Istoryan Writers

[thisbe.ara]

---

hi nino,

glad to see new members in this thread. i've read your report and it's very thorough and concise! couldn't have done it better. good job.
looking forward to more posts from you soon. ciao!

[Von!-x]

cool! i haven't been on this thread for a while.

[thisbe.ara]

we missed you von!-x! hhehee

[diem]

[font=arial]
The entrance to St. Savior High School was a 10-foot high black rectangular black gate which stood open, allowing passage for authorized vehicles. There were students who walk in through a wide side gate beside the guardhouse whose galvanized roof extends out for a long covered path into the heart of the campus.

The guard glanced briefly at the black car’s windshield, seeing the bright colored St. Savior entrance sticker, & waved the car through.

Through the thick tinted glass, Caleb eyed the surroundings. He tried to probe his mind for any memory that tied to what he saw but came up blank. It was getting frustrating, his hand tightened into a fist.

Rachel noticed his unease, how his lean frame tensed. She placed her hand over the fist & smiled an inquiry but Caleb forced a thin grin in response, pulled his hand gently away.

Caleb focused his eyes outside. In truth, he felt more confused ever that secret armory in the bedroom closet was discovered. He glanced down at his fist, unclenched the fingers to see the band-aid that sealed the fresh cut on his index finger.

Half an hour ago back in the Sanctuary, Caleb tested the reality of one of the blades by simply reaching to touch its edge. He winced back as if the blade bit him. True enough, blood bled out from a cut.

These weapons were lethal, he realized. He doubted if these swords & knives were his. Caleb shut the doors, heard faint noises of sliding through the hardwood. Opening the closet, he saw the weapons were gone & his clothes there as if these hadn’t disappeared.

The bleeding wound on his finger kept stinging; the cut was deeper than he thought. Caleb made a ball of his hand & walked out of his room.

He came upon Rachel at the head of the stairs. Rachel saw the red on his hand & she paled. “What happened?”

Does she know about the-? “I was clumsy—“. Caleb couldn’t say more, feeling an odd discomfort lying to the girl. He could not meet her brown-eyed gaze.

Rachel did not press him to explain further. “Let’s get that cut fixed.” She led off the way to the bathroom. Caleb followed.

Because of her height, Rachel had to rise on her toes to open the mirrored medical cabinet inside the bathroom. Caleb saw that it was full of thick rolls of bandages & medicine. He remembered that there were a few of such medical cabinets placed around the monastery-like home. Caleb sensed that this was an important thing to remember.

Rachel reached out her hand for his injured one. He offered to her , watching as she cleaned the cut, applied antiseptic, blew on it a bit then placed the bandage on it.

“Thanks.”

She smiled, “It’s not as much like you do for me—”

Caleb frowned, “Hah what do you mean by that?”

The girl cleaned up & restored the medicine kit back into its place. “Let’s hurry. We’re going to be late for the morning bell.”  She seemed to have not heard Caleb’s question.

Now at the school campus, the black car rolled to a stop. Caleb & Rachel stepped out just as a church bell tolled. Quickly, the girl came up to Caleb’s side, panted. “Come on, that’s for the morning ceremony!”

She led him across a large concrete quadrangle that lay flat in the embrace of 3 four storey buildings. Other students were also walking quickly w/ them, heading towards an open gymnasium.

Caleb saw long lines of young people of various sizes & ages. The female students are divided by the color of their uniforms: pink, green like Rachel’s, yellow, red, & blue.

Caleb nearly bumped into a procession of marching children whose girls bore pink uniforms & berets. Apparently, pink refers to those enrolled in elementary school. Rachel pulled on his hand & led through the spaces between the lines.

“Here we are!”

The two finally reached a line where girls wore the dark blue uniforms, the senior year students.  Rachel called to the taller girls, “Ates, please take care of Kuya Kel,” to Caleb she said quickly, “This is your class.  Now I must go join mine. See you for lunch.”

Then she was gone. Caleb looked to the senior girls, his classmates. They eyed him quietly. He knew that they were staring up at the thick white cotton strip that bound his injured head.

Anxious, he smiled, “Hello.”

His words surprised them, they shared startled glances. Caleb felt more nervous. “Um where do I stand in line?” One of the girls quietly pointed to the boys’ column. 

“Thank you very much.” Caleb moved to where a space was immediately made for him. He stood on the spot, maintaining his smile to hide his nervousness. Everyone stared at him as if he was weird or something unpleasant. Why?
***
After the flag & prayer ceremony; the student lines crawled to the school buildings, some lines noisy while others quiet. Caleb noticed his classmates were especially solemn. His line moved to the stairwell of a school building closest to the gym.

He saw an arm wave from Rachel who watched him as her class line moved to the first year classrooms on the ground floor of another building.

After a moderate climb; the senior lines entered their classrooms on the 4th floor, the homeroom teachers waiting by the door.

At the threshold, Caleb slowed w/ uncertainty, his eyes scanning the room quickly. Where did he sit? Sensing that he was holding up the line, he moved quickly to the back of the classroom. There he stood waiting as everyone else took their seats.

“He seems different.” “He got hit by a car.”
“It must have been a bad hit.” “Heard he cracked his skull open.”

He what the lone chair of the rightmost back corner remained unoccupied. He sat down, taking in the audible whispers. He looked around, saw some faces looking back at him, & saw a mixture of expressions: concern, worry, & pity

Caleb remembered the photos in Rachel’s album, his own room w/ its severe plainness. Now his own classmates’ reactions to his presence confirmed the suspicion that he was an unfriendly & bland person. He wondered did he have any buddies. Any enemies?

A throbbing pain bloomed on Caleb’s head wound. He bore the brunt of it in closed-eye silence. When he opened his eyes, there were two girls before him; both skinny, one w/ shoulder length hair while the other wore rimless glasses & sports a short bob.

“Caleb, are you okay?” It was the one w/ glasses who asked. Caleb nodded, his face brightened.

“I’m okay, its just—“, He touched his bandage.

The longhaired one spoke, a retainer showed on her upper teeth. “We heard that you got hit, that you lost your memory. For real?”

Caleb nodded. The glasses girl leaned her head forward. “So you don’t remember anything at all?”

“Not much. We’re classmates right? I don’t remember your names.”

The girls shared a look. “My name is Candice,” said the longhaired girl. She placed a hand on the shoulder of her friend. “This is Liezl.”

Caleb offered his hand to them. “Hello, Candice, Liezl.”

There was a slight hesitation before the girls shook his hand.  Caleb grinned w/ quiet relief. He saw that everyone else was observing them. He leaned a bit, lowering his voice so that only the two girls can only hear. “Please, can I ask? Why is everybody watching me?”

“Oh that,” Liezl looked back the class. “It’s just that, um—“

“It’s because we never saw you like this.”

It was another voice who spoke w/ commanding candor. Its source was a large girl, her thin long hair tied in a braided ponytail from her moon round face. “My name is Kelly, since you forgot.”

Caleb blinked. “What was I like before?”

Kelly opened her mouth but was interrupted when the sound of hasty, hard steps preceded the entrance of their homeroom teacher. The students stood up automatically.

Over the heads of the others, Caleb saw a short stocky gray haired man of fifty. Simultaneously a greeting came loud from the students, “Good morning, Mr. Sojor.”

“Good morning, class!” Mr. Sojor spoke in a hearty basso. “Please take your seats.” The students obeyed, chairs scraping the floor. He saw Caleb, “Mr. Sacristan, glad to see you alive.”

Caleb stood up as the man approached his chair. He tried to match the teacher’s cheery mood. “Glad to be alive, Sir.”

Mr. Sojor’s eyes grew wide at the response. “Well, well— so it took a car to knock some personality into you eh?”

Caleb gave a nervous laugh, eager to be pleasant.  Mr. Sojor seemed to be enjoying whatever he saw. He gave the teenager a squeeze on the arm. “Okay, Mr. Sacristan, please take your seat.”

Mr. Sojor headed back to the front of the classroom. A few curious glances leaned to Caleb’s direction.
“Class,” the teacher called their attention. “We have a new addition today. A new transfer.”

As if on cue, a young man appeared through the threshold.  He was good-looking, of average height & build. His hair was dark & wavy; his face’s features were fine, noble. “This is Mr. Justin Regal, your new classmate.”

Justin Regal said, “Hello.”

The class replied in quick unison, “Hi.” An eruption of chuckles broke out.

“Alright, alright, quiet down. Be kind, everyone." Mr. Sojor told his new student. “Please present a little information about yourself, Mr. Regal.”

“Yes,” Justin talked in a friendly tenor. “Hello everyone, my name is Justin. My family just moved here. I have a baby sister also studying here. I have many likes, no dislikes. Please everyone, let’s be friends.”

“Sure—!” Someone called out. More chuckles, giggles came.

“Mr. Regal, you can take that vacant seat over there,” Mr. Sojor directed. The newcomer beamed his thanks & made his way to his seat. Some girls eyed his passing w/ interest. The boy Justin sat, shaking hands in greeting w/ his seatmate.

Caleb sensed something unnatural about Justin whose wide smile appeared dry, the eyes blank. Calling everyone’s attention, Mr. Sojor scrawled today’s lesson on the board. From his pack, Caleb pulled out his pen & notepad.  Something made him look back. 

Justin Regal directed his round-eyed stare on Caleb, smiling.
****
In one of the ground floor classrooms, Rachel rolled her pencil between her hands. She couldn’t focus on algebra, worrying about Caleb & how was he doing. The girl gazed up to the ceiling where through 3 floors up was his classroom.

“What’s the problem?”

Rachel turned to the questioner, her new classmate & seatmate, Sally Regal. The newcomer was a slim girl, whose short hair fell by her fine jaw line.  Her owlish eyes waited w/ expectation.

Rachel shook a hand up, “Uh no problem. Just thinking.”

“About your boyfriend?”  At first impression, Sally appeared to be a lively girl, eager to make friends on her first day.  She curtained her nervousness w/ bright humor.  Her rabbit-toothed grin spread wide, having fun at her own joke.

Rachel liked her.  She simply replied, “Yes.”

Sally‘s stare grew round w/ disbelief.  “Really?”

“Lunchtime, I’ll introduce you to him.”

“Really?!”
*****
At noon, the school bells rang loud & long through the entire campus.

As the wailing echoes faded, the Physics lady teacher was reminding everyone about their weekly reports. Caleb felt his head thump inside. He found it strange that his accident made him forget vital details of his identity but not the general skills of reading, writing, & that he would have to be staying up all night just to catch up w/ his studies & assignments.

Everyone pushed out of their seats, got to their feet. Automatically, Caleb raised himself from his chair, asked a nearby boy classmate, “What’s going on?”

“Dude, its lunchtime,” was the answer.

Caleb nodded his thanks. He walked to the door where Liezl & Candice waited for him.  Liezl eyed him sideways, “You want to join us?”

“Yes,” the boy replied. “I forgot where the canteen is.”

The girls laughed. There was an easy-going acceptance for Caleb now.  “Kuya!”

Caleb whirled at the call by instinct but it wasn’t Rachel who ran towards him but a stranger, a girl of slim body & short hair. She ran past Caleb, came before Justin. “Kuya!”

That must be his sister, Caleb thought. Somebody took him by the hand. It was Rachel standing by his side, “How was your morning?”

“Weird.”

Rachel cooed silently. They turned back when Sally pulled Justin by the arm to them, made introductions. Sally looked up at Caleb, “So this is your boyfriend ha?”

Caleb blushed at the words which Sally spoke loud. He felt everyone heard. His hand received a reassuring squeeze from Rachel.  Well, why not?

He let go of Rachel, moved his arm behind her and clamped his hand on her shoulder nudging her closer to his side. “Why you sound surprised?” he asked lightly to Sally.

Sally’s eyelids lowered to speculative slits but she grinned. “Just surprised.” She asked Rachel, eyes wide w/ anticipation. “Could we lunch w/ you guys?”

Rachel glanced at Caleb as if asking for his approval. She saw him blush more. She didn’t wait for his answer, “Sure.”

Joy lit Sally’s face. She reached for Rachel’s hand, pulling her away from Caleb. The youth blew a breath of relief, wiping at the beads of sweat on his face. He walked after the girls, heard Sally asking Rachel about their ‘relationship’.

Justin fell in step beside him; eyeing him w/ that round direct stare, his teeth bared in that frozen, wide smile.
***
After having lunch w/ the siblings, Caleb & Rachel managed to get away. They were walking in the corridor, towards Rachel’s classroom.

Caleb browsed through his thoughts, on the events of today. Rachel stared at him, waiting. The boy felt the question in the air.

“It feels weird.”

She nodded, “It will take time. Everything will come back to you.”

“You think?”

Rachel reached for his hand. “I’ll pray.”

Caleb’s doubts eased by Rachel’s touch. Such a reaffirming feeling, this warm trust that seems to radiate from this little girl’s hand. It was warm, hot… wet?

All of a sudden, Rachel pulled away as if burned. The liquid sensation alarmed Caleb. He raised his palm; a deep red bloodstain was there.

“Rachel?!

Pain and paleness gripped the girl’s face. “Why now?” Beads of sweat appeared on her head.  She looks like she’s going to faint. With one hand gripping the other hand, Rachel leaned to the wall.

An overwhelming instinct seized Caleb; he recognized this as a threat to Rachel. Without knowing why, he made a dash towards Rachel’s classroom. He moved down the rows, until he found Rachel’s bag. This he grabbed and ran.

He found her crumpling down to her knees. Her bag on one shoulder, with one quick glance around, Caleb raised Rachel to her feet then led her down the corridor, to the girls’ washroom.

He left her by the threshold, while he burst inside the washroom, viewed it to be empty.

Rachel walked inside the washroom just as Caleb turned on a faucet to full stream. He went to her, locked the door then led her to the edge of the sink.

Rachel eyed him carefully, she looks exhausted. Blood has seeped through the finger gaps of the hand that clamped over the other. All that Caleb can do is nod to her.

Slowly, she pulled back the edge of her sleeve from her wrist. Her entire wrist was wrapped in bandages, these were soaked scarlet. Caleb opened the bag and searched inside, now knowing what he would find. There was a pair of surgical scissors. These he used to cut through the stained bandages.

A deep dark hole was there, from its black mouth oozed blood.

As Rachel placed the bleeding wound under the flow of water, she winced. Caleb returned to the bag, there were bandages and antiseptic cream.

There was also a small vial of red pills. A thought sparked at the sight of the pills, registering these to Caleb as vital.

He took the vial and shoved a pill into Rachel’s receptive lips. He watched the girl swallow and noticed color returning to her cheeks. She slumped slightly but he caught her, held her.

Rachel leaned on him silently. A deep concern flooded over Caleb as he held her. He turned to see the water washing most of the blood down the drain.

[diem]

@istoryan writers, where are you?! 

*****

The last bell was a long shrill that rode on the late afternoon wind. Caleb stared out the windows where the sky was a faded orange.

The later half of the day passed as a daydream for Caleb. He saw everyone, heard every word but doubted the actualities. For him, for now, the blood was the only real thing, the only thing he could actually accept.
Earlier, he wanted to ask Rachel but the hurt & shame on her face compelled him to be silent. When the wound on her wrist stopped bleeding, Caleb dressed her arm then took the old stained bandages to a metal bin in a remote area of the campus. There, he somehow made it possible to burn these into ashes.

They watched the flames in silence. It was all done quickly, without reservation, as if it were a routine set, an everyday thing. The young man found his curiosity gone, & accepted this. He did not believe his own memories would return soon enough to give him answers but he trusted Rachel to explain, if he ever asked.

The school bell rang & footsteps rumble as thunder beats on the corridor floors. They were already by her classroom. She pulled him down by the arm, whispering quickly in his ear. Then she turned, disappeared into her classroom door.

After that, Caleb’s awareness of his surroundings dimmed. It is as if he experienced the following few hours behind a gauze veil. He was a part of the world but not truly, he was an actor playing a role. Yes, he must remember to play his part. Remember—

He knew he fell into a mild daze, & that his classmates noticed but they seemed used to it. This was the normal Caleb they knew so they left him alone.

As the bell softened to silence, several classmates accompanied Caleb down, introducing themselves. He tried to tie the names to the faces but soon gave up; there will be more days for him to remember.

He said goodbye to them at the stairs then headed to Rachel’s classroom, alone. She said she would be waiting after she finished her class chores.

He looked into the room; today’s cleaning monitors were rearranging the chairs. Rachel was not among them. He knocked on the door to grab attention. “Excuse me, where is Rachel?”

The monitors stopped at his question. One of them shrugged, “She was here awhile ago.”

Another pointed, “She’ll be back. Her bag is still here.” Caleb saw Rachel’s schoolbag but a strong uncertainty seized him.

“Looking for Rachel?”

Justin came beside him abruptly from nowhere. He continued casually, “She’s w/ my sister. Come on.” He did not wait for Caleb to reply, he turned back.

Caleb ran up to his side. “Where are they?”

“This way.”

Justin guided Caleb towards an alley formed by the rear wall of a school building & the high perimeter wall of the campus. Walking into the alley, Justin walked on ahead while Caleb glanced back briefly at the mouth of the passage. He faced forward to find an empty alley.

His companion was gone.

Caleb spun around; his arms raised themselves involuntarily to protect his chest from a fast coming fist from Justin. The punch was tremendous, raising him off several feet.

He landed on his back, hard. The agony on one of his arms told Caleb that it was broken in several places when it received the full brunt of the punch. He was about to shout when a hand pressed down hard on his mouth, stifling his scream.

He glared upwards at his attacker. Justin was smiling yet there was no emotion in the youth’s eyes. Wide open, unblinking, taking in everything. Justin pressed down his hand on Caleb’s face severely, cutting off all means of air.

W/ his one working arm, Caleb struggled to push Justin off him but the youth was rock-set in crushing the life out of him. He tried to squirm himself free out from beneath Justin but he was anchored.

A burning bloomed in Caleb’s throat & lungs. His body demanded for air & it was hurting him to do something, anything. He made a fist & struck Justin several times. But the boy remained where he was, watching.

A scream gurgled from within Caleb as the burning rose to high fahrenheits. The inner fire rose like a wave, carrying him to horrible heights through moments & moments. As the burning ebbed away, in its place came a new torture, cold of touch & void of sensation.

His sight blurred, his body stopped its struggle. Numb & weak, Caleb can now only raise his eyes to Justin’s. He dimly perceive an image in those open, emotionless glass eyes; an image of himself dying.
****
“What is it you wanted to show me?” asked Rachel of her friend, Sally.

Just as everyone in class had gathered their things to leave, Sally told Rachel to come w/ her because she had something important to share. The girl pleaded through such eagerness that Rachel was compelled by both curiosity & concern to follow.

The girls arrived at an empty back lot, near where students were growing vegetables for Home Economics. The back lot was being used as a scrap yard where wood, metal & other hard materials used in past school events were laid out for disposal. Rachel had been here herself many times. She wondered how her friend, a recent transfer student, could know of this place as the best venue for sharing things such as secrets.

“Shhh,“ a smile widened Sally’s lips. She stopped, eyed Rachel but her attention seemed elsewhere.

“Sally, what is it?”

Sally’s smile stretched further, her teeth bared. “Have you seen a dead body before—?”

The question struck Rachel like a slap. “I— what do you mean?”

“You want to see a dead body? A corpse yes. Justin’s going to bring one. For us.”
Fear turned Rachel’s heart cold. “Kel-!” She turned around instantly, only to come face to face w/ Sally. She took a step back, “Who are you?”

“You know who I am-“

“You- you are one of THEM!” Rachel accused.

Still smiling, Sally blinked her eyes. Rachel drew back in shock. In that mere moment, the girl’s eyes became absolutely different. Dark & aged, absolutely alien in a young girl’s face.

“What do you want?”

“Silly child,” Sally spoke in a voice deep & twisted, as if it was an echo from a cave. “Why you ask questions w/ obvious answers?”

Rachel moved back slightly; carefully evaluating her situation as Caleb, the old Caleb, taught her before. She denied her fear the fuel it needed. She would not allow it to grow.

“You will not hurt me.”

Sally watched Rachel, took in the control that the girl cloaked herself w/. Sally was both impressed & disappointed. “I will not hurt you, if you are a good girl. Come w/ me to the Masters. They are waiting for you, child.”

Rachel nodded her assent. Sally waited as the girl came towards her. She fell into step beside Rachel just as a knife slashed her side.

Rachel burst into a sprint, the blade in her hand wet & red. She ran without looking back at the damage she had done. Kel, Kuya Kel-!

A powerful ache pulled at Rachel’s scalp as her hair ends were snatched in a tight clump. The knife was knocked off from her hand. The girl screamed but a hand covered her mouth.

A harsh whisper breathed on her ear, paralyzing Rachel w/ terror. “Bad girl. Look what you done to my body. You know what must be done to bad girls, right? You bad girl.”

Rachel was roughly turned around, to face her punishment. Sally’s side was soaked in blood but what seized Rachel’s attention was the transformation of Sally’s face: the alien eyes glowed a fierce light. The supple fair flesh has decayed to leather stretched over a skull whose teeth bared w/ carnivorous portent.

“You struck a vital vein girl,” the creature whispered. “Who taught you where to strike? Did he teach you? Your bastard boyfriend?” A claw of a hand clutched at Rachel’s small throat, holding back any noise.

Kuya Kel-! Rachel’s heart cried.

“If you were only a good girl, you were not going to be harmed. But you made me bleed. Bleed precious blood.”

The creature’s dark eyes held Rachel’s terrified face. “Yes, blood is precious—but the Masters say, the legends say yours is the most precious of all.”

The mouth opened wide. Rachel stared at the rows of canines as the echo voice continued, “You were a bad girl but your blood is precious. I wonder- the Masters would not be angry if I just draw enough for you to behave. Just a little sip. A little bite.”

A violent tug took Rachel’s sleeve. It was ripped free from the blouse collar. The creature eyed the fair firmness of the girl’s neck, her shoulder, how it glowed in the amber light. The sight drew the delirious desire from the creature’s inner being. It snapped w/o restraint.

Rachel closed her eyes & expected the pain. It did not come.

The stillness made Rachel opened her eyes. She found Caleb, bearing a grim smile on his lips.

The girl blinked, felt herself released. She stepped back away, saw clearly what happened.

Caleb, w/ one arm hanging limp at his side, had driven a rusty steel pipe into the back of the creature’s skull -- its long shaft came out bloody through the open mouth.

The creature quivered in terrible anguish. Without a word, Caleb raised his makeshift lance & its impaled prisoner high in the air, throwing the creature into a mess of metal.

Rachel stepped forward. “Stay back!” Caleb barked. When she obeyed, Caleb told her in a calmer tone. “It isn’t over. Get ready to run.”

Quickly, he gave himself a chance to glance over Rachel’s condition. She was paler than usual; her uniform’s torn at the shoulder. There was blood but somehow he felt it wasn’t hers. He was glad that he was able to arrive in time before something worse happened.

It wasn’t easy. Caleb was near death a few moments ago; just a breath’s space from oblivion had not a thought sparked in his mind: Rachel. Rachel was in danger.

The memories of the last few days flashed before him, bringing a storm of emotions. These emotions fueled an overwhelming urge that maddened him.

Ferociously, Caleb speared two fingers deep into Justin’s eyes!

Justin drew back w/ a hollow scream, giving Caleb enough room to twist out his legs then delivering a savage kick across the captor’s crimson wet face. Ignoring the freezing pain of his broken arm, Caleb stood up quickly & ran. Where he was heading he did not know but he had this strange certainty he would find Rachel.

Noise came from the scrap heap. Caleb steadied the long pipe like a javelin. It was coming.

The girl child known as Sally was no more. What came out was a lean gangly thing of grey skin & protruding bone. It was ghoulish in appearance. The human flesh it used as its disguise remained in patches. It was getting up clumsily. The youth steeled himself, hoping that it must have lost of blood after regenerating the severed nerves in its neck.

Caleb froze, where did that thought come from?

“Kuya!”

Rachel’s shout brought him to focus. The creature came out the scrap pile in a burst of speed. He dove out of the way, & rolled onto his feet. W/out hesitation, he lunged the pipe towards the creature as it turned to face him, stabbing its chest.

But the creature gripped the piercing metal pipe w/ both claws, slowing it down. Something black & vile spat out of its mouth. Caleb leapt back, avoiding the black spit. It fell onto the earth, sizzling into nothing leaving a dark mark.

Caleb watched the creature pull out the metal pipe, the wound on its chest stopped bleeding & started to heal.

It rocked on its feet. “We underestimated you,” came its soft echo. “We thought you vulnerable since you lost your memory but this proves that your instincts still make you dangerous.”

Blood spray punctuated the creature’s words. “We should have dealt w/ you together.” It shuddered like a house of sticks in the storm’s path. It looked hurt but not enough to die.

Rachel realized Caleb’s predicament. She must help—

Caleb shot her a quick hard stare. Though it hurt her, she knew she can only do one thing. She drew back to run but came upon her knife by her shoe’s heel.

Grabbing it from the ground, she cleaned it w/ the hem of her skirt. She made a fist, tensed her arm causing her own blood to pool out from the hole on her wrist. On this, she dipped the knife’s tip.

“Kuya Kel!” she called out, making the knife fly towards him.

The creature came towards Caleb in another burst of supernatural speed, striking at the boy w/ the pipe. Releasing a swiftness that surpassed the creature’s, Caleb crouched out of the way, caught the thrown blade by the hilt & slipped the knife between the slits of the creature’s ribs.

A lighted match to a drum of gasoline was the stained blade’s effect to the Creature. There was a second of strict silence so audible that Caleb thought he can almost touch it. A thousand thunderclaps came at the same instant. Fire & light flooded his surroundings & embraced his entire body!

[thisbe.ara]

OT@diem: i'm here.. u know what i'm up to..

[IceDragon]

unsa mani diem fiction o true story?

[diem]

@icedragon, ^_^ uh are you referring to the Bless My Blade? It's an on-going work of fiction written by me If you enjoy true stories, I believe there are some posted by other Istoryan writers in this thread's past pages. Or you could post some of your own, if you would care to share.

This thread is to support the aspirations and efforts(be these non-fiction or fiction) of Writers who are also members of Istorya.net, and provide the Istoryans who are voracious readers some unique materials to experience!

Please continue in actively supporting local Cebuano artists and their arts~!

[diem]

The Drue Heinz Literature Prize recognizes and supports writers of short fiction and makes their work available to readers around the world. The award is open to writers who have published a book-length collection of fiction or at least three short stories or novellas in commercial magazines or literary journals.

Manuscripts are judged anonymously by nationally known writers; past judges have included Robert Penn Waren, Joyce Carol Oates, Raymond Carver, Margaret Atwood, Russell Banks, Rick Moody and Joan Didion. The prize carries a cash award of $15,000 and publication by the University of Pittsburgh Press under its standard contract.

The winner will be announced by the University Press in December or January. No information about the winner will be released before the official announcement. The volume of manuscripts prevents the Press from offering critiques or entering into correspondence about manuscripts. Please do not call or e-mail the Press.

Eligibility

1. The award is open to writers who have published a book-length collection of fiction or a minimum of three short stories or novellas in commercial magazines or literary journals of national distribution. On-line publication does not count toward this requirement.
2. The award is open to writers in English, whether or not they are citizens of the United States.
3. University of Pittsburgh employees, former employees, current students, and those who have been students within the last three years are not eligible for the award.
4. Translations are not eligible if the translation was not done by the author.
5. Eligible submissions include a manuscript of short stories; one or more novellas (a novella may comprise a maximum of 130 double-spaced typed pages); or a combination of one or more novellas and short stories. Manuscripts may be no fewer than 150 and no more than 300 typed pages.
6. Stories or novellas previously published in book form as part of an anthology are eligible.

Format for Submissions
1. Manuscripts must be typed double-spaced on quality white paper, and pages must be numbered consecutively. Clean, legible photocopies on high quality white paper are acceptable.
2. Each submission must include a list of the writer's published short fiction work, with full citations.
3. Manuscripts will be judged anonymously. Each manuscript should have two cover pages: one listing the title of the manuscript and the author's name, address, e-mail address (if available), and telephone number; and a second listing only the manuscript title. The author's name must not appear after the first cover page.
4.Manuscripts will not be returned.

Multiple Submissions
1. Manuscripts may also be under consideration by other publishers, but if a manuscript is accepted for publication elsewhere, please notify the Press.
2. Authors may submit more than one manuscript to the competition as long as one manuscript or a portion thereof does not duplicate material submitted in another manuscript.

Dates for Submission
Manuscripts must be received during May and June 2007. That is, they must be postmarked on or after May 1 and on or before June 30.


Send submissions to:
Drue Heinz Literature Prize
University of Pittsburgh Press
3400 Forbes Avenue
Eureka Building, Fifth Floor
Pittsburgh, PA 15260

If you have any questions about these guidelines, please e-mail press@pitt.edu

[diem]

Hey everyone! I'm inviting all writers, istoryan or otherwise, to anticipate the 57th Carlos Palanca Awards of Literature~ To have an idea what the Awards are looking for, please take a glance at this previous thread.

https://www.istorya.net/forums/index....006#msg1509006
[br]Posted on: November 28, 2006, 02:29:06 PM_________________________________________________Philippine PEN Fiction Anthology Call for Submissions

The Philippine PEN is now accepting submissions for an anthology of short fiction in English to be published in 2007.

Filipino writers under 45 years of age are invited to submit one recent, unpublished short story of no more than 8,000 words to the:

Philippine Center of International PEN
531 Padre Faura Street, Ermita,
Manila

E-mail address: philippinepen@yahoo.com
CC to penfictionantho@gmail.com

Deadline of submissions is December 31, 2006.

Address all inquiries to the above addresses as well. Submissions must be typeset in double-spaced 12-pt Times New Roman. The title page must contain the author's name and complete contact information. The last page must be author's bio of no more than 150 words.

Hardcopy submissions must be printed on letter-size bond paper and be accompanied by softcopy in Rich Text Format (*.rtf) on floppy disk or CD. E-mail submissions must be sent as Rich Text Format attachments.

Call for One-Act Plays: Philippine PEN

The Philippine Center of International PEN is now accepting manuscripts for one-act plays in English by young playwrights 45 years old and below.

The works must be unpublished, may or may not have been performed by local and foreign theater groups and may or may not have been awarded in any national or university-wide literary competition. English translations of local works may be submitted provided these have permission from the original playwrights or are already considered as public property.

The works will be published as part of a four-volume collection of literary works to be released in 2007.

Address your manuscripts to:

Dr. Jose Victor Z. Torres (Editor)
Philippine Center of International PEN
531 Padre Faura Street, Ermita
Manila

or email at: philippinepen@yahoo.com

For inquiries, contact the Editor at 5273102 (weekdays only) or at 0917-9153508

Deadline is on December 31, 2006.

TV MARIA Story Contest

The TV MARIA Story Contest seeks to discover stories based on real experiences that illustrate faith and morals in the decisions individuals make. These stories need not be about heroes and saints, but about the struggles one faces to try and live a holy life, a life in correspondence with God's commandments. A story can tackle one such experience. The ten best synopses will be developed into television dramas for airing on TV MARIA, the Philippines' Catholic TV station.

The story concepts should be: narrative in a Filipino context not more than ten (10) pages double spaced (Arial or Courier font size 12)

The prizes for the ten best synopses will be: PhP 5,000 each, free scriptwriting workshop with experienced writers in the television and movie industry

MECHANICS:

1. Entries must be sent to:

The TV Maria Story Contest
c/o National Office of Mass Media Xavier House
2307 Pedro Gil Street
Sta. Ana, 1009 Manila

2. Interested participants must submit the following on or before 5:00 PM, 28 February 2007, to the National Office of Mass Media:

* The entry, written in either Pilipino or English
* A brief bio-data with complete contact information (address, email, telephone numbers) , and
*Two recent (2x2) photographs

3. Winners will be announced by 25 March 2007.

4. The Scriptwriting workshop will be scheduled during the month of May 2007.

Call for Submissions: WASAK! Stories of Pinoy Transgression and Deliverance

You are not a beautiful and unique snowflake, you are the all-singing, all-dancing crap of the world.

Revolutions are first born in the mind, move to the street, and then rise up like a conflagration to burn the whole catastrophe down.

If you feel the same way, write with an agressive spirit and have kick ass, mind f*** stories that burn like a firebrand, then we want you to give us that cool narrative.

Edited by Norman Wilwayco (author of Mondomanila) and Karl De Mesa (author of Damaged People: Tales of the Gothic-Punk), WASAK! Stories of Pinoy Transgression and Deliverance tracks the same territory that writers like Hunter S. Thompson, Irvine Welsh, Douglas Coupland and Chuck Palanhiuk have explored and mapped in all its brutality, dysfunction and senseless beauty.

This is an anthology that breaks the rules and finds personal salvation in burning the flag of mediocrity.

REQUIREMENTS:

1) Stories must be written in the transgressive fiction vein and must be set in the Philippines (not necessarily Manila).
2) Stories can be either in English or Filipino.
3) Stories must clock in at not more than 30 pages (double spaced, size 11 font, on 8 and a half by 11 paper). There is no minimum word count.
4) Stories must be submitted in RTF format with the subject heading: “Submission to WASAK_title of story_name of author” to pinoytransgressive@yahoo.com
5) Include a short biography with your contact information and a map of your immediate residence along with the person to call in case of medical emergency.
6) Deadline for all submissions is December 30, 2006
7) All accepted works will be paid with contributor’s copies.
8 ) All accepted authors must prepare for a round in the WASAK! fight club. If you don’t die, we guarantee you’ll come away with a full set of scars, bub.