Out of the Darkness

In my previous post, I wrote about a new horror story I am working on. At first I was really excited about it. But now, I am not so sure because of the horrid feeling the first chapter gave me.

Ghost Moon Night is scary but does not have a pervasive feeling of evil. Whereas this new chapter involving coconuts (I am trying to write this with a straight face) makes me feel dark and dismal and dread-y if there is such a word. Thank goodness for a goofball sort of hero, or I'd have stopped at page five.

I am not sure I want to channel this story to life.

***
So I took a break and wrote another first chapter to a YA novel and the feeling is like light and day. The characters still are flawed and there will be major conflicts, but for the first time in a long time, I felt - emotion! Sadness. Wistfulness. Happiness. As I closed the scene, I felt like I was writing something that could illuminate the human experience. I am usually unsentimental in my fiction and avoid Hallmarky stories, but I really enjoyed writing this. The words flow and I do not grit my teeth over the effort.

Truth is, unleashing emotion on the page scares me. It is powerful but makes me feel utterly vulnerable.

***
I cannot imagine not writing horror anymore. It's been such an integral part of my writing life, hence this blog.

But what goes in has to have a source, and I'm just not sure I want to be the receptacle of all that.

A New Story

I've started a new story.

All I'm saying is it's scary and involves coconuts.

I showed the first chapter to my 13 year old daughter and she gave me this weird look when she was done.

I don't think she'll be my first reader.

***
I aspire to be a YA writer, but in reality, maybe my themes are too adult.

My husband keeps telling me that, but I'm still hoping to be considered YA. I don't know why, I guess because it sounds more "important".

Please Do Not Disturb

Here's a short story to ring the new year with. I wrote this two years ago, my first stab at a short horror piece. Be warned, it is a little disturbing.

***
"Look," the girl said to Ruben, "a nuno sa punso." A gnome in a mound.

In the moonlight, Ruben saw a two-foot tall berm. He silently scoffed. It looked more like an ant hill to him.

"Where are you going?" he asked as she veered to the right.

"Don't you know, we're supposed to leave them undisturbed, or else..."

"Or else what?"

"Or else the nuno will get mad and cast a spell on you."

"You don't really believe that, do you? Anyway, we'll just walk by it." But the girl hung back.

The church bell tolled. "I guess," she said, "we can go this way or we'll be really late for mass." She pressed close to him as they made their way toward the mound.

This vacation was going better than Ruben expected. At first he had hated the idea of going to the Philippines for Christmas. He had rolled his eyes. Christmas among the provincials, in his mother's hometown. Not to mention New Year's Eve. No parties in Boston, no watching the ball drop at Time Square on TV, no kiss at midnight with some girl.

This girl's name was Diana, and she was from Manila. They met at someone's house earlier in the evening. She had invited him to attend mass to celebrate the arrival of the new year. He knew better than to pass up such an opportunity. She was a little taller than him, big deal. She was cute anyway.

They came to the mound and stared.

"When my uncle was young," she said in a hushed voice, "he stepped on one and he went blind for a while."

"No one really lives there," he said.

"Shh. He'll hear you." She walked a few steps, giving the mound wide berth, and glanced at him anxiously. "You coming?"

He took a step back and kicked at the mound. Diana screamed.

"What have you done?" She was all hysterical. It was kind of funny, really.

"It's just an ant hill, see? There's nothing in it." He laughed, but she was already stomping off.

They squeezed into a crowded bench at the back of the church.

The priest was droning on and on. Ruben looked at his watch. Twenty minutes to midnight. He remembered another Filipino superstition. He and his sisters had done it a million times on New Year's Eve.

Jump up exactly at midnight on New Year's Eve and you'll gain an inch or two.

If he gained another inch or two, he'd be as tall as Diana.

At midnight, the church bell tolled. Ruben jumped in place. Diana gave him a scathing glance. Goll, she sure was a nag. He yawned.

When he opened his eyes, his first thought was, where'd all the people go? In front of him was a wall of wood, and to his right was a dark blue curtain.

Then he looked up.

That blue curtain, it was Diana's leg in jeans. She towered over him like a giant. And he was like an ant.

He thought of the nuno sa punso, the one he stupidly demolished.

He screamed just as Diana's foot shifted and her shoe squished him.