Please click date button to view entire post.
Happy Halloween everyone!
I was thinking about
Samhain, and how the Celts believed it marked the onset of the dark half of the
year. This was the time the veil between reality and the spirit realm was the
thinnest and the dead walked.
Now, I’m a big scaredy
cat when it comes to ghost stories. Vampires, mummies and zombies, no worries...
but ghosts – that’s another story. I run
away from ghostly horror movies (much to the amusement of my children). I’m not
much better when it comes to reading them. So, all that being said – I decided
to go with a poem. Well, it’s a medieval ballad and is about a thousand years
old. It’s sad, sombre, atmospheric and my favourite. I hope you like it.
The Unquiet Grave
‘The wind doth
blow today, my love,
And a few small
drops of rain;
I never had but
one true-love;
In cold grave
she was lain.'
'I’ll do as much
for my true-love
As any young man
may;
I’ll sit and
mourn all at her grave
For a
twelvemonth and a day.’
The twelvemonth
and a day being up,
The dead began
to speak;
‘Oh who sits
weeping on my grave,
And will not let
me sleep?’
‘’Tis I, my
love, sits on your grave,
And will not let
you sleep;
For I crave one
kiss of your clay-cold lips;
And that is all
I seek.’
‘You crave a
kiss of my clay cold lips;
But my breath
smells earthy strong;
If you have one
kiss of my clay-cold lips,
Your time will
not be long.'
‘‘Tis down in
yonder garden green,
Love, where we
used to walk,
The finest
flower that ere was seen
In withered to a
stalk.'
‘The stalk is
withered dry, my love,
So will our
hearts decay;
So make yourself
content, my love;
Till God calls
you away.’
Anonymous
See... soft, sad but not scary!
Thank you so much for dropping by. I’m
giving away one pdf copy of Until the Stars Burn Cold. To be in the running
please leave your name and email address.
Nicole
x
The comment button is
located right at the bottom of the post – Thanks!
To return to the Howloween
Blog Spot please click link below.
Forbidden love
Long ago in ancient Persia,
there lived a pair of star crossed lovers. In a desperate bid, the lovers
sought to flee the town of Adwan. But they were caught and torn apart. For his
insolence, Jinn is cursed into a ring. Ages pass and empires crumble... and
Jinn is still forever bound in a circle of frozen silver. Bound, that is until
present day antiques dealer, Mia Templeton accidentally releases him. Mia is
beautiful and Jinn, finds her somehow familiar. Is love eternal and evil
everlasting? Can the power that destroyed his life in Adwan, reach through the
centuries and threaten his future?
A Snippet from Until The Stars Burn Cold
Mia stirred as a loud rumble of thunder echoed
over her house. She cracked open one eye ever so slightly. A flash of lightning
illuminated her bedroom wall. She relaxed back into her soft mattress and
closed her eyes. She was warm, comfortable and content, and as sleep threatened
to reclaim her once more she wondered if it would be possible to reconnect with
the delicious and vivid dream she had been having. Parts of it were beginning
to disappear and she tried to hold onto the details.
There had been a man, a beautiful man with wide
shoulders and lovely brown eyes and he had been kissing her. Mia let herself
begin to drift, she was floating, barely conscious of her surroundings as she
snuggled deeper beneath her quilt. Yet there was a nagging in the back of her
brain that something was amiss. The edgy feeling told her to wake up but her
body rebelled and her breath began to deepen. She reasoned that it was nothing
to be concerned about; the dream coupled with the oncoming storm had disturbed
her and nothing more. That was until she felt a large hand hook around her
waist and pull her closer to a warm mass that engulfed her back. Biting back a
scream she pushed the hand away and flung herself off the bed. She turned,
faced the bed and fear, shock and amazement blended together in a tight ball in
her stomach as she saw that there was a man in her bed.
A weak shaft of light pierced the darkness and
she could see he was lying on his side stretched out on top of the quilt, with
his arm flung across the bed. He was reaching for where Mia had been dreaming
only a moment or two ago. It was then that she realized with a little relief
that he was fully clothed. He wore long dark green trousers tucked into soft
leather boots that ran halfway up his calf and a deep cream shirt under a
leather jerkin.
Mia stumbled across the corner of the room,
grabbing the tall, metal floor lamp. She yanked at the cord and pulled the plug
out of the socket. The cream silk shade fell off and rolled towards the door.
Flicking on the bedroom light gave her a little comfort; at least now she could
see exactly what she was up against. She edged towards the bed and looked down
at her intruder.
She saw the way the man’s chest softly rose and
fell. His eyes were closed and his features were relaxed. Feeling a little
braver, Mia took one tentative step back towards the bed and studied the
stranger’s face. He was handsome, with high cheekbones and a square jaw. His
golden brown complexion was offset by his long dark hair.
Mia held the lamp in front of her like a staff.
Taking a deep breath, she wished her heart would stop racing. She pushed the
lamp forward and jabbed at the stranger’s shoulder.
“Who the
hell are you and what are you doing in my bed?”
Links –
To return to the Howloween
Blog Spot please click link below.
Images
Bigstock
Cover
– Pink Petal Books/ Tibbs Design.
I'm a scaredy-cat - clay-cold lips is enough to have me watching Dancing with the Stars!
ReplyDeleteHahaha! And I thought you liked horror movies. :)
DeleteHi Cassandra, thanks for hopping by :)
ReplyDeleteHi Shadow - hope you have a lovely Halloween :)
ReplyDelete