Anyone want a used heart? I got one here, it is healthy and strong, if a little battered. Good price if you want it. Call (514) 555-9978. Operators are standing by.

If only it was that simple eh? Or am I the only one who wishes for the simple when the hard, once achieved is that much sweeter?

No, I'm not. But I surely do wish for the simple..like with my heart. Women are so...It would be nice if it was easy, or just not darn near impossible for me. I know I am not the life of the party, and I am not the king of handsome town<Okay, I'm living there illegally>, but as guys go, I am a good one. Of course, the women peer into my eyes, and they see the ghosts of my hurts<Mayhap exaggerated> and say no thanks. That and I keep to myself alot<All good selling points...if you're trying to be alone>. Hmmm....

And the wishing for the simple certainly applies with my writing. It's not easy to get published. Of course, it won't happen if I don't start sending it out! Damn big scary step<Like asking a woman out>. I will, eventually<Hmm, had my 1st novel's 1st draft ready for almost four years...>...seriously I will. I am a writer and I am going to get myself published. And if you say I won't...you're just wrong. You're just not wrong now. Sigh...

So simple would be swell, but life is not simple and I just have to get on my horse and ride hard until sunset. The only way to get all the things done that I want to. But I'll save that for another time.

 

Charles Petrie

 

Oh for the love of...I won't finish that thought because to finish it would require many bad words and I try not to use those bad words online. But I also hate losing anything I've written, whatever its merits. So Fuck! Damn not saving!

Okay, so I begin again. Hmm, at least it wasn't some great piece of literature, it was just more of this free thought writing. But it did have a point. Anyway, that is done and it can wait until another day.

Only, now I'm at a loss. I don't know what to write and with my roomie chomping at the bit to borrow my computer, I am "under the gun". And I want to put this to bed. So it looks like you, my faithful readers<Well, reader might be more accurate, but since no one ever comments, how can I know for sure>get shortshrift again. Sorry. Maybe tomorrow I'll give you something better.

No promises though.

 

Charles Petrie

 

 

There are words, waiting to be said, written and typed. There always will be for me, I intend to be writing for the rest of my life. I want to be writing some story on the day I die. And I will too, barring Alzheimers' or something else that robs me of me<Blindness and mobility issues can be gotten around>.

But what about this type here, the non-story writing I sometimes do<Not that anyone is asking>? Yeah, that. I am not afraid to share of myself, really, I'm not, because there is very much a lot of me in my writing. On the other hand, I did shy away from writing some things tonight in another one of my blogs<Yeah, I have three blogs on the go now, and getting up to four is not out of the question>. I started to write things, but backed away from it. I was worried I guess about negative reactions from one train of thought, so I wrote something along the same lines, but not as strongly.That's me alright, not living in the strong, but going weakly.

That being said, I do have strength in me. And I am convinced<Yes, convinced> that I will turn strong with my writing. I know it will take work, but I am up to the challenge. I am going to be published one day. Heck, I already have my first novel done<First draft only, but still>, so the hardest part is out of the way. I just have to persevere. And I will! Mark my words<Yes, mark them with indellible marker>.

So, stay with me eh, I would like to know you're out there, but...for the moment, just keep reading, and tell your friends, I am going to be here for awhile. Writing stories more often than not.

 

Charles Petrie

 

 

Take two.

Okay, here I am again, I am not going to write what I was writing before<Canada's results and the sadness about Men's Hockey> and will write about...

Wow, what am I going to write about?

I have no clue. I'm not adding to my story, but I have no clear idea, other than the idea mentioned above.

Sheesh, I'm only here because I didn't want to have back to back non-entry days.

But, this is my blog and if I want to just type injkl;gf;kgjkdjopfjkfo, well, I darn well can. And since there aren't too many people reading this blog<One, maybe two fer sure> I don't have too much concern if I occasionally just blather "pointlessly".

Except, I try to blather a little more interestingly. Ugh, this sucks.

 

Charles Petrie

Shaeg smiled and calmly unleashed his energies again, blasting Klaeb back against the wall. Only this time, he slowly advanced as he kept him in place. "The pressure will mount upon you the closer I get Klaeb. It will not be long before the strain is too much and you lose consciousness. You are done for Klaeb, make your inevitable death less painful and surrender to me now."

Klaeb gritted his teeth and vainly tried to free himself from the mounting pressure that Shaeg was subjecting him to, but try as he might, he could not. Still, to give up now was not on Klaeb's mind. All he could think of was what Shaeg had done to his beloved wife. "Never Shaeg, you violated my wife and I will not stop until you are dead."

"Yes Klaeb, you said that, but really, do you think you are really in any position to follow through on such a ludicrous threat? I have you pinned, and if I wanted to, I could kill you with ease. So admit defeat, and I will kill you painlessly. Continue to resist me, and I will not be so merciful. I will prolong your life, making sure that every moment is naught but agony. Think about it and be reasonable." 

"You haven't won yet Shaeg, I'm still very much alive, as is my world. And as for me being unworthy of you? I have just begun to fight."

"Fool, I have won your woman's heart, and that was won easily, I have gathered my usual followers, as unspectacular as they are, and all that remains is to kill you, a slightly longer task than normal due to Gollus' bungling and the usual slaughter of many of your fellow race. The lucky survivors, well, you know what happens to them. So don't tell me that I have not won."

"You tricked her you mean Shaeg, she would have never left me if not for your interference."

"All's fair in love and war Klaeb. And for such a dowdy looking woman, I will miss our times together, she truly was a pleasure to "trick" Klaeb."

Klaeb's eyes went wide with anger and without a thought to his safety, or any strategy, he ran straight at Shaeg. "I'll kill you now Shaeg, I'll rip you limb from for that. Do you hear me? I'll kill you with my bare hands you heartless monster!"

Klaeb lay there for a second and gathered his wits. Surprised by Shaeg's power. He stood quickly, but shakily on his feet. "Is that your best Shaeg? Really, you'll have to do better than that if you want to stop me."

"Fool, I know I surprised you. You didn't think I would hurt you like I did. So save your bravado, it only makes me angrier."

"And if I stood here, terrified of you, that would make you...happier?"

"The only thing that will make me happier is being finished with your world, so that I might move on to the next. I am weary of you Klaeb, I wish to meet a worthy adversary, clearly you are not."

 

"I may have been weak before Shaeg, but I am not weak now. I am strong, strong enough to defeat you and save the universe from your threat."

"Then you are ready to kill me, if such a thing is even possible anymore? For that is what it will take Klaeb, nothing short of death can stop me."

Klaeb paused and knew that this was his only option. The idea of killing bothered him, even for a monster like Shaeg, but all the lives that had been snuffed, or displaced  screamed out for vengeance. And if he didn't stop him, what of the billions more that would fall to sate his terrible appetite for power? "Yes Shaeg, I will do what must be done to stop you."

Shaeg grinned wickedly. "You can't even say it can you Klaeb? Say it, tell me you will kill me. Say it or you can't possibly do it." And Shaeg stared at Klaeb fearlessly. "Well little man, you can't say it, let alone do it."

Klaeb looked away, not becasue he feared Shaeg, but because he could not bear to see his smugness, it sickened him that such as he was so sure of everything, while he...while he was not. "I don't have to say it Shaeg, it is enough that I do it, so that the universe is not threatened by you anymore."

"Bah, enough of this talk Klaeb, it is time for sport." Shaeg smiled and let loose his unseen enrgies, knocking Klaeb back into the wall. "Sport for me anyway, it will be nothing but torture for you though. I am true power, unlike Gollus and Melaidin. I will not fall before you."

Me

Well, bleak is the word. Come July 1st, if I haven't gotten a full-time job by, oh, Mid May at the latest<Barring calamitous expenditures> I will be broke, have no money and be forced to leave a place I am happy to live at.

Happy eh? But not happy enough to return to a job that would have ensured my staying here for as long as I wanted to. See, it would have been eight months at Dairy Queen, then three months at Calendar Club. And with me having my CV ready for easy updates, and a working printer to print up said up to date "Volumes", I would have had a job waiting for me by January of 2007.

Ah, but I didn't do that. I said I don't want to go back. And with jobs being hard to come by for me<Very>, I don't have much time.

I'm screwed really. It's back...hmm, if they'll take me back.

So, maybe I'm a loser after all, just not wanting that happy success I keep dreaming of.

 

Charles Petrie

Shaeg walked away, fully confident in his own abilities, not fearing Klaeb at all. He had devastated innumerable worlds, and not a single one had posed a challenge to him, what could one man, especially one as previously pathetic as Klaeb truly do to him? "Come out Klaeb, I sense your presence fool. You cannot come upon me in stealth, I am too keenly aware of everything for that. Show yourself and let us end this, I am anxious to have your woman...your former woman, she is all but mine now."

Klaeb appeared, and tied the device to his waist with a sash, a bright red sash of fine material. "You may have taken her away from me Shaeg, but that does not mean I cannot take her back once I have ended your vile threat."

Shaeg smiled and stretched, supressing a yawn as he did so. "Do you honestly beleive that it is as easy as that Klaeb? This power has just become yours young fool, I have been slowly acquiring my power for many years, it is as much a part of me as is...the stink of the ordinary is on you."

But Klaeb did not back down, he was not afraid of Shaeg. "Better that than the stink of hatred and death."

Shaeg bowed. "I admire your lack of fear Klaeb, but that will not help you, nor will it help save your insignificant life. In fact, it will only drive me to make your death more of an agony than it would have been before. Defiance of who you are has its price."

"What? I am just a loser, and can never be more? This is my day Shaeg, I will stop you and take back what you stole from me...what you stole from her."

"Actually, yes. There will always be the weak and the strong Klaeb. You are weak, and I am strong. It is an unmuteable fact."

It was completely foolish of him, and in the back of his mind, he knew it, but still, his anger flared up and he stood there. "Dread Master, I demand that you allow me to face him once more, I don't care how powerful he may be, I will not allow his beating me down to stand. I must face him again and stop him myself."

"Hah, hah, hah!" Shaeg reared his head back and laughed cruelly. "What? You dare demand anything now you pitiful fool?" He stopped laughing then and raised his hand, with his palm facing inward. But with a wave of his arm, he unleashed unseen enrgies which flung Gollus through the wall. He flew towards Gollus' prostrate form and hovered there. "I demand and you comply, that is the nature of our relationship Gollus. You would be wise to remember that in the future, once you have recovered from your discipline. I do not need your help to put down this fool that your careless lust made possible."

Humbled anew, Gollus spoke quietly. "No Master Shaeg, I know you don't, I only wished to have the chance to stop him myself. To live with the knowledge that he defeated me is unbearable."

Shaeg gestured and Gollus was lifted roughly from amongst the rubble of the wall outside "Gaiel's" office. "Consider yourself fortunate that I am a generous master Gollus, otherwise you would be dead now for your utter failure. Do not test my patience further."

And having no further need to converse with him, but quite happy to demonstrate his displeasure once more, he flung him down the corridor and unleashed another blast of his unseen energies. Not enough to kill, but enough to serve as another important reminder of his power. Dumb lackeys never had enough lessons as far as he was concerned.

 

 

"Dread Master Shaeg." And Mighty Gollus trembled noticeably, fearing what he knew was to come as he told Shaeg of his failure. And he knew it was his failure, not Melaidin's. And that is why he was there without her, ready to face Shaeg's discipline alone. "I would speak with you."

"I know that you have failed me Gollus. And that failure will cost you dearly. Klaeb is now powerful because of you. His power matters not, but i will not allow your weakness to go unpunished."

"But how did you know?"

Shaeg rose from his desk and allowed a smile to creep across his face. "Fool, my power dwarves yours. I am aware of so much more than you could ever hope to be aware of. Now leave my sight, I must ready myself for Klaeb. I will save your punishment for after Klaeb's defeat, so that it weighs on you while I destroy him."

 

"I don't need this Gaer, I need to focus. This is my defining moment, so please, whatever you have to say can wait for when I return."

"Must you dismiss her so uncaringly Klaeb? She only wanted to wish you good fortune, You should have accepted it with grace, for it is the graceful man who is best prepared for the troubles of life."

"I don't need grace against Shaeg, I need power, and power is what I have."

"Save your breath father, our hero is what he is, he will not change. I only hope he can be what we need him to be, or we are doomed to this awful shadowy existence."

And the blessings of his ability to see them was a curse here, as he saw their disappointment. But it only bothered him for a minute as his anger flared up again. "I didn't need this, the emotion of a good-bye, certainly not this."

Klaeb looked away from them both, still visibly furious, shaking his head, and clutching the device tightly until he faded from sight.

Gharr hesitated for a moment, not at all liking what he was about to ask Klaeb. "Yes Klaeb, you should go...but..."

Klaeb stared at Gharr, now able to see him, and saw how uncomfortable he was. "What is it Gharr? What is on your mind that can't wait until...until I return in victory?"

"Ah, I cannot hide what my face reveals now can I Klaeb? No, this would have been easier if  had been able to. But it is not, and I must ask you with this..."weakness". My daughter wanted to come and see you before you left. Maybe to wish you good fortune, or perhaps to say good-bye, I am not certain. But she wanted to see you again. I..."

His eyes burned furiously for a second, then he let go of the anger and shook his head no. "Time is too precious now Gharr, I must go, Shaeg has had too much time as it is. Tell your daughter I will see her again after I have ended his vile menace."

Klaeb made ready to leave for his most awful challenge, not willing to discuss it any further with Gharr, who slightly bristled at the ease in which his daughter's feelings were dismissed when Gaer appeared. "You couldn't even wait for me to return? Shaeg is not worried of defeat Klaeb, you need not rush back to meet him in battle."

 

Oh well, if i just up and quit writing, or never bothered to share it, what kind of loss would it be? There are always going to be good writers plying their craft. Better writers than me fer sure. So only a few would miss me.

But no, I am not ready to throw the towel in. Not by a longshot, I'm just too damn stubborn to quit. I'm ready to keep plugging away, as soon as I return to writing my stories. And that will be soonish. Not prepared to say when exactly, because I just don't want to say tomorrow, then return with more of this.

So bear with me.

Hmm, I really need to think of something more filling than this if I'm not going to get back to my story soon. I mean, how enjoyable is this to read?

 

Charles Petrie

 

No title, and maybe no drive to complete this story, after all, here it is my second successive day of no furtherance of the story.

That was a problem I thought I had licked, starting but not finisihing stories, but last year proved a bad one for me as I didn't finish any stories and in fact set aside my first<?> novel series after losing my way on The Squalls Of War. What I expected to be the second of a trilogy, but now realize must be the second of a tetralogy<4 instead of three>. I'm still stuck, but I remain convinced that I will finish all four of them. And then, will get them published, not making me scads of money, but maybe making me a few bucks.

But if I continue this way, well, maybe I need to reconsider things. Maybe I'm just not meant to be the kind of success I imagined being.

 

Charles Petrie

I don't have a title to this, other than just sticking the protagonist's name on it, and well, that doesn't thrill me for this one. I usually come up with a titile rather easily, but nothing is even whispering at me now.

But I am not perturbed. I've got readers who would love to help me out...Oh, wait, no I don't. Do I? Anyone out there who is reading this blog regularly, and had any kind of inclination to help pick a title, I invite you to give it a shot. Why the heck not?

Okay, no one is likely to help me here, but the offer is out there, a challenge if you will to suggest a title that intrigues me. Give it your best shot eh.

Ah, yes. A reward of some sort. That always motivates. To be honest, can't offer much of anything right now. But if you are willing to have some trust and faith in me, I will reward you by the by if you suggest a suitable title.

Take me up on my offer if you want, in any event, I can probably come up with a better title than you anyway.

Prove me wrong at octobercharles@aol.com

 

Charles Petrie 

His training, with his full acceptance of Gharr, proved to be as natural as breathing, thus it was done that very day, greatly pleasing Gharr, who saw light at the end of the tunnel, for all of them. "We can offer you no more help Klaeb, the rest is up to you."

"Thank you for what you have done Gharr. It may be utter foolishness to think so, but I feel ready to take him on, and triumph."

"Do not lose sight of that optimism Klaeb, cling to it tightly...as you would a wife or a lover."

Klaeb looked away, such a suggestion hurt him, but it also had to hurt Gharr, as he could not do that either. "Yes Gharr, I will not rest until you can do that yourself."

"Do not bother to promise what is yet close to doing. Focus on stopping Shaeg, the rest is for another day."

Klaeb nodded. "Of course Gharr. Then I should return, there is nothing to be gained by waiting any longer."

"Don't talk to me like that Gharr, I demand your respect. You owe me that much."

"Do I Klaeb? Than act like you deserve my respect and stop resisting me. Your training will be so much easier if you do."

"I told you to respect me Gharr, why won't you do that?" And he snapped again, turning his gaze to the ice cold water below and focusing on it, making it churn violently. "You think I can't control this water Gharr? I can control it as easily as you float there, looking down on me, certain that you are better than me. But you're not. In fact, you're all wet Gharr." And he gestured angrily, sending a wave of the ice cold water right through him. "You won't be so quick to doubt my control now, will you?"

"And just what did that useless display of anger prove Klaeb?"

"For one thing, it proved I can see you now, and for another, it was the perfect way to cool off. I'm ready to stop resisting you now Gharr." He smiled and sunk back into the the ice cold water without another word.

 

Klaeb lay in a cold dark pool, unused since they had been cast off of their own world, it was dirty, but he didn't care about that, the training was far more important than whether or not the water was sparkling clean. The owners would be glad to clean it once they were back. Too much confidence? Perhaps, but better that than absolute fear about facing Shaeg.

"Klaeb, focus, please. Your mind is wandering. There is not much training that we can offer you, but what little we do have to offer is vitally important, so concentrate on the task at hand."

"I know, but it is hard to concentrate when the water is so cold. Couldn't we do this in a warmer pool?"

"No, we can't. But Klaeb, if you cannot handle a simple cold pool of water, how do you expect to handle Shaeg? It is up to you to pass this test, no one else can do it for you."

Klaeb lifted himself out of the pool and hovered in mid-air, letting the water drip as he pointed at a towel and casually lifted it to him with just his thoughts. "I beat Gollus and Melaidin with ease, and that was before I had any training."

Gharr snapped, and shouted at Klaeb. "Don't be a fool, Gollus and Melaidin are as nothing compared to Shaeg. If you think they are, you doomed before you start. And so are we. And I do not want my daughter to "live" like this."

A look of horror flashed across both Gollus' and Melaidin's faces. Such a failure, to let, no worse, be the cause of Klaeb's having power, because they ignored their duty and enjoyed themselves irresponsibly...Shaeg would not forgive that easily. He would make them both pay. And he would do it soon. He had a keen sense of such things, knowing things before others did. It was scary.

"I am sorry my love. I..."

Melaidin scowled at him. "No, don't apologize Gollus, what is done, is done. We will take our punishment as quietly as possible, come what may."

"Oh beloved, this should not have happened, and wouldn't have if I had listened to you."

Mighty Gollus, fearful and sounding like a boy. Klaeb would laugh at the sight of this. But it was no laughing matter for either of them, as Shaeg loathed such blatant failure and punished it decisively.

"It is done, now speak no more of it Gollus. We are both to blame, and will both bear his anger. That is all there is to it.

She was angry, not just at him, but at herself too, and for her wanting him when they should have been doing their duty, there would have been time for love that night.

"No, it will not be simple Klaeb, but it is necessary, and you alone can do this, we cannot stand with you, not because we fear what he will do to us, for there is no more that he can do to us, but because we are powerless to help you in any other way but the passing on of knowledge. Let us all pray that that is enough."

Klaeb smiled sorrowfully. "You have already done more than you could imagine, without your help, I would have died thinking of myself as others thought of me, worthless and pathetic. But I know better now and win or lose, I am a better man for it."

"No! There is no room for losing Klaeb, by all that is holy, you must triumph. His evil musy be stopped while there is still time." The child, so strong and adult in bringing Klaeb back from the brink of his own darkness, gave way to her age. "I want to live again father. So not let him accept defeat."

"Hush my child, it will be alright, Klaeb will stop Shaeg. I have faith in him. Please, return to your mother, and rest."

She paused, as children are wont to, when being sent to bed, but she gave in grudgingly. "As you wish father, but please, don't let him go while I am asleep, I want to see his eyes before he goes. And know what I might for myself."

"Of course my child, he will not leave before then. Now hurry, before mother worries overmuch."

 

Klaeb fell to his knees and his anger dissolved in his tears, as they flowed freely. "Forgive me great elder, blessed child, that was an evil thought and I did consider it." He did not care if his tears made him seem less of a man, he was what he was, and he he knew that it was more what he thought now, than what others thought. He could not control that, he coul only control what he thought, and how he acted. "Teach me please, I must defeat Shaeg before he can devastate my world, as he did yours."

"In truth, there is not much for you to learn Klaeb, but we will teach you what little you need to learn, so that you can put an end to Shaeg, once and for all. And then, you can rescue us from this distant place, restoring us to what is rightfully ours."

"Once and for all." Klaeb knew what he meant and knew it had to be thus, but a little part of him was sad that it was discussed so readily in front of the child. "Yes, it must be thus, but must we discuss it so openly in front of the child?"

"I ceased being a child when Saheg devastated our world and cast us here Klaeb. I never can be that innocent girl again, but I hope to once more step foot on home soil, and live a normal life."

Klaeb smiled, and knew she spoke a truth he hoped never to understand. "As do I child. Pray that I am up to the task at hand and do not fail to reward this trust you have given me."

"You will not Klaeb, Shaeg's end is at hand."

Klaeb grinned ruefully. "If only it was that simple."

 

"You wouldn't dare Klaeb, surely such an evil is not in your heart. I would have sensed it. That is anger talking, and the time for anger has passed. Move beyond the anger so that we might teach you to be ready to face Shaeg's dark powers, and stand a chance at defeating him."

"I will decide what course to take, and if I decide that you have earned this punishment, than you only have yourself to blame. Twice you have rejected me, think about that in the centuries to come." He turned to leave, intent on letting them suffer. "And I'll stop Shaeg on my own, he will not destroy my world as he did yours. You were just too weak, but I am strong."

"Is this how it was for Shaeg, in the beginning of his own march to utter darkness? Scholars do not know, no one knows how he became this dark vile blight on dozens of worlds. But I could imagine that it was much like this, on that dark day, all those years ago."

And the voice of a child, spoken so bravely, in the face of an unending life of empty beingb echoed in Klaeb's heart, breaking through the unreasonable anger. "What?" He turned and pointed an accusing finger at the invisible child. "I am not Shaeg, I could never be Shaeg. I am better than him!"

"Are you Klaeb? You are worse than him if you leave us to suffer this way."

Klaeb turned and glared at the elder. "I didn't cast you out of your own world, he did. Do not blame me for his terrible crime."

"Aye, he did, but you have the power to reverse his dark deed. To not use that power to save us because you are behaving like a child, and not a man makes you the worse criminal in our minds."

"But you are better than Shaeg, I know this Klaeb. I am but  a child, yet I can see that it is just ysill anger that made you say those awful things. It is not too late, you know you want to save us."

Again the innocence of a child pierced his anger. His eyes watered, and he stammered slightly. "I do, I am not like Shaeg at all, i am just tired of people looking down on me, and it seemed like you were too."

"We just needed you to gain past the limits of your incompatability with our device. Now that you have, you can defeat Shaeg, once and for all. Only it will not be easy. And time is of the essence, Shaeg is insatiable. It will not be long before he moves on to another world."

"And surely, if he is not stopped soon, he will become unstoppable, and then, the universe will be his for thetaking."

Though but a child, she had the wisdom of one much older, and Klaeb trembled inwardly at the idea of Shaeg devastating the universe to satisfy his vile heart.

"Yes, anger definitely was the correct choice to get you past the pain, and through the final stage, so that you could indeed be our saviour. We are pleased that you have returned."

Klaeb snapped his head in the direction of the elder's voice. The same elder who he had spoken to before. "You're here then...or were you here all the time? Tell me, I am tired of being played for a fool." And his anger flowed hotter. "I came back to learn how I might save you, and this is how you repay me? Is it?"

The elder spoke calmly, showing no traces of his previous anger. "Yes Klaeb, it is. Your power is derived from one of our own great inventions. But it was not completely compatible with you, and would have failed you quite terribly if you had not found your way back here and gone through the final stage. You are now completely in tune with the power. The time for your anger has passed. Anger will not help you against Shaeg."

"Don't tell me what to do! I am strong now, and no one is going to tell me what to do again!" Anger raced through him, and a dark thought popped into his enraged mind. And it brought a smile to his face. Yes... "The power is mine completely is it? Then perhaps I don't need your help after all, maybe you deserve to stay like this forever."