Terror Tuesday: Somebody Knew

Miss Maya, how she loved a mystery,
Especially if it chanced to have a ghost.
She kept alert for these, was rarely free
Of thoughts of what intrigued that girl the most.
Then came a night, house-sitting for a friend,
When she got what she'd wished for. It began
When Snowball, a small, yappy dog, did spend
An hour barking. "What's wrong,  fuzzy man?"
He whimpered, then, and hid  behind a chair.
She searched the house, but didn't find a thing.
Then something grabbed her by her long brown hair.
She screamed, and tried to turn, but couldn't bring
Her eyes in focus. Meanwhile, a new text
Chimed  in her phone. "He's loose!  I think you're next!"

Monster Monday: Attack of the Killer Bro-nado

A fifth of whiskey and a tattoo shop,
Repeated seven times, had this result:
Each guy had a tornado that "don't stop"
Aswirl upon his forearm. Yes, exult,
Young men, but don't you -- oh, we are too late!
The fist pumps, in a ring of manly glee
Released into the atmosphere a great
And mighty storm, from which we all must flee!
Three cities are in ruins now from its
Unholy rampage. "Do you even lift?"
We hear as it tears through, and never quits.
"You mad?" As though destruction were a gift
We seem not to appreciate. At last
The alcohol is wearing off -- and fast!

Superhero Sunday: United

The factory caught fire, and those inside
Were trapped and coughing, lost amidst the smoke.
The owners never bothered to abide
By safety codes, and as their workforce choked,
One hero only had a chance to save
These victims, who could rally John and Jane
Q. Citizen to do their duties. Wave
A grateful hand; the need is ever plain.
The Worker of the World, come on the scene,
Inspired all passersby, who rushed to aid
The seamstresses! They formed a vast machine
Blew out the flames, and handily then made
Escape for all into reality,
Then off on all their ways they went, all free.

Sci-Fi Saturday: The Hardest Sell

Subsidence made a sinkhole near the edge
Of this small town, just where folks go to see
Our  finest mountain vista. Now, I pledge,
What happened's no one's fault, and it's now free
Of all remains, but I'm afraid it's true:
The site was not updated, not online.
So tourists, on those smoggy days, those who
Had VR sets that always showed a fine,
Clear view, and used them... Yes, they fell
In frightening numbers, down the slope, and yes,
Some died. It took a while for us to tell
Where lay the problem, but I do not guess
You care 'bout that. Best buy my software patch.
I saw the problem, and fixed it from scratch.

Fantasy Friday: Fish Tales, Part V

Nobody came for Kleo. Camp rolled on
And on, into the autumn! Each full moon,
The tropic campers cowered until dawn
As tough and thuggish troutgirls leaped, the doom
Of millions of mosquitoes. Then by day
The cold and greyish water was all theirs
In which to twirl and dance, in which to play,
Forgetting briefly those with whom they shared
That alpine lake. One morning, though, a maid
Tried jumping high, and hit her pretty head
Against the water's surface! She was laid
Out cold. As others tended where she bled
(Lest pike return!), Kleo looked at what she'd hit,
All white and solid. Now, just what was it?

Throwback Thursday: The Fable of Finger Wing, Part I

Last Sunday, B.C., oh so long ago,
So long ago the cockroach looméd large
As bunnies do, and flew, the world below
Was ruled from high above, and those in charge
Did make the skies their kingdom. Dinosaurs
Did stomp the clumsy earth, but e’en they feared
The pterodactyl clans, whose screeching roars
Could deafen prey long ere that prey was speared.
Their nests were high and hidden. Sometimes they
Forgot where all they'd left their eggs to hatch.
Such was the case on that most special day
When Finger Wing broke shell. She had no match
Among her nest mates, flung them to the ground
To watch them splat, then took a look around.

Weird Wednesday: The Final Freeze

The snow first piled and drifted all night long,
Obscuring ev’rything that was in sight
In normal circumstances. Weak or strong,
No one was unaffected on a night
So cold and so immobilizing. Trapped
In houses, stranded on the roads in cars,
All anyone could do was wait, enrapt
And watching whiteness overtake the stars,
The moon, the ground, the world. All disappeared.
The stasis never broke; the Kelvin scale
Alone could read reality. What cleared
It all away at last seemed small and frail
To human senses, but the great old pow’rs
Swept all the shards of Earth away in hours.