tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17040756.post2770785990334040030..comments2024-03-29T07:29:32.276-04:00Comments on Janet Reid, Literary Agent: Get Well Soon Writing ContestJanet Reidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00615380335938685231noreply@blogger.comBlogger96125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17040756.post-44961392087524202002014-06-28T20:47:18.482-04:002014-06-28T20:47:18.482-04:00“You’re gonna’ catch a nasty virus, lettin’ that d...“You’re gonna’ catch a nasty virus, lettin’ that devil dog kiss your mouth.” My grandmother’s wisdom, based on old wives’ tales, both comforted and amused me.<br /><br />“Granny, everybody knows a dog’s mouth is cleaner than a human’s.” The speckled hound fought the monotonous delta heat by rolling in the dirt before flipping over. His blush-pink belly begged for a scratching. I answered his calling like a child to a piper. My fingers drew tight circles on his warm skin. “Why did Mama leave Mississippi?”<br /><br />“She got caught kissin’ the wrong dog. Now, go wash that dog off you. It’s suppertime.”<br />TINAhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06836014779536885283noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17040756.post-17148063588348496832014-06-28T20:45:55.898-04:002014-06-28T20:45:55.898-04:00I’m not evil. Well, I cheated at Monopoly once, bu...I’m not evil. Well, I cheated at Monopoly once, but I lost so I don’t think that counts. I certainly don’t deserve to be locked up, feared and avoided like a virus. I’m unique, just like everyone else. Yes, I was the only one who was naked. But he was the only guy wearing a skirt. I wanted to be like him without stealing his individuality, so I stripped off my tailored suit and saluted the bagpiper. He didn’t even blush until the secret service frisked me.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17040756.post-57987860706531382932014-06-28T20:40:16.332-04:002014-06-28T20:40:16.332-04:00There stood what I thought to be my kid brother, b...There stood what I thought to be my kid brother, but that was impossible, He was sick in bed with mono, right?<br />Yet right there were the bloodshot eyes and pale face that appeared when the virus hit. He was foaming at the mouth with the blush red blood from the expired body laying only inches from Michael’s lifeless face. This was when I realized he was truly evil and I would have to kill him to protect my family and myself. This was not my brother any longer and it was time to pay the piper. <br />Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03784766222355729288noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17040756.post-16737127888477038602014-06-28T20:38:39.374-04:002014-06-28T20:38:39.374-04:00If this was a story, I would be the bagpiper, capa...If this was a story, I would be the bagpiper, capable of controlling everyone through music. <br />But this not something one tells another to pass the time. <br />This is reality. And I’m much worse.<br />I am the presence that everyone fears. <br />But you may call me the Puppeteer. <br />I pull the strings of your every action.<br />Even devil himself wishes he were me. <br />Watch as I monopolize my hosts with my power.<br />~~~~~~~~~~~~<br />"Achoo!!" Lindsey shouted, a blush creeping upon her face.<br />“Bless, you. Are you catching a cold?”<br />“Doubt it.” <br />~~~~~~~~~~~~<br />Time to inflict my virus onto the next.Nicole Paynehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16587996594690217267noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17040756.post-82792451337354686082014-06-28T20:26:47.274-04:002014-06-28T20:26:47.274-04:00Sandy witnessed her husband’s inimitable handiwork...Sandy witnessed her husband’s inimitable handiwork for the private conglomerate many times before, but she hadn’t prepared for this display of maniacal jubilation. When she entered the garage, Jerry stood reflectively in his knee-high black socks and a red satin kimono embellished with sandpipers. Oblivious to her presence, he resumed hacking his assigned target into bits with the zeal of Norman Bates suffering a demonic possession.<br /> <br />Jerry finished, turned, and spied his spouse. After first blushing, a devilish grin revealed as he asked, “So, what’d you think?<br /> <br />“I don’t… uh.”<br /> <br />“Relax; it’s just a day’s work for an antivirus programmer.” <br />Steven D.https://www.blogger.com/profile/07376948819582291041noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17040756.post-26026691840305482092014-06-28T20:16:53.576-04:002014-06-28T20:16:53.576-04:00I need to get the hell out of here, fast. My cont...I need to get the hell out of here, fast. My contemptuous relationship with the bride’s father makes my presence, shall we say, undesirable. The man’s hate for me runs deep. <br /><br />“All rise,” says a clergyman in a proper monotone. The congregation obeys, boxing me in.<br /><br />That’s when I lock eyes with the blushing bride. A bagpiper’s demonic tune escorts her and her father down the aisle straight for me. Her blood red dress and desolate black fingernails perfectly match her devilish grin. She whispers something to him. Fear rips through my insides like a virus. This is it.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15807617530239179522noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17040756.post-56671225555425899792014-06-28T19:43:06.263-04:002014-06-28T19:43:06.263-04:00I moved into the quiet little farmhouse when hay s...I moved into the quiet little farmhouse when hay stalks whiskered up through the snow. Next door, as part of the old farm, a weathered barn stood testament to the past. <br />It was a perfect place to rest and recover from the world’s first monogenic virus. An answer to evil, some said, causing fatigue, ferocity and sensitivity to sound.<br />As the blush of spring awakened hope, the barn filled, not with newborn livestock but with practicing bagpipers thinking it was remote enough as to not draw ire. <br />During Amazing Grace I set the barn ablaze and went back to bed. <br />Carolynnwith2Nshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18394998702410764388noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17040756.post-80523365303939856162014-06-28T19:39:32.816-04:002014-06-28T19:39:32.816-04:00The blush faded from her cheeks as she stared at m...The blush faded from her cheeks as she stared at me through her monocle. "I know what people are saying. But I didn't catch anything from the piper."<br /><br />The man in question had died from a virus so evil it disfigured its victims in a matter of hours.<br /><br />I reached for my twin sister's hand. "Then how did you become infected? I was the one who gave him what he deserved. And I was careful."<br /><br />"I guess I wasn't." Her features contorted, causing spittle to fly from her ravaged lips.<br /><br />"You mean?"<br /><br />"Yes," she whispered. "I think we overpaid him."Just Janhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12546035917149403735noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17040756.post-8990445468086973472014-06-28T19:31:19.053-04:002014-06-28T19:31:19.053-04:00The monofilament lines of a dew-covered spider web...The monofilament lines of a dew-covered spider web are evil only to the fly. To everyone else, they are exquisite. That’s what photography can do, he thinks: transform darkness to reveal its light. <br><br /><i>The shutter clicks, capturing the fevered blush on her smooth cheek. </i><br><br />Deadly viruses can be magnified to expose the truth of their mathematical magnificence. <br><br /><i>She is rousing, one small hand clenching into a protesting fist.</i><br> <br />He understands himself not as a predator, but as one who unearths hidden beauty. <br><br /><i>The Pied Piper killer has time for three last shots—his favorites—before the screams grow too loud.</i>Kastiehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17873852607471875896noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17040756.post-16772815112088696362014-06-28T19:27:42.790-04:002014-06-28T19:27:42.790-04:00It's always disappointing. Those little future...It's always disappointing. Those little future-diabetics at birthday parties are always going to scream when I refuse to do that Criss Angel, levitation bullshit. <br /><br />When I told my boyfriend what I did, he asked if I was a weirdo. Like a mono-browed-goon-jerking-off-in-the-basement-with-elf-ears weirdo. I said no, I do card-manipulation. I smiled. I'm in the women-wriggling-their-panties-off-like-they've-caught-a-virus business. I had him blushing and panty-less an hour later, so I suppose this pied piper business works both sides.<br /><br />Getting a livable wage is a different story. <i>That</i> takes sleight-of-hand and at today's party, it took a Gucci watch with my fifty dollar check.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16087045908855648699noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17040756.post-36356076506538342222014-06-28T18:52:26.426-04:002014-06-28T18:52:26.426-04:00“Sad, the poor devil didn’t get the antivirus in t...“Sad, the poor devil didn’t get the antivirus in time,” Brigadier Scott said. He adjusted his monocle and looked around. “Still, you escaped, so the world remains a beautiful place.” Katherine blushed, and wished she hadn’t. Her tears hadn’t yet dried on her cheeks.<br />“Thank you, sir,” she said. “We’ll not see his like again, I’d wager. We haven’t won yet, either. Some virus is still loose in the wild.<br />He turned to watch the piper in the corner playing the coffin out with Flowers of the Forest, so he didn’t notice Katharine empty the vial into his drink.<br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17040756.post-66232212045144157412014-06-28T18:47:48.532-04:002014-06-28T18:47:48.532-04:00My instant message window flashed. "It's ...My instant message window flashed. "It's ready." <br /><br />I immediately logged into the system to confirm delivery. The code awaited there, small and insidious, fresh from Romania. It was a beautiful virus that hid in the headers of a .jpg, an invisible devil to lurk in every family photo. When executed, it would slowly monopolize system resources to crunch my bitcoin payloads. Instant wealth.<br /><br />With a click, I deployed it into the wild and popped some benzylpiperazine to celebrate. The drug was stealing over me like a blush when another message shimmered on my screen.<br /><br />"Put your hands up, Mr. Aunicz."Laurahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09207524668989240029noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17040756.post-30585649807584962412014-06-28T18:47:35.342-04:002014-06-28T18:47:35.342-04:00*Disclaimer: The following story is fictional and...*Disclaimer: The following story is fictional and does not depict any actual person or event.*<br /><br /><br /><br />I've come to tell you that I'm evil.<br /><br />The first time he struck me like a virus—a punch to the gut.<br /><i>(I'd like to hold his head underwater.)</i><br />The second time knocked the blush right off my cheeks.<br /><i>(I want to burn him alive.)</i><br />By the third...there was no fucking third. With the flash of his monogrammed robe, I acted. A vase to the head, sliver to his throat.<br /><br />Now the piper's calling him home.<br />El El, you can burn in Hell Hell.<br />I'm glad you're fucking dead. <br /><i>(Goddamn right I enjoyed it.)</i><br /><br />Yes I'm evil, most definitely.ashlandhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02648989550852505077noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17040756.post-19817776761740449642014-06-28T18:43:40.582-04:002014-06-28T18:43:40.582-04:00The old man seemed made from bones wrapped in leat...The old man seemed made from bones wrapped in leather as he stooped over his clay pipe. He had greeted the detectives monosyllabically until they mentioned ‘the piper’.<br /><br />“Anything! Anything to help you find those poor children.” He slowly rocked his chair, the aged wood creaking. “Strange night that was, his music like a …" he struggled for words, and the detectives could hear the stroke in his voice, "like a virus! ripping through us! Bedeviled us." <br /><br />His hands began to tremble and he wiped tears from his cheeks. "First blush of dawn was the only thing that drove him off."Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08586314486944288410noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17040756.post-34708268405917825642014-06-28T18:37:17.942-04:002014-06-28T18:37:17.942-04:00“And now she’s laid-up?”
“Any more ‘laid’ she’d b...“And now she’s laid-up?”<br /><br />“Any more ‘laid’ she’d be pregnant with triplets.”<br /><br />“Man that’s evil.”<br /><br />“Was brutal, bro. Hit her like a downtown bus. A virus woulda been kinder.”<br /><br />“That kind of shit leaves more than a blush on your face. And it was Renaldo?”<br /><br />“Damn straight. That boy’s got a monopoly on ‘bad-ass’ and ‘crazy-ass’.”<br /><br />“So how’d this go down?”<br /><br />“The broad’s screamin’ and yellin’ ‘cause Dante commented on her fine ass. Then Dante whispered to Renaldo… Hyper.”<br /><br />“And?”<br /><br />“Renaldo picked up a rusted two-footer and smashed it in her face.”<br /><br />“Why?”<br /><br />“Bro thought the man said, Piper.”<br />Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16664525884851154055noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17040756.post-62496810818337264892014-06-28T18:25:40.099-04:002014-06-28T18:25:40.099-04:00The piper screeched an evil, monophonic howl, loud...The piper screeched an evil, monophonic howl, loud enough to wake the dead and me, two hours into crashing after a forty-eight hour debugging marathon. My anti-virus software used bagpipes to announce it had detected intruders, probably hackers after ILIUM, my current software project. <br /><br />I checked online news sources as the gray dawn blushed into a new day.<br /><br />Bingo.<br /><br />"The Arabian Peninsula's super power grid has collapsed," the anchor intoned. "Utter chaos." "Months to repair."<br /><br />Do I write brilliant code or what?<br /><br />Just not what the thieves had expected.SalThttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14730327880553243729noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17040756.post-20719493617966010992014-06-28T18:08:43.528-04:002014-06-28T18:08:43.528-04:00You think I’m evil. You’re wrong. I’m no different...You think I’m evil. You’re wrong. I’m no different than you. No, I’m better than you. I only want to live, and for my offspring to carry on when I’m gone. You want to kill me, sending your monocytic monsters after me. Your obsession with me makes me blush. I welcome the challenge. I thrive on it because it makes me evolve, improve. Who would have thought, something as simple as sandpipers could carry my offspring, incubate them, spread them? I’m a virus spreading on ocean waves. You are nothing but the host I allow to live.MaeZehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04032794745856301037noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17040756.post-51806164197948622572014-06-28T17:57:41.674-04:002014-06-28T17:57:41.674-04:00The evil virus left Gilbert at a disadvantage: his...The evil virus left Gilbert at a disadvantage: his breathing wet, a plugged ear that delivered the world to him in mono, rendering the operation fuckuppable. But there she was: glasses perched on the end of her nose (itself a bewitchingly pert triangular frustum) heavy-lidded eyes that gave her a remote, nearsighted, subterranean look. Shoes from Zappos, a dress from Piperlime. “I’m Gilbert,” he said, blushing involuntarily. “I’ve been watching you for weeks. That makes me sound creepy, but fun fact: I’m not.” She peered at him. “I totally shouldn’t believe you,” she said. “But I do.”Eric Pfeffingerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00243025409822425177noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17040756.post-26899957450159124492014-06-28T17:44:23.269-04:002014-06-28T17:44:23.269-04:00“Jesus H. Christ. Leading him on like that is pure...“Jesus H. Christ. Leading him on like that is pure evil.”<br /><br />“So what if I get a thrill out of making him blush?” She grabbed a strand of dark, silken hair and wound it around her finger. <br /><br />“I see the way he looks at you.”<br /> <br />“He’s a distraction. I’d rather catch the hantavirus than have him try to monopolize all my time.” <br /><br />“I’m just saying that you might want to be careful. A man like that.”<br /><br />“A man like what?”<br /><br />“Nevermind. If you’re not careful, you’ll end up having to pay the piper someday, and you’re not gonna like it.”<br />saustinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12119313555375972138noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17040756.post-10755696707822283802014-06-28T17:43:22.324-04:002014-06-28T17:43:22.324-04:00"The evil men do lives on..."
Mark Ant..."The evil men do lives on..." <br /><br />Mark Anthony will not deliver that monologue tonight. And you will do no further evil-- you virus, you stain, you slime on this theater's reputation. These many years we have trod the boards. As Caesar, I have fallen a thousand times. Tonight 'tis Brutus shall die. <br /><br />"Et tu, Brute?" <br /><br />You brandish the fake dagger; I drive home the real one. In an instant the blush flees your cheeks; a ghastly piperade of innards spills to the stage. The audience applauds until the stench of blood hits their nostrils. <br />Naomihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10958452663086930405noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17040756.post-36351480827337654562014-06-28T17:33:52.891-04:002014-06-28T17:33:52.891-04:00To work in a blood bank is one thing, but to work ...To work in a blood bank is one thing, but to work there and be called Dracula sends the wrong message. Dracula is the embodiment of evil and I am nothing like that even though a virus had changed my complexion to pale. I had used blush for the interview at the blood bank. A bout of laryngitis had made me sound monotonic - like you know who. So I introduced myself as Drake. My teeth are rather large and my ancestry is Romanian, none of which helped in dispelling the obvious connection people would make. Still, I needed this job which just goes to show that one who pays the piper calls the tune.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09626242944780851167noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17040756.post-74355675441533749042014-06-28T17:28:26.873-04:002014-06-28T17:28:26.873-04:00‘Jack? Look at this.’
He stepped over. Light on h...‘Jack? Look at this.’<br /><br />He stepped over. Light on his feet despite the bulk of his hazmat suit. I felt the habitual pull of longing, and ignored it.<br /><br />Jack leaned over to examine the deep blush that now shaded our patient’s face. The Pied-piper had so long been a legend of evil, it was hard to reconcile with the figure on the bed; diminished by the virus to skeletal weakness.<br /><br />‘Drink. Please.’<br /><br />I poured out half a glass of water. The mono-syllabic queries were the most he could manage in his disease-ridden state. Teach him to hang about with rats.<br />Katherine Haytonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17704577461725998949noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17040756.post-5574554687009545562014-06-28T17:05:07.182-04:002014-06-28T17:05:07.182-04:00I hate bars. But I'm a good bridesmaid.
At 11...I hate bars. But I'm a good bridesmaid.<br /><br />At 11 I was ready to go. At 11:30 another round of shots hit the table. At 11:45 I saw him at the bar, sexy as hell and triggering thoughts sinful enough I blushed hotter than a bagpiper in a windstorm.<br /><br />At 11:57 he saw me. He cocked an eyebrow and gave me a devilish smile, an antivirus for anything good and pure left in me that night.<br /><br />"I think I'll use 'is that a monolith in your pocket?'" I told the girls.<br /><br />It wasn't. Sigh.Manda Zimhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04159886614063810786noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17040756.post-34829692290127449742014-06-28T16:53:26.910-04:002014-06-28T16:53:26.910-04:00evil
virus
mono
blush
piper
Why, I imagine I blu...evil<br />virus<br />mono<br />blush<br />piper <br /><br />Why, I imagine I blushed that first time. Just, laid up with the evil virus, my only distraction from despair and nausea these trips to the bathroom. Oh, what relief what pleasure,and what defense against the rigours of the monovirus. Incredible, the piper, whose hand lives up the u-bend. He strokes my bottom, that day, and ever since.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17040756.post-36589901386645696552014-06-28T16:29:30.055-04:002014-06-28T16:29:30.055-04:00Dr. E. Vile rubbed his hands anticipating the rele...Dr. E. Vile rubbed his hands anticipating the release of his masterpiece on the world. His evil eye locked on the mutating virus he painstakingly coded.<br /><br />"Bwahaha! Once and for all I'll be rid of obnoxious stereophonic systems. No more realistic helicopter sounds vibrating my bones when I watch cartoons. No more thumping base from cars. So what if I have to pay the piper. A calm, monophonic world is worth it!"<br /><br />He pushed the 'send' button. His blush grew to a full-fledged red face when his plan backfired. His computer crashed, shutting down everything electrical in <i>his</i> lab.<br /><br />"Noooooo!"Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16305902443927694589noreply@blogger.com