Fink - Warm Shadow (Radio Edit)

I heard this song playing during an episode of "The Walking Dead".

Tuesday Tales - Sleep

This week's Tuesday's Tales is a picture prompt. Writers are to use the two pictures above to inspire a 300 words story. Mine is below. It's a dark fantasy. To read the other fine entries, go to the Tuesdays Tales web site.

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SLEEP

By Elizabeth Black

Genre: Dark Fantasy

Princess Zinnia had fled her village a week earlier, seeking the magical kingdom through the iron gate - the kingdom that held the secret to the curse than had kept her townspeople awake for thirty nights. Fatigue drove men to battle each other, draw blood, and kill. Women wrecked their homes in exhausted vexation. Children, weary from lack of sleep, banged their heads against walls in frustration and physical pain.

The princess ran through the forest. Dead brush scratched her legs with each step. Leaves had fallen to the brown grass. Bare branches reached for the sky, praying for rain that never came. As she ran, she spied a lone crocus peaking through the dead earth. Then, a second crocus. Green blades pushed past dried brown until the forest floor was a carpet of fragrant grass. Bare tree branches gave way to green leaves and pink blossoms. Excited, she knew she approached the magical kingdom and the sorceress within.

She ran past a gate and stumbled upon a courtyard. Villagers slept where they fell, some covered with dust. Chickens slept in coops and horses dozed. As she entered the courtyard, villagers stirred, awakening as if from a long sleep.

Zinnia stood before a woman who faced away from her, hands balled into fists.

The sorceress.

"Please help me. My village..."

"I know of your plight. I have waited for you to come and lift my curse."

Confused, Zinnia watched as the sorceress turned to face her. Zinnia stared into her own face, marred with loathing. The villagers surrounded her, pitchforks in hand. The sorceress extended one hand and touched Zinnia's face. The princess fell to the earth.

The sorceress walked beyond the gate into the forest in search of the princess's village. She had a mission to accomplish.