In my closet there's an old shoe box with a beautiful red cape.
Ma made it for me a long time ago. She used to make a lot of pretty things.
She told me I can be anything I wanted.
Told me fantastic tales of places that couldn't be found on maps.
Told me of magical creatures and wonderful things.
Told me that monsters were real but not to be afraid.
She spoke of tentacled children and invisible giants,
That there existed entire civilizations in the trunks of trees.
That nature has a way of telling you things.
And I believed her.

She made the cape and gave it to me for my birthday.
"All heroes should wear capes," she said as she secured it to my collar.
"Now you'll be able to fly when you need to."
"Can I try it now, ma?"
"Not yet son. Only use it for when it's needed."
She told me to keep it in a safe place.
So I kept it in the closet, inside the shoe box.
The same day I saw her crying after talking to my dad on the phone.
Dad traveled a lot for his job. When he was home the house would always be filled with screaming and broken things.
I spent a lot of time in the safe place, holding the box with the cape in it.

Mom was taken away shortly after my baby brother Leroy was born.
Dad said she's in the hospital.
The hospital had bars on the windows to keep the patients in. I thought that was kinda funny.
I wrote letters to Ma everyday and drew pictures so she can read it like a story book.
I wrote her letters even after I saw Dad throwing them away.

There's still a lot of screaming and broken things.

Thank goodness I have superpowers, I don't even feel the pain anymore.
The marks are there but I feel nothing.
Baby brother Leroy had marks just like mine but he was always in pain.
Last night I opened the window and listened to nature.


My beautiful red cape fluttered in the wind. It was cold and windy and dark.
I can see all the other tall buildings around.
I held baby brother Leroy's hand and told him that monsters are real but not to be afraid.
Then I told him my secret.
I can fly.
He smiled.
Then we jumped into the open evening space as the invisible giants watched.



Note: I've had this in my head since I woke up this morning, just finally sat down and wrote it in about 20 minutes.

Copyright 2010 R. Van Saint
(Steal it and I will send my nightmares to your house)

Or is it: Have a beer then kill a zombie?

My latest short story Panic in 2020: A Zombie Story is now available in fancy-shmancy sleek digital format at Smashwords for a whopping $1.99.

A quick synopsis:
The year is 2020. A crew of 7 astronauts who have been in space for 10 years for an interstellar project are en route back to Earth when all contact is lost with Mission Control. They come home to realize that life as they knew it had changed.


I need your help fellow hooligans!
If you're a writer and want to collaborate contact me.
If you want to collaborate with anything contact me.
Anyone who's enjoyed my short stories / tweets / blog posts so far let me know.
Add me on Twitter, interview me for your blog, be proactive.
If you're interested in doing a review of any of my upcoming works, e-mail me.

If you dig the way I make stories up, sign up for my mailing list.
I'll be offering special deals to my list buddies. Plus advance sneak peaks and access to upcoming projects. I'm trying to come up with other special stuff to make it worthwhile to you guys so just bare with me.


Upcoming projects:

• I will be releasing at least a few more short stories via Smashwords. I'm having fun with the distribution channel so I'll continue with it.
• I'm collaborating with another writer for at least a couple of projects. (More on that soon)
  
• My short story collection will still be released this year in print. I've got a few more stories to add but it's coming together. 
• I'm working on 2 novels/novellas at the moment simultaneously - what the fuck was I thinking? They're both about 1/3 finished.
• I have another novel/novella idea just waiting and taunting me.
• I will be podcasting some of my works in the coming months.
• I'm toying with various ways to market and promote my stuff. You'll see.
  

Let's see, what else can we pile on top of that?
We are in the midst of relocating to a new home so the next week or so is gonna get really interesting.

What can I say, I like to keep busy.

Here's a sneak preview of my upcoming short story release Panic in 2020: A zombie story.
Unless the world ends on Thursday, this should be available this weekend, possibly even Friday.

If you are interested in reviewing it or any of my upcoming works, please use the form on the contact page to inquire. Send a link to your website/blog if any.

I had fun designing this image and I'm very pleased with the result. Hope you like it!