Azaria M.J. Durant's Blog

Clockwork Ragamuffin (New WIP Introduction)

“Once upon a time in a land far, far away…

There was a good city, cursed.

There was a queen, vile and cruel.

And a child, precious and pure, locked in time.

In the end,

All lines were blurred,

There was a grave,

And all was shattered or set right.”

A couple of months back, while listening to “Shatter Me” by Lindsey Stirling and Lizzy Hale for the 500th time, I got the vision of a girl in a clocktower (what do you mean, it has nothing to do with the music video… heh). The song has always held a great deal of inspiration for me personally, but on this particular listen, I just started to let my imagination wander and somehow stumbled across this already pretty well formed story.

Think a Repunzel/Peter Pan retelling, only steampunk.

Which I personally find pretty exciting. ^-^

The protagonist is Leora, an imaginative, spunky redhead with no memory of her past. She is locked at the top of a clocktower in the centre of the city of Malitha, a fairytale paradise torn by the whispers of war.

This is her:

[image error]

(Niiice eraser shavings there… >.> *brushes them out of sight*)

In the clocktower, Leora is trapped in a time loop, forced to repeat the day she arrived there over and over again as she watches the city from afar. The only thing that keeps her sane is the little strands of music she hears every night just before the clock strikes midnight and the loop resets.

Until one night, the music doesn’t come. And a strange boy appears in the second hand of the clock…

I plan to post the story here on my blog for your enjoyment as I work on it. I’ll be juggling it and the next Darkened Destiny sequel simultaneously, so it may be a bit slow going. But I hope you enjoy it as much as I do!

Other things in the foreseeable future of this blog:

-It is now going to be run by both me and Tabitha, so you’ll get her awesome content still too.

-More posts (wheee, this is the year, y’all!)

-I’m actually going to be posting my artwork on here!! Finally.

-A bit of reorganization in the way the blog is set up (still don’t know what I’m doing *fingerguns*)

*realizes how random this post has gotten* Annd that’s where I’ll leave you for now.

Oh, and *whispers* let me know what you think of the story idea in the comments |:|

View more on Azaria M.J. Durant's website »

1 like · Like • 0 comments • flag

Published on January 03, 2020 18:31

The Lost Girl of Astor Street by Stephanie Morrill – Book Review

[image error]

Putting the two versions of the cover up because I absolutely adore them both.

Title: The Lost Girl of Astor Street

Author: Stephanie Morrill

Genre: Historical Fiction/Mystery

Synopsis: Lydia has vanished. Lydia, who’s never broken any rules, except falling in love with the wrong boy. Lydia, who’s been Piper’s best friend since they were children. Lydia, who never even said good-bye. Convinced the police are looking in all the wrong places, eighteen-year-old Piper Sail begins her own investigation to solve the mystery of Lydia’s disappearance. With the reluctant help of a handsome young detective, Piper goes searching for answers in the dark underbelly of 1924 Chicago, determined to find Lydia at any cost. When Piper discovers those answers might stem from the corruption strangling the city—and quite possibly lead back to the doors of her affluent neighbourhood—she must decide how deep she’s willing to dig, how much she should reveal, and if she’s willing to risk her life for the truth

Rating: Five stars

Review:

****This review is NOT spoiler free****

The Lost Girl of Astor Street is a mystery, so definitely right up my alley. I haven’t actually read much recently but I picked up this book and couldn’t put it down, finishing it in four hours.

The story itself was great, leaving enough tension and suspense to make me keep reading but giving me enough quiet moments that I wasn’t stressed. Stephanie gave us enough time at the beginning to let us know what a normal life for Piper was, which is a powerful story element. We don’t know what the character has lost if we never see them with it to begin with.

When reading I mostly focus on characters so I’m just going to jump into what I thought of a few them.

Piper was an amazing main character. There wasn’t any point in the story where she was too stupid or I wondered why it was her that was the main character and not someone more qualified. Her desire to find her friend and then later to find the murderer of her friend is the main thing that drives her throughout this story, forcing her to keep the plot moving until she can finally figure out what actually happened. She realizes that she can’t stay still and just let things be done around her, she has to go out and do it herself. Although, like any good hero, she does need help on the way which is why Mariano, the dashing detective, ends up being at her side for much of this story.

Mariano is sweet, protective, and really smart. I immediately loved the way that unlike everyone else in Piper’s life he doesn’t doubt her. He has some qualms about her investigation because it’s dangerous but not because he doesn’t think she can do it. Whenever he can he helps her along with her quest so that he can protect her. He sees the dark side of the world every day and he doesn’t want her to have to see it too and lose her innocence. I love when he was introduced for the first time with the other detective there wasn’t a big deal made about describing him, he was just there to ask her questions, it was only later when he came back that we got to know what he looked like. Also, the romance with Piper and him was adorable…

I was endeared to Lydia even though she was only in for a short time and became even more so through Piper’s thoughts. I loved how caring she was, how she wanted to be a proper lady but also didn’t care if she had nothing as long as she ended up with the person she loved. She reminded me a bit of Sybil from Downton Abbey, probably very much because of her love for the chauffeur, Matthew. Her disease added an interesting element to the story too, since I knew the whole time reading the story that there was a chance that she was going to die anyways, even if she was found. She was innocent and sick, and was pulled into it only as revenge, which hurts. She deserved much better.

Which leads me to Matthew. Despite his past and how closed off he was I never suspected him for even a minute. It was obvious that he loved Lydia even before he told Piper that he did. I felt his pain at her death and even more so when he was forced to flee. I’m also happy that we got to hear from him again before the story ended, it was the last strand of the story that needed to be tied to complete it.

I loved Emma too. She didn’t feel like a replacement of Lydia, but it felt right for her to be there, filling the role of a best friend that Piper needed. And her hiring Piper to investigate her boyfriend, Robbie, was hilarious. She was so innocent but at the same time knew a lot more than she let on and ended up being a completely different character than I thought she was going to be when she was first introduced.

Walter was an interesting character, because he’d been there all of Piper’s life so there was always those moments when they’d be able to share something from their past without saying it outright, which was a nice dynamic to read. I did find at times that he could get on my nerves because he was harsh and overprotective or Piper, treating her like she was still a child.

Maeve was a great villain. Right from the beginning she was there, slowly weasel-ing her way into the family and trying to get information on Matthew. I didn’t trust her for most of the time, but right before Jeremiah reveals that she lied about who she is, I was actually starting to believe that maybe she didn’t actually have ulterior motives for her presence. And her revelation of why she did what she didn’t didn’t feel like a fake cop-out like most revenge reveals do. She felt real and I could feel her anger and pain at what had happened to her husband and baby. Although I can never forgive her for what she did to Lydia I do hope that she can find some peace in her life, even if the rest of it will be spent in prison.

I won’t go into all the characters because that would take too long, but I didn’t find that even one of them wasn’t necessary to the story, they all added something, whether it was conflict, or just someone to fill a scene. There were side characters that I hated and ones that I loved, but none of them felt out of place or like the story could have been the same without them being involved.

I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys mystery, romance, or just good fiction in general.

Also, Matthew’s cat deserved better.

*I purchased this book independently and was not required to write a review.

View more on Azaria M.J. Durant's website »

1 like · Like • 0 comments • flag

Published on June 28, 2019 14:42

One Early August Afternoon – Short Story

I am back once again with a short story. This one doesn’t have an accompanying song although it was somewhat inspired by the Robin Williams film ‘What Dreams May Come’ that I watched for the first time the other night.

I will warn people that it has very similar dark themes to that movie, so if you aren’t comfortable with themes surrounding death/mental illness than don’t read this.

I wrote this only yesterday and since have read it over a few times, so if there are errors in it than that’s why.

Anyways, without any further adieu…

One Early August Afternoon

It was an early August afternoon the last time I ever saw my mama smile. The sun was out, beating down on our backs but we didn’t mind. It made the water cooler and the ice-cream somehow sweeter.

Mama was bouncing my baby brother, Jamie, on her knee. She laughed and talked with dad while Jamie chewed in the stick leftover from his ice-cream. He was still in diapers even though he was almost three, but she said it was okay, he’d grow up one day and we should relish the time he was a baby cause it would be gone soon. I still thought it would be really nice when he was old enough to know not to chew up my toys.

I decided to go out into the water and swim, even though they weren’t watching me and I knew I shouldn’t. When I looked back to shout to them so I could show off that I was swimming I saw that mama was screaming and holding my baby brother in her arms. Dad was on the phone, talking to somebody, and he looked really upset too.

I started to make my way back up to the beach to ask them what was wrong but a lady in a huge white hat grabbed me and moved me away, not letting me go over. I tried to tell her that I needed to find out why they were all so sad but she said that I didn’t need to go. That everything would be okay.

Police cars and another bigger one that also had a siren showed up and my worry was forgotten in the excitement of seeing one up close. And even better than that, I got to ride in one! The man driving was really nice and he let me ride in the front instead of behind the bars in the back. I talked to him the whole time, telling him about my family, but mostly about my baby brother and how I was going to play baseball with him when he got big enough and stopped wearing diapers.

He just smiled and nodded, not saying much. But that’s what all grownups did when little kids were talking. Sometimes I wondered if they were even listening to me at all.

He drove me to my grandmother’s house. She was really nice, always made me sweets and dolls, and she smelled like nutmeg. She had a nice cat too. Today she looked sad, which I couldn’t understand, cause it was so nice out. I asked her when mama, dad, and Jamie were going to be coming and she just looked really sad and offered me a cookie.

I was starting to get a little concerned when they didn’t come to take me home after a few days. We were supposed to be going on an aeroplane to a nice place with white beaches. Had they left me behind? I know it was wrong to go into the water alone, but I didn’t think they’d be that mad at me.

Dad finally came to get me. He looked really tired. I asked him why mama and Jamie hadn’t come too and he just looked really sad. The grown-ups always looked really sad when I asked questions.

Dad let me sit in the front of the car too. He never did that so I was happy. I told him all the things I’d done at Grandma’s house, but he didn’t answer me at all. He drove through three red lights on the way home and I made sure to mention all of them to him. On the second one he told me to be quiet, so I just looked out the window and mentally counted the other one.

When we got home I ran to see mama and Jamie, but just mama was sitting at the table, staring down at the cup in her hands. I asked her if Jamie was down on his nap and she started crying so much that I got scared and ran to bed.

Later dad came to my room and told me that I wasn’t going to ever see Jamie again, that he was in the ground now. But I just couldn’t understand why they’d put him in the ground. Wouldn’t he get lonely?

That made dad cry. I’d never seen him cry before and I got scared again. I knew there was something very wrong, but I didn’t understand what.

A couple nights later I woke up to a lot of screaming so I got out of bed and went downstairs. There were strangers in the house and my mom was lying on a weird bed. Dad was beside her, crying again. There was a lot of blood all over her arms. I ran back upstairs and hid in my bed, curling up under my covers. When dad came in to talk to me I pretended to be asleep. But he knew and he hugged me, not saying anything.

I didn’t see mama the next day or for a lot of days after that. I asked dad if she’d been put in the ground too, like Jamie, but he said no. He said that she was very sick and was in a hospital. I asked if I could go see her, but he went very pale and told me that it wasn’t good for me too and that maybe I could when she got better.

A long time passed and I went back to school. Every day when I got home I asked my dad if I could see my mom again, but every day he said no.

One day the policeman from the day on the beach came to my school and got me out. He took me to my grandma’s again and when we were there they both sat down and told me that my dad’s car had gone off the road and crashed. I told them that that wasn’t right. Dad was a good driver, except going through red lights. I told them that he was probably just lost and he’d be back soon. That made them both sad.

I waited for him to find his way back from where he’d gotten lost. Grandma made me a lot of dolls and always asked me how I was doing, but I don’t see why. I was okay. My dad would be back soon, my mom would get better, and they would realize that Jamie was lonely in the ground and take him home too. Then everything would be okay.

It was after Christmas when Grandma had to go to the hospital. She said that her heart wasn’t working properly so I cut her a new one out of paper to take with her so that the doctor could put that one in instead. But I must not have made it big enough, cause they said that it didn’t work and that I couldn’t see her ever again. They’d put her in the ground too. At least Jamie would have some company.

They made me go live with some strangers, but I didn’t want to. The mom smelled like liver and the dad was always angry. They wouldn’t listen when I told them that my family would come and get me so they sent me away to someone else.

None of the people liked me very much so they made me move a lot. I didn’t like having to pack all my dolls up so much. They didn’t like the suitcase,. It was cold and lonely. I just wanted to go back home. I wanted them to let me go back to my family already. They missed me.

One day they told me that I was very sick like mama was sick. They put me in a building and made me take medicine and talk to a person who acted all concerned and wrote stuff down whenever I talked about my family. She told me that my family was gone but I told her they were coming back. She just didn’t understand.

They would never understand.

But now I did. I finally understood. My family wasn’t going to come back to me, I had to go to them. They were waiting for me.

But now I’m scared.

I can’t find them.

It’s cold and lonely here.

-STORY END-

View more on Azaria M.J. Durant's website »

1 like · Like • 0 comments • flag

Published on June 03, 2019 15:23

Book Review – Shattered Sword by Azaria M.J. Durant

This is my very first book review so please, bear with me.

[image error]

(I am proud to say that the cover design on these was done by yours truly. Not the art of course, but the prettification.)

Title: Shattered Sword

Author: Azaria M.J. Durant

Genre: Fantasy

Goodreads Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/44591977-shattered-sword

Amazon Link: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07PVCTPQ8/ref=series_rw_dp_sw

Blog Link: http://www.azariamjdurant.com

Facebook page link: https://www.facebook.com/Darkened-Destiny-Saga-Broken-Arrow-1505614816234166/

Broken Arrow Link: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07F28XPY5/ref=series_rw_dp_sw

Synopsis:

Murder and treachery abound in the glorious city of Twylaun.

Two years have passed since the death of King Leonel. Whispers of dissension are stirring as the dark lord Zeldek gathers his forces in the north to wage war on Theara. Only the young king Hamish of Valamette stands in the way of him controlling all four kingdoms.

When Bellator is captured and tragedy strikes Valamette, Ealdred must come out of exile to their aid. But he’s hardly prepared for the dangers lurking in the world he enters. And when a prediction by a witch sets his only friends against him, Ealdred finds himself completely alone in a game of power as the King of Zandelba’s puppet.

Yet even within the walls of Twylaun, deceit roams freely, and Ealdred is forced to play a role he is hard put to win. Can he fool the King of Zandelba for long enough to ascend the throne and stop a war between the kingdoms? Or is there a deeper threat lying in wait that neither side expects?

Rating: ***** (Pretend those are stars and not asterisks…)

Review:

I absolutely loved Shattered Sword, Azaria weaves everything together so well that it had me wondering what she was even doing at times (and I helped plan a lot of this book).

While most books leave me bored at times or skipping through those long obnoxious page-long descriptions (come on, you all know you do it too) there wasn’t a single part in Shattered Sword that I didn’t devour. From entering Gaiztoak to that final moment when… -SPOILERS- (You thought I was gonna tell you the ending, didn’t you?)

Achem…

Anyways, this book is intense all the way through and kept me hooked. As all the fancy review writers like to say “It was a real page turner”.

All of the characters in Shattered Sword are well developed and none of them are annoying to read, even the ones that I didn’t think were the greatest people. My favourite character is Uri, the dashing redhead pirate, even if he’s not in much (something that I’m still bitter about). He’s a self-preservationalist (and yes, I know that’s not a word, but that’s how he would say it) but he’s got a lot of past and a lot of goodness inside that we see him fighting every time he’s in the story.

For least favourite, with all the obvious baddies aside, I honestly don’t really like Bellator. Not because she’s a badly written character or isn’t easy to read, but just because she’s a horrible person. She’s selfish, greedy, self-absorbed, a liar, and really everything bad in a person. That being said, I would really love to see her turn around later on in this series and finally be the person that Ealdred believes she can be.

I’m going to write a bit about the main character, Ealdred, because although he’s not even my second favourite character in ranking, I still have a special place for him in my heart. He’s a sweetheart who would lay down his own life in an instant to save even the smallest, most unimportant character. You don’t see that a lot in heroes anymore and I really love and admire him for it. He’s the kind of person that we should all strive to be. It’s not about him, nothing is about him, it’s all about helping the people around him.

And while I’m at it I might as well mention the other three main characters, since some of them don’t get enough love.

Marianna has a very special place in my heart, she’s the nerdy princess who just wants the freedom to do what she wants, love who she wants, and make her own way. Former versions of her, and even her now have been a great inspiration for some of my own characters.

Annalynn has really grown from the sweet soft child she was in the first book. Now she has spunk and fire, but also a deep sadness that can be hard to read in her some times after knowing her from the first book. Although she doesn’t have a lot of her own important plot she does play the roll of the catalyst for two other characters in this book.

Hamish was my second favourite character in the first book, but he’s become a very cold character in this book, dead to the world, nothing like the sweet child he was in the first book, so full of life. It makes me sad to read, knowing everything that he’s lost.

Shattered Sword is one of my favourite books, as is its sister (and first book in the series) Broken Arrow. I would recommend that you read Broken Arrow first just so that you can experience the true richness of the characters and fully appreciate everything that Azaria puts into these books and the characters. I’ve left the link for it up at the top of the post along with the one for Shattered Sword. If you don’t want to read it that’s alright too, Azaria makes it easy enough for you to be able to pick up on the main plot without it.

I have high praise for the Darkened Destiny series and I am proud to say that I did a final proofread and plot edit on this book. But I’m sure you’re done reading my ramblings so I’ll leave you with this excerpt from Shattered Sword.

Excerpt (starring Uri!!!):

At last, Uri comes to a stop, panting heavily.

“I need a breather,” he gasps, leaning against a tree.

I bend over, clutching my knees to keep from collapsing. My shirt feels stiflingly tight against my chest, and I lost my shoes a while back. A mosquito whines in my ear, and I try to swat it away. I end up just slapping myself upside the head, and it only grows more persistent. I just shake my head, trying to ignore it as I fight to regain my breath.

Uri breaks into a fit of coughs, and I straighten up, looking to see if he’s all right. I finally see his face in full view, and I stare. It isn’t hard to see that he’s not the same boy I’d known two years earlier. Not only is he almost a foot taller now and a much more gangly build, but he has gained a toughness to his appearance that is most apparent in the challenging way he sets his jaw. The freckles that speckle his skin have grown more pronounced. His chin is spouted with orange scruff, and it looks like he’s shaved the sides of his head, leaving only a patch of brilliantly orange curls on the top. His previously snubbed nose appears to have been broken some time ago and then put poorly back into place, but it has done nothing to dampen his gruff, good-looking features. However, the most noticeable difference about him is the deep X-shaped scar that has been cut into his left cheekbone.

“Ha!” he hoots after the coughing has subsided. His bare chest is exposed beneath a long, ratty leather coat, and a golden chain hangs around his neck. Holey trousers are tucked into tall, shiny leather boots. “That’s the way to show ‘em! Ain’t that right, half—”

His voice breaks off when he finally looks at me, and his mouth drops open. “What in heck happened to you? I thought you was a half-breed!”

“I am,” I remark with a bit of a grimace.

“What’s with all this, then? Why d’you get all this fancy getup? It ain’t fair!”

I shrug. I don’t trust him enough to want to explain it to him.

He hacks, spitting over his shoulder. “How do I get me one of those?”

I shake my head with a sigh. “We’d best get moving before the Alliance finds our trail.” Tugging my collar away from my neck, I add, “And I need to get some new clothing.”

Uri notices my attire, and throws back his head, barking with laughter. And he has every right to laugh. My pants stop halfway up my calves and are tearing at the seams. The sleeves of my shirt are almost to my elbows, and my belly is sticking out from under the hem. I tug it down, an embarrassed red gathering in my cheeks. “Let’s just get going…”

“Sure.” He wipes tears from his eyes. “Whatever you say.”

I know he isn’t going to let it go quickly, and sure enough, it’s a while before he can look in my direction without bursting out laughing. Keeping my cloak wrapped around me quiets him down a little, and after a few moments, I notice him eyeing my sword. I tuck the cloak around it protectively and he sneers, elbowing my arm.

“Where’d you get that sword from?”

“It isn’t your business.”

“You steal it?”

“It was given to me.”

“Sure.” He rolls his eyes, but doesn’t press the matter.

It isn’t long before we break out of the woods onto another road– this one thinner and more winding than the main road– which leads past a couple of farms.

“I’ll stop here and get some clothing,” I say.

“You got anythin’ to trade?” he asks.

I hesitate. “Well… no.”

“Hmm.” He pulls aside his coat, revealing a satchel at his side. Taking a handful of coins, he tosses them to me. “Get some clothin’.”

I eye his satchel, surprised by his generosity. “Are you sure?”

He nods. “Why not? We’re buddies now. You help me, I help you.”

“Right…” I turn toward the nearest farm house. Then I pause. “You want me to get something to eat while I’m at it?”

“Don’t bother. I know a better place up the road a ways.”

Fifteen minutes later, I return, dressed in a long, smelly farmer’s habit, boots that are too big, and a strange, pointed cap on my head. My cloak is the only part of my previous attire that I kept. But it’s much better than what I was wearing before. Uri snorts when he sees me, but turns, leading the way up the road. As he does, I catch a glimpse of his satchel again, my suspicions confirmed. On it, an insignia has been etched in golden thread; a shield with a bear silhouette on it, a crown hovering overhead, and two swords crossed behind it.

I’ve seen it before, during my time as a slave in rich Zandelban households. Usually on official letters from the palace, but messengers from the king sometimes carried satchels just like this one. Sure, Uri could have filched it off of a messenger. But since meeting him, none of what followed has felt right— him being so nice, our easy escape, and now this. Pieces of a puzzle that, put together, are an incomplete picture of what I guessed from the moment I heard his voice in the cellar.

This is a trap. And I’m planning to walk right into it.

If you’ve also read this book and want to make some comment on it or haven’t read it and want to ask questions about it anyways, feel free to do so below. And thank you for taking the time to read my first ever review, I hope I did the awesomeness of this book some justice.

View more on Azaria M.J. Durant's website »

1 like · Like • 0 comments • flag

Published on May 26, 2019 08:29

5 Story Tropes That I’m Not Fond Of

I’m an author, reader, movie viewer, and huge critic. I love watching and reading things but I always find myself tearing it apart at some point because of something in it. Whether it be some stupid thing the hero inevitably did that messed up the story and caused the mentor/ally to be killed or just some obvious plot hole.

Here are my top 5 least favourite things that people do in stories.

5. I’m a hero and heroes don’t kill.

Obviously, it’s not the fact that the hero doesn’t kill people that bothers me, that’s perfectly okay. In my dystopian story idea, the main character is a pacifist lawyer. The problem is what we see in every action movie ever. The hero, believing themselves to be on some kind of moral high ground, kill all the little minions and then leave the big bad guy alive. Just so that they can come back later and kill someone the hero loves, making them realize that they should have done away with them when they had the chance. Of course, they then spare them again at the and, but not before they’ve slaughtered hundreds more minions, all while under the guise of ‘not killing’.

4. The mentor who knows everything but never divulges anything important.

We all know what I’m talking about here. The nice old man who shows up just when our budding young hero shows up, ready to go face the big bad guy with all the training he doesn’t have. The mentor, of course, lets him know he needs training, and then gives it to him. During the course of the training and traveling that follows, the hero finds out that the villain and mentor have some sort of past. The mentor admits it but refuses to tell the hero everything about his and the villains past. He won’t even tell him how to defeat the villain for no reason at all. He’ll let him know when he’s ready. Unfortunately, because our ambitious hero does something stupid that the mentor told him not to do, the poor old guy kicks the bucket. As he lies dying he attempts to tell the hero that last necessary bit of information, but only half of it gets out before he dies, leaving the hero even more confused than before. But don’t worry, the villain will fill him in later all while laughing about how little he actually knew about the mentor that the hero will now die for the memory of, despite only knowing him for two days.

3. The princess.

This poor damsel in distress. Trained from a young age in every form of combat, except of course in the presence of our hero, who can hardly even hold a sword. Honestly, at this point, I think she’s just trying to make him feel good so that he’ll do all the dirty work. Unfortunately, this girl is gonna get captured by the villain at the beginning of the story. But don’t worry, the hero will have a dream about her for no reason and come to save her. At some point in the story, she’s gonna have a fling with the dark and brooding ally with a past. It’s not sure whether she’ll end up with him or our handsome hero, but at least we’re gonna get lots of drama and a rift between the hero and the dark and brooding ally.

2. It takes being killed to finally beat the villain.

Ah yes, we’ve finally done everything we needed to do in the story and we’ve gotten to the showdown. Our ambitious hero is outmatched but he puts up a good fight and is defeated like we knew he would be. He’s been beaten and by all accounts, he should be dead now, but he lives. While the villain monologues for way too long about his entire past, including the thing the mentor forgot to tell us about, our hero finds some stamina hidden deep down inside. He then recovers completely and fights harder than he’s ever before, finally defeating the villain who is much superior to him.

1. Speed learning or time lapse?

Our hero is the most superior in everything, as all heroes must be. And when they aren’t, we need a trainer to come in and teach them something. The trainer has trained for their entire life and is the best there is in this skill, making them the one to teach our hero. Thankfully for the hero’s pocket money, they’re a fast learner, cause 40 bucks an hour is too much to spend for more than the one day it takes them to be better than the trainer. But don’t blame the hero too much, it’s all thanks to the things the hero’s parents taught them before they were tragically murdered when the hero was just a child.

And there you have it, 5 things that bother me in stories. They’re not in the actual order of what bothers me most and least, just what came to mind first. These aren’t all the things either, so I will most likely be back with another list or two at some point. Perhaps I’ll do some about things that I like as well, just to mix it up a bit.

I hope you enjoyed reading this. Feel free to comment about what you like or don’t like in stories.

View more on Azaria M.J. Durant's website »

1 like · Like • 0 comments • flag

Published on April 30, 2019 13:02

From The Ashes – Short Story

Oh, hey. Despite all other evidence to the contrary, I and this blog are still alive. I really don’t know what to write for blog articles, so instead, I’m just gonna post a short story I wrote in February. I wrote it for an iPod writing challenge, so this short story is based off of the song Up from the Ashes by The Letter Black. I hope you enjoy it.

-Story Start-

Crickets chirped and a nearby brook bubbled happily underneath a star-filled August sky. Everything was peaceful and beautiful, like a still picture, or a tranquil scene from a romance movie. At least, that’s how it was for all but one.

Alesha stood several paces away from the boarded up, ivy-covered house set alone in the middle of a clearing. Even from where she stood in the darkness, she could see the black burn scars spreading out from the broken upper window.

Her legs trembled beneath her as she made her way up the overgrown pathway to the rotten step. The door swung back and forth on its hinges, having already been broken open at some point since the house’s abandonment. She stepped through the doorway onto the shredded mat. Her gaze found the welcome mural, painted on the wall and surrounded by tiny handprints. Each one had a name and date underneath them for each year they were put on. The circle was incomplete. She shook her head, forcing back the emotions that threatened to spill over, and hurried towards the stairs.

The thin winding stairway to the upper floor was just as terrifying as she remembered it. Every step she took sent a shudder up her spine as well as through the wood. She practically lunged up the last few steps and hurried away from them, imagining that they’d fall from beneath her.

She found her way into the bedroom without having to think about it. Even after all these years she knew just where it was. It wasn’t like she remembered it, but it was exactly like she’d imagined it would be. The walls were completely black, and the only thing left in the room were the remains of an old cradle. She stood over it, trembling as the memories came back to her.

***

The tiny flame from the stolen lighter flickered over her dark skin and created a dim light around her. She huddled under her blankets as she watched it, not wanting her mother to see that she’d taken the lighter. The flame died and she flicked the lighter again, making it reappear. It was beautiful and the heat on her cold skin felt really nice. She didn’t know why her mother didn’t want her to have it. It was really pretty.

Alesha knew it was just because her mother didn’t like her. She only liked Sara. Sara was perfect. Sara never got into trouble. If she ever did anything wrong, her mom would just say that she was a baby and that she was allowed because she was sick. Which Alesha thought was all nonsense. She could pretend to be sick too if it meant going to the hospital and getting a lollipop at least once a week. But when she’d tried to say she was sick, her mother had told her she was faking and sent her to bed. It wasn’t fair.

Sara started crying in the cradle across the room and Alesha sighed. She flicked the lighter off and stuck her face out from under the blankets looking over at her baby sister. Sara had just turned eighteen months that day and people had given her presents, but Alesha didn’t know what all the fuss about it was. She was turning seven years next week and no one talked about it half as much. Sometimes she wasn’t even sure if her mother remembered it.

She narrowed her eyes at her sister. “Go to sleep, Sara.”

She pulled the blankets back over her head to muffle the sound of her sister’s crying. She wasn’t going to comfort her. Her mother could come and do it if she cared so much. Maybe she’d take her to the hospital again, and she wouldn’t have to listen to her crying for another night. And her Aunt Janet could come over and babysit her. She always liked that.

Everything was much better when she came visiting. She smelled of nutmeg all the time and would bring a little present with her for both of the girls whenever she came over. And the best part was, she didn’t bring a bigger one for Sara or treat her any better just because she was sick.

After a moment, Alesha went back to flicking the lighter on and off. Her eyelids grew heavy, but she forced them open and kept flicking. She turned it on and held it open for a moment. Everything was starting to blur as her eyes closed and her hand slipped to the side.

***

Even the memory of the blinding pain she’d felt moments after falling asleep with the lighter caused her to cry out and bring her hand to the side of her face. She’d gotten out of her burning bed and stumbled from the room, trying to escape the growing fire. When she’d heard Sara’s terrified cries she’d tried to get back in, but the flames had been too big and the smoke too thick.

Several days later, she found herself waking up in a hospital covered in bandages that were hiding horrific burns. She’d cried for her mother, but she hadn’t been there. She didn’t come at all until it was time for Alesha to leave the hospital. And then her grip was too tight on her arm and her voice too cold. She noticed that Sara wasn’t there and she hoped it was just because her mom had left her with a babysitter or her aunt. But deep down she knew why she wasn’t there and why she’d never be there again.

A tear slipped from her eye, splattering onto the blackened floor.

***

“Alesha Carol Anne!” Her mother shouted, shaking her. “How dare you? How dare you even think you could do something like this!?”

“I’m sorry,” Alesha blubbered.

She could tell her mother had had too much to drink. Her body was shaking, her words slurred, and her breath smelled strongly of alcohol.

“I don’t have the money to pay for all this stupid stuff for you. You’re so selfish!”

“I didn’t mean to.” She wiped her arm across her eyes. “Billy s-started it.”

“I don’t care who started it! I just care that your only damn uniform needs to be replaced!” Her mother let go of her and straightened up, running her hand through her straggly hair. “Why do you always have to destroy everything? I’m already paying an arm and a leg to put your through private school!”

She cursed under her breath, running her hand through her hair before looking back down at her daughter. “Sara never would have done anything like this,” she said the last bit quietly, as if she didn’t intend for Alesha to hear, but at the same time, hoped that she would.

Alesha stared up at her mother for a moment, waiting for her take it back. But she never did. She just turned and walked into the kitchen, leaving Alesha to cry alone.

***

It had been the first time her mother had ever said anything like that. Ever compared her to what Sara might have been, but it wasn’t the last. Every time she messed up or failed after that, she got to hear that Sara never would have done anything like what she’d just done. That Sara would have succeeded. Sara would have been perfect. And she knew it was true.

Even when Alesha tried as hard as possible, she still messed up somehow. She still wasn’t good enough. She was at the top of her class, getting a scholarship, labeled the most likely to succeed. But she still couldn’t live up to the memory of her sister.

So she moved out as soon as she finished high school, and moved as far away as she could to go to college. She trained to be a lawyer and never spoke to her mother again.

And her mother never tried to contact her either. It was her aunt who finally called ten years later. But only to tell her mother was in the hospital, dying of cancer, and she didn’t have long left.

***

The beeping of the machines and slow, laboured breathing of her mother met her ears the moment she stepped into the hospital room. The loud clicking of her heels almost sounded grotesque combined with the deathly noises. She’d dressed as though she was going to court. Business.

Her mother’s eyes opened and she looked at her. For a moment there was happiness in them. “You’re… here.” Her frail voice carried a joy that Alesha hadn’t heard since the accident.

Alesha reached out and took one of her mother’s cold hands.

“Sara.” Her mother said, staring up at her lovingly.

A lump grew in her throat and she made a small choking sound as she started to speak. “Mama. It’s me. Alesha.”

The change in her mother’s eyes was instant. She pulled her hand away. “Oh.”

“Mama, please.” A tear slipped down her cheek and she didn’t bother to wipe it away. “Please, mama. You’re dying. Just this one time, can you love me? Can you please forgive me for what I did? I can’t forgive myself if you won’t.”

“You… killed… her. You… killed… my baby.” Her breathing halted and the machines beeped more as her heart rate picked up.

A nurse ran in and started looking her over. Alesha just slowly backed out of the room. Part of her still hoped her mother would ask her to stay, but she didn’t. She didn’t even look at her.

As soon as she was out of the room, she bolted, running out of the hospital and to her car. She got in and started to drive, not really sure where she was going at first, but as she drove, it became clear the direction she was heading. The place she hadn’t been in a very long time. The place where her whole family had died, even if it was just her sister who had been put in the ground.

***

She collapsed on the floor beside the cradle and pressed her palms against the floorboards, her shoulders starting to shake with sobs. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry Sara. This is all my fault. I should have died. It shouldn’t have been you.” She could hardly breathe, but she kept going. “Mama would have loved you so much. You would have made her so proud. You would have made me so proud. I never really hated you. I just wanted mama to love me too.”

Ashes piled on the floor from the burnt cradle above them covered her hands. Her shoulders slouched more until her face was nearly touching the ground and she just cried, cried until she couldn’t cry anymore. And then she let her body rest on the floor and stared blankly at the wall, not moving.

Her eyes blinked open and she stretched, pushing herself up. The sun shone through the window, illuminating every speck of ash floating through the air. Alesha got to her feet and looked around. Her gaze landed on a small blue lighter lying on the charred floorboards. She walked over and picked it up, staring down at it. There was no way it could be the same lighter. They wouldn’t have left that on the scene. It looked just like it.

She moved her finger onto the top and flicked it. The flame sparked up and then died away as she moved her finger. Her heart rate increased and she took a sharp breath, trying to calm down the instant panic that sprung up inside her. It was the first time she’d used a lighter since it had happened. Since the day when she’d destroyed everything. The memories of which haunted every moment of her life, awake or asleep. It had to stop. She couldn’t keep living if it was going to be like this.

Her gaze moved back to the cradle and she stared at it for a moment before looking back at the lighter. She pulled her coat off and crumpled it up, tossing it into the remains of the cradle. No one even came to this place anymore. It just stood straight and tall in the middle of the clearing as a constant reminder. She moved the lighter down to it and flicked it on, holding it against the coat until it caught on fire. The flames flickered, slowly growing larger as they consumed the dry cotton around them.

Alesha watched it for a moment before turning and hurrying from the room. She pressed her palm against the wall as she made her way down the steep stairs. Once she was at the bottom, she paused for a moment to listen to the crackling of the fire above her head before she headed outside.

The fire had already built up in intensity as it burned through the dry wood that she could feel the heat on the back of her neck as she walked down the path several meters. She turned again and looked back at the house, watching as the flames licked out through the window.

The flames flickered in her eyes and a smile spread across her face as she lifted her arms out. It was almost as if she could feel the hatred and the weight of the past lifting off of her and burning in the fire. The rejection. The insecurity. The weight of her mother’s disappointment. All burning. The past was gone, turning to ashes. It was time for the future.

-The End-

And there you have it. I currently have this story entered in an actual legitimate contest, so I might let you all know how that goes. If I remember.

I hope you enjoyed this story. It gave me a lot of grief.

Feel free to leave comments below, with your thoughts and comments. They don’t all have to be positive, but do try to be nice, I’m fragile.

View more on Azaria M.J. Durant's website »

1 like · Like • 0 comments • flag

Published on April 05, 2019 21:52

From The Ashes – A Short Story