Instead of Drowning

Region: Unknown

Alice Holt

Instead of Drowning

(One Shot)

I looked around the room and took in my surroundings during a moment of calm. My labor had started so quickly that I hadn’t taken the time to really look over the makeshift delivery room.  As it turned out it was really nothing to look at. Green paint flaked off the walls and the plaster in places was crumbling. Large damp patches grew in the corners of the room and stretched across the celling. The windows were dirty and defused the light that came through in a strange yellow haze. The pipes that ran along the top of the room were rusty and leaked in places leaving a ruddy trail of brown as the water slowly marched toward the ground.  The room had a strange smell.  It was a kind of combination of damp and disinfectant that worked itself easily into your nose. The bed I lay upon was not much better.  An old white metal frame with rusty springs creaked with my every movement. The sheets were clean but could not disguise the disarray beneath them.   Where one of the corners had come undone I saw that the mattress was stained and my nose crinkled at the obvious smell of stale blood and urine.  But I couldn’t complain, at least I would have some help to deliver my baby.

“Ok Alice this is it” I heard the soft timid voice of the midwife, who up till then, had been at my side and helping me through it all, without pain relief I might add.  This was just one of the many major drawbacks to having a child unlawfully; at least unlawfully in the eyes of the community.  A community I never really wanted to be a part of. I pushed down with all my might grabbing the side rails of the bed and planted my feet just as I was told. Then, somewhere in the distance, I heard a faint voice say stop and so I did. “Just pant, it’s time to birth the head” came the voice again. I stopped; quick short purposeful breaths leaving my mouth. I felt myself stretch and burn but I took every ounce of pain, as every mother should for their child.  “Relax Alice” the strange voice said yet again, but this time from a little further away.

A Beautiful Flower in the Black House

Region: China

Shiwang Heng 

Meili Hua Xiang 

A Beautiful Flower in the Black House

(One Shot)

Shiwang Heng huddled in the corner of his cell as the other men ate.  Hunger had been just one of the many hardships Shi had endured since he had been captured and eventually transferred to the Black House.  He looked on with his stomach growling while the other 11 men all had their fill of whatever the meal was for this evening.  Shi watched as two the soldiers, who were on guard, stood outside of his cell and pointed in his direction as they spoke.  One of the women snickered at their exchange of words and then both yelled for the other men in the cell to back off and allow Shi to eat.  He didn’t move.  The guards yelled again and as the men in the cell backed away from the food they either stared angrily at the guards or at Shi.  After a moment and few more foul words of encouragement coming from the guards, Shi stood slowly and walked to the center of the room where plates of brown unrecognizable mush sat.  He didn’t know if this was all some sort of cruel joke or if for once he would actually get a little more than the crumbs that he usually picked from the floor and plates after everyone else had had their fill.  As he grabbed the first pieces of food he shuddered a bit knowing he would pay this moment at a later time.

Life at the Black House was not easy for the guards let alone the men who were held captive within its walls.  The labor camp was more of a last resort for the region’s men who were deemed useless.  If you were a soldier in the Empress’s army who got in trouble for one thing or another being assigned to the Black House was your punishment and possible chance at redemption.  At least that’s what the women were told if they were transferred to the Black House.  In reality many knew they would never leave the god forsaken place, but rather than face a life on the run from the Red Army, most chose to do as they were commanded so that they at least survived.  For the men that were held within the walls of the Black House it was an even crueler twist of fate.  This was their last chance at life.  The men at the Black House were considered failures in many regards. The only thing left for them to do was forced labor and if they could not accomplish that then they were no longer of any use to the Empress of China or her people.

All the King's Men

Region: The Badlands

Sally Haley

All the King's Men

(One Shot)

Sally wiped the bar down with a dirty rag that was saturated in stale beer and whiskey. Looking over the hazy air towards the dirty window that showed a hint of the evening sun, she pondered better times. She thought of days when a band played loud music intermingling with the sound of men and women laughing in unison as they drank. She remembered times when patrons partied until the night drew to a close and the dawn began. She envisioned couples dancing really close together, breathing each other in, not knowing that things would soon change way beyond any of their darkest dreams. Sally continued to work the old wood into a soft shine as she remembered yesterday, lost deep in thought. “Evening Sally.” Sally glanced up at the young girl standing at the bar, all dressed in black, the usual uniform for the town’s volunteer female army, an army that now held women of all ages and ill repute, especially those that felt it necessary to hunt men down and use them for breeding. This was something Sally did not agree with one bit but as with the trait that goes with a bar owner you keep your opinions quiet and smile, just listening, never making comment or scaring off the paying customers, no matter who they were.