Thank you

  THANK YOU

by

Anthonystjoseph

     As someone who was born to be a writer, I want to thank YOU, my readers.  I have said it before and I will say it again, as a child I never wanted to be a writer, but as life went on it was clear that it was what I was supposed to do.  Writing was what I was meant to do.  Writing is all I want to do.  I live and I lived for it.  But most of all, I want to again thank you, my readers.  You mean more to me than any Literary Agent or Publisher could ever mean.

     In the week that just passed, I have had readers from of course the United States but also readers from Russia, Portugal, Australia, France, the United Kingdom, and Latvia.  I also often have regular readers from Germany, Canada, Luxembourg, Malaysia, China and the Ukraine.  Of course my strongest readership is in the United States but for some blessed reason my readership in Russia, Germany, Canada, France and Malaysia is very strong as well.  I thank all of you personally.

     I want you to know that I sit there with you when you read my stories.  I smile with you when you laugh at my words.  I relish the moments when you cringe at my words.  I live for the moments when personal friends say directly to my face, “You wrote that!?!”  It brings me joy throughout my existence to provide entertainment and thought provoking moments to those who find my writings and come back faithfully to read my stories.  I am close to fifty thousand readers of my stories over time and it gives me joy that people take moments from their day and their life to sit, laugh, think, and cuddle with my mind.  Without you I am nothing but a student.  With you I am a student with fellow classmates.

     Thank you.

By

Anthonystjoseph

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Convertible Clowns XXIII: Saving the Realm

 

CONVERTIBLE CLOWNS XXIII: SAVING THE REALM

by

Anthonystjoseph

     I sat there with Apollo in our favorite resting spot on Ethereal Lake just being thankful that we would always and eternally have these moments.  Apollo could no longer go on our battles to Earth but they could never extinguish his soul.  All of our souls, whether in the underworld or the ethereal realm of the afterlife were eternal.  Apollo’s second light on Earth had been extinguished, therefore he could not return.  While we were both silent and watching the majestic birds in flight above the lake, Luke came upon us. 

     Luke looked at Apollo solemnly and then said, “I knew it was going to be your last journey on Earth Apollo but the mission as you well know was extremely necessary.  I cannot begin to tell you how many lives Andrew will save and make better and above all make Earth a better place to live.  A better Earth means that the supply of demons and clowns to the Dark Lord will greatly decrease.  Because of this, the Dark Lord has taken on his strongest and most aggressive act in a long time.”  Apollo and I stared at Luke intently as he went on, “The Dark Lord has commissioned and dispatched whom he refers to as his son to build a bridge across the realm so all clowns and demons can freely go back and forth from the underworld to Earth.  The one he has given the task to build the bridge is the most evil and most sinister demon of Earths time.  That demon is Shaitan.  You know him as Cain.”

     I looked at Luke and thought to myself that surely they weren’t sending me to deal with this demon named Shaitan.  They truly weren’t letting newly trained me defend Earth from a full blown invasion of demons and clowns.  But the look on Luke’s face said that they were.  Luke could feel what I was thinking and looked at me and continued, “As Matthew once said, ‘I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves’.”  I cut him off and said, “Well, whenever I’m ‘sent forth’ into the ‘midst’ of wolves I usually come back different.”  I stood up ready to do battle with whoever this Shaitan was.  Luke said, “Well, we’re sending you.  We have faith in you.”  Apollo anxiously cocked his head and said to me, “Wait a minute here.  I don’t think you’re comprehending who Shaitan is.  He is one of the original creators of sin.  He lives to sin and sins to live.”  I respectfully said to Apollo with my full blown ego well intact after winning my first two battles, “I don’t care who he is.  I stood up to the Dark Lord, I can stand up to him.  Shaitan, Cain, or whatever he’s calling himself now will come to an end.”  I knew in my heart that if they wanted me to defend the realm, they felt I could do it.  I had to defend the realm of hope, the realm of freedom, the realm of growth, the realm of comprehension, the realm of choice, the realm of decision, the realm of Earth.

     As Luke left, I said goodbye to Apollo as I started adorning myself with my angelic armor for a battle of all battles.  It would be my first battle without Apollo at my side.  I envisioned the trip to the otherworld and all of a sudden I was there.  It was true, there was a bridge being built from the fiery pits of the upper underworld to the realm of Earth.  It was amazing, nefarious, and ethereal, but most of all it was real.  The bridge even had gates that led to the realm of Earth.  I guess one of the clowns was an architect.  I stood there on the bridge and wondered how could I destroy it?  What could I do?  Then a being materialized right before me and I was dumbstruck.  What in God’s name was this thing?  It was huge.  I had seen all sorts of demons including the blue women like Rojalinda, Treacherous Tina, and Jeannie the Junkie and I had even met Dante but I was not prepared for this hellish creature.  It looked like it was a skeleton that was half man, half goat, half ram, half vampire, and all evil. 

     The creature looked at me and saw my clear and present fear and roared in laughter.  Its laughter waned; I say it because I don’t know what it was.  As its laughter stopped, it looked at me with pure evil and menace and said, “Don’t worry fool, Shaitan brings fear to all that are in his presence. You are not alone. But what you really are is finished.” This was the demon Shaitan that stood before me and I was in the presence of the Dark Lord’s supposed son and he scared me more than the Dark Lord himself.  As I stood there looking like a midget to this towering effigy of evil it lashed out and punched me in the chest.  I flew back a hundred feet and landed on my back on the bridge about to fall over the side onto the fiery cliffs of the upper underworld.  It stomped its way towards me as I clutched my chest in pain.  Pain was unusual because I was an ethereal creature.  What was happening?

     As Shaitan got closer to do more damage and possibly send me to the afterlife permanently I raised my right palm in desperation and released the Ethereal Sphere to hypnotize him.  He looked at my actions and then at the sphere and roared with laughter again.  He said, “You are a fool. I am Shaitan! No ball of light or silly little rookie can harm or distract me.”  As he said the word distract, Michael appeared behind him.  It was Saint Michael himself from the Ethereal Realm whom I had only seen once and as Shaitan roared with laughter and raised his hoof to stomp me, Michael pierced Shaitan’s chest cavity with his luminescent golden sword.  Shaitan roared with anger this time as he finished his leg movement and stomped me in the chest.  I fell off of the bridge onto a fiery cliff of the upper underworld.

     From the cliff I saw Saint Gabriel who raised his trumpet and started to blow an announcement.  Michael withdrew his sword from Shaitans chest and Shaitan slowly and in pain turned to face him.  Shaitan said, “Hello Michael…”  Michael who was as tall as Shaitan didn’t even hesitate.  He stepped closer to the wounded Shaitan and picked him up with both hands and held the flailing Shaitan up in the air and then flung him down on the bridge with what seemed like the might of the world.  Shaitan landed on the bridge as it started to crack.  Then Michael lifted his foot and stomped Shaitan and the cracks got larger.  Then he stomped him one last time and he fell through the bridge and a huge breach in the bridge occurred as Shaitan fell into the fiery canyon of the underworld with screams of retribution, “I’ll get you Michael! And your little mongrel too!” I wish these underworld folks would leave my heritage out of all of this. 

     Michael looked down on the fiery cliff where I had landed and came and lifted me off of the cliff.  He snickered a little and said, “You really didn’t think we were going to leave this job to you did you?”  As I gripped my chest in pain I said, “Well you know, I did have a spotless record in my battles and all”.  Michael said, “There’s that ego we’re trying to get rid of. That’s why we sent you down here to meet Shaitan. We thought for sure he could help you get rid of that infamous ego of yours.”  I looked at Michael and smiled, “Naw, I mean come on, I am Anthonystjoseph”.

By

Anthonystjoseph

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Convertible Clowns XXII: Shaitan

CONVERTIBLE CLOWNS XXII: SHAITAN

by

Anthonystjoseph

     Shaitan was the oldest and most horrid demon in all of the underworld aside from the Dark Lord himself.  There was not one demon or clown in all the underworld who dared look Shaitan in the eye or not bow in deference to him when he passed.  Shaitan struck fear in all except the Dark Lord himself.  He was a creator of sin and had committed the most horrid act of all to be one of the fathers of original sin.  Shaitan was the first human to commit murder in an act of fratricide; Shaitan had killed his own brother.  Yes, Shaitan was there in the beginning, Shaitan was Cain.

     The Dark Lord loved Shaitan and considered him his natural son.  Most earthly images of the Dark Lord were actually of Shaitan because Shaitan walked the earth often as the Dark Lords first son.  He hated his human parents Adam and Eve so much that he considered all humans their offspring and therefore hated every single one of them.  He even hated the demons and clowns that populated the underworld because they were nothing more than human spawn; spawn of Adam and Eve.  Shaitan would torment and torture any demon or clown that dared offend or disrespect him by looking into his face and the Dark Lord said nothing because Cain was his son.  Without Cain creating that first act of murder the Dark Lord may not have gotten as far as he had on this earth.  Shaitan was the chosen one.

     The demons and clowns of the underworld didn’t mind at all not being allowed to look Shaitan in the face because he was a frightening creature.  His skeletal head with rams’ horns was one of the most demonic sights in all of the underworld.  Whenever he opened his mouth or growled, you could see his gray serpent tongue and his vampire fangs.  He actually walked upright on hooves and had a tail.  The most startling thing about Shaitan is the fact that he could burst into flames at any moment and whoever he chose would be devoured by fire.  Yes, everyone in the underworld feared Shaitan.  His temper was even shorter and darker than the Dark Lords.

     Shaitan would often think back to his proudest moment.  The moment he came up with his plan to get rid of his simple younger brother who his father favored so much.  He told Abel one day, “Abel, let’s go out to the field. There’s something I want to show you.”  Abel in his simple and unsuspecting nature quickly agreed not knowing he was going to his own death.  As Shaitan who was then known as Cain got to the field with Abel he really didn’t know how to kill him because the act of bringing about death was not known then.  The Dark Lord appeared behind Abel out of sight so only Cain could see him.  The Dark Lord picked up a rock and killed an animal in Cain’s view and showed Cain the way to becoming Shaitan.  Cain, taking the Dark Lords cue, picked up a rock and Abel, not knowing what he was doing since death was not known, simply watched as Cain struck him harshly in the head.  Cain struck Abel several times until his skull was crushed and Shaitan was born. 

     Cain felt no remorse at first but only happiness that Abel was no longer.  Cain returned to home as if nothing had happened.  When Adam asked Cain where his brother was, Cain said, “I don’t know.  Am I my brother’s keeper?”

By

Anthonystjoseph

All works copyrighted © and protected by law