Thursday, July 26, 2007

Entry #3

Brambles in the Lavender Darkness
by John Weagly


Brambles are prickly shrubs of the rose family. There are no roses here, just moist, dark odors, a few shafts of sunlight and tall trees, some fallen to the forest floor.

I’m not a violent man. Gretchen and I were married for three years and I never hurt her in the first year or the second. But in the third year she started nagging me, goading me, hounding me and I lost my temper a time or two. The last time she pushed me too far. I’m not a violent man, but I do have my limits.

There are no roses here, in the darkest corner of the woods. But I gave Gretchen a dozen roses on our first date and for every anniversary thereafter. Since this is where she rests, where only I and no one else can find her, to me, these will always be brambles.

12 comments:

SzélsőFa said...

'I'm not a violent man' - how lovely.

Anonymous said...

I'm definitely getting paranoid - this is the third comment of mine that didn't get posted -

I liked the story, though. I hope you get the message this time. I particularly liked that subliminal use of brambles.

Victor J. Banis

Word said...

Chilling - simply chilling.

Kudos!

Dee Laine

Anthony Rapino said...

Nice and dark, the way I like it.

Unknown said...

Probably has happened which makes this so scary. Good use of roses/brambles to express love/loss of love. Good use of the senses.

apprentice said...

Love the economy of this and the use of the rose family as a motif

Victor Bravo Monchego, Jr said...

Nicely written. A common theme. What is running through our heads, our brotherhood who bury in the woods? Rose and brambles, solid.

Jeff said...

I also like the contrast of roses/brambles in the story. Nice job.

Unknown said...

Very good, tight writing which makes for a haunting, chilling tale. Really well handled.

AngelConradie said...

spooky! i like it, very "secret window"...

Anonymous said...

The use of brambles in imagery and metaphor is excellent.

Anonymous said...

Reminds me of the tale of Barbara Allen, but in reverse. Tightly written.

High marks!