Customs Ignored
I feel mud in my boots, blood on my face.
I watch my father bark orders. I dare not join him.
I wonder what he thinks has become of me. Maybe he thinks I’m dead.
“Many speak of a young soldier who rallied them when all hope seemed lost. They say that solider is you.”
He’s a stranger, this man beside me. He’s dressed in fine clothes.
“They exaggerate.”
“That so? From what I hear they would have turned tail if not for you, our lines would’ve broken. Our king claims he owes you a debt.”
“Spoken to our king often, have you?”
“Enough. Not nearly as often as you, your highness.”
I freeze at the title, one I left behind, one he shouldn’t know.
“Excuse me?”
“You look like her. Your mother’s death was years ago, it’s been longer still since last I saw her, but I haven’t yet forgotten my own niece.”
An old memory, almost gone. My mother’s brother: young rebellious, better forgotten.
There is no hiding from this wild child, now a man returned.
“Do not expose me,” I beg.
“It is silly to think one woman can spell the difference between victory and defeat but I can not watch as my people are slaughtered. Let me serve them in this way.”
“You are ignoring our customs as I once did. Many have done so before us, often to disastrous effect, rarely with success.”
He stands.
“Success eluded me but I do wish it upon you, little niece. I only hope that your price may not be grief as mine was.”
He leaves and I know he won’t reveal me, that choice is still mine.
I watch my father turn. I look away but before my eyes are shielded I catch a glimpse of his. I see grief.
Title: Idol
I've been dreaming of people I've never met.
Shared intimate moments — both laughter and tears shed.
I wonder if that's how they will remain:
fuzzy figures in the realm where my consciousness escapes.
I know they love, they learn, they wish.
I know their names — yet here's the twist:
to them, I'm a ghost, a ghoul, a myth.
Or perhaps even less —
to them, I don't exist.
I miss the bonds with all the ones I built with hope,
yet as far as I know,
I carry that hope alone.
Love Of The Sea
He was but a boy when first we met, a child grasped in his parents’ arms. He was but a boy visiting the sea for the first time, a child enchanted by our waves. He was a fisherman’s son and his heart would be forever ours.
We rolled in and out before him as his family thrived upon our waters. He would splash through our shallows as winds skimmed our surface and birds dove to fill their beaks. He was content with life and we were content with him.
One day as he walked our shores we bestowed a gift upon him.
We dove deep into our depths to dig it up, prying it from the sediment and up into our waters. We lapped at his legs to deliver it, pushing it closer with every sweep. We fled and left it before him.
“Wow,” we heard him whisper as he reached down to grasp it.
We watched as he lifted it from our sands.
It was a shell made hundreds of years prior, crafted, tended, then abandoned. We’d covered it, preserved it, and gave it to him as a gift, from one friend to ...
As you know, Warner Brothers announced that it will be making a film called The Hunt for Gollum, directed by Andy Serkis and produced by Peter Jackson.
But…why does that title sound familiar? I was talking with a few friends about it when the story broke and someone mentioned that there was a fan film of the same name on YouTube.
So this week has been a wild one for fans of sci-fi and fantasy. Three trailers. Three shows. And three vastly different responses. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, the trailer for Rings of Power S2, House of the Dragon S2, and a new spin-off series Dune: Prophecy, all dropped this week. Which offers a unique (and probably intentional) opportunity to compare the three pieces, and their subsequent shows.
So…this is not just a headline. A few days ago, Warner Brothers announced a new slate of Lord of the Rings Movies, the first of which will be The Hunt for Gollum (an animated series which predates the LOTR timeline by 200 years will also be made called The War for the Rohirrim)
Yes. I’m as confused as the rest of you. Does this mean more garbage like Rings of Power? Maybe…though not from the same source. It would be too long and, frankly, unnecessary to describe the strange division of copyright between Amazon and Warner Bros. Suffice it to say, Warner Bros. owns the rights to the main timelines about the actual characters. Amazon owns the rights to a prologue.
Now, I’m as annoyed as the rest of you. They are making more Harry Potter, more Lord of the Rings, a freaking Mufasa movie?! What happened to original Hollywood stories?
