I’m back in the blogging world again. I’ve been quite busy/tired/distracted for the last few weeks, but I hope to do more blog writing and reading in the future. This story is rather dark, but I meant it to have a glimmer of hope at the end. I hope that is how you take it.
copyright Alastair Forbes
Guardian
“What’s that?” I asked my father, when I was five.
“Our family crest.” His deep voice echoed through the long passageway.
“No, above it.”
“The guardian,” he said, turning quickly and starting to walk away.
“It’s scary.”
“Quiet!” He turned so forcefully on me that I bit back a cry.
From that day on, I never asked again; never told when the thing lurking over our shield began appearing in my dreams.
I tried to take it down as a teenager. My father caught me and beat me. I saw then that he was afraid, and there was fawning obeisance in his touch as he carefully replaced it on the wall.
I did nothing when my mother died, when my sister went insane, when my father drank himself to death, but I felt that dark presence looming more and more over the now quiet house.
The night my younger brother died—falling down the stairs—I tried to smash our precious guardian, but my courage failed and I fled.
A friend once told me that if the devil exists, then God must exist as well.
I hope he is right: my search becomes more and more desperate as I feel the darkness growing around me once more.
The Green-Walled Tower 
October 20th, 2013 at 10:56 pm
Nice and very dark. 🙂
October 20th, 2013 at 11:20 pm
Deep and dark. Nice.
October 21st, 2013 at 1:16 am
I could imagine this making a great horror movie. Scary stuff.
October 21st, 2013 at 1:39 am
Wow, just dark enough to give me chills and make me want to read more at the same time. Awesome
October 21st, 2013 at 2:20 am
Good start to coming back, I’d say! I did see hope at the end…
October 21st, 2013 at 3:44 am
After looking at the picture your story easily draws a reader in…:)
October 21st, 2013 at 4:48 am
This is very clever, intriguing and dark. Well done.
October 21st, 2013 at 1:10 pm
A pin prick of hope there
October 21st, 2013 at 6:15 pm
amazing story David, really eerie, will love it if you give it a full story form!
October 21st, 2013 at 7:59 pm
I’d like to, but I doubt I have the time. We’ll see. 🙂
October 21st, 2013 at 8:31 pm
Terrific write, David, loved it.
October 21st, 2013 at 11:26 pm
With a guardian like this, who needs enemies? A dark story, and I like how you started with the main character as a boy and skipped through years to highlight the evil deeds. The movement felt really smooth, and you nicely left it open at the end, but that growing darkness doesn’t sound so good for him.
October 22nd, 2013 at 4:53 pm
Nobody needs a guardian like that – time for a replacement! A truly sinister account – excellent! Welcome back to the writing world 🙂
October 27th, 2013 at 8:29 am
Now I’m wondering at the history of this family, that such a guardian would be required…
October 27th, 2013 at 9:41 am
In my mind, it was some sort if unholy bargain in the past. It’s a guardian in the same way gangsters provide protection.