The Comic Tales of Brennan and Riz Issue 162 He's got a lot to make up for Don't forget to check out the other issues of the Comic Tales of Brennan and Riz over at my blog: tstpjm.blogspot.com #Comic #riztherogue

My sister’s just leaving when I wake up. “Superwoman was in town last night,” she says. “Saved us all from aliens. You missed it again! Where did you go?” I shrug. “No idea. Must’ve had another #lacuna.” She turns & waves, cloak billowing. I blink. Hang on... I don’t have a sister. #vss365

There’s a gap. It sits by fairyland and the forest. #Lacuna the Fairy lives on a petal nearby and she is sulking. The gap spins out gloom in the gloaming which makes her butter cakes sour. She could move but she’s no quitter. So she sits and she sulks #vss365

‘Huh, the word today is #lacuna.’ ‘Like the beach?’ ‘No, that’s Laguna. It’s like a void where something’s supposed to be. A gap. Now I have to find a way to use it in a story.’ ‘Oh, that sounds easy.’ ‘Really?’ ‘Just write about that space in your head where your brain should be.’ #vss365

#vss365 one leap of logic hurdles the lacuna, lands reader in the dark #lacuna #dark #WritingCommunity

'Well, Gabe, I think after that performance we can safely say you have filled a #lacuna in the harp recital business.' 'Really, Pixie? I am flattered. What sort of lacuna' 'Um... the... strategic listening abstention gap.' 'Gosh... thank you, Pixie... I think.' Giggle. #vss365

The cold night air clings to my skin like spider webs. Confused I look around the #dark and quiet clearing I've found myself in as something moves to my right. I spin around just in time to see a #pale #bony hand disappearing beneath the copse. More things are moving all around me now. #vss365

"Hmm, ya not screamish, are ya Bren?" Riz asked. "Have you ever known me to be screamish in the past 25 years?" "Fair enuff, jus dat I think we're dealin wit a #lacunda worm, da kind dat likes hidin in ya #bone marrow." "Ah..." "Ya lookin #pale dere, Bren!" #vss365 #riztherogue

The #dark kept receipts. Every step Jonah took, it whispered the total. He tried walking backward to get a refund. The forest rang like a broken till. At dawn, he found pockets full of leaves and a note: Paid in full. Don’t come back #vss365

Alone in #darkness Everyone walks over me No one reaching out #haiku #vss365 #riztherogue

As the shadow of dark roots re-appeared, my #dark thoughts would creep back in. I warded them off with a touch-up of bleach. But my roots are turning silver now. And the thoughts are changing. The silver whispers magical ideas. I cancel the appointment. Let it grow. #vss365

"Oh look, da monster we want is hidin in da #dark cave, real fukin original!" Riz said. "A monster that turns people into marshmallows by sneezing on them though? That's got to count for something," I argued. "Wake me up wen it's farting gold instead." #vss365 #riztherogue

'Gabe! GABE! Wake up. I hear chompy, slurpy noises downstairs & there's no way I'm investigating on my own in the #dark! Gabe? Why aren't you answering... Gasp. He's gone. Wait - those noises - no. Noooo. That haloed traitor is midnight-snacking my brownies.' #vss365

"These may seem like #dark times - and they are - but eventually the darkness ends and we get to spill the blood of the perpetrators in a massive orgy of violence." "Uh..." "We'll have T-shirts made to commemorate the event." #vss365

Venture into a #dark Corner to see what being I ought to be as a Denture strikes the fan and Cracks the ceiling until Carpets of stars twinkle #vss365

Sinking deeper down, I see the light fade from your eyes. I lose you to the #dark depths, a place I know so well. We share the same #wounds, the self inflicted #pain. I know my voice won't reach you. For I am trapped here as well. Digging. Down. Deeper. #vss365 #poetry

In a world draped in shadows so deep, Lies a tale that will haunt us in sleep. #Dark secrets unveiled, Where innocence railed, In a web that the wicked would keep. #vss365

Arthur sensed Neville’s hand on his. He didn’t know when Neville had #touched him, but now he felt its warmth. It was strange yet good. The heat of Neville’s skin spread up his arm towards his chest. He gulped. It wasn’t only the danger of the war that made him speak about his dad #vss365

held close to the hidden frame at the mercy of what has been & what insists now her #bones set firm as she walks straight into the stubborn genesis where the ordinary tilts & reveals a second depth her pilgrim’s eyes carrying a cargo of the full moon #vss365 #poetry #blueskypoets 🖼️ ReinaChen

#vss365 #touch

#vss365 must ache that thing on his top lip that he keeps touching #touch #ache

He smelled his ex before he saw her. That cloying scent that she used to spray all over the house. Here it was now, in the frozen food aisle. It chilled him to the #bone. Then a hand clasped his shoulder. “You look good,” she whispered, and popped him into her trolley. #vss365

Your #vss365 #prompt for Feb 11 is #touch "There is some kiss we want with our whole lives, the touch of spirit on the body. Seawater begs the pearl to break its shell. and the lily, how passionately it needs some wild darling!" Jalal ad-Din Muhammad ar-Rumi #11

In her hands she cups the sense of the world for #touch penetrates as the voice does Yearning quivers upon her fingers She understands the beauty of things deeply as she brushes them awake It is then she knows what they shelter: nobility grace & kinship with belonging #vss365 #poetry #blueskypoets

I #touch the clouds with my feet Kiss the Earth with my teeth Tumbling Tumbling Somersault flying This is not a drunk post Though maybe I’m drunk on O2 This is just how I handle A normal Wednesday Humpday Dee Dee da da dum dum #vss365 #poetry

'Gabe, I'm exhausted. I #ache everywhere.' 'Really, Pixie? You only put 2 dishes in the washer.' 'They're bigger than me. Based on volume math, you should fill it for the next 3 weeks.' 'You have super pixie lifting powers. 'Oh sure - & you're JUST an angel.' 'Hmph.' #vss365

at hour when night is still brewing cities & faces pass through her like radio signals pain & hope sharing the same frequency with tenderness she reduces noise living with #ache the way one lives with weather in the pale light the room is as it is misfortune stays outside #vss365 #blueskypoets

“May I enquire what the broadsword is for, Miss Davenport?” “Removing Sir’s testicles.” “Er, why is that the case?” “The fool keeps saying that I’m a constant ball #ache. So, with some blue-sky thinking, I’m going to ease the pain and suffering he’s in. No more aching in the balls!” #vss365

Looking up with tears Seeing heavens between us My heavy heart #aches #vss365 #haiku #poetry

Daddy tickled her and tickled her until she squealed with laughter. Then he got on all fours and shouted, the fox is going to catch you. He chased her round the room until her sides #ached with laughter. Sally loved it when Daddy came home #vss365

'Gabe, Faery Valley awaits - fern glades, glow ponds, Mistress Fern's delectable pickled, garlicky slugs. Her beetle bug stew & worm pasta is famous too. You just have try them all... Gabe? Gabe?! What's wrong? You've gone quite #pale?' #vss365

Your #vss365 #prompt for Feb 9 is #bones "...a fortnight dead, Forgot the cry of gulls, and the deep sea swell And the profit and loss. A current under sea Picked his bones in whispers. As he rose and fell He passed the stages of his age and youth Entering the whirlpool." T. S. Eliot #9

“I have a #bone to pick with you.” “Let bygones be bygones.” “I’m the one who’s going to decide that.” “Can you remember why you’re angry?” “Erm…” “Pick a bone with your memory first. See ya!” #vss365

'Pixie, we're only going away for 2 days. You can't possibly need these 12 boxes & 3 suitcases.' 'Honest, Gabe, I already stripped my supplies to the bare #bones.' 'Hmmm...let me see... Pixie, these are full of brownies.' 'Exactly! Painful sacrifices were made.' #vss365

My candle flickers as I descend into the dungeon. Alice said follow the passage that it would lead to my sweetheart, that she is safe. The hall widens and ahead is a chest. My heart beats faster. I open the lid… she’s not inside. All I see is a pile of #bones. Alice lied #vss365

Bob found Nora staring at the #pale morning sky. "It makes you wonder, doesn't it?" she softly mused. "About what?" he replied. "You know, life..." Bob slipped an arm around Nora's waist. He loved how she found meaning in something as quiet as the start of the day. #vss365

Amy ran to her bedroom, but the #pale man flew inside before she could barricade the door. "You're helpless now," he said. "No more weapons." She shook her head. "Actually, I have one more: seasonal depression." She flipped the switch on her UV therapy lamp, and the vampire screamed. #vss365

is it real? that thing that used be your head turned half-pipe now home to guilt and shame doing anchor grinds and carving grooves in your skull while their #pale sister runs her hands along your thighs how will you know until you crack open the heart whether it is alive or dead #vss365

You have a window installed in your chest so I can see what you mean. Peeping between ribs like blinds at your fist of a heart, pale- knuckled pounding. Wants to be free, you say. But my guess is, your heart is knocking for better luck than me. #vss365 (pale) #ThingsToWriteAbout (window)

night gates left ajar milky way in cold pixels #pale insomniac #vss365 #DailyHaikuPrompt #Milky_Way #haiku #senryu #blueskypoets

He thought he was better than most people. Especially when they were alone in the woods; he, James, Vern, and Beryl. But the path of arrogance is short. By the #pale light of morning, when fingers of fog slid along the moss, his body was found at the foot of the mountain. #vss365

Your #vss365 #prompt for Feb 7 is #blood "A gracious spring, turned to blood-ravenous autumn, A turmoil of wars-men, spread over the middle kingdom, Three hundred and sixty thousand, And sorrow, sorrow like rain." 'Lament of the Frontier Guard', Li Bai #7

See you in the dark Blade glinting in the still night Your #blood speckled face #vss365 #haiku #poetry

who will answer for the #blood of men once heavy with destiny setting a whole life in motion now a #wound on the ground a #pain with no mouth to speak it blindly spilled asking the question older than earth #vss365 #poetry #blueskypoets

"Ey Bren, wats it called again..." Riz asked. "Eh? I'm trying to keep a look out for the thing causing all the bother." "Wats da thing called dat looks like a ghost sorta but made of #blood?" "A Blood Phantom?" "Yeh! Dats it!" "And?" "Itz behind us." #vss365 #riztherogue

'Pixie! What's happened? You're covered in #blood.' 'I'm not your Pixie, Gabe. I'm here from the future to warn you what happens if you eat the last brownie again.' 'Hmmm... that's ketchup. And those are today's clothes. This is a set up!' Giggle. 'Well, worth a try.' #vss365

Ex-Sup’t Carol went for a #blood test. “Relax,” said the nurse. Carol stiffened. The vial remained empty. She fixed the nurse with her famous stare. “Where did you train?” “King’s,” she gulped. A tiny drop flowed with each answer. “Your results will be ready in 2-3 working days,” said Carol. #vss365

#Blood red oranges Juicy as a low set sun Monarch butterflies #vss365

"Ya accusations #wound me! How dare ya fink dat I'd sign ya name on a loan from Alice nd not tell ya, while also usin a fake address so ya neva found out bout it," Riz protested. "That is exactly what you did! Alice does talk to me you know!" "Propa wounded." #vss365 #riztherogue

A #wound too deep To heal sits on His head, woven Into the cloth That supports his Button eyes and Small stitched nose #vss365