Elegant Angels

Ron Koppelberger

Elegant Angels

In Breaths of red wilderness unflawed the beauty of planet 205.9 was unequaled by anything he had ever seen. The flowers in the dense underbrush were a bright orange and the leaves on the trees were red, there were patches of green here and there. The lush jungle tangle was fascinating but he was entirely distracted by the presence of the angels, the elegant angels.
They were white with tufted feathers and tall nearly eight feet from the bottoms of their pearly feet to the tops of their feathered heads. They were magnificent and deadly. Their teeth were fanged instruments of death at nearly two feet in length, he thought of Saber Toothed Tigers when he saw them. And their eyes were large bulbous balloons with gold irises in the center. They were truly elegant angels and death to those who bothered them. He remembered hearing about the first explorers who had encountered them. They had been drained of all their blood and placed in giant cocoons, as a spider might do or a caterpillar. The thought gave him chills and he tried to imagine something else.
Elegant Angels indeed, deadly and elegant.

Drawn Close

Ron Koppelberger

Drawn Close

The glass container held a fog of crimson liquid, Edward Lester stared into the murkey depths of the container and grinned. The alien was only partially visible in the swirl of colored water. As he looked into the container two things happened, his eyes took on a curious amber hue and the stream of thoughts running through his mind becme muddled and distant, more like an invading presences consciousness.
He grinned again and thought about killing everyone in the lab. He saw himself standing over the bodies of the other lab assistants and he was thin, gray like the alien, dripping the crimson blood of a captive. The idea had just come to him from nowhere, "Ill kill them all!" he said aloud to himself. The misty waters in the tank swirled and swam before him and he heard a whisper, "Kill them and release me!" He stood back for a moment and looked at the container again. The eyes, the damn eyes he thought. The eyes had turned scarlet from the gentle amber hue they had been. Edward rubbed his temples and turned away. He had to get away from the invaders thoughts.
Later he would drain the tank and effectively kill the alien. No one in the lab knew about the aliens thoughts, he hoped they would be prepared for them if they came back to earth, he could only hope and pray.

Sated Attire

Ron Koppelberger

Sated Attire

He worked long into the evening, fashioning his garland and the suit. The exterior of the suit was silk and the interior was a reflection of his anger, his unabiding hate for the man. He lined the inside of the suit with sandpaper and when he was done he smiled at his clever creation. Perhaps he would itch and fret, maybe even bleed a bit, great gouts of blood he thought to himself. Perhaps he’d rub all the flesh from his body leaving a bleach white skeleton, clacking and clinking as it meandered about in the sandpaper. Shiny bones he thought, shiny bones like glass, easy to break, to smash into a thousand bits of splintered refuse.
The hour rapidly approached and he waited with anticipation for the man to don the sandpaper suit. Bloody flesh and scraped skin, leaking in torrents, maybe in buckets of crimson pain, sandpaper for the governor Sir, sandpaper for the governor. He hoped and prayed for the sandy grind against the man’s flesh, leaking blood and viscera, spilling to the ground in great stinking heaps. He smiled as the man approached the door to his tailor’s shop and he sang with joy.

“Wonderful splatters of blood

For the matters of his crud,

Dripping, oozing in drips and drops,

In snits and spots,

Let the sandpaper march begin with

The pardonable sin!”

The man entered the shop and looked at the suit, “Beautiful my good man, absolutely splendid!” Striping from his cloths he put the suit on.
“This is superb my fine tailor, how did you know of my skin condition? Neverthemind my man, this is a perfect fit for my dry aching skin, for you see I am affected with scales and dry patches from head to toe, thank you my man thank you!”
The man left the shop after paying a small fortune to the tailor. The suit maker sat quietly wondering at his genius and waiting for the next customer to arrive, his hate lessoned by the promise of a job well done.

The Light In Snake Fuss by Ron Koppelberger available at Amazon.com

Elements of Dragon Delight

Ron Koppelberger

Elements of Dragon Delight

He whispered and the flame flowed in smooth easy currents against the roast hare. The smell was tantalizing and delightfully amazing. The dragon sighed and the flame turned a cool blue as the fire cooked the meat. What have I here he said to himself, certainly not woe and the tears of hunger. I have the perfect meal borne of the hunt and the need to taste the delicacies of old. He thought again for a moment as his long tail swished in the underbrush waving dandelions and disturbing the edge of the swamp, “What have I, but the will to live and to dine on the fare of humans and animals alike, am I not the same in that sense?” he said aloud. Feared by all and admonished by none he thought as the cool currents of an early winter stirred the languid air.
The wolf had been watching the dragon from the bushes and as he edged closer he smelled the air, the scent of roast hare overwhelming him and making his stomach grumble. The dragon was oblivious to the wolf and continued on in the way of hungry dragons.
The wolf inched closer and waited for the dragon to turn from the hare. As his fire belched to a low ebb the wolf leapt to the roast rabbit and grabbed it with his sharp fangs. The dragon turned back and roared a loud blast at the wolf as he ran into the thick palm scrub. The creases above the dragons brow grew deep and angry, nevertheless he did not peruse the thief. He would return and next time he would have wolf, but for now the wolf would have his dinner and a few breaths before his next attempt to usurp the good tidings bestowed upon an old dragon.

Dark Reflections

Ron Koppelberger

Dark Reflections

“Oh kingdoms of shadow and realms of dim light give me the appearance of a dove in flight!” The demon shouted as he looked into the mirror. He was wonting the beauty of a better appearance and in the way of dark beasts he believed the powers of darkness would abide him in his soon to be earthly pursuits. “Slumbering love and dreams of blessed union give me this I ask for my dark communion, a fair face in beauty and wont, a taste of perfection for my confection and my future reign in the land of men and the earthly plane!” he shouted at the mirror.
The demons reflection wavered and swam for a moment, loose folds of flesh and scales shimmered in red to blue eyed commitment for just the briefest glimpse of what he desired. The image held for a moment longer then was gone. “To the raven and rhyme let this picture create the time, let this visage of err be gone and beauty be there!” He sang and growled as the glass went from hot red to a cool blue.
The demon smiled and an angel in velvet and of doves wings stared back at him from the depths of the glass. He touched his face for a moment and thought of heaven and the reward he would never see and finally he thought about his anger at man and mankind. The eyes turned red again and the scales reappeared as his hate overwhelmed him.
He thought for a moment as he looked at himself again and the image did nothing to appease his sensibilities.
From above a voice old and gnarled by the ages said, “Little boy of anger and rage look again and define your rage, listen to the wont of a world in sin and go from the start to begin!” he suspected Satan and relaxed for a moment as a dark beast overwhelmed him. He would be beautiful and deceiving in his endeavor to cast the look of a common man, he would find the will to whim and need, he would find existence in part by the seas of human drama, sin and passions dark, they would greet him as a guest and give him what he desired for a while anyway.
The glass steamed for a moment and the reflection painted him in a portrait of humanity, not too beautiful and common enough to pass the test. He laughed and sang, “ To worlds of endless sky and lands that sigh with the need for distraction and less the purpose of grand design, the earth will be his and mine!” The demon stepped away from the mirror and found the other demons so he could show them his new facade. The others screamed and lashed in anger at the approaching human and in the end they tore him to pieces so that a thousand years would pass before he was whole again.
Years later he realized the mistake and being a bit wiser but not much he looked into the mirror with that same wont. This time he would supplicate the powers of old and leave hell for the realm of man. The bones of cactus flowers stay dry and the sand stays hot and cold in both parts but a demon is just that…….unless he thought.