Links to my Books

Links to My Writings

Meditations on Maintenance for the Kindle
Memoirs of a Super Criminal for the Kindle, Nook
One Year in the Mountains for the Kindle, Nook
Adventures of Erkulys & Uryon for the Kindle and Nook


Tuesday, December 27, 2011

The Garage Door


Twice he found the door to the garage open. But he lived alone and could not remember going into the garage for at least six months. Since that “day” he had refused to use the garage for any reason. He always parked on the street and used the front door for all occasions. He even had a few friends clear out the garage of any storage boxes and put them in the shed in the backyard. To have the door standing wide open was unnerving.

The first time he found it open it was just slightly ajar, as if someone had just come in and not closed it completely. He absentmindedly closed it and kept walking. It was not until he was half a dozen steps away that it struck him. Why was that door open? And then his mind raced. Perhaps it was not really open and just habit made him push on it as if it was open. But he could remember the distinct sound of the click when the door latch caught. No, he was certain that he had closed it. But how did it get open?

 By the end of the night he had convinced himself that the door was never really open. That it was a trick of the mind.

The second time it happened, he heard giggling. The door was wide open and the cool garage air was slipping slowly into the house. The giggle was clear as day and it made the hair on his neck stand on end. It sent chills down his spine and brought tears to his eyes.  He could not even walk the two steps down the hall from the kitchen to close the garage door. He slumped against the wall and slowly wiped away a tear.

A thought struck him. Perhaps someone was using the side door in the garage to gain access to the house and he had stumbled upon them coming or going. It frightened him to think someone could be in the house. He quickly grabbed a flashlight and a baseball bat from the coat closet by the front door. He made a thorough search of the house. Under the beds, in all the closets and bathrooms and even the kitchen pantry, he searched diligently, hopefully.  But he found nothing unusual. He was left with a wide open garage door and a giggle that brought back a flood of memories. What was he to do?

He could not face the open door and he did not have the emotional strength to close it. He wanted to call a friend but over the last six months he had alienated everyone and could think of not one single person that he wanted to call. He was stuck and frightened.

He set the baseball bat and flashlight on the kitchen counter. He cradled his head in his arms and sobbed quietly for a few moments. He felt the cool garage air whisping around his bare feet. He had to face his demons. He had to put it to rest. He stood determined, crossed the kitchen and stopped at the hall. He left the bat and light behind. They would serve him no good with whatever it was that he would find in the garage.

He took a step and paused, listening.  He took a second step and put a hand on the door knob. He knew that if he just swung the door closed it would not end the nightmare. He raised a hand to the light switch for the garage’s florescent light. He felt his heart racing. His breathes came in ragged gulps. How could a simple garage frighten someone so much? But it was not the garage that scared him. It was just a symbol of something much deeper. A pain, a memory, a day that would haunt him was what lay beyond that doorway.

He flicked on the light and stepped into the garage pulling the door closed behind him.  

Copyright 2011
David Corbet
All Rights Reserved

Monday, November 28, 2011

Erkulys and Uryon Fight the Monster of the Heart


The two stumbled out of town, Erkulys still drunk from a night of feasting, ribaldry, wenching, and wrestling. Uryon tried to shoulder some of Erkulys’ weight to help him walk straight. The large wrestler out-weighed Uryon by a few dozen pounds, but Uryon was taller.

Uryon wore a belt of leather, studded with precious gems. Many of them were dragon stones he had removed from the belly of the great beasts. On his hip, hung his twice-forged sword. It was forged first by the Master Maker in the Deep Forge hidden in the bowels of the earth. The second time it was shaped by the First craftsman, Tubal-cain. while his apprentice smiths, Bezalel and Oholiab, pumped the bellows in the sacred citadel of Hor. The sword was a perfectly crafted weapon, unbreakable, and never lost its edge. It could cleave through any armor and slice body and soul alike. Uryon wore it with pride and humility. It was a weapon of Champions and he was First Champion of the Nations.

Erkulys preferred using his hands to crush, smash and rip apart his prey. He was a master in over a dozen fighting and wrestling arts. He was also proficient in most weapons, as a true Hero should be. Erkulys was the foremost Hero of the day, although other younger heroes tried to challenge him to the title. None could defeat this brave Hero.

This was the time of Heroes and Champions, and also of monsters and things unspeakable. These two ventured off to encounter just such a thing.

“Erk, I think you have put on weight since last we walked together.” Uryon grunted as he struggled to keep Erk moving.

“Ey, I most surly did. I spent the last year eating and wenching in the far lands, beyond the Mount,” Erk belched and continued, “They have the best cream pies and ales one could wish for.” He stumbled in his step and then straightened up, burping a few more times. “Ey, ale and wine and drink from a root that would blind lesser men. And all of it more tasty than that swill they served us last night at the inn.” He staggered further along.

“Ha ha, that swill was enough to do you in. I told you we had many leagues to go today, to not drink so heavy.” Uryon chastised him.

“Just a moment.” Erk leaned over a short stone wall that sheltered a garden from the way. He vomited a stream so putrid it made Uryon, standing a dozen steps away, turn away in disgust. Erk then opened his leather breeches and let out a piss that ran like a river.

“I think you just killed that poor garden.” Uryon waved a hand in front of his nose.

“Nonsense. I only watered it and enriched the soil with liquids from the gods.” Erk bellowed and laughed. He tucked himself back into his breeches and staggered back to the way. “Now I can walk, almost.”

Uryon shouldered a leather bag and goaded Erk along. The sun was just breaking the horizon. “Let’s move slow. I don’t want you killing any more gardens and having the townsfolk cursing our names.”

“Seems like last night you had a few wenches screaming your name in delight.” Erk laughed again. Mirth came easy to this Hero.

Uryon laughed as well. “Yes they were. But today, I fear, they will be walking funny and cursing me none the less.”

The two laughed and stumbled toward the rising sun.

Now Available on the Kindle: Erkulys & Uryon

Copyright David Corbet 2011

Saturday, November 5, 2011

November


November



Glistening white, unique and alone.
Drifting from high above to here below.
Settling one on another, building up
A landscape of white.
The empty, quiet world awaits
For that soft touch of frozen fingers,
Caressing the tree, the brush, the soil.
White drifting, wafting, floating.
Silence blanketed in muffled chills
Alone, unique, silent, wandering.
Come hushed stillness.

By David Corbet

Tuesday, October 18, 2011

Struggle


A constant struggle,
A tug, a shake, a quake.
A pull this way & then that way.
Up, down, in, out.
A constant struggle
Light & dark blending in
Strobe effects of smoky haze.
Reality is obscured & contrasted.
A constant struggle,
Tear stained smiles & false
Bravado to make it through
The day, fearing the night.
A constant struggle,
To awake each morning
Plod on, trod on, fallen on
Some meaningless soul.
A constant struggle,
To survive the day with
Music & lines on pages as
            The only solace.

David Corbet
Copyright protected

Tuesday, October 4, 2011

If you are not familiar with smashwords.com it is a pretty awesome site. They offer ebooks in most ebook formats. They do a good job in centralizing all the various ebook providers into one location. Not a bad idea. I have two books uploaded there. They also offer coupons which is another great idea. Watch for upcoming coupons for my books: One Year in the Mountains and Memoirs of a Super Criminal.