Catastrophe - Tumblr Posts
Titanic. Save Our Souls (2019)
I think, everyone has ever heard of the tragedy of the transatlantic liner Titanic. It happened on the night of April 15, 1912. In this catastrophe a lot of people died. They died right at Easter. And the last piece that the musicians played during the shipwreck was the church hymn "Nearer, my God, to Thee". I was very touched by this tragedy and I drew how the souls of thousands of people rose to God that night.
C H A P T E R 1 6 - T u b a i s t e ( p t 1 )
‘I might be able to get inside through the window.’
As far as famous last words went, Brian lived to hear better ones. But really, the kid’s heart was in a good place. If only his fitness abilities were as strong as his determination.
He hit the porch with a loud bang, making Brian wince. Half-faerie or not, that shit had to hurt. Brian rushed to him, leaning down over his pained expression. ‘Kid, are you okay?’
‘I’m not able,’ mumbled the kid.
‘No shit.’
Padrick’s parents choose that moment to barrel out, brandishing various household items as weapons. They pointed them all at Brian threateningly, barking out police numbers and for some reason, pleas. Brian stepped back from them, deciding this was not the day to die by the hand of an Irish village idiot. May the Englishman in him rest in peace.
‘Mom, dad!’ cried the kid, bringing order to chaos. ‘It’s me! It’s me! Stop it!’
The dad, freezing mid-swing, fixed a confused expression on his son. ‘Padrick?! What are you doing outside!’
‘And who are you?!’ screeched mom, pointing at Brian.
‘He is… a friend!’ cried the kid, making all the adults look at him in doubt. Sure, the pause, decided Brian, didn’t help much. But then, he was helping a faery to break into a house of it’s not quite parents. Somehow a fight with said parents ranked very low on his strange meter tonight.
‘I’m a teacher,’ he said, lifting his hands to communicate peace.
‘Yes!’ nodded the boy adamantly. ‘He teaches… maths.’
Brian winced. Of course. Of all the subjects in all the world the kid had to choose the one which made him want to take an iron pipe to his brain. But sure. Why not. Maths. Derivations. ‘I found him walking down the street a few block away,’ he lied, making Padrick glare. ‘I didn’t think it safe for him to wander around so I took him home.’
Sometimes it sucked to be adult. It sure as hell sucked to be a kid right now. But then, Brian decided it sucked far more to spend his night in jail being questioned as a suspect of a paedophilia case. Sometimes adults called the shots and the kids just had to sit down and bloody listen.
‘You!’ cried the adult, pointing at both, the kid and Brian in turn, ‘inside now. You two better explain yourselves right now.’
They followed, mindless of the darkness pushing them forth. All the while the phone in Brian’s pocket kept ringing.
< P r e v i o u s ☾ N e x t >
C H A P T E R 1 6 - T u b a i s t e ( p t 2 )
Adults pretended to be rational, but the simple truth was, they rarely were. Unlike children, adults just had too much shit to care about. That happens. Shits somehow multiplies over the years. You move into an empty place, wait four years and by the time you’re moving out there is a shitload of crap you have to pack, label and transport to your next location.
Adults cared about a damned amount of things, most of all their offspring. Once you touched that, all hell be damned, adults were brandishing their weapons, mindless of the odds. Órlaith never claimed to be a rational person. She tended to overreact to the simplest things. Although, she had to admit as she ran through the rain, slipping on wet stone, as far as stupid decisions went, this one was probably her crown jewel.
The lighthouse shone in the darkness. It looked blurred in the harsh rain, an idol of another world reaching over into theirs. It was, for the first time she realised, something wicked. Not a caring good uncle watching over them, but a stalker. An insidious monster sharpening its claws, waiting for the lights in the village to go out.
‘Auntie is mad at you.’
The voice made her cry out. She stumbled away from the shadow solidifying on her right, only stopping for a second before she pushed on, muscles screaming with extortion. ‘Yeah, well,’ she snarled at the shadow, ‘auntie can go fuck herself. And you, you can drop the charade. I’m not falling for your games.’
The fae grinned, features softly melting into a young woman with bright, flashing eyes. She joined Órlaith’s steps as she spoke, so quietly you could barely make out her voice in the rain. ‘You won’t win this round, human. We have been here for centuries. And we will still be here when you’re lying buried. It’s the way of the fae.’
‘You have not been here for the last hundred years,’ she snickered, ‘and I know why.’
The pretty face screeched, revealing fangs of whitest pearl. It was like popping a balloon. One moment she was standing there, intimidating and dark, the next she was gone, replaced by soft, silvery powder. Before the last of it hit the ground Órlaith was already walking away.
< P r e v i o u s ☾ N e x t >
C H A P T E R 1 6 - T u b a i s t e ( p t 3 )
Brian walked out of the O’Leary house after what seemed like hours, unable to chase the lies he had told out of his mind. So much for staying true, so much for changing. He looked back up at the house, catching the boy’s glance in the second storey window. The first light of the morning reflected off his face.
‘I’m sorry,’ he mouthed.
Brian smiled, lifting a shoulder. That right there was a good… half kid, half whatever the fuck it was. He wondered what would happen to him once the faeries were gone. If he were correct the real Padrick should return. Where then does that leave this Padrick? Will he disappear with the rest of them? Will he stay, unable to ever return home? He pushed the thoughts out of his mind, frowning. Questions like this were best pondered after the fight was over.
Walking down the street toward his car he reached into his pocket for his phone. He found three missed calls from Órlaith, but what alarmed him even more was the blinking voice mail icon. His frown deepened as he clicked it and listened to the message.
‘Brian,’ his name came out on a rushed breath. ‘Please, don’t be mad. I wanted to tell you, but I don’t think there is more time. The fae will be gone when you wake up. I don’t know what happens with the children and I don’t know what happens to Padrick. If he stays you need to get him out of here before they find his... other half. Nobody can now, Brian. Padrick is right. This goes deeper than we know and it needs to stop now...’
He was moving. He didn’t even realise it until his car swerved off the road and almost hit a stone wall on his left. Phone held up between his ear and shoulder he tried to steady it, cursing under his breath. All the while her voice kept talking, each word burrowing in his heart like a blade.
< P r e v i o u s ☾ N e x t >
La vague céleste formait un tsunami menaçant d’engloutir l’hôtel, le supermarché, la plage, le petit cabanon du maître nageur et tous les baigneurs insouciants qui ne regardaient pas le ciel...
Cassandra
(Original Handmade Book Art Collage: 3 Elements)
Ishboa
(Original Handmade Book Art Collage: 3 Elements)
You know what? My life is actually going pretty swell right now.
It’s the beginning of a brand-new quarter. I have a couple of friends in all of my classes, and we’re all working on the homework together. While I don’t have a job yet, I have money for rent this month, and a supportive family for groceries. I’ve been posting mildly regularly, and finding things to say even in real-life conversation. I’m spending time with my friends, and even cooking for them sometimes. Most of all, I’m safe, happy, and well-fed.
I suppose it’s about time for something to come along and screw that up, right? I mean, it IS a little quiet around here. Quiet enough that, normally, life would give me a slap in the face right about now. Like maybe someone steals my wallet? Or one of my classes suddenly changes its homework policy. Or, ooh, maybe the house catches fire! I dunno, some catastrophe like that.
Or maybe I’ve finally settled in. Who knows? It’s kinda sad I’ve become so pessimistic.
I’m once your story you wanted to paint in your canvas
