Summer came running my way with cheerful voices of children splashing salty sea water, birds flapping, breaking clouds with their wings, tears of joy running down my face - to be alive and healing from the bitter winter frosts.
Running through our everyday lives; chasing busses and trains, running fingers through somebody’s hair, or over phone screens, our eyes running up and down, catching up to the latest nonsense.
Running our whole lives, running away from responsibilities, stuck in playing a game of “catch” with others. Tag! You’ re it! Shaking off the weight of our responsibilities means double the weight on someone else’s shoulders.
Running from ourselves because it seems easier to wear someone else’s skin over our own. But the problems remain, underneath all that pretty surface.
Running, chasing dreams. Will the chase be worth the catch?
Running to escape, or running to face our fears? The answer is always both far and near. Around the next corner, up that hill, running until I stop. Sit. Listen. Tears running down my face again. To confess or to pretend? The game of catch with God I’ll never win. Stop running. Let Him in.
No poetry this week, but I did write some flash fiction pieces
Storm
He sat by his desk, as usual. Every item was placed meticulously on the smooth oak surface. A white page waited for his pen to make that first mark. His face showed no emotion. Calm and collected, he sat in complete silence. His hand held the pen steady, like a weapon in a well-trained sniper’s hand. It didn’t tremble. Anyone who saw him at work, thought he’s the embodiment of absolute peace. Little did they know, behind the calm surface a storm was raging. In his mind a hurricane of words tore down whole worlds, broke barriers, his words were razor-sharp lightning strikes, making grown men break down in tears. The pen touched the paper. Words of storm overflooded the white void. The storm raging inside the poet’s soul poured into existence, while his cool surface remained unshaken.
Beginning
A blank screen before him. Staring straight into his face, mocking his indecisiveness. A whole world awaited to be unleashed into the reality of that white screen by tapping the words on the keyboard. A whole world one touch away. He held his hands above the keyboard, gathering courage for that first word to break the curse of the white screen. Instead he closed his laptop with a slap. The greatest story ever told stayed trapped inside his mind, because he couldn’t find the words for the perfect beginning.
Note
He was such an arrogant prick! Flirting with every single woman in the office. Not with her. Never with her. Sure, she probably wasn’t fit enough, or flashy enough or… blonde enough for his liking. The prick! There he goes again! Passing her desk, dropping some papers under her nose like he does every morning.
“I need you to look at these ASAP!” Her new boss said without even looking at her.
“Yes, sir!” She murmured, her fingers already rummaging through the papers. What’s this? A bright green Note smiling at her cheerfully.
“I want you. The old elevator in 5 min.”
She blinked twice. It must be a prank. She raised her eyes, only to see her new boss giving her a short, daring look, as he left his desk. The old elevator was closed for repairs. Nobody went there. She blinked again, eyes wide as saucers, and got up.
(To be continued… I want to expand this one.)
Now for some news about what I’ll be stuffing your mailboxes with next week. It might seem a lot, but most of it is short fiction, which you can easilly ignore. I am grateful to every subscriber, but you are not forced to read everything I post. You can choose what you like, because I write a lot of different stuff.
Later today I might share the Epilogue to my short story “Untangled”, because the story broke my heart, and it needed a proper ending.
On Monday, July 8, I’ll hopefully share the next chapter from my urban fantasy serial Cirque du Macabre 2: Cabaret Sauvage. It goes slow.
Next Thursday, July 11 is the official date of Thorny Thursday, a monthly event for romance writing. I’ll post a compilation of works by other Substack authors.
Also on Thursday, July 11, I’m sharing the next flash fiction chapter from my romantasy To seduce a scribe. A couple more chapters left!
On Friday, July 12, I’m sharing the next chapter from my Sci-fi flash fiction series The Gravediggers of Orpheus.
On Saturday, July 13, I’ll share a proper long chapter from my dark fantasy novella The Lord of the Lake. Not too late to catch up - only chapter 2. Though rough around the edges, it’s an entertaining, classical fantasy.
On Sundays I usually share my thoughts on a random topic , also some new flash fiction and poetry, if I have written any.
I’m planning to share a new essay, but I’m not sure about the day and the time. Expect the unexpected!
Thank you for reading my stories and rants! Thank you for supporting me! It means the world to me.
Love,
Kathrine 🩶
I'm bad at running away-and in any case, each time I tried- I ran into.
Thank you
I really liked this collection of your work. Intense, compelling reads.