The Ladies of Horror
Picture-Prompt Writing Challenge!

Don’t Delay! Book Your Trip Today. 
by R.A. Clarke 

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I am Death’s kaleidoscopic competition.

Where he is all darkness and brood,

I am buoyancy, and manic vibrance.

Where he fails to tread, I invade freely.

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I fall upon the shores like a crashing wave to a fresh continent and new customers.

Nomadic in nature, I roam place to place.

Seeking souls who are in need of service.

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Death lurks, ever so dull and macabre.

Travelling in his skeletal arms is drab.

The pain he offers—mundane—typical.

But a journey through me is exuberance.

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My final embrace is saturated by colour and daubed with my own unique beauty.

I offer brilliance and titillation on the ride.

A last hurrah of indulgences, of excess.

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Where ol’ Death offers only moroseness,

a straight shot from grave to hell’s gate.

I offer thrills and pleasure to those whose

lifeline ends—by nature, force, or choice.

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I am celebrity and carnival, drug and sex.

To die is inevitable, as bland as white tile upon subway walls.

Instead, let graffiti slather your demise with untamed strokes.

Choose my services—I won’t disappoint.

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Let me sweep you away to a riotous rest.

Let me be your final chauffeur and host.

Let me fill you with sweet, delicious sin before it’s time to pay the final bill in Hell.

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Why go in shadow, and torturous regret?

Choose me and forsake that black cloak.

Travel in light and disco, and indulgence.

Take my hand to savour pure effulgence

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on your one-way-trip to the inferno deep.

I don’t venture up, for that’s angels’ work.

Luminous chaos doesn’t suit such a task.

But a thrill ride to hell, now you’re talking.

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Fiction © Copyright R.A. Clarke
Image courtesy of Pixabay.com 

More from author R.A. Clarke:

A daughter’s last chance at redemption on an alien planet. A sweeping secret that could not only end her dreams, but her life as well.

Finn Rucker boards the starship to seek a fresh start as part of a colonizing effort on Joya. The race, sponsored by Governus, yields free land and startup funds for the lucky winners. The number of entrants guarantees someone is going to lose and Finn is determined that she and her bionic horse, Herc, are among the winners.

Racing through uncharted jungle to the settlement of Novus, Finn and her fellow racers soon discover that not everything is as it seems – and Governus withheld information from the contestants. Strange beasts attack the racers, mechanical equipment begins to fail, and the very air seems out to get them.

When all seems lost, a mysterious people arrive and help the racers, revealing the depth of Governus’ deception. Finn will have to keep her pulse pistols close and her new friends closer – but not too close – as they all race to survive the jungle.

You will love this mashup of Hidalgo and James Cameron’s Avatar as Finn navigates the guilt of her past, the promise of a future, and the imminent dangers of her present.

Available on Amazon!