Jim Cherry's Blog - Posts Tagged "the-captured-dead"
Work in Progress: The Captured Dead
Here's the start of a short story that I think will be really cool! Hope you enjoy the fragment.
The Captured Dead
Comancheria 1874
The dark of the night pressed in around the warriors, saved by the light of the fire carving a shelter out of the liquid darkness that surrounded and threatened to drown them. Each was dressed in brightly colored shirts of red, yellow or blue buckskin that the shaman Isatai had given them. They huddled around the fire, the warriors looked glum, they couldn’t even look at each other, all they could do was stare into the flames, it was early June, it must have been warm out, but they all huddled in close to the fire trying to gain its warmth, the white man had driven them to this, into the night.
“Why are you not dancing, celebrating?” Isatai asked. “What you have done today is a very brave thing.”
“We did a terrible thing, the wasichu will kill us all.” Said one warrior.
“It will bring the soldiers.” Said another.
“They will outnumber us, and their bullets are faster than our arrows.”
“Have you no faith?” Isatai asked, “did not the medicine shirts I’ve given you protect you from the wasichu bullets today?”
“They were farmers, gatherers not warriors.”
“The soldiers are many, like the buffalo were, now are the soldiers.”
“I will show you. Look into the flames and you will see.” Isatai started chanting, the rhythm gathered and the beat of their hearts, and sound matched their thoughts, it was one sound they could hear, then they felt a deep pounding of hooves in their bodies, as they stared into the fire they saw the face of a great buffalo, its mane, flame. It grew and grew in their eyes, engulfing them in its spirit, the vision raced through their hearts like an engine. They believed. “What we have done today will bring the soldiers.” Isatai said, “the dead will come to protect us.”
www.jymsbooks.com
The Captured Dead
Comancheria 1874
The dark of the night pressed in around the warriors, saved by the light of the fire carving a shelter out of the liquid darkness that surrounded and threatened to drown them. Each was dressed in brightly colored shirts of red, yellow or blue buckskin that the shaman Isatai had given them. They huddled around the fire, the warriors looked glum, they couldn’t even look at each other, all they could do was stare into the flames, it was early June, it must have been warm out, but they all huddled in close to the fire trying to gain its warmth, the white man had driven them to this, into the night.
“Why are you not dancing, celebrating?” Isatai asked. “What you have done today is a very brave thing.”
“We did a terrible thing, the wasichu will kill us all.” Said one warrior.
“It will bring the soldiers.” Said another.
“They will outnumber us, and their bullets are faster than our arrows.”
“Have you no faith?” Isatai asked, “did not the medicine shirts I’ve given you protect you from the wasichu bullets today?”
“They were farmers, gatherers not warriors.”
“The soldiers are many, like the buffalo were, now are the soldiers.”
“I will show you. Look into the flames and you will see.” Isatai started chanting, the rhythm gathered and the beat of their hearts, and sound matched their thoughts, it was one sound they could hear, then they felt a deep pounding of hooves in their bodies, as they stared into the fire they saw the face of a great buffalo, its mane, flame. It grew and grew in their eyes, engulfing them in its spirit, the vision raced through their hearts like an engine. They believed. “What we have done today will bring the soldiers.” Isatai said, “the dead will come to protect us.”
www.jymsbooks.com
The Captured Dead (yes, it's that time of year again)
Pumpkin pies are in stores and so is Halloween candy, and soon the ghosts of your past will be rearing their heads, the best way to exorcise those ghosts is The Captured Dead https://www.amazon.com/Captured-Dead-...
NEW! Captured Dead Rvw/website
Buenos evening everybody!
Some cool things happening I thought I'd turn you on to. It seems things in the literary world go slow until they speed up!
Let's start with the easiest thing. A new jymsbooks website. It has a great layout (looks good on your phone!), info and pics about my books, a bio, and a blog, it's all at: https://jymwrite.wixsite.com/jymsbooks
New Captured Dead Review
My short story "The Captured Dead" has a new review that's pretty cool, instead of telling you about it I'll just post it:
"Great book, fantastic story! The author has combined a knowledge of Sherman, shamans, and ghosts into a fascinating read that you can finish in an hour — and you’ll want to start it all over again once you have. The writing is super — his descriptions of the people and surroundings, from wagon trains and wartime atrocities to ghostly dusty hazes, and are such that you can clearly envision the picture in your mind while reading. The characters are well-developed, particularly that of Sherman, from his physical description to what’s going on in his head. This story grabs at the get-go and never lets go before the very last ominous sentence." Karen H.
I hope you won't forget to tell your friends!
Jim
Some cool things happening I thought I'd turn you on to. It seems things in the literary world go slow until they speed up!
Let's start with the easiest thing. A new jymsbooks website. It has a great layout (looks good on your phone!), info and pics about my books, a bio, and a blog, it's all at: https://jymwrite.wixsite.com/jymsbooks
New Captured Dead Review
My short story "The Captured Dead" has a new review that's pretty cool, instead of telling you about it I'll just post it:
"Great book, fantastic story! The author has combined a knowledge of Sherman, shamans, and ghosts into a fascinating read that you can finish in an hour — and you’ll want to start it all over again once you have. The writing is super — his descriptions of the people and surroundings, from wagon trains and wartime atrocities to ghostly dusty hazes, and are such that you can clearly envision the picture in your mind while reading. The characters are well-developed, particularly that of Sherman, from his physical description to what’s going on in his head. This story grabs at the get-go and never lets go before the very last ominous sentence." Karen H.
I hope you won't forget to tell your friends!
Jim
New Review for The Captured Dead
Every once in a while I'm caught off-guard by a very complimentary review, I'm glad people like what I write it's also a humbling experience. We all try to write something that affects others and when you succeed in that it's somewhat awesome in the realization. Without further ado here's the review!
Exhilarating!
Fascinating read! I thoroughly enjoyed it. I've found something I love in all of Jim Cherry's works but it's never the same aspect of any given story that hooks me. In fact, I don't know that I can always put a finger on what it is in each piece exactly that makes me love it. Which makes me actively seek out more reads like this... which isn't always easy. I discovered this writer via his book "The Last Stage". I really enjoyed that and as with most writers who turn my crank I seek out their other works. I've enjoyed Jim Cherry's books for years and this short story somehow eluded me for a while despite being made aware of it years ago. Once I started it I had to finish it. I was filled with regret upon finish it. Regret that I hadn't read it sooner... and I was even a little sad that it ended because I really liked the imagery Cherry's words painted upon the blank canvas that was my mind as I began to read. I'm tempted to unveil certain details of this story in this review to support some of my statements but I am not a fan of spoilers myself. Suffice to say, if you are on the fence about whether or not to read this, I say the time to hesitate is through. It's well worth your time (it's a quick yet satisfying read) and it's certainly worth the modest price this fine author is asking. One of the reasons I love his work is that it's clear he writes these fantastic visions for the love of it, he's not motivated by money or fame or anything like that. Great art is born from people who love to create for the sake of creating. I believe Cherry falls into such a category. This story is a work of art. You are effortlessly swept away into another world, one that you could never experience in reality and perhaps you'd never want to become a reality. It wasn't the first piece of his I have read by a long shot but I think would be a great place to start if you are unfamiliar with the author. Again, not MY first but it definitely won't be my last either. That is, unless Jim Cherry decides to stop putting out these addictive reads.
The Captured Dead is available from Amazon and KOBO (& their supported devices!), and is only .99!
Exhilarating!
Fascinating read! I thoroughly enjoyed it. I've found something I love in all of Jim Cherry's works but it's never the same aspect of any given story that hooks me. In fact, I don't know that I can always put a finger on what it is in each piece exactly that makes me love it. Which makes me actively seek out more reads like this... which isn't always easy. I discovered this writer via his book "The Last Stage". I really enjoyed that and as with most writers who turn my crank I seek out their other works. I've enjoyed Jim Cherry's books for years and this short story somehow eluded me for a while despite being made aware of it years ago. Once I started it I had to finish it. I was filled with regret upon finish it. Regret that I hadn't read it sooner... and I was even a little sad that it ended because I really liked the imagery Cherry's words painted upon the blank canvas that was my mind as I began to read. I'm tempted to unveil certain details of this story in this review to support some of my statements but I am not a fan of spoilers myself. Suffice to say, if you are on the fence about whether or not to read this, I say the time to hesitate is through. It's well worth your time (it's a quick yet satisfying read) and it's certainly worth the modest price this fine author is asking. One of the reasons I love his work is that it's clear he writes these fantastic visions for the love of it, he's not motivated by money or fame or anything like that. Great art is born from people who love to create for the sake of creating. I believe Cherry falls into such a category. This story is a work of art. You are effortlessly swept away into another world, one that you could never experience in reality and perhaps you'd never want to become a reality. It wasn't the first piece of his I have read by a long shot but I think would be a great place to start if you are unfamiliar with the author. Again, not MY first but it definitely won't be my last either. That is, unless Jim Cherry decides to stop putting out these addictive reads.
The Captured Dead is available from Amazon and KOBO (& their supported devices!), and is only .99!
