Rainy Days and Sun Rays

Roses and Wildflowers Latest Issue

A very big thank you to the wonderful people at Roses and Wildflowers, who, despite some terrible setbacks, have come back strong with a fantastic new issue, one I’m very proud to be a part of. I hope you get a chance to take a look.

Here is the link to my featured piece: Rainy Days and Sun Rays

As always, thank you for reading

Richard

If you enjoy my work please consider a small contribution.

Every bit helps.

ko-fi

Author: Richard M. Ankers

Featuring “Into Eternity” by Richard M. Ankers

What is the Book About? Queen Serena and her allies have fled the massacre, taking Princess Linka with them. For Jean, it’s heartbreak; for his …

Featuring “Into Eternity” by Richard M. Ankers

A big thank you to ‘Feed The Holy’ editor, Barbara Leonhard, for featuring the third Eternals book on her fabulous website.

This is the culmination of Jean’ torrid journey through a future littered with the remnants of a vampiric past. I hope you enjoy the ride.

Please do take a look the other wonderful work there and I hope you enjoy this sample of my own.


Thank you for reading

Richard

The Hollows of the Heart

A big thank you to editor Joelcy Kay at the fantastic Edge of Humanity Magazine for publishing my latest flash fiction, The Hollows of the Heart.

Please do have a good read of the other wonderful published pieces. You won’t be disappointed.

Read Here: The Hollows of the Heart

Thank you for reading

Richard

Wet

Photo by 𝓴𝓘𝓡𝓚 𝕝𝔸𝕀 on Unsplash

Wet

by Richard M. Ankers

Only ever alone with the rain and the sea.

I watched her emerge from the nocturnal river like a perfect pearl. Naked, she was, confused and unchaperoned. A first new life form in aeons. She shimmered for all to see. A miracle. My last hope.

Her beauty outshone the eternal darkness, like the world’s most perfect black rose giving birth to a solitary milk-white petal. She glistened brighter than any star. She dazzled. I was dazzled.

I approached with trepidation, a gliding shadow, and spoke as a mistral wind. “You… Are… Everything…”

“I am nothing.”

The starkness and speed of her response stalled me.

“I have done nothing.”

This time, I was prepared. I decided a direct approach was best.

I closed about the world, about her. “For the first time in eternity, I wished to be seen.”

Her hands fell from her modesty to reveal herself completely. Her eyes appeared to lose their glaze. She smiled. My heart melted.

“I am betrothed.”

I fled.


No star could find me. The spotlight moon illuminated without reason or rhyme. The sun did its best to fill the void. An armada of rainbows searched for my dark gold. Only the rivers had an inkling, as they swept into the deepest sea. Those in the abyss felt the loss, but had never truly experienced my all to begin with.

None would find me, for I was hardest to find by light.

I travelled the earth, and then the starways, and then more. I was everywhere and nowhere, but I never once dared her beauty again: she would have torn my obsidian soul apart. Until…


“Hello.” A soothing soprano.

“I thought my time had passed.”

“It is just beginning.”

I opened one eye to the opaque twin wonders of her own. “You see me?”

“I felt you first.”

“You found me. Me! The unseen!” I sounded like a revealed small child having hidden in a cupboard from a strict parent. “You are the first.”

“I have. I am.”

“How? It is my destiny to go unnoticed. To allow others to shine.”

“My need is greater than theirs.”

“What need?”

“To fulfil yours.”

“You rebuked me?”

“I knew not who you were.”

“But you do now.”

“Everyone does, now.”

I grimaced. “That bad, eh?”

She nodded. A tendril-like strand of hair wiped a tear from her cheek. My breath caught.

“They half need you, whereas I want you fully.”

“You need the lake, the river, the sea. You are born of water and must ever there remain.”

“Sometimes, but not always. I must slip beneath the starshine surface and embrace my creator. I am lost without him. Lost without you. This world is too bright. Too loud. I need the quiet of the…

“Don’t say my name,” I interjected.

“…Night.”

The cape of nothingness slipped from my shoulders, and I stood revealed before her. She smiled anew.

“Now there is only us,” she said, as we slipped beneath the surface into the cool, dark, wet. 

The End


If you enjoyed this piece, please consider a small donation
to help further my writing life.

Thank you for reading
Richard

https://ko-fi.com/richardmankers

The Mermaid in my Bathtub

Gobblers by Masticadores – Latest Post

A big thank you to editor, Manuela Timofte, of Gobblers by Masticadores, for publishing The Mermaid in my Bathtub. I hope you enjoy this little collaboration between the wonderful Gina Maria Manchego and my good self.

As always, please do take a look around the site. There’s much to enjoy.

HERE: The Mermaid in my Bathtub

Thank you for reading

Richard

https://ko-fi.com/richardmankers

The Cold Burn

Massive thanks to editor, Joelcy Kay, at the fantastic Edge of Humanity Magazine for publishing my latest flash fiction, The Cold Burn.

I hope you’re able to take a look and spend a while perusing some of the other wonderful work the magazine has on display.

The Cold Burn

Thank you for reading

Richard

The Shedding

Feed The Holy – Latest Post

A big thank you to the wonderful editor of Feed the Holy, Barbara Leonhard, for publishing my latest think piece – because every now and again I do – The Shedding.

Please take a look at the other fantastic posts on Feed the Holy. You will not be disappointed.

Available Here: The Shedding

Thanks you for reading

Richard

Author: Richard M. Ankers

Sweet

ScribesMicro – Latest Release!

I’m delighted to have had my latest Drabble, Sweet, (100 word story), published by the fabulous folk at Fairfield Scribes. Issue 49 is packed full of 100 word stories. Quick to read and with lots of variety, I hope you enjoy them.

Available here: SWEET


https://ko-fi.com/richardmankers

If you enjoyed this piece, please consider a small donation
to help further my writing life.

Thank you for reading
Richard

SWEET

The Fallen

I’m delighted to have my latest piece, The Fallen, a Drabble (100 word story), published by the wonderful people at Fairfield Scribes, (Formerly ScribesMicro).

Available here: The Fallen

Issue 48 of Fairfield Scribes offers a wide array of these short form stories for anyone to read. Do feel free to sample them all.

I hope you enjoy.

Richard


If you enjoyed this piece, please consider a small donation
to help further my writing life. Every little helps and is always appreciated.

Thank you for reading
Richard

https://ko-fi.com/richardmankers

Separated at Birth

Gobblers by Masticadores – Latest Post

A big thank you to editor, Manuela Timofte, for publishing my latest short prose, Separated at Birth. Please take a look at the other wonderful poetry and prose on the site. Gobblers by Masticadores never disappoints. Here

Enjoy

Richardhttps://ko-fi.com/richardmankers


Photo by Stefano Bucciarelli on Unsplash

Separated at Birth

Twins set apart by time and tide, yet close enough to touch. This is our meeting as if from thin air. This is the face on a screen. Here, we linger, the two of us, interacting with a world that neither understands us nor wishes to. We say the right things, act as others, but remain remote. As hermits in a world made social, where everyone and everything is a supposed friend, we become just this. 

We feel each other. Our words mean more when felt, not just spoken to appease. Those with poor memories see through such things, for lies are abhorrent to the cerebrally challenged, whereas truths are undoubtedly solid. Even when the pain strikes us both, we remain true to this. When it grows worse, we never falter. When one hurts, so does the other. If one resists weeping, the other blinks back the tears. As if affixed by a very long string, one tug is felt no matter the distance. Two tugs makes the other one topple; I don’t like to see her fall. 

This is us, just eyes in a glass face, and voices powered by electronics. It ought not to work, but it does. It ought not to mean so much, but it couldn’t mean more. Twins, some might call us, separated at birth. She touches the screen and I touch it back. I know the pain in her head is as bad as mine, but a pain shared is a pain halved, mother says. Apparently, hers says the same.


If you enjoyed this piece, please consider a small donation
to help further my writing life.

Thank you for reading
Richard

https://ko-fi.com/richardmankers