Oops!… We Did It Again (Culling)

Erm… hullo there. (This is rather awkward…)

Dear Reader, the stuff that was originally posted here has been removed.

We have done this because said stuff has since been included in one of our published books. We hope you’ll believe us when we say we’re not trying to be stingy. No, this has been done to honour the people who have already spent their hard-earned money on our eBook creations.*

If, however, for some reason you’re unable to buy one of our books, and feel you’ll die without seeing this piece of writing, then please contact us via admin@unbolt.me. We won’t allow our Dear Readers to fade away in the dark. We’ll send you the piece in question, and it will be absolutely free. All you need do is ask.

* Of course, we would be like two happy puppies if you too decided to buy one of our books.

by TETIANA ALEKSINA & TONY SINGLE
© All rights reserved 2015-2018

GUEST POST // My Forest by Purple Creature

Walking in my forest, huge trees are blocking the light,
I am walking, and now cannot see.
I hear creatures stirring on the forest floor,
Crawling over my feet, hissing in my ear, they are all around me,
I fucking fear…

My heart is racing, my fear is growing,
I want to run, so fast, I can’t think straight,
I want to leave this God forsaken place, as fast as I can.
I am alone, I am bruised and battered, I cannot win this fight.
I have done this to myself, for I have walked into the forest willingly,
Knowing what the forest beholds…

Ego… self-righteousness, false confidence,
call it what the Fuck you want,
I am here now, me, in the darkness, in the forest…
Dealing with it… badly.
More creatures, of all shapes and sizes are coming out.
Noises are getting louder, hisses, are getting louder…
The forest is alive I realize, a breathing, living being of blackness,
Tears are its food, Fear is its oxygen.

Then, in the distance, I see a faint light, fluttering in the forest.
It’s waiting for me, calling for me, like a beacon in the night…
Has it always been here… Have I just been blinded by my despair,
That I haven’t seen what has been in front of me, all this time…
I concentrate on the light, and follow it through the forest,
ignoring all else…
It’s just me and the light…
Before I know it, I am out of the forest and into the light,
with cascading waterfalls,
And beautiful flowers and colors everywhere…

The light, I realized, is the most beautiful, colorful, exotic,
butterfly I have ever seen,
The butterfly gazed at me one last time, smiled, winked at me,
and flew away, into the sky.

A single tear formed in my eye, and over flowed down my cheek.
Thank you, sweet butterfly,
For waiting for me,
For staying with me,
For guiding me out of my despair… out of my forest.

by PURPLE CREATURE
© All rights reserved 2015

a Guest

You say that others’ mistakes can’t teach.
Time is cruel and doesn’t cure.
May I help you? I’m not really sure
but I promise to listen to your speech.

You say that darkness is the brightest light,
that the loudest scream is mute…
I nod. I don’t argue with the whiteness of soot
and the preeminent grandeur of blight.

You shout and whisper. You laugh and cry.
My task is to put a kettle on fire.
You run round the room like a gyre.
I take cups from the shelf and slice up a pie.

You finish and go out into the night
with salutary lightness inside your chest.
…I don’t get the money from my nightly guest.
My royalties are my permission to write.

by TETIANA ALEKSINA
© All rights reserved 2015

the Pythia

How have I perfected the smoky oracle-art?
I too often set on fire my credulous heart
and tried to read a nonexistent story.
When my core became cold and hoary
I finished cheating myself with these air-built hopes
and got a job in the Temple of Apollo on the Delphi slopes.

by TETIANA ALEKSINA
© All rights reserved 2015

an Invitation (Tea-for-Two)

Well… there’s a hellish private tea-party.
Are you brave? Put on a mask of the Cheshire or the Hatter.
Pretend that you’re fucking arty
And that you’re a God of refined chatter.

But beware of the owner, little sweet Alice.
She’ll offer you a Mad-Poisonous-Mushroom-Brew.
The truth serum which smells like sweet anise…
And she’ll start to torture you with Twenty-and-One Shades of Blue.

Did you fuck up at least once? Kicked down the stair!
Get out! Without umbrellas and underwear!

P.S. Want more details? Please, look here!
(Hmm… and take a spare set of dry underwear…)

by TETIANA ALEKSINA
© All rights reserved 2015