Flaming torches illuminated twelve of them, holding hands, dancing around a solid black altar. A dozen naked men with exotic patterns painted on their bodies, chanting in a foreign language I didn’t even want to recognize. The guttural sound of those syllables sent shivers up my spine.
On the altar, also in her birthday suit, was a beautiful young woman. Not in the same league as Natalia, but beautiful just the same. Her arms were crossed over her stomach and tied to the altar. Her legs were tied too. By the look of her, though, the ropes were unnecessary. She was out of it.
The chanting stopped. It hit me like a slap in the face. The men dropped to their knees, still holding hands. One of them detached himself from the others and crawled to the altar. His companions closed the circle behind him.
Extract from Tales From The Crying Room, a combined paperback-only version of the stories contained in Anthology of Snippets, plus a few other short stories, and a radio play I wrote for a competition (I didn’t win).
Books available dirt-cheap on Amazon. And on Amazon.co.uk. Free on Kindle Unlimited.
Or you can find them at Curiosity, the new retail shop open from Wednesday to Sunday, 11am till late, at the Railways Cafe in Pretoria. Join me there on the 12th of October for The Vintage Festival, featuring Martin Rocka, South Africa’s King of Psychobilly (who happens to make a guest appearance in Burning Roses). Get a copy signed by me and (if we can track him down) Martin.
Also available from the East Rand Children’s Haven, Merchandise Charity Shop, 5 Muriel Brand Street, Weltevreden 118-IR, Brakpan (alongside the soon-to-be-famous Richard Edwards’ The Puzzle Train).
Till next time.
Cheers.
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