Historical

HER HANDS #12
Installment 12 Scenes 51 – 52 Chapter 6 The uniformed men, members of the Service des Santes des Armees and the Defence Ministry, of which the SSA was a part, sat at the large oak table motionless. The military and medical officers were about to address a matter which none of them remotely comprehended; the malaise, hysteria, imbecility which was being reported as running rampant through the ranks of the enlisted men at the front. First observed at the beginning of the war after the battle at Mons, increasing through the Charleroi engagement and ever more so through and since the Marne battle, the dispatches had reached these men of the highest order. Confident men all, accustomed to issuing orders that always mattered, yet none had the understanding nor the language to order a solution to the unprecedented situation as they had heard it described. That was why the military command had tasked the Medecin General Inspecteur and his command to regard the mass of imbeciles as more than a novel challenge of filling beds with the harmed, and discharging them when healed.
By Ed Burke4 years ago in Fiction
L'uomo del sorriso
This is a glimpse from chapter 9 of my “The Man with a Smile”. After traversing back roads and paths all day, Maria de Migdal settled down to spend a restless night outside her tent. She had refused the company of the other women, she had crouched next to the portly Astaroth, to absorb the warmth.
By Patrizia Poli4 years ago in Fiction
The Gentle Beast
The Tribute Lady Alyona sat on a cushioned stool, waiting for her father to speak. They sat in his study, the marble walls were covered in light purple fabric that blew the breeze from the open balcony. She had been called because he had something important to talk to her about. She wasn’t sure what it was but was sure that it wasn’t going to be good for her. Maybe he had tricked some poor man to finally marry her so she was no longer her father’s burden. Lady Alyona did not want to look at her father so she focussed on the shelves behind him. Lower shelves were piled high with scrolls. The upper shelves had pieces of art and small statues. He also had paintings of his new wife and daughter. Looking there you would not know that he was married before or that Alyona even existed. After her mother died, Lady Alyona’s father removed anything that reminded him of his first wife. The only thing left was his disgrace of a daughter.
By Samantha Shaffer4 years ago in Fiction
Of Chains and Potions
An old road wandered through the trees. It reached a creek, now dried and overgrown. The wind rustled through the weeds, taking with it the smells of summer. A bridge stood, its weathered grey stones crumbling in sections. It sat behind a hill, the nearest houses out of view. The birds sang in the distance, unaware of the battle happening for the heart of the hero of mankind.
By Shilo Marie4 years ago in Fiction
13 Real-life Costumed Crime Fighters
Do superheroes exist in real life? What superpower would you like to have? Which real-life superhero do you like the most? Real-life superheroes wear masks or costumes to perform everything from community service to fighting crime.
By Rocio Becerra4 years ago in Fiction
Star Cross'd
22nd July 2010 ‘Around 813 a hermit called Pelagio came to see the Bishop of Iria Flavia to report that he had witnessed a shower of stars. This star shower began above the mountain we know today as Pico Sacro (sacred peak), and fell over a field near the forest of Libredon. When the Bishop and his entourage searched the site, they found ruins, an altar and three tombs. The largest was identified as the Tomb of the Apostle Santiago. Word was sent to King Alfonso II, who ordered the construction of a chapel. This original chapel was the foundation of the Cathedral and the city of Santiago de Compostela we know today - and the site was given the Latin name, “Campus Stellae” or “The Field of the Stars”…’
By Matt Pointon4 years ago in Fiction
The Gypsy Curse That Unleashed 500 Years of Tragedy for the Grimaldi Family
What is the jinx of the Grimaldi family? Was all this a product of the curse? Myth or reality? If it happened, it got to be hard to know.
By Rocio Becerra4 years ago in Fiction
Stripes and Scales - Chapter I: "The Street and the Pool"
There weren't always dragons in the Valley. Long before she had been old enough to grasp the concept, she had heard the adults speak, in whispers, about the beasts. They whispered, as their parents and their parents before them, had once shouted, because the years had worn them down, left them able to do little more than raise their crops and their children, debate and plan their communities, and always, prepare themselves for war against their enemies, be they human or reptilian. What fabulous enemies they made, these legends of the air and the water and the very bowels of their Kingdom-earth, how magnificent!
By Eric Wolf4 years ago in Fiction
Trick's Own Stationary Roadshow
He was Trick to his friends, Mr. Van Niftrik to his students, and Jephthah to his parents. For all of his names, he was cursed to remain, always, the same person, which made him relish how almost everyone else was in a constant state of change, particularly since he “authored” said changes himself.
By Eric Wolf4 years ago in Fiction
Chaos Rising
There weren’t always dragons in the Valley. For millennia, the swath of land beside the river had been sacred, a place where the kings and queens of this life could freely pass into the next.
By Jacob Casavan4 years ago in Fiction
Firemouth
There weren’t always dragons in the Valley. Once, long before Nell’s time, the dragons were everywhere else. Nella traced her finger along the thin, jagged line on the map. The flickering light of the candlestick caused the markings to jump and dance on the old parchment, as if the peaks around the Valley were restless, edging away from their posts. The Thorns, they were called, sharp and deadly, woven around their prize. Rumour claimed they could not be traversed.
By Wren4 years ago in Fiction
Little Girls, Big Guns
I am often asked, “you were so young, weren’t you scared?”, or “why did you do it?” “I did what I had to do.” I’ll lie.
By Katie4 years ago in Fiction