of a Woman	626. A Few Drops of Ink
627. New Author @ Supporting Writers and Authors	628. Freezerburned (WR)
629. Story Scavenger (WR)	630. Amazing Animals
631. A to Z of Rome	632. Binxyboo (WR)
633. Positively Ancypantz	634. About Myself, By Myself
635. A Love Like No Other (AC)	636. The Inner Workings of a Shared Mind
637. The Taggs (LI)	638. princessdeia
639. Varan-Bhaat (dedicated to PatharePrabhu cuisine)	640. Work By Writing
641. Leetah Begallie (WR)	642. Writing in Wonderland
643. Common Sense Experience	644. Life by Chocolate
645. Second Thoughts First (PR)	646. Musings of a Penniless Writer
647. The Magic of Words	648. Crafts and thoughts
649. Amybeads (CR)	650. Mom-ology
651. The Story of a Writer	652. Stephanie’s Studio
653. Sharon Hamilton romance writer	654. 2AM Writer
655. LIZY Writes	656. Zombie Flamingos
657. Thought on a Roll (CU)	658. Ben / Kat
659. His and Her Hobbies (TR)	660. Donna C. Keenan, Author (PR)
661. Anewperspectiveperhaps	662. Happenence (AR)
663. Clare Dugmore Writes (AC)	664. Karen’s Krafts and Other Krap
665. Nemo’s Lounge (GA)	666. the Hapless Henchman
667. Franglais with Tim	668. Mason Jar Mamas (LI)
669. Tips For New RVers	670. Author Melissa Ann Goodwin

Permanent Print #atozchallenge #poetry #streetkids

Winter snow melts

removing your print

can your memory

be vanquished from this world

Hands of time cycle forth

removing your mark

specter’s voices silenced

vanquished from this silent planet

no lilies grow on your grave

young dreams unrecorded

none recollects your smile

reverse this corrupt orbit

summer melts all hopes

abandoned child

you wear about your neck

spoils of a cruel world

A lily for each of you…

In my travels oversees, I have been fortunate to work with the “Children of the World.” I was introduce to a tragic occurence among street children. Children are dumped on the street by parents, the children in turn are swept up by corrupt society for sale. The highest bidder gathers these children for prostitution and often organ donation to developed countries.  I hope this sickens you. I did as much as I could (at the time) ;I even sought a visa with the goal of establishing a small school and clinic.  I found corrupt societies don’t like competition for fresh meat.

 ********

“Poetry is the rhythmical creation of beauty with words”

~Edgar Allen Poe

“Words have no power to impress the mind without the exquisite horror of their reality.”

~Edgar Allen Poe

 

My “P” stands for all POETRY. When you hear poetry what do you think? How does poetry differ from other things you read??

 

When the lights go on #Newcago #fridayfictioneers #flashfiction

Another night of bloodletting. Don’t they get tired of wasting life?

(4am the lamp flickers before the sun scales Newcago’s towers)

For one moment there’s the semblance of serenity (sirens and screeching of tires in  background)

I wish I could stretch it out forever.

Thankfully, I’ve survived another night. (tired smile)

The bad guys will slink into their shadows to avoid being seen as they truly are. But a new horror rises at nightfall.  I try not to despair but the forces are greying as is decency.

Oh yes the note. I’ll have to read it later (slipping a piece of folded paper under the lamp) **Yawn**

******************************

Each week, Rochelle keeps us in line with 100 words over at Friday Fictioneers. Today I add to a sequel about a flatfoot detective who strives to keep decency and people alive in a place called Newcago.

The photograph is a cropped image of Rochelle’s picture prompt for this week.

week 2 in Newcago Serial  Can’t Kill The Thirst

Week 1 in Newcago Serial Secret Weapon