The Ladies of Horror
Picture-Prompt Writing Challenge!

Los Vigilantes Oscuros II Santa Lucia Mountains, California
by Angela Yuriko Smith

They linger, silhouettes of shadow and silence, from the edges of myth and whisper. Los Vigilantes Oscuros rising with the mist—towering, wrapped in the fabric of dusk, ephemeral spirits woven from the smoke of dead campfires and lost travelers. Cautionary witnesses, watchers or judges, they drift through the peaks of Santa Lucia, ink-dark phantoms of the liminal. They demand reverence, inspire awe, their quiet patience a promise. But of what?

We name them watchers, but we shy from claiming them. We know, without admission, they are mirrors, reflecting us back to us. We fear their judgment, but it is the judgement of ourselves that causes us to shrink against the treeline and lower our voices when we see them cast against the night sky. Los Oscuros are the keepers of our darker truths, echoes of our neglect, guardians of balance. Disrespect the land, deny the spirits, and their silhouette grows closer. They do not hide in darkness—they are darkness, waiting at the boundaries for us to recognize our own… and respect them.mountain breathes in mist—
shadows speak without voices;
old gods never sleep.

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Fiction © Copyright Angela Yuriko Smith
Image courtesy of Pixabay.com.

More from Angela Yuriko Smith:

Angela Yuriko Smith is a third-generation Ryukyuan-American, award-winning poet, author, and publisher with 20+ years in newspapers. Publisher of Space and Time magazine (est. 1966), two-time Bram Stoker Awards® Winner, and HWA Mentor of the Year, she shares Authortunities, a free weekly calendar of author opportunities at authortunities.substack.com.