Two lovers stood on a cliff holding hands, gazing at the clear blue sky. The bright sun warmed their bodies.
“My dear Annie,” Jonathon said, “the pain doesn’t last long.”
“I would pray not,” Annie replied, wincing.
Waves crashed against the rocks below, retreated, and made another attack. Foam cascaded off, leaving behind white residue.
Drawing in a deep breath, they both leaped. The wind whipped their bodies as the sea rushed forward. Seconds before the light spray of the water touched their faces, a large shadow fell over them and huge talons dug into their shoulders, tearing into flesh and blood — scraping Jonathon’s shoulder bone; snapping Annie’s in two.
In the air Jonathon saw Annie’s head lolled to the side, and saw that her death had come quick, leaving a frozen expression of a gaping, silent scream splashed across her face. Before Jonathon’s own darkness arrived lay a nest of small scissor-like beaks right below his feet, snapping at the empty air…
On the cliff two more approach the edge, holding hands, ready to repeat the first couple’s actions.
Behind them four other couples waited their turn, prepped by a silent figure using a rusty blade to slice open their flesh, reach three fingers inside, and pull free a piece of an intestine to be tied together with their mate.
Hand in hand, each wife and husband sacrificed themselves for the village with the hope of the oncoming seasons. May they be mild, not harsh, so the land would flourish with crops.
All, for god Yama.
©2009 Brick Marlin
Married to a woman who keeps him chained up in a room so he won’t try and escape from home and turn his fiction into reality, Brick Marlin resides in the Ohio Valley. He has written and published numerous short stories and novels. His books include The Darkened Image, Raising Riley, Saturated and Crimson, and his most recent Dark Places of Rest.
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November 23rd, 2009 at 10:55 am
“lay a nest of small scissor-like beaks right below his feet, snapping at the empty air…”
There’s a lovely nightmare visual that I don’t have to conjure for myself now.
Nice tight work.
Karen :0)
November 26th, 2009 at 10:14 pm
Thanks so much!