Crystal Lewis

“The African Council ” by Crystal Lewis

Submitted to Contest #186

“I call to order this Council…” “Oh, stop with the formalities, Ron.” “Don’t you stick your long neck into it, Gary. I was nominated as the Council Leader so butt out.” “At least Gary’s nose isn’t all turned up and nosing in everything.” “It is a horn. I can’t smell with it and I can’t help its shape.” “It’s still there isn’t it, big and on display though, like a giant nose st...

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“Excalibur” by Crystal Lewis

Submitted to Contest #154

“To many-towered Camelot” -        Alfred Lord Tennyson “The Lady of Shalott” The hilt gleamed golden as it rested against the darkness of the throne. Its pommel was shaped like that of a lion, proud mane and proud gaze. The quillons were engraved with vines, the hilt wrapped in worn, red-brown leather. The blade gleamed silver, sharp and almost glowing with an unnatural brilliance. Engraved into t...

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“Terrence & Socks” by Crystal Lewis

In a small city suburb there stood two houses side by side. Both had large backyards and each were enclosed by tall fences with wide metal tops. Both had nicely kept green lawns and each had small trees and shrubbery running alongside the fences. House number 32 contained a large, red and black kennel and it was home to a family of four humans, two adults and two children. The fifth member of the family was a dog ...

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“Selene” by Crystal Lewis

Submitted to Contest #151

I visited her at night as always, travelling to the Mountains, tall and dark like a looming beast.I walked to a hidden cleft marked only by a blanket of blossoming Moonflowers. At the base lay silvered, black doors that only opened when the sun’s heat was long gone.With a wordless gesture, it opened and I strode into the welcoming light. Soft, plush grass carpeted a ground of hard, cold rock. Lights were festooned into the walls and glowed with a bright, yet cold light.I strode through the corridor u...

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“Returning ” by Crystal Lewis

Submitted to Contest #68

It had been twenty-four years since she’d last seen it, but the place looked exactly the same. It was surprising, when the world around it had changed so much. But here it was, untouched, unchanged, as though time didn’t exist here.   Perhaps it didn’t.   I could feel something here, something I had felt as a child. It was a warm feeling, a soft, soothing feeling like a warm presence was wrapped ar...

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“Knight's Assassin” by Crystal Lewis

Submitted to Contest #67

The bright, colorful gaiety of the festival was at stark contrast with my mission here. The crowds of adoring people cheered at their King as he appeared on the stage. The people in the city of Sunderra loved their King, loved the riches he gave them, loved the gloriousness of their city that was visited by people near and far and gazed upon in wonder. In their eyes, the King and his court could do no wrong.They were all blind fools.I made my way through the crowd, the vial I held in my pocket weighing heavily, although it w...

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“Guardian Angel ” by Crystal Lewis

Submitted to Contest #65

Halloween. Another opportunity for the humans to get into all sorts of mischief, as they often did on all the holidays. It was the first Halloween I had experienced on Earth and to be honest, I was not expecting it to be overly exciting. However, my young charge seemed to have a different viewpoint on the matter. “Come on, mum! Pleeeeaaasseee take me Trick or Treating!” she pleaded with her mother. Her mot...

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“Ghosts and Falling Leaves” by Crystal Lewis

Submitted to Contest #63

By the time I stepped outside, the leaves were on fire.I felt it as soon as I awoke. The subtle shift in the air, the sudden surge of life’s busy bustling, the quickening of the sun rising in the east, as night-time tried to steal the day from the sun’s golden fingertips.Autumn was here.I breathed deeply, feeling the faint chill that touched the air and the smell of sickly-sweet, damp earth and everything being overripe.I had chosen this spot specifically for the great trees that towered above my small little c...

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“Under the Shady Birch ” by Crystal Lewis

Submitted to Contest #56

It was strange, this misshapen lump on the ground beside me. After a few cursory sniffs, I confirmed that it was indeed mine. I stood there for a while, looking around. I had chosen this spot specifically for this day. It was beside a large meadow that rolled slowly down to a silently moving river in the distance. I liked watching the tall, yellow-green grass waving gently in the wind, the purple and white flowers dancing with it. I was in a small hollow under a thicket of birch on the outskirts of the forest. The thick shrubb...

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“The Fish, the Stork and the Monkey” by Crystal Lewis

Submitted to Contest #54

The sun shone down on the lovely blue lagoon, bathing it in rich, golden sunlight. The wind was gently rolling through the reeds, whispering its secrets to the world. In this peaceful scene, there were two animals.There was the Fish in the waters and the Monkey in the trees.These two animals lived together in peace.Until, one day, the Monkey came down to drink from the lagoon. At the spot where the monkey chose to drink, the Fish was also resting there under a shaft of sunlight that reached down between the waters of ...

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“Haunted” by Crystal Lewis

Submitted to Contest #51

I don’t know why I decided to go on the ferry ride tonight, especially tonight of all nights. Perhaps it was because I’d always liked the water. It had carried me away from a horrible place. I can forget it also bore me to that horrible place. I lay in my small cabin, my mind drifting, the sounds outside on the deck muted through the walls. My eyes suddenly shot open as I felt the light momentaril...

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“Why?” by Crystal Lewis

Submitted to Contest #49

Why? Why did you leave me, leave us?I stared up at the ceiling, a ceiling that used to be covered in flowers mixed with stars. Now it was just white nothingness. Some days I felt like this, like a blanket was suffocating me, like I was underwater and couldn’t come up. Calm on the surface, but inside swirling and whirling.I agonised over that question, day in, day out.Nobody could answer it, except for her. And she was gone.“Claire! It’s time for school,” my little brother said, standing in the doorway to my sma...

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“A Mother's Love ” by Crystal Lewis

Submitted to Contest #47

As your mother, all I ever wanted was for you to be happy.It’s what every mother wants for their child - especially you - who saved my life just by being born. I vividly remember your innocent little face staring up at me, pulling my spiralling life into focus.You have no idea the pain it causes me to see you unhappy.You deserve the sun and the stars and the moon.A purity radiates from you I have not seen anywhere else.I wonder where you get it from because it certainly isn’t from me.But it’s ther...

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“Gods, Goddesses and Poetry” by Crystal Lewis

Submitted to Contest #46

“Thank you once again for all coming together to express ourselves with writing,” came Athena’s calm, clear voice in the Olympian Hall. “Why should the mortals write songs, poems and stories about us and not us write them about ourselves.”Murmurs of agreement from the 11 Olympians seated on their marble thrones, each throne representing some aspect of their personalities. All of them wore a differing array of emotions.Hera looked haughtily down at the proceedings, as she did with everything.Zeus kept glancing down to ...

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“War” by Crystal Lewis

Submitted to Contest #44

“Hole sweet hole,” shouted Danny, grinning through the mud and muck, an eternal optimist. I wanted to shoot him. It was one of those cold, rainy days that haunted us. The rain would pour down intermittently, just enough to catch us off guard. One good thing about the trenches was that it kept the worst of the wind off us, but it still drove the rain across. It was days like this that command told us to stay the most alert. “This is German territory. They know this land better than us and are more used to her crazy wea...

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