5 Second Fiction Six Hundred and Seventy Two

Many writers sell their souls to the Devil but in doing so they become editors.

5 Second Fiction Six Hundred and Seventy One

Torn between science and religion Stan worried that he worsened global warming every time he touched himself.

(Recommended Reads) "Alice" by Dana Larose

The woman crashed into Marvin Schultz's life at around eight on a Tuesday. He'd been in the bathroom, yanking out nose hairs with tweezers; nose hairs were the thing he hated most about being in his thirties. He tolerated not being able to touch his toes anymore. Was merely wistful when he realized he had no business whatsoever ogling university girls. But there was something so insulting in how his body was beginning to show signs of wearing out. Hair in new places. Useless places. What was the point the nose hair? It made him doubt evolution: what possible survival advantage could there be for a thirty-six year old to grow nose hair?

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The blog SUGAR AND SPICE never fails get my pulse a quickening...

I mean this picture of Diana Rigg is fantastic!



Be sure to stop by SUGAR AND SPICE and say hi!

(Recommended Reads) "In Short Order" by J Dane Tyler

He drags on the cigarette and lets the smoke out through his nostrils in a gray-blue plume. It clashes with the red vinyl of the stools, chairs and pocked countertop. A lump of adobe which used to be a pile of donuts fossilizes under a glass cover at the L-turn. A waitress is smacking her gum and flipping through pages of a bright magazine with tattered corners and a permanent crease in the center.

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(Recommended Reads) "The Wedding Girft" by Carrie Clevenger

Alison and I met by absolute chance while cowering in the same destitute FedEx truck almost a year ago. She looked so colorful in among the white parcels and brown boxes that I had to find out everything I could about her. Every so often she or I would run across another Normal, and we'd invite them back, but they rarely came. The last Normal to cross our threshold hung outside the attic window as a warning to any new thieves.


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(Recommended Reads) "Just Another Night In Tight Jeans" by Karen Schindler

Invest in a great sound system was the best advice I ever got when I became a long hauler. I don't know how truckers who prefer silence get by on the amount of sleep we live on without "It's raining men" blasting in their cabs in the wee hours of the morning.

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(Recommended Webcomic) THE PRINCESS AND THE GIANT

Francis Hogan of MY SUPA LIFE recommended Ben Chamberlain's THE PRINCESS AND THE GIANT.

I stopped by to peruse it and soon found myself a fan and I am eagerly awaiting the newest installment...


Take a look at this artwork...



Amazing isn't it?

Go and check out Ben Chamberlain's THE PRINCESS AND THE GIANT now!

(Recommended Webcomic) Keep abreast of MY SUPA LIFE by Francis Hogan!

Great stuff as always. Be sure to stop by the official site and give the creator a shout out!

My Supa Life

The Nick Of Time (and other abrasions): Pretty In Pink

The Nick Of Time

(and other Abrasions)

Pretty In Pink

by

Al Bruno III

Lorelei was almost thirteen years old, her bodyguard in his forties and they both knew they would never have another opportunity like this again...

*

The labyrinthian hallways and parapets of the Unified Abbey of the Greater Eastern Council of Mystagogues had once again erupted into chaos and bloodshed. Most of the Apprentices of the Seventh Circle had barricaded themselves in the auxiliary cloisters and were refusing to release their hostages until the amendment to the charter revising the requirements for the submission of peer reviewed dissertations was retroactively revoked.

They had already immolated four members of the cleaning staff to prove the seriousness of their intent.

Growing up in this building that was not quite a fortress and not quite a cathedral Lorelei had seen such conflicts before but mother had always been near enough and lucky enough to keep her daughter out of harms way.

That was before her mother had ascended to in the ranks- before she had become a Dean of the Fourth Circle of Greater Eastern Council. A parting gift from her mentor Cloantza Murdac. These new responsibilities had taken her far from her daughter, sometimes for weeks at a time.

Her room was high up in the southern transept and from her window she could see the Subdeans clashing with the rebelling faction of the Adepts; the Adepts had youth and numbers on their side but the Subdeans summoned tongues of flame that screamed and moved like living things.

Lorelei watched it all trying to catch of glimpse of her mother and whispering the forbidden names of the ordinary incantations she saw flash across the courtyard.

“You should come away from there,” Thane said. Her bodyguard was sitting by the door and picking at fingernails with his elaborate knife, “Never know what’s going to hit the glass.”

“If you say so,” she turned around to look at him, his broad shoulders and pale eyes; she was as hopelessly and humiliatingly in love with as only a twelve year old girl could be.

Did he even notice she had begin dressing up for him in her girliest clothes? The yellow and white number she wore now was a gift she had vowed would stay in her closet forever.

He glanced absent mindedly her way, “I do say so, leave them to their nonsense, maybe the Monarch-lovers will get themselves wiped out for good this time.”

There was a muffled boom outside but Lorelei kept watching him, self-consciously crossing her arms over her chest. It seemed like every day they got a little bigger and she didn’t know whether to be humiliated or proud.

Puberty had hit her like a freight train leaving her moody and uncertain and sore. Her chest had swollen up like a teenage boy’s dream while the lower half of her body had become a tangle of uncomfortable desires and biological aches. She felt sexy, she felt ugly and worst of all she felt like if the man in the room with her didn’t take her in his arms she would go mad.

Whatever would Mother think?

“Do you...” Lorelei felt the question come blundering out, “...have a girlfriend?”

Thane laughed a little, “Going to ask me out?”

Lorelei felt her cheeks reddening, “Just asking.”

“You and your mother keep me too busy for that.”

That was more than true, it seemed like most of the members of the Greater Eastern Council were trying to kill each other be it out of rivalries or spite or grudges going back a generation or two. Thanks to her unorthodox entry into the ranks of the Mystagogues Mother seemed to have invited more than her share of assassins and Lorelei frequently found herself a target by proxy.

That was where Thane came in, he was well versed in guile and brutality, in weapons and incantations. He had saved Lorelei’s life two times that she knew about but Mother had insinuated there had been more than that.

As if she didn’t love him enough.

She asked, “Don’t you get lonely?”

He paused thoughtfully, almost giving up one of his rare smiles to her but then turning his attention back to his knife and his nails again, “I’m content.”

“Oh.”

It had only been a few weeks ago that she had started to feel a fluttering inside her whenever she saw him, it got stronger whenever he passed close to her or said her name. Now that she was alone with him it was almost unbearable. Did he even suspect that she had lain in the bed in the corner of the room and imagined him until her hands were fluttering here and there over her body like birds?

Oh Goddess... she thought, how can he not know?

It was too much, she turned back to the window to the burning courtyard, to the thick smoke spiraling up into the impossible sky that twisted and turned above the Abbey. She wondered numbly if any of the blackened bodies down there belonged to anyone she knew.

Thane sighed with exasperation, “I told you to stay away from the window.”

“I... I can’t...” she said.

The chair scraped on the floor as he stood, “What’s wrong?”

“I’m scared.”

He signed heavily, she heard his footsteps approaching, “Hush now.”

“How long will we be here?” When he put his arm on her shoulder she began to tremble

“Hush now,” his grip on her shoulder was firm and reassuring, She felt his other hands slowly tracing its way up and over her hips.

Her breath caught in her throat. She pursed her lips. She had never felt more scared in her life, or more beautiful. It was almost too late when she realized the knife was still in his hand.

Lorelei started and tried to pull away but the grip on her shoulder had moved to her throat.

“Hush now.”

She had to put both her hands on his thick wrist to keep the blade point from her heart. The blood was roaring in her ears. She choked, already the edges of her vision were starting to dim. Lorelei realized bitterly that his embrace was just as powerful has she had imagined.

The knifepoint edged closer, she realized she would be dead in moments. She risked letting go with one hand and reaching back to claw at his face. her pinky nail caught the edge of something soft, something that popped.

Thane cried out and she pulled away feeling the blade slip against her side cutting cloth and skin but the wound was glancing.

Now he was cursing, coming at her again but Lorelei was ready. She spoke the forbidden name of an almost lost incantation and the bedroom mirror shattered. The shining slivers flew at her attacker like a swarm of insects.

Thane never reached her.

*

Lorelei knelt at the corner of her bed feeling tired and sick, feeling the ache of the wound throbbing on her side.

Her bodyguard’s blood and her own had stained her dress the color of pale roses. She wondered with the first of her tears who he had betrayed them to. Wu-Han? The Lunt family? Did it matter?

No, all that mattered was that she would never forget the day she lost her innocence to her handsome bodyguard Thane.

Video Blog Review: POINT OF TERROR

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5 Second Fiction Six Hundred and Seventy

His affair with the girl from Macy's began as entertainment but quickly moved in to domestics.

5 Second Fiction Six Hundred and Sixty Nine

The serial killer worked in a discount store and only killed people born under the sign of the fish- he was always slashing Pisces.

5 Second Fiction Six Hundred and Sixty Eight

By the time he worked up the nerve to share his feelings with her, she was already sharing her feelings with someone else.

5 Second Fiction Six Hundred and Sixty Seven

One after the other the grateful school children hugged cyborg hero Rusty Johnson, later he realized one had stolen his wallet.

5 Second Fiction Six Hundred and Sixty Six

Cyborg hero Rusty Johnson caught the alien sausage factory as it began to collapse on the school bus, suddenly he got an itch.

5 Second Fiction Six Hundred and Sixty Five

Brazloe tried to intimidate his enemies into leaving by tasering himself, once he lost control of his bowels they did.

5 Second Fiction Six Hundred and Sixty Four

Jeff's journey brought him to a town where conflicts were still solved the 1980's way – with contests of skill and breakdancing.

5 Second Fiction Six Hundred and Sixty Three

For every successful adventurer like Indiana Jones there is a tragedy like the case of Dysentery Smith.

5 Second Fiction Six Hundred and Sixty Two

Karl prided himself on his perfect recall and pornographic memory and that isn't a misprint.

5 Second Fiction Six Hundred and Sixty One

Stan found he got more respect around the office if he began every conversation with the term “Foolish mortal!”

5 Second Fiction Six Hundred and Sixty

Erato quickly learned that, goddess or not, fighting super villains, in her toga was a recipe for disaster... and nudity.

5 Second Fiction Six Hundred and Fifty Nine

There was no comfort for him, not even in sleep because the darkness behind his eyelids seemed too much like death.

5 Second Fiction Six Hundred and Fifty Eight

The ninjas had him cornered in an onion field and Fuego just knew it was all going to end in tears.

5 Second Fiction Six Hundred and Fifty Seven

It wasn't until Karl placed a personal ad looking for a girl with a 'nice rack' that he learned how many dominatrixes were in town.

5 Second Fiction Six Hundred and Fifty Six

All good things must come to an end which is why Billy's accordion recital seemed to go on forever.

5 Second Fiction Six Hundred and Fifty Five

Very few have mastered the art of making erotic potholders, even fewer will admit to it in polite company.

5 Second Fiction Six Hundred and Fifty Four

Thane was not afraid of combat because death meant nothing to him and he was not afraid of magic because he had no imagination.

(Recommended Reads) "Atheist's Grief" by Kate Sherrod

I'm sorry, I'm a skeptic, don't believe
My friend is "out there" somewhere. He's just gone.
Not waiting in a next life to receive
Me or his other friends when we've "moved on."
An afterimage burned within my heart
Still glows and will do so for long years yet
As ever happens when one does depart,
Those left behind must strive to not forget
The lost one. If they do, there's nothing left
But ashes blown before the wind. That's all.
I wish I could think otherwise, bereft
As I am now. 'Twould be nice, but I call
Myself out for pretending. Mac's just dead
And all that's left's his voice inside my head.


Click here to tell here to visit her page

5 Second Fiction Six Hundred and Fifty Three

Costumes with sculpted rubber and latex muscles might be all the rage but Captain Hero still did sit ups every morning.

5 Second Fiction Six Hundred and Fifty Two

Amazing Ed explained to the kids that superheroes hid their identities to protect their loved ones, just like strippers.

5 Second Fiction Six Hundred and Fifty One

Rex struggled to recall the name of the girl he had almost gotten the third base with but he couldn't quite put his finger on it.

Bless Me Father For I Have Shilled

Can you believe Thanksgiving is rushing up on us so fast?

Well anyway here is your regularly scheduled groveling for money... you know my hair implants aren't going to buy themselves!

IN THIS TWILIGHT
tales of lost gods and fragile transformations

This collection of 13 stories transports you to a world where both dreams and monsters lurk in the shadows, where love and forgotten rituals fight for control of the human heart, and where the madness of eternity can be glimpsed in a single segmented eye.

This anthology collects some of the best stories from Al Bruno III's website and includes the novellas 'Chad's Oracles', 'Fully Vested' and 'The Mask Collector', available for the first time anywhere.

IN THE MIDNIGHT OF HIS HEART
a novel of horror and obsession

To all outward appearances John Sig is just an old man living a quietly in an empty old house. His one pleasure is when he heads down to the local diner and visits with his favorite waitress Angie. When Angie disappears, John sets out to find her. For an ordinary old man that might seem like a foolish idea but John Sig isn't human, he's a monster living in the shadow of a nightmare thirty -five years old.

In The Pit

This is the comic book I wrote, that sadly it never made it past the first issue. Too bad I had envisioned a fantastic tale of serial killers, Canadian pro wrestlers and exploding toilets. Still though I think you might enjoying reading the first issue, it is still available as a PDF file. There are also some preview pages at the sight below.

Order away and weep for what might have been.



Some of my best work is available from the fine folks at Eden Studios. My contribution to their game lines has been mainly in the area of fiction. The rules and setting information was written by other very capable folks like Richard Dakan, CJ Carella, Jack Emmert, George Vasilakos and M. Alexander Jurkat. Believe me, they did all the hard work. If you are a fan of role-playing games or a fan of zombie movies then the books below are going to be right up your alley.

ALL FLESH MUST BE EATEN main rulebook

Enter the dark world of survival horror. The Dead walk among us. This role-playing game allows you to play in a world infested by the walking dead. The main rulebook includes rules for character creation, combat and everything else you need to play in a world of survival horror. Also detailed are the multiple campaign settings so you can customize the type of "deadworld" you wish to explore.232 pages.Hardcover.Cover Art by Christopher Shy.

Click here for ordering information

ZOMBIE MASTER SCREEN

A must-have reference for All Flesh Must Be Eaten, the Zombie Master's Screen is filled with charts and tables. From fear to weapons to outcomes, every reference that a prepared Zombie Master needs is packed onto a four-panel screen. The flip side of the screen scares and delights the players with full-color zombie images.
The Screen is packed with a 48-page booklet, including a ready-to-run adventure introducing the Cast Member to the horrors of a zombie plague, and pregenerated characters with complete bios, statistics and resource information.
Cover Art by Christopher Shy and George Vasilakos.

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ENTER THE ZOMBIE

Written by Richard DakanThe first supplement to All Flesh Must Be Eaten opens whole new vistas for a walking dead campaign. This tome brings together the thrills of Hong Kong action films and the excitement of flesh-craving horror. The match of these two genres may not have seemed obvious at first, but the pleasures that arise from it are undeniable. After all, zombies and Hong Kong style action make a perfect fit. What better match is there for a relentless series of lightning kicks and a hurricane of bullets than a target that can’t die? The pulse-pounding danger just never stops. Besides, what martial arts master worth his salt doesn't ache for the ability to use his own intestines as a deadly whip? For the undead, no problem!Softcover.Cover Art by Christopher Shy.

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TERRA PRIMATE

Written by Al Bruno III, CJ Carella, David F. Chapman, Patrick SweenyBased on the original concept by George Vasilakos and Ross IsaacsEdited by M. Alexander Jurkat, David F. ChapmanCover art by Jeff ReitzInterior Art by Storn Cook, Thomas Denmark, Talon Dunning, DW Gross, Jon Hodgson, Chris Keefe, Jason Millet, Matt Morrow, James Powers, Gregory Price, George Vasilakos
From the creators of All Flesh Must Be Eaten, similar in style but this time . . . with apes! Terra Primate has no specific setting. The only constant is the concept of intelligent apes. Planet of the Apes is a movie about intelligent apes, but then again so is Congo. As long as the characters are interacting with intelligent apes -- or are intelligent apes themselves! -- the game could be set in the pulp era of adventure, on a post-apocalyptic Earth, on a faraway alien planet, or downtown on Main Street.
The main rulebook includes rules for character creation, combat and everything else you need to play in a world where man is the missing link! Also detailed are the multiple campaign settings so you can customize the type of "Apeworld" you wish to explore.

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Hope everyone had a nice weekend and don't forget-

KEEP CIRCULATING THE BLOG!

(Recommended Reads) "The Hatching" by Maria Protopapadaki-Smith

Rothbert Spires, current Scholar of the Court, put on his ceremonial robes and strode to the workroom. After ten years of believing those cursed birds had become extinct, he now found himself having to perfom a Tallid reading; if the reading turned out to be a bad one, it was very likely he would be beheaded before the day was out.

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