TBT: I Stand Here Alone (2003)

I'm having trouble climbing the mountain of life.

The past beneath me is not fit to carry me to my future. The rocks under my feet barely sustain the burden of my soul.

I stand here alone, with legs that cannot move, with a mind that cannot believe. The energy within me is lost with the struggle. No more strength for the journey.

I try to listen to the voices telling me to make it on my own. I hear the silence of my individuality. For all the power that is given to me, no one hears me when I speak. I try to tell them I am too weak. They divide me too thin and then wonder why I am not seen.

I am prepared to become mean. However, at what point is the sentence more severe than the offense? If I cannot run, will the mountain consume me? I do not wish to be lost, I do not wish to be forgotten.

Perhaps if I were to be seen…

How can I be seen?...

(c) Marc Noël 2003

TBT: Artificial Intelligence (2004)

I arrive running at Mike’s Newsstand Café. I must look ridiculous running around the streets in my lab coat. I turn to my partner behind me with the tranquilizer gun, “Don’t do anything without my explicit permission, I’ll see if I can talk us out of this mess.”

I enter the Café and see Vincent sitting in the corner, looking at some magazines. He grows tense and nervous as I enter the door.

TBT: The Captured Room (2004)

West Caster, 1856

The owner of the mansion was walking towards the door, knife in hand. As he got closer to the door he could hear strange sounds. He opened the door; the man was performing a ritual with ornaments and strange smelling potions. The sorcerer man had boarded with the owner for three months now. He decided, for the sake of his family, that he had to get rid of the wizard man.

The sorcerer didn’t notice the owner until he was on top of him. The man, pointing the blade, threatened and motioned him to get in the small closet. He locked the door and left the room.

Walking Barefoot After A Rainstorm

I walked in the field, barefoot, after a rainstorm.

The grass was wet and sticky. The birds were singing and hunting for worms. Small, cold puddles of water lay on the ground under my feet. There was mud everywhere. Grass caressed my toes while rocks tickled them.

I smelled the air, breathing the damp and foggy aroma. I rested my legs in a fresh, peaceful water puddle. I could hear the water dripping from trees and making gulping sounds when falling in the pond. I dropped my back in the wet grass, looking at the sky. Birds were cheerfully singing as they washed themselves after a fresh bath.

I got up to walk home, whistling a tune that was in my head. I picked up, on the road, a blue flower. Its smell was a natural healing scent. The dirt of the earth was getting warmer and harder as the sun kept peaking through the clouds.

I took in a last look, a last smell, a last peaceful moment. Summer was here. I felt like dancing.

(c) Marc Noël 2016

TBT: Filon Lanos Thenossa (2004)

This church is small. Only four rows of benches line each side of the church, with a small altar standing but a foot above the floor. The smell of spring fills the air, though it is winter outside. Several candles light the entrance and the altar. An old ash chair on the wall behind the altar sits the priest.

Filon Lanos Thenossa sits alone in the church, meditating. He is young for his order, even if this is a small church. At fifteen years old, he assisted to the priest before him. When he passed away, Filon, then seventeen, had been given the task of attending to the church until a replacement could be found. When it was obvious that no one would come to such a lone village, Filon was ordained. He took the spiritual task seriously, even if events were few and far between. Most of them were funerals in the past few years.

TBT: Tamaran Noble (2004)

Tamaran rests in bed in his mansion in Portugal. Tamaran is a brilliant man. Although he lives mostly in solitude, he’s been gracious to all who have served him and his estate. His aged smile is as pure as happiness and all who have served him would call him honorable.

He is accompanied by his caregiver, Norberto Barrera, a middle-aged man he’s grown to appreciate. He knows that his master will not sleep another night. Tamaran is dying.

The Trip

When the Perpetual Motion Machine finally began to slow down, two amazing things happened. I realized that I was wrong and I realized there was still a chance to save her.

Two years ago my wife and I were flying through a nebula. Sensors didn’t indicate anything harmful scanning it at a distance. A few minutes after entering, something interacted with our engines and put them offline. I spent two days in the engine room trying to figure out what the filters may have missed while my wife was continuously trying to reach anyone that may be within hailing frequencies. If I didn’t fix the ship soon we weren’t going to have enough fuel and energy reserves to make the trip back home.

I Barely Knew

I barely knew my father. By the time I was 4 years old he left my mom and I. As I got old enough to understand what that meant I hadn’t seen him in 3 years. At first my mom made different excuses- your father is moving away for his job, we don’t love each other anymore, we’ll be living in different houses- the usual stuff. When I was a preteen I coaxed my mother into telling me the truth and she finally told me he was an alcoholic. She told him to choose us or the bottle – he chose the drink.