Dream Catcher

By dani harris

The sickly sweet aroma of summer's fruits gone over-ripe sent me wandering back... reminding me of a fervid summer day that was the last time I could claim my life as my own.

It was the final year of The Thirty Year Drought. Of course, no one knew then that the rains would return in a matter of weeks. The crops weren't worth harvesting and the hard, shriveled fruits were left to rot on the vines. The heavy perfume of the grotesque vegetation was so thick I could see it ~ a blue haze that insinuated itself into the dust that was everywhere.

Both my parents took the day work they could find in town, insisting that I stay on the farm to protect what little of value was left. Though only fifteen, I'd gotten damn good with the old pump-action shotgun. Stupid fucking men thinking I was just a piece of ass they could enjoy before they stripped our place clean of whatever they could eat, drink or carry off. None of the neighbors cared how we kept our pigs fed as long as we shared the meat whenever we slaughtered one.

I hoped that helping others to survive would spare me from eternal damnation but, with every life I took, I felt my future dying as the Earth died all around me. I spent my days sitting on the front porch waiting for the marauders, shotgun hidden in the folds of my skirt, decorating grapevine hoops with felt from our one remaining sheep, as well as found feathers and pretty stones. I hung them all along the porch eaves.

I'd taken to watching a spider spinning its webs inside the hoops, one after another. By the time the spider had wound the last thread, it no longer seemed strange to me that he had started at one end and moved, hoop by hoop, to the opposite end of the porch. I wasn't at all surprised when the wise-looking spider spoke to me.

"I have brought you an opportunity to help Humankind and the Earth" he whispered, "if you have the courage to devote yourself to their needs." "What would I have to do?" I asked hesitantly.

"Between the two of us, we have created dream catchers which hold the destiny of the future within them. They will only work if the People believe in the Great Spirit and in the power of the dream catchers. You must go to each Human and speak to them when they are sleeping, giving them the faith they are lacking. Leave a dream catcher hanging above their bed so that it may filter their good ideas, dreams and visions to them while they slumber. The bad ones will be trapped and will not pass. In this way, they will discover the actions that need to be taken to heal the Earth and bring balance to all Life."

I could not refuse the honour of being chosen for such an important task. It did not take long for Humans to begin to solve the problems of the world. A way to seed clouds to make rain was working in less than a month; new farming techniques were developed which helped to feed everyone. With their newfound faith, violence ceased. All of the deadly sins were vanquished. Those with material goods shared. Those with knowledge taught. Those with hearts full of love and compassion cared for those who were unable to care for themselves. Life flourished as others began to spread the Faith we all need to have in ourselves to succeed.

The spider and I continue to make dream catchers to deliver around the world. His companionship is a treasure I truly cherish.

•

Working together
Gives individuals strength
United we thrive

Copyright ©2012 dani harris. All rights reserved. Do not reproduce in any form, including electronic, without the author’s express permission.

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one history of dream catchers can be found at http://www.dream-catchers.org/dream-catcher-history.php.

This story originally appeared on the my heart's love songs site on August 19, 2012.

If you like this story, check out dani’s other stories, published on this site: Bugged, Camellia, guardian angel {sorta}, haboob {another creepy tail} and Sinnerman.

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AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY

dani {not a boy} opened her poetry blog my heart's love songs in February 2010 and now includes occasional prose which is often humorous, science fiction/fantasy or horror. she has had five pieces published at photographprose.com and participated in eight rounds of SPARK ~ art from writing: writing from art.

**One of my stories, Dirty tricks, was published on the Every Night Erotica site, and more

One of my erotica stories, Dirty tricks, was published on the Every Night Erotica site.

Dirty tricks is a Sapphic-themed, urban fantasy piece about two elves (Narcotta and Wisp) who inflict creative revenge on their lecherous, Cyclopean landlord (Sollyphamus Poseidonson), and, of course, have explicit lesbian sex.

Check this story out, if you're eighteen years old or over!

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Not only that, dani harris included me - as well as Simon K. Lloyd - in her Featured poets series on her site, my heart's love songs.

In her article, following Lloyd's work, she showcased my poems Yesterday don't mean / tell-little, Electrify, Behind the wheel, 2011 and my bizarro dream story Scenter of baked mysteries: ginger drunge XIII (published on this site).

Many thanks, dani, for that honor!

Sinnerman

By dani harris

Ψ
SMACK... SPLAT... SLAP... SMACK...
Damn! They were going to hear the sound of his bare feet on the pavement even if they couldn't see him in the shadows of the old factory! What had happened to his shoes? His memory was a jumbled mess of blurry images... all he knew for certain was that "they" were chasing him!

CRACK... RUSTLE... SNAP... CRACK...
Running in the forest at dusk was too dangerous! He'd better stop until full dark if he didn't want to be discovered ~ every footfall crunched leaves or snapped a twig. Breathing heavily, he slid as far under the old tree root as he could get. He covered himself with the detritus of the forest floor and hoped that no animal would catch the scent of blood on him if he fell asleep.

SPLISH... SPLOSH... SPLASH...
Running through the stream under the full moon left him too exposed. The glint off of the blade of the knife clutched in his left hand might catch someone's eye. He paused long enough to bury it beneath a pile of rocks in the shallow water.

CRUNCH... RATTLE... SPLASH... SLURP...
Running along the narrow pebbled bank of the creek sent stones skittering off into the grass and tumbling down into the water. His foot slid along with the tiny rocks and, before he knew what happened, his left foot was sucked into the oozing mud. He fell to his knees in the stream and thrust his hands up to the heavens.

"Help me, Lord!" he cried. "I haved sinned but I am asking for your forgiveness."

But the Lord God refused, telling him "GO TO THE DEVIL, SINNERMAN!"

HISS... SPLAT... SPLASH...
The smell of sulfur burned his lungs... sweat burned his eyes. Trying to take shallow breaths, he waded through the stream as it began to bubble and hiss at the edges. His bare feet were already blistering on the hot stones beneath the water.

"Lucifer! Lucifer!" he called out. "I beg sanctuary! Tell me what I must do!"

The Devil sneered and said "OFF WITH YOU, FILTH! GET OUT OF MY SIGHT!"

SHUFFLE... SCRAPE... SHUFFLE... SCRAPE...
They had set the wolves on him. He could hear the howling not too far away but his raw, bloody feet could not move any faster. Was it still the same night? Or had he lost an entire day like he had lost his clothes and his memories?

Blood spurting onto walls... onto the sheets... onto him...

Red, crimson, scarlet. What you called it didn't matter.

That bright vermilion spraying all over was the only clear memory he had.

Ψ
Clothed in naught but the darkness, ol' Sinnerman shook his head like a dog, trying to get the sweat out of his eyes. Not that it mattered if he could see. Rejected by both Jehovah and Beelzebub..... he had nowhere to go.
›·• Ψ •·‹
When e'en Lucifer
Has shunned ye..... Oh, Sinnerman,
Just what did you do?
›·• Ψ •·‹

Copyright ©2012 dani harris. All rights reserved. Do not reproduce in any form, including electronic, without the author’s express permission.

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This story originally appeared in poetic form on the my heart's love songs site on February 16, 2012.

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If you like this story, check out dani’s other stories, published on this site: Bugged, Camellia, guardian angel {sorta} and haboob {another creepy tail}.

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AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY

dani {not a boy} opened her poetry blog my heart's love songs in February 2010 and is now venturing into prose, though terrified. It seems her terror manifests itself in much of the prose, becoming a short tale with an element of horror or fantasy. She also writes sensual poetry and is attempting to write humorous prose and poetry.

**Several of dani harris' pieces will be published on the Spark site, November 8 - 29, 2011

dani harris, whose prose-poetic stories have graced the Microstory A Week site, has had two poems, moonlight sonata and passionflower, published on the Spark site recently.

Her verses work in conjunction with Ainsley Allmark's colorful photographs.

If you're inclined, and have the time, check them, and dani's website out!

guardian angel {sorta}

By dani harris


Once I was an angel
whose wings were so white
every color could be seen within;
my hair and halo shone gold at night
with lips of pink and eyes of blue ~
I truly was a heavenly sight.
{ahem… well, that’s what I was told.}

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One day God spoke to me: “I AM SENDING YOU TO EARTH TO BE GUARDIAN ANGEL FOR HUMANITY. YOU ARE NOT TO INTERFERE! MERELY SEND ME QUARTER-CENTURY REPORTS.”

“But Lord,” said I, “Do you really think I’m the right angel for this assignment? After all, I have no experience with humans.” {Peter and I had a thing goin’ on, you know?}

“TAKE THIS ROSE ~ SO LONG AS IT REMAINS PURE WHITE ALL IS GOING ACCORDING TO MY PLANS. IF IT TURNS DARK, I WILL HAVE TO VISIT ANOTHER FLOOD UPON THE EARTH.”

I didn’t even have time to give Peter a proper goodbye.

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God sent me down to Earth to keep tabs on
…I mean, watch over…
the Earth and humans and all ~
time passed quickly for I had much to discover.

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One day Peter came to visit but I would have none of it,
feeling he could have come earlier if he really cared a whit.

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“Rose” said he
looking aghast at me,
“It can’t be true…
is that really you?”
“Whatever do you mean?” I queried innocently.
“Where once your wings were white
they’re now as dark as night;
what’s happened to your golden hair?
I’d suggest a bottle of Loreal hair dye if I dare… (after all, you’re worth it!)
judging by the color of your halo, you’ve fallen short.”
{It was here I couldn’t help but snort!}
“My God, your reputation will be completely shred
if you return to Heaven with lips that red!
Pray tell what happened, my still lovely Rose,
please say that this is not what you chose!”

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“It’s a woman’s prerogative to change her mind.
You said I’m lovely so I know you’re not blind ~
aren’t you attracted to my new earthly charms?
Don’t you want to take me into your arms?”

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Shaking his head, Peter plucked the now-gray rose from my fingers.

“When Father hears about this, you’ll find no refuge!
Not on Earth or in Heaven or even in Hell.”
Walking away, I whispered “Après moi le déluge.”
{after me, the deluge.}


Copyright ©2011 dani harris. All rights reserved. Do not reproduce in any form, including electronic, without the author’s express permission.

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This story was originally published on the my heart's love songs site on August 30, 2011.

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If you like this story, check out dani’s other stories, published on this site: Bugged, Camellia and haboob {another creepy tail}.

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AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY

dani {not a boy} began writing poetry in January 2010, opened her blog my heart's love songs in February 2010 and is now venturing into prose, though terrified. It seems her terror manifests itself in much of the prose, becoming a short tale with an element of horror or fantasy. Despite her blog's title, Dani does not write only haiku. Her sensual poetry is never too explicit whatever the length.

haboob {another creepy tail}

By dani harris

It was easy to slip across the border from Mexico into Arizona and a haboob was the perfect cover to get into the city undetected. The massive dust storms covered the valley at least once or twice every summer during the monsoon season. One news helicopter photographer caught a few seconds of the two lights moving in at the front edge of the mile-high wall of dust, but it was explained away as airplanes skirting the storm to land at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport. People only see what they want to… especially those with neophobia. In today’s political climate, that was just about everybody. Arrangements had been made the week before via email offering a remunerative deal that a local street gang couldn’t refuse. It was just enough to cover what they could make in a month selling weed ~ any more would have made them suspicious. a small bag full of diamonds would be left at the landing site.

The two space ships set down unnoticed in the burnt-out block of South Phoenix where the drug gang had chased off all the addicts and homeless people. By then, everyone who could be was inside anyway. The haboob was an immense sand blaster made by nature with hurricane-force winds. Anybody unlucky enough to be caught unawares was stuck on the side of a road somewhere praying that their car wouldn’t be carried away like Dorothy’s house in the Wizard of Oz.

Ramps came down from both landing craft letting out a strange neon-orange glow. The eight-legged creatures made their way into the rubbish-filled back yard of an abandoned house. A modulated signal beyond human hearing was being broadcast. The haboob would also mask detection by any of the humans’ equipment designed to pick up sounds in that range. In less than a minute a strange scurrying noise could be heard. It seemed to get louder by the second. The creatures from the space ships opened the doors at one end of each of the cases they carried in their two front claws, laying them gently on the ground. In under ten minutes, the containers were being filled by scorpions of every size scrambling over one another to get into the large cases. The {illegal} aliens closed the containers and made their way back into their ships, cooing and clicking to calm their babies within. they had more than enough nurseries onboard the mother ship to allow their descendants plenty of room. All of the subterfuge had been unnecessary when they had made the last trip one hundred years ago. It had been quite a surprise to discover that the city had grown so quickly, invading their hatching grounds. The next brood would have to be laid on a deserted planet in another solar system.

The ramps pulled up and the two ships launched back into the haboob just before the tail end of the dust cloud passed through the area. When they reached South Mountain, the ships suddenly shot straight out of Earth’s atmosphere in the blink of an eye. if there had been any eyes looking.

Video footage of the haboobs always made the network news shows the next day. Only one local station aired a thirty-second segment the following week to report the abrupt disappearance of scorpions in South Phoenix. The residents themselves didn’t question it. They were just grateful to have the scorpions gone since no one in that area could afford an exterminator.


Copyright ©2011 dani harris. All rights reserved. Do not reproduce in any form, including electronic, without the author’s express permission.

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This story was originally published on my heart's love songs site on August 8, 2011.

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If you like this story, check out dani’s other stories, published on this site: Bugged, Camellia and guardian angel {sorta}.

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AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY

dani {not a boy} began writing poetry in January 2010, opened her blog my heart's love songs in February 2010 and is now venturing into prose, though terrified. It seems her terror manifests itself in much of the prose, becoming a short tale with an element of horror or fantasy. Despite her blog's title, Dani does not write only haiku. Her sensual poetry is never too explicit whatever the length.

Bugged

By dani harris


The first incident occurred when she was eight years old. She got head lice at school. Her hair fell below her waist and the school nurse told her mother it would be best to shave her head as the infestation was so severe. Even months afterward, Marie had nightmares of the lice squirming around on her scalp. She never let her hair get longer than a pixie cut the rest of her life.

When she was ten years old, her family went camping at Yosemite National Park. In less than an hour, Marie stepped into a red ant hill. The ants were swarming over her entire body ~ even her face ~ before her father could wash all of them off. It turned out that Marie was highly allergic to the ants and had to be rushed to the hospital.

Marie was almost fourteen when the small mid-western town she lived in suffered an infestation of grasshoppers. She was walking into the house when a grasshopper jumped into her eye. Not only did it scratch the cornea, her eye became infected. She had to wear a patch over her left eye the entire first month of high school.

A bee sting at her high school graduation picnic caused Marie's face to swell. Since her tongue and throat were also swelling, another trip to the hospital was in order. But not before the entire senior class had seen her disfigurement. The school mailed Marie her diploma.

Marie had a double dorm room to herself throughout college. The university was concerned about being sued for negligence if a roommate were to become ill from inhaling the fumes from the insecticide that Marie was constantly spraying. The janitor added weatherstripping around her door so that the fumes wouldn't escape into the hallway. Some said that living four years in a room full of bug spray caused brain damage.

At the age of 27, Marie was living a comfortable if uneventful life. Despite the insecticide fumes, she was intelligent and healthy. She set up a consulting business from her twenty-first floor apartment. The closest anyone ever came to her were delivery people ~ Federal Express, groceries, pizza, Chinese or Thai Food. You couldn't really count video calls since those were just two-dimensional images. Marie had her clients make electronic funds transfers directly to her bank and she did everything online. She didn't have a boyfriend {or any friends} and certainly did not want a pet. She had not seen so much as a fly the entire time she had lived there.

The newspaper article said that the venomous spider must have been in the soil of the rare orchid sent to the woman in the apartment above. It got into the ventilation system and came down on its thread through the vent above Marie's bed.


Copyright ©2011 dani harris. All rights reserved. Do not reproduce in any form, including electronic, without the author’s express permission.

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If you like this story, check out dani’s other stories, published on this site: Camellia, guardian angel {sorta} and haboob {another creepy tail}.

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AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY

dani {not a boy} began writing poetry in January 2010, opened her blog my heart's love songs in February 2010 and is now venturing into prose, though terrified. It seems her terror manifests itself in much of the prose, becoming a short tale with an element of horror or fantasy. Despite her blog's title, Dani does not write only haiku. Her sensual poetry is never too explicit whatever the length.

**Several of dani harris' pieces were published on the Photo Prose site, March - May 2011

dani harris, whose prose-poetic story, Camellia, graced this site last week, has had several other pieces - two stories and a poem - published on the Photograph Prose site recently.

Here's the links:

A Member of the Family

Promises

Please Exit

Camellia

By dani harris

between raindrops, a light scent of musk drifted through the air reaching a man sitting alone. as though in a dream, the irresistible scent drew the man to a beautiful tree where dark pink flowers with delicate centers called to him, waiting to be plucked. one blossom stood out, untouched by the rain, glowing as if lit from within. the man held the fragile flower ever-so-gently in his hand with no memory of how it got there.

the man walked back to his cottage, lay down upon his bed and lightly began stroking its petals. he teased the center nibs, feeling them become erect under his fingertips. softly he stroked the deepest center of the bloom. a small sigh caused petals to flutter. the man could not resist licking the deep center with the tip of his tongue. a sweet nectar began to flow and, greedily, he licked every drop.

the man became intoxicated by the heady scent of musk and the ambrosia upon his tongue. closing his eyes for just a moment, the man opened them upon a wondrous sight. next to him lay a beautiful woman. her luscious pink lips smiled at him. they kissed, igniting the fires of a fierce passion. there was no choice but to give themselves over to their desire.

long slow kisses... licking... tasting... nibbling. hungry for more. hands exploring... caressing... stroking... pleasuring one another. their bodies joined. passion grew until it could be contained no longer. an explosion shook their world leaving them spent, content in each other's arms.

the man was awakened by sunlight streaming through the windows. next to him lay a dark pink blossom, wilted but still beautiful.

he smiled.


Copyright ©2011 Dani Harris. All rights reserved. Do not reproduce in any form, including electronic, without the author’s express permission.

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This story originally appeared in poetic form on the my heart's love songs site on April 26, 2011.

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If you like this story, check out dani’s other stories, published on this site: Bugged, guardian angel {sorta} and haboob {another creepy tail}.

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AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY

dani {not a boy} began writing poetry in January 2010, opened her blog my heart's love songs in February 2010 and is now venturing into prose, though terrified. It seems her terror manifests itself in much of the prose, becoming a short tale with an element of horror or fantasy. Despite her blog's title, Dani does not write only haiku. Her sensual poetry is never too explicit whatever the length.