Anna's Wolves #DFQWBS

My lovely friend Anna Meade is getting married and, in honor of her upcoming nuptials, the Dark Fairy Queen Writerly Bridal Shower was started. This is my contribution.

picture found on Pinterest here

Anna's Wolves
by Rebecca Fyfe
e-book: yes

Anna’s red cloak spilled like blood around her shoulders and against the white lace of her wedding dress. Who would have guessed, even just mere months ago, that she would now be married to the one she had once been so afraid of?

She brushed out her long coppery hair, taking one last look in the mirror to make sure she was ready. He would be coming for her tonight. She stepped outside, closing the front door to her grandmother’s cabin behind her.  Grandmother would have approved of the wedding.

The eerie cry of a wolf sounded in the night, and before she could discern the direction it had come from, another howl answered. Within moments, the night was filled with the sounds of wolves howling. The moonlight cast just enough light for her to see movement in the bushes and trees surrounding her. Still, she waited.

The wolves moved in, stepping into the clearing before her, surrounding her on all sides. Their gazes remained unblinkingly on her.  She looked back at them, straightening her shoulders and showing them she was not afraid. They weren’t a danger to her.

Anna held her hand out and the wolf nearest to her came over and licked her hand, then rubbed his head against it. She ran her hands through his thick, course fur and felt nothing but safe. These were her wolves now.

She felt it when he arrived. He moved silently, but some part of her that would always be attuned to him knew when he moved into the clearing. A deep, inky black, this wolf towered over the others. His muscular form maintained twice the weight and height of the other wolves. Black eyes gazed at her patiently, and, as she gazed back, his form started to twist and blur, contorting into odd angles, parts of him shrinking and other parts elongating, bones breaking and reforming at different angles, until her husband stood before her in place of the wolf.

When she’d first met him, in the forest all of those days ago, she’d been afraid.  He had been in human form, but something inside her sensed the wolf behind his eyes. She had run, and he’d shifted and chased her. She thought she had beaten him to her grandmother’s house, but he had been waiting for her, sitting in the kitchen with her grandmother, sipping tea.

Her grandmother had introduced him to her, had explained all about his shape-shifting. Her grandmother had known the pack for many years, well before Anna’s mother had been born. They brought her meat and she sometimes cooked or mended garments for them.  Her cherry pies were a particular favorite with the pack.

Anna had been startled at first, but as his warm eyes regarded her, she felt something move within her. Later, he had gone outside to chop some wood for her grandmother, and Anna had snuck glances at him while he worked, admiring the grace of his body as his muscles contracted and expanded with each swing.

That had been the beginning for them.

And now, he was hers. And his pack was her pack. And on a night like tonight, with the moon full and the stars out, they would run together for the first time. Anna felt something move inside her again, the way it had when she had first gazed into his warm brown eyes while standing in her grandmother’s kitchen.

This time, she felt other things move within her. He reached out to her and held her in his arms as her body shifted and changed reforming into a copper-colored wolf with fierceness in her eyes. Next, he shifted back into his wolf and they led the pack back into the night, running wild and reveling in their freedom.

Grandmother had known the wolves for a very long time.

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Wedding Toast: May you both have many years together, full of love, blessings, magic, joy, and miracles.

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"Spooky Enchantment" - My Spooky Flash Fiction Story for Spooktoberfest

  Jackie @ Bouquet of Books and Dani @ Entertaining Interests wanted to find a way to celebrate the spookiest holiday of the year in style.

And so SPOOKTOBERFEST was born!

Come one come all to the biggest creepfest around. Where cobwebs tickle your nose, cauldrons are a brewin', jack-o-lanterns light the way, and ghosts go bump in the night. Oh yeah, watch out for the razor blades!

Requirements of the story:

Your Flash Fiction piece cannot be any longer than 300 words. You must use the MANDATORY 5 words listed below…
            cobweb(s)
            jack-o-lantern(s)
            ghost(s)
            cauldron(s)
            razor(s)
Post your Flash Fiction piece any day from Friday Oct 26^th thru Monday, Oct. 29^th.
Your flash fiction piece can be scary, comical, romantic, or whatever you choose, just be creative!

The winners will be posted on HALLOWEEN! That’s right, Wednesday, Oct. 31^st. Jackie and Dani will each choose a winner. That’s right – two winners!

PRIZES: A grab bag and candy. The winners will get the biggest bags we can find of their favorite candy along with some spookified items.

So here is my entry:

Spooky Enchantment 

As she walked through the front door, Sarah wondered why she allowed Janie and Cameron to talk her into this. This big empty house had always creeped her out.  She shivered at how cold it was in the house. Cobwebs drifted across her face and she spent a few minutes trying to wipe their tickly threads away. Yuck!

A noise came from the room to her left, like soft chanting. She wanted to run back out the door, but she could almost hear the teasing and laughter she’d get from Janie and Cameron if she did. So instead of doing the smart thing and getting out, she crept fearfully into the room to face the strange chanting.

The scene she came across was not what she expected. Two little girls sat around a cauldron. Rats, skulls and a leering jack-o-lantern surrounded them. The older of the two girls lifted a razor and made a small cut in her fingertip, dripping two drops of blood into the cauldron.

Sarah could only stand and gape in wonder at what she was witnessing. A luminescent purple glow formed as smoke drifted out of the cauldron like a ghost lifting into the air. Shiny white particles seemed to dance in the air above it for a moment, shimmering like stars. Shapes began to form and before her eyes, Sarah watched as tiny, glimmering fairies danced in the air above the cauldron.

The smallest of the two girls giggled with child-like glee as the fairies flittered around the room and then exited the window. The two girls slowly faded from her sight, and Sarah decided to move again. She turned and ran back outside, hoping her world would return to normal once she had abandoned the crazy house.

293 words


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"Snow Dancer" - Flash Fiction Story for "Behind the Curtain" #behindthecurtain

                                                Source: faveprettythings.blogspot.com via Anna on Pinterest

Anna Meade from Yearning for Wonderland is at it again with yet another flash fiction contest. This one is called "Behind the Curtain" and has a Behind the Curtain Pinterest board for inspiration. The catch is that the entry deadline for the story is TONIGHT! And I only just heard about the story. The story can have as many as 400 words. Our stories were meant to have a darker edge to them this time around, but I have never been very good at writing dark stories. Here is my entry:

Snow Dancer

She appeared again. Every time I glimpsed her, she was dancing. She only danced in the snow. It was as if the sparkling, crystalline snowflakes drew her out into the cold, crisp air, beckoning her to move within it. And each time I caught a glimpse of her through my window, the dance’s magnetism grabbed me and pulled me nearer. My breath frosted the window as I watched her, but I couldn’t look away. I’d even tuck my long hair behind my ears, so that it wouldn’t get in the way of watching her.

I don’t know what it was about her dancing that called to me. Maybe it was her freedom. She twirled and leapt with elegance and energy, but she also moved with abandon, as if she didn’t care who watched; she danced for herself, for the sheer joy of dancing. I longed to feel that sense of freedom, of abandon.

Every time I watched her, it was the same; I’d feel a gentle burn inside, a sudden need to go out there and dance too. What magic was this? What spell tugged at my soul so strongly every time I witnessed the dancing?

I was not brave enough to go out there and pirouette through the snowflakes with her. I worried about who would see me. I worried that I would not be graceful or elegant, that I wouldn’t have her grace or her beauty. It would be better for me if I could stop watching her, just ignore the call of her dance.

Yet I watched. Every time she appeared, I gazed out that window and felt the pull, the need to ignore my fears and just dance.

I had never glimpsed her face, as her movements were so that her copper-colored hair that was so like mine always shielded her face. Today was different. She started dancing just before the sky began darkening in that in-between time of twilight and continued her graceful movements as daylight faded. And as the moonlight filled the night sky, its light making the snow glisten as if it held a thousand stars, she stopped to face me and smiled, joy lighting her face.

And just before she faded out of sight in a swirl of the magic I had never allowed myself to believe in, I saw my own face out there, looking back at me.

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The Next Big Thing Blog Hop

My friend Jo Michaels has invited me to  The Next Big Thing blog hop. she was tagged by Bridgette O'Hare and the blog hop was started by Robert Chute.


Ten Interview Questions for The Next Big Thing:

(This is just a temporary book cover, made for fun using an image of one of my daughter's that my husband created. He creates beautiful fairy photo manipulations on for his business Fairy Magic Photos.)

What is the working title of your book?

"Come Dance With Us" or "The Faeries' Dance" - I haven't decided yet. Feel free to let me know which you prefer or to give alternate suggestions.


Where did the idea come from for the book?


I entered a challenge to write a flash fiction piece with a fairy theme to it called the Fairy Ring Writing Contest. I liked my story enough to expand upon it. It's still a work-in-progress and I have not written any sort of guiding outline for this one, so the story is leading me rather than the other way around.


What genre does your book fall under?

fantasy/paranormal

Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition?


I do not have a clue who I would have play the parts. I don't have any favorites when it comes to actors or actresses. I would just like whomever played the part the best to be chosen for it. I think it would be fun to find someone completely new and unknown to play the main role.


What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?

I have no clue yet where this story is heading, and it is still in the early stages. This makes writing a one sentence synopsis difficult. I'll give it a try though.

Kara loses time when the fairies steal her away for a night of dancing and revelry, but when she finds her way back, the fairies don't want to let her go.

Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?


I haven't decided yet.


How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript?


As it isn't done, I can't answer that. I can say that I write the first 500 words in less than an hour and went on to write the next scene in another hour. I am just finding time to write a scene here and there, in between my other writing projects. I hope I will find enough time to finish the first draft by December.


What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?


Honestly, any book that deals with other worlds within our own, with magical creatures and with fairies in particular. I read so many novels in this genre that I often forget the titles of the stories I have read. I'll have to come back to this question at a later time. I'd love some suggestions of books with this kind of theme to them. I write the stories I enjoy reading, so any books with a similar theme will appeal to me.


Who or What inspired you to write this book?

As I mentioned in the above question of where the idea for this book came from, I entered a writing contest. The theme was fairies, and I sat down to write a story having no idea what to write. After staring at the blank page for a few minutes I started to write. This story is what came from my mind at the time.


What else about your book might pique the reader’s interest?

I plan on weaving actual myths and legends within the main storyline but with my own twists on them. There will be some completely new magical creatures too, complete with their own mythos.



I am told that I am the end of the blog hop as it ends tomorrow and I only got invited to it today. I will assume this means I am not supposed to invite 5 more people to the blog hop. However, if anyone else wants to join in and can get their post up by tomorrow, let me know and I'll add your name below. you just need to link to the above linked people and, of course, to me.


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Once Upon A Time: A Collection of Unexpected Fairytales

Once Upon A time: A Collection of Unexpected Fairytales, collected by S. J. I. Holliday and edited by Anna Meade, is finally available for purchase! My husband Robert's story and my story are both included in this collection of flash fiction fairytales.  It includes 89 fairytales that are each 350 words or less, and I can't wait to get my copy!


I am told that the proceeds will be going to a charity. I will update here as soon as I find out which one.


Doesn't this cover look great?




These flash fiction fairytales are a great way to add some magic to your day in small increments of time. Each one is a quick and easy read, great for reading while waiting for an appointment or while sitting on a bus. Actually, they are great to read whenever you have small snippets of time. As a busy mom to small children, I like flash fiction stories because I actually have time to read one or two before being interrupted by one of the children.

And I must admit, I love having my story published!


Here's where you can buy your copy of it in paperback:



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Lise & Nat: The Sun & the Night - a flash fiction story for the Forbidden Love Blog Hop

This is written for the Forbidden Love Blog Hop. This flash fiction challenge is stated as:

The phrase 'star-crossed lovers' was coined in the prologue of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet:

"From forth the fatal loins of these two foes,
A pair of star-cross'd lovers take their life"

We're leaving the term open to interpretation.

You can put your own spin on a classic story

Create a modern retelling

Craft your very own modern star-crossed lovers.

Plus, you can close your story with any ending you like. Give your lovers a set of matching tombstones or a running chance at Happily Ever After. Their fate is in your hands!

It has to be 300 words or less.

Lyse & Nat:
A Story of a Forbidden Love Between a Fairy of the Sun & a Creature of the Night

300 words

Lise was a child of the Sun.  Its warmth and radiance favored her species of fairy, and she reveled in its light. One day, she was so engrossed in dancing and playing that the night fell upon her before she even realized it was getting late. Startled by the darkness creeping up and weakened from the lack of the Sun’s rays, she turned for home but found her way blocked.

A tall figure stood before her. His skin was pale and his eyes were dark. He wore all black, shrouding himself in a cloak of shadows. He smiled at her and she stared at the fangs peeking out from his smile.

She knew about vampires. Just as her fae kind could enchant and ensnare humans, these blood-drinking dark counterparts could also capture human minds through enchantment. Lise tried to move past the vampire, but tripped on a stone and stumbled.

His strong arms caught her, keeping her from falling. She lifted her gaze to his. Instantly, they were both ensnared in each other’s enchanted gazes. They kissed and sat speaking for hours. Lise learned that the vampire’s name was Nat. Nat learned that Lise loved to dance. They soon fell in love.

Before long, the Sun began to rise and Lise realized that her  beloved Nat was suffering. He could not live in her sun-filled world and she, a creature of the Sun, could not live in his eternal night. She cried out to her beloved Sun to help her but the Sun refused.

The spirit of the Forest heard her pleas and took pity on her. The Forest transformed Lise and Nat into oak trees, with their roots and branches forever entwined.  They would be together forever as trees, nourished by the sunlight yet never harmed by the night.

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A Siren's Tears - a flash fiction story for the Forbidden Love blog hop

This is written for the Forbidden Love Blog Hop. This flash fiction challenge is stated as:

The phrase 'star-crossed lovers' was coined in the prologue of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet:

"From forth the fatal loins of these two foes,
A pair of star-cross'd lovers take their life"

We're leaving the term open to interpretation.

You can put your own spin on a classic story

Create a modern retelling

Craft your very own modern star-crossed lovers.

Plus, you can close your story with any ending you like. Give your lovers a set of matching tombstones or a running chance at Happily Ever After. Their fate is in your hands!

It has to be 300 words or less.

The Siren’s Tears

295 words

Princess Lenora often ventured near the ocean’s surface, rescuing sea creatures from fishing nets. One day fate intervened by placing him in her path. She had been tearing a fishing net apart, freeing the fish that were caught, when the net started rising to the surface.

She followed, completing her rescue just as she crested the surface of the ocean and that’s when she saw him.  He was one of the fishermen. His skin was bronzed from the sun and he had dark hair that fell loosely across his face, framing his warm brown eyes.

He didn’t move or call to the others, though, by the way he was staring, it was clear he could see her. She felt a strange warmth enter her heart and felt almost as if her heart would burst with the sudden feelings that filled it for this man before her.

She knew they were meant to be together, and, before she could even think about what she was doing, she began to sing. It was one of the old songs, one that had never been taught to her but had come to her now instinctually.

Unable to resist her charmed singing, her beautiful man climbed overboard, leaping from his tiny fishing vessel and into the water. She took him in her arms and, grabbing his hand, she led him below the surface. After a short while, she felt his grip in her hand go slack. She stopped swimming and turned to him.

His eyes stared unseeing into the distance. His breath had stopped moments ago and his heart had stopped beating along with it. Princess Lenora wept in sorrow at the loss of her love, and as her heart broke into pieces, she joined him in his watery death.

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Wood Sprite - a flash fiction entry to The Faerytaleish Pinterest Contest

I entered another flash fiction contest. This one is by Anna Meade from Yearning for Wonderland. Anna has some "fairytaleish" pins and the challenge for this contest is to write a short story inspired by one of the Faerytaleish pins (300 words or less) and post in on my blog.

Here is the picture I chose to write a story for, originally pinned by Heather Sutherlin.



 

Wood  Sprite

The cold seeped into my bones, making my teeth chatter. I pulled my coat tighter around me and continued to walk. My campsite was around here somewhere. I had just intended to take a short, refreshing walk through the woods, but I must have traveled further than I meant to as I was having difficulty finding my way back. I wasn’t worried though. I knew if I kept walking in this general direction, I’d find the campsite again.

A movement to my right caught my eye. Something on the tree had moved. I stepped closer to get a better look. At first, I thought the tiny wooden stick with leaves on it that twitched slightly as I neared was just one of those stick insects I’d seen on a nature program once.

But then a tiny little face turned towards me, with eyes that sparked with intelligence, and I realized that I was very wrong. It had a vaguely humanoid body and tiny leaf-like wings. I somehow knew it was female. Her eyes were almond-shaped. I could hear a faint hum coming from her; it had a musical quality to it, a haunting but unfamiliar melody that felt as though it was moving through me.

When her face turned towards me, I looked into her eyes and I couldn’t look away.  Thoughts and images poured into my brain as if being projected there; the life and vibrancy of the forest around me filled me with warmth and knowledge. I was filled with purpose and knew that this forest and all of the life in it had to be protected.

She flew away, but her message stayed with me. I knew that my brief encounter with this magical creature had forever altered and expanded my view of the world.

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Mother Lioness - a flash fiction story for National Flash Fiction Day

I write a quick flash fiction story in honor of National Flash Fiction Day. The original story was 784 words long, but I was attempting to write a 500 word flash fiction story so I cut it down to 502 words.

My powers came to me very suddenly.

I took my three kids with me to the park while walking the dog for his evening walk. After a few minutes, Jasper, our collie, stopped suddenly, his body completely still as he stared forward at something I couldn’t see. The fur on his back slowly started to rise until it stood straight up and a low growl emanated from him. The kids didn’t notice any of this and skipped right past us, unaware anything was wrong.

That was the first time Jasper spoke to me, although I didn’t realize it was him at the time.

“Danger!” a decidedly male voice shouted in my head, and I instinctually heeded it.

“Katie, Callum, Jenny, get back here!” I shouted as I ran towards them. I didn’t know what the danger was, only that there was something dangerous ahead.

As I got close enough to my children to pull them close to me, three men came around the corner. Their eyes were deep red. Their skin was pale and I definitely glimpsed fangs on one of them. Of course, back then, I thought vampires were just fictional characters in books, so I had no idea what I was actually looking at. I didn’t need to know what they were to sense that they were dangerous.

Jasper was standing beside us, hackles raised, that low menacing growl still emanating from him, and I heard again, “Dangerous! Must protect!” (Dogs think in very simple terms.)

The vampires were looking at my children hungrily and moving towards us purposefully. That’s when my first shapeshifting occurred. The shapeshifting was almost seamless. One minute, I was noticing claws sprouting from my fingers and the next I was on all four, covered in fur, feeling powerful and very angry.

I pounced on the vampire closest to me, and with one bite, I crushed his skull. He disintegrated then and there.  I kept my cubs, I mean, my kids behind me and used a paw to strike out at one of the remaining  two vampires. I was pretty powerful in lioness form, judging by the five feet I knocked him back.

Jasper was biting the leg of the other vampire, shouting, “Kill! Kill!” I told him to let go, and he did. The two vampires immediately took the reprieve to get up and run away. My animal instinct made me desperately want to chase them, but I had my kids to protect so I stayed where I was.

My children were excited, having seen my transformation and stroked my back all the way home. We probably got some strange stares from people on that walk home, three kids and a dog walking beside a lion. Once home, I changed back into myself.

I thought that this was my new reality and accepted it. But then one day Katy, my oldest, turned herself into a cat right in front of me and I knew that we were all in for a crazy adventure.

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Princess Parade Flash Fiction Contest

I'm running a little contest on one of my other blogs, Princess Parade.  It is the Princess Parade Flash Fiction Contest. There is a prize for 1st place, bought and sent by me. It's in protest against some of the drivel published as stories about princesses for little girls. It can be written for adults or kids but needs to be family-friendly. Find out more about it and the details of submitting over here.

Don't you want the chance to write something that paints its female protagonist as stong, confident and ready to take on the world?

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The Faeries' Dance

I was reading from some friends and found out that my friend Tonya submitted an entry to a writing contest. About Fairies. Some of you know that I also have a blog that is all about fairies. I just couldn't pass this flash Fiction writing contest up! So I’m posting it here as my entry to The Fairy Ring Writing Contest. (You can read Tonya's entry here.)

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The moonlight filtered through the trees to my right as I walked along the well-worn path. I loved walking here at night.  This park was more natural than some of the over-cultivated parks closer to my home, and I preferred it to them. It was quieter her too.  Leaves crunched under my feet and a cool breeze lifted my hair gently. I shivered, but it wasn’t because I was cold. I just had an odd feeling settle in the pit of my stomach, like something wasn’t quite right in the air around me.

That’s when I heard the laughter. It was carried on the breeze and just barely tickled my ear with its gleeful sound. It sounded like children were playing on a distant playground, but I knew it was too late for children to be out. My steps faltered. I suddenly wondered if it was safe to be out alone tonight.

But the soft laughter continued to tickle my ears and then I saw the lights. There must have been dozens of them, in every color imaginable. They floated in the air towards me and began to swirl around me, making me almost dizzy as I tried to focus on them. The lights grew and expanded and soon I could see shapes taking form within them. In moments, I was surrounded by dozens of dancing men and women. They all had a faint glow about them and wispy glittery wings on their backs.

They were beautiful and graceful and I felt myself pulled with a wild abandon into their dance. I felt like I could dance forever. The dancing was sensual and energetic and I could feel the movements singing through my veins as if I was catching fire from the inside out. I woke on the forest floor.

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word count: 300 words

I must admit that I struggled a little with keeping my entry to 300 words. You can read my first, slightly longer draft here.

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