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EC: Giovanni's Angel Excerpts Fun Hops

Youthful Frights vs Adult Fears #WEPFF Challenge No. 2 featuring Dolls & Eternal Curse Series #amwriting #amreading #movie

Well, I’d like to start off by saying, Happy Birthday to Me! That’s right. I’m the big 3 5 today and not ashamed one bit. Reaching 35 years of age unscathed, non-committed, non-incarcerated, and non-impoverished is something to be happy and proud about. I am blessed to have lived another year, simply put.

Now let’s talk about childhood fears…

When I was a kid (and let’s be honest, even now sometimes) I collected stuffed animals and toys. I wasn’t much into dolls, but where my sister had Barbie I had G.I. Joe. I did, however, love teddy bears. One year for my sister’s birthday, my parents decided she could have a sleepover and pick out three movies to watch, and one could be something none G or PG as long as they approved it first. I still to this day don’t know how she got this movie passed them, but I think it had something to do with the title.

Now at that time, I was nine years old (turning 10 in four months) and my sister was turning 12. She picked this movie thinking it would be corny and not really scary. Ha. I was the only one out of her bunch of friends to actually finish watching it, which I still regret to this day. I wasn’t even supposed to be at the party, not that I wasn’t invited, but I wasn’t interested in all the girly stuff that happened before the movie watching began. In a rare instance of kindness, back then (she’s lovely now), my sister gathered me from my room to watch the movies because she knew how much I enjoyed films; even at that age I knew more trivia than all the adults around me.

So, what all this boils down to is that after watching the movie, I realized that I needed to find a place to sleep. My room was out of the question. Every toy and doll in that freakish scary movie was in my bedroom along with dozens more. I’m pretty sure I remember waking up in the bathroom tub to the sound of my mom yelling, “What did you do to your sister?”

I’ve watched this movie since and it’s not nearly as scary, but still very creepy … Who makes these movies!

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I find dreams to be nerve-wracking sometimes. When it’s a good dream you don’t want to wake up from it and when it’s a bad dream that’s all you want to do. I don’t throw around the word hate a lot, but I hate it when I’m having a bad dream and I can’t wake up from it, even though I know it’s not real. I can’t stand that sense of helplessness, of not being able to do anything about my situation. It’s like being mugged or trapped. That’s my adult fear and I used that idea to write the following passage. Not sure if I quite captured the sense of desperation I wanted.

Looking for general feedback here. Even though this piece has been published, the beauty of self-publishing is that I can update my work anytime I choose. 😉

~

     He looked down toward the ground and saw an attractive young woman carrying a large pail into a barn. Her skin was freckled and pale, and she had rosy cheeks. Her hair was long and straight, and it was black like the night. She seemed so familiar to him, but he didn’t know her. Giovanni watched as the young woman filled feeding troughs with water to be cleaned. As she reached for a scrubbing brush, Giovanni could see that someone or something was following her. He sensed that trouble was on the way. He tried to call out to her, but she could not hear him. His voice made no sound. Giovanni left the tree and swooped down to the ground to achieve a closer look.

     There he saw a creeping perpetrator bouncing from beam to beam in the rafters of the barn. Drool slipped from the monster’s mouth while it hovered over the unknowing young woman. Giovanni tried to fly up to see this fiendish stalker, but he couldn’t lift his feet off the ground, and his wings would not flap. Giovanni knew something bad would happen, he could feel it in his heart, but it seemed he could do nothing to stop it. He did not understand. Why was this happening? How could he appear to be so powerful, be so angelic, and not be able to help someone in need?

     Giovanni refused to give up his pursuit. He pushed his body forward and moved from door to door, and window to window, trying to get in to warn and protect the young woman. Looking through a window, Giovanni finally saw the villain’s full horror. He established a clear vision of the attacker as it leaped down from the ceiling toward the woman. It was the most hideous monster he’d ever seen, much worse than his own reflection.

     A twisted and mangled troll with charcoal for skin on a hairless body stalked about. It had empty holes carved out of its skull where eyes once were. There were two large dull spikes protruding from its hunched back, where it looked as though wings had been violently ripped from its body. Its hands were made of jagged bones held together with rotting ligaments, and its feet crackled as it moved along the floor.

     In the troll’s hands were two long golden rods that whipped back and forth almost like lassos. Each rod was attached to the end of a large iron spike that punched through the shoulders of a young man’s dying body. The rods held up the young man’s body as though he were a puppet being pulled by strings. To the young woman, however, the troll simply appeared as a shadowy figure lingering around the painfully disturbed and ailing young man moving toward her.

     The troll maneuvered the young man’s body around the girl for attack, delivering blow after blow.  The monster had taken over this young man’s body; it was using him as a weapon to attack this poor girl for what seemed to be the sheer enjoyment of it. It laughed a loud cackle as it threw the girl down to the ground, tearing her raggedy dress. Giovanni could see the girl’s anguish and could hear her screams. Throbbing empathetic pain consumed him in every place the girl was struck, but Giovanni could do nothing to stop it.

     Giovanni began to cry out, weeping and sobbing. He tried to look away and he tried to get away, but he couldn’t. That’s when it began to happen. He became consumed with anger and hatred. Giovanni’s body grew hot and began to sizzle. Smoke and steam began to rise up from his body as his wondrous glow began to fade and he became shrouded in darkness. Everything around him began to catch fire as he began morphing into anger. The smell of burning wood and flesh assaulted his tortured senses and Giovanni knew he was changing.

Eternal Curse: Giovanni’s Angel 4th Ed. Copyright © 2015 Toinette Thomas

Since it’s my birthday and it’s the season of spooky, the EC: Giovanni’s Angel ebook will be on sale for 99₵ the next few days. Check it out if interested and be sure to visit other stops on this challenge hop.

Thank you for taking the time to read this post. If you like it let me know and share it with others. See you next time, Toi Thomas. #thetoiboxofwords

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By Toi Thomas

Author and illustrator of children's books, as well as clean adult fiction and nonfiction. Toi is a geek-girl blogger, vlogger, reviewer, and advocate for a healthy reading lifestyle. She finds comfort in faith, family, and creative expression. Toi believes in the dream of world harmony and hopes all your dreams come true.

38 replies on “Youthful Frights vs Adult Fears #WEPFF Challenge No. 2 featuring Dolls & Eternal Curse Series #amwriting #amreading #movie”

Happy Birthday Toi! May you have an even better year than last year! I love your description–unscathed, non-committed, non-incarcerated, and non-impoverished–

Now those birthday sleepovers always had to have at least one scary movie so you could scream and keep the parents awake for sure! Doesn’t take a lot to scare a group of kids!

Your story had great suspense. I felt so much for Giovanni. How frustrating not to be able to help when he craved to so much. And then morphing into anger! Shows the power of that emotion to destroy.

Fantastic! I availed myself of your birthday present. Another in my kindle…

Thank you Toi for joining us at WEP for another great challenge. Your support is much appreciated.

Denise :-0

Thanks for the lovely opportunity and sweet birthday wishes. I’m glad you enjoyed my excerpt. Looking back on my life, I’ve watched I lot of movies that have kept me up at night; some good some bad.

That is one creepy troll! I love it! It sucks Giovanni couldn’t do anything about it. I felt that helplessness, though it kinda felt like the rage was too sudden? In any case.. happy birthday!! Here’s to another great year to you!

Thanks for the feedback. I’ll give some thought to the pacing and build up of his rage.

Somehow I don’t think he’s changing in a good way…Great piece, you could certainly feel the tension and desperation he felt.
Happy Birthday 🙂

Glad you liked the piece. Oh and his change being good or bad is debatable throughout the story.

Happy Birthday, Toi!

I wasn’t into dolls either, but I did love the stuffed animals. Even today, especially the puppies!  And I’m very glad I didn’t see this movie!
I also like self-publishing for the same reason. Congratulations on the publication of Giovanni’s Angel! Sounds like a must read that I now own! Awesome!

You display Giovanni’s desperation very well. I too wanted him to be able to save her. I’d love to know more and now I will! The monster was truly horrific and your descriptions took me into the scene!

I can’t wait to read more! Thanks Toi, for participating in the WEP Halloween Challenge with a superb excerpt – wonderful flash!
Happy Halloween!

Thanks for the gift of a purchase and the birthday wishes. I’m glad you enjoyed the excerpt and hope you enjoy the rest of the story.

Happy Birthday Toi. It is my birthday month too (Oct 11), but I am so much older than you. This was a great excerpt. Loved that sense of being in a dream and not able to affect anything. I hate those dreams, where you know you are dreaming but can’t wake yourself. Scary.

The only thing that makes those dreams bearable is that they are dreams and eventually you wake up.

Happy Birthday! I can totally relate to childhood fears. When I was little and went to McDonald’s the first time seeing Ronald McDonald scarred me for life. To this day I can’t stand cars. A clown comes in the room and I exit immediately.

I used a talking stuffed Teddy Bear in my work with abused children when a counselor. I still have him actually. 🙂 Bingo comes in handy when life sometimes abuses me! Great story. I got caught up in it right away. Happy Belated Birthday!

Glad you enjoyed the story. Despite this frightful moment of my youth, I still have my favorite teddy bear from infancy displayed in my home.

It’s some different, but not quite what you think. It seems like you are intrigued.

Happy 35th!

I avoid scary films – books are as far as I will go 🙂

Enjoyed the story, I felt Giovanni’s helplessness. Liked the descriptions, both girl’s and troll’s. Helplessness can so often morph into frustration and anger. I hope Giovanni’s is resolved in a good way.

Thanks. Glad you liked it. While his transformation doesn’t stop, he does find a way out of his anger.

Hope your birthday was a good one! I never cared that much for dolls either, I wanted a camera. Only one doll do I remember when I was very young. My mother kept that one for a very long time. It had eyes that closed when you lay it down. I don’t care for creepy dolls or clowns. . .Isn’t it funny what an impression movies can make upon us when we are young and impressionable. Enjoyed your story!

Thank you. Glad you liked the story. Don’t know how I’d feel about a doll with closing eyes.

Belated birthday wishes to you. I’m a wimp and wouldn’t watch that kind of film. Reading these horror stories is more than enough for me and yours is pretty creepy, well done.

Thanks for stopping by. My scene may be creepy, but overall the story is more uplifting.

I actually had the opposite experience to your sleepover story. My older brother had some friends over, and they were watching Batman (with Michael Keaton). I just happened to wander into the room and saw the climactic battle between a guy dressed like a black bat and a clown in a purple suit. Thus, my lifelong Batman obsession was born. Funny how random childhood incidents work.

Your story creates a sharp contrast between the fairly mundane country surroundings and the hideous monster that shows up there. I was a little confused by Giovanni, though. I thought he was a bird at first, which seemed like an interesting perspective to take. But then it seemed he was an angel of some sort. However, the book is called ‘Giovanni’s Angel’, which makes me wonder if he’s something else entirely.

It’s an intriguing little tease into your world!

What a cool way to discover Batman… I’m a fan. 😀
As for my story, you’re right; Giovanni’s is something else entirely. Glad you were intrigued.

A belated Happy Birthday, Toi!
Hope it was a good one!
Great descriptions! You’ve painted a grotesque, monstrous image… *shivers* and I’m wondering about Giovanni’s changing at the end… what next for him?

Thanks, Michelle. I had a lovely birthday. Glad you enjoyed my piece. As for Giovanni, his transformation is only the beginning.

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