News From Poughkeepsie – Day 121
It’s October, so that means Halloween, my favorite holiday of the year. To celebrate, we hear at the News From Poughkeepsie offer our first in what will be a series of monthly contests. Ad the end of the month, I’m going to give away this T-shirt to one talented writer:
This official News From Poughkeepsie “Press” shirt will never be for sale. I will not be giving them away at cons. I will not barter for them, even if you have fine aged cheese. The only way you can get a shirt is to write.
Write a story, based on any of the prompts in October. It can be short, it can be long, but it must have a beginning, middle and end. The writer of the awesomest story gets the shirt. You can post your story in the comments, or link to it in the comments, or send it to me directly at newsfrompoughkeepsie (at) gmail.com. That’s all you have to do.
As I said, it’s Halloween season, so we’re going to be studying monsters all month. This week, we’ve got my wife’s favorite monsters: vampires!
Vampires work like this…
You get a hundred years. You drink the blood of the youthful, the vital, you get a hundred years of life. Back when most people didn’t live to thirty, this seemed like immortality. But now? Now the promise of blood means little.
To Grigori, who has watched lifespans increase without the constant murder that surrounds his existence, the promise of blood is a joke. Other vampires may sit around and accept it, but not Grigori. He’s going to make the promise of blood mean something again.
Even if it kills him…
About the Author: Jared Axelrod is an author, an illustrator, a graphic designer, a sculptor, a costume designer, a podcaster and quite a few other things that he's lost track of but will no doubt remember when the situation calls for it.
Scott Roche | Oct 6, 2009 | Reply
Hmmm. Not sure I really “get” this one.
David Niall Wilson | Oct 6, 2009 | Reply
Walter leaned back into the dentist’s chair and scowled menacingly at the ceiling. He had only a few hours until Brendan’s party, and one didn’t attend a Brenda Devoe party with one chipped fang. Not if one intended to mingle with the “elite”.
The dentist leaned in close.
“Open wide; let’s see what we’ve got here.”
Walter somehow managed to deepen his scowl and comply with the request at the same time. The Dentist, Dr. Brody, poked and prodded at the offending tooth with the very sharp tip of a dental tool. He muttered something, but Walter couldn’t quite hear it.
“You gunna figz it?” Walter couldn’t speak clearly with a mouthful of saliva and dental tools.
“Excuse me?” Dr. Brody drew back slightly.
“You gonna fix it?” Walter repeated, a bit more coherently.
“I’m afraid this cap is damaged beyond repair,” Dr. Brody said. The man smiled brightly as he delivered this news, and Walter tried to sit up – vaguely thinking about strangling the smile off the dentist’s face.
“I have to have it fixed,” he said. “It has to be fixed by tonight. It’s … important.”
“I see,” Dr. Brody replied, putting a finger to his chin and looking perplexed. “I don’t suppose you could tell me why?”
“You wouldn’t understand,” Walter said.
He turned away suddenly. His face was a wash of sullen angst. He’d practiced the expression in front of a mirror for hours.
“You never know,” Dr. Brody said. “I might. It’s that important to you?”
Walter nodded without turning back.
“Well then,” Dr. Brody said cheerfully. “I think I can help. By tonight, you say?”
Walter nodded again. He turned, chancing a glance up into Dr. Brody’s face. In that instant, the Dr.’s smile vanished. He opened his own jaws impossibly wide, showing long, needle-pointed fangs. Walter scrabbled back and away, but escape was hampered by the dental chair and equipment.
“Now Walter,” Dr. Brody said, his voice suddenly low and menacing, “hold still. If you want to rise and grow fangs by tonight – you’re going to have to be a little more…cooperative.”
J.R. Blackwell | Oct 6, 2009 | Reply
Wow! This is awesome! A full week of vampires! Hooray!
I feel like it’s my birthday or something! (haha)