(MUOC) All Soul's Night and Untitled

A/N: It's neither very good, or within the rules at times. I know, but I'm running challenge, and since I can't win...meh. Just wanted to participate and throw out a very broad template. I used one clip of a song, and one whole song.

Music: Yoko Kanno- Ask the Owl ( www.jameswong.com... )

He was trapped, at the end of the alley behind the club. Tossed out by the bouncer, he heard the slam of the door just before he heard the laughter; laughter like hyenas around a fallen antelope. He rolled over, scrambling backwards, panicking. The three guys he had been scuffling with has followed him out, and even his alcohol-dulled mind realized he was in trouble. They advanced on him, footsteps muffled by the heavy bass pounding from the club. Amber glinted off off wide grins and...was that a knife?

His heart leaped into his mouth as he scrambled backwards until he hit the wall. Where was the bouncer? The leader held up the blade, making a 'give me your best shot' gesture. He just looked around, held up his hands...

The first slash just nicked him, drawing a little trickle of blood from his forearm and tearing his shirt. Laughter, taunts from the leader's friends as they leaned against the walls of the alleys, watching. All the while, there was only one thought in his mind:

Why isn't anyone stopping this?

He sidestepped a lunge, tried to circle around the man with the knife, but the guy's buddies just shoved him back into the corner. Out of the beer-dulled recesses of his brain, he realized they were toying with him. He dodged a halfhearted slash, and heard it.

A loud snapping noise.

"Alright boys, enough is enough. Head on home before this has to get ugly."

The bouncer.

The bouncer with an enormous telescoping police baton and menacing body armor.

The man with the knife turned around, saw it, and in a flash the blade was in his coat. Hands up, they breezed past the enormous security man and onto the street in front fo the club. He could hear their laughter over the pounding bass still.

All Soul's Night

Song: All Soul's Night by Loreena McKennitt

It was good to be on horseback again, back to the Old Ways. Modernity, for all the sanitation and wonders and health, drains the soul. It leaves you empty. That's why I came out here, back to the woods and the stars and the sights and smells that man has forgotten. Back to my roots. I crested a hill, wood axe slapping against my horse's rump. I could see the light from the fires. Shadows darted across them, visible and frenetic even from a mile away. Behind me, I could hear Gabriel's mount snort, pulling just short of me. Sarah pulled up beside me, and smiled. She lifted her voice and began to sing.

Bonfire dot the rolling hillsides
Figures dance around and around
To drums that pulse out echoes of darkness
Moving to the pagan sound.

She had an exquisite voice, one that joined and mingled with Jessica's as we crested the hill. Jodee watched with Gabriel and Derek, listening in amazement. I tilted my hat forwards a little, watching the forms of my fellows dance under the open stars. I gave my mount a gentle kick, urging him forwards down the trail towards the congregation. Distant drums, violins and guitars managed to rise just above hoofbeats and the sounds of the forest.

Somewhere in a hidden memory
Images float before my eyes
Of fragrant nights of straw and of bonfires
And dancing till the next sunrise.

It had been three years since I came out here, and I had never brought anyone with me. Times change, though, and my friends could use the simple peace of working with your hands, eating what you catch. Going back to the land that birthed them, getting away from concrete and asphalt. Away from smog and stress and laziness. Ties, oh lord, ties. Ties are a slave collar in pleasing colors. Whatever happened to self reliance? Out here, you could forget all that. Cook over open flame. Eat something without preservatives. Enjoy a night without TV.

I can see the lights in the distance
Trembling in the dark cloak of night
Candles and lanterns are dancing, dancing
A waltz on All Souls Night.

We were getting close as Sarah continued to sing, the smell of burning pine and spruce in the air. Crushed fir on the breeze. Laughter, distant laughter. I heard a match strike, the scent of tobacco. Derek was smoking, a simple pleasure, like red meat or good beer. Something the world forgets, I think. Simple pleasures. Lying out in the sun. Hiking. The moon. The stars. Good food, good friends. Not having to worry about calorie counting or transfats.

Figures of cornstalks bend in the shadows
Held up tall as the flames leap high
The green knight holds the holly bush
To mark where the old year passes by.

We were getting close. Stranglers waved, raised flagons. We smiled and waved back, song following us. Good to be back. I couldn't wait to get out of saddle, shake some hands. Cook up a slab of moose. Have a beer, relax. Listen to music made by human hands. Your best mates sitting around the fire, trading stories...my mouth was watering. I could see individuals flailing around the immense bonfires, laughing and smiling as the musicians played on. Smaller cooking fires dotted the edge of the encampment, with firewood piled high feet away. Tomorrow, I'd have to cut more, but I didn't mind. Good, simple labor. Not a TPS report in sight.

Bonfires dot the rolling hillsides
Figures dance around and around
To drums that pulse out echoes of darkness
Moving to the pagan sound.

We tied the horses up, a brown gelding nuzzling me as I dismounted. Other voices were startign to pick up Sarah and Jessica's song, nearby musicians slowly switching to the tune. A heart slap on my back. Derek was excited to be here, waving as he moved towards the nearest bonfire. I took care of my horse first, undoing the tack, giving him some oats. No rush. We were here for a week, if not longer. This was not a time for rushing, anyways. A time for celebration, a time to kick up your boots and relax.

Standing on the bridge that crosses
The river that goes out to the sea
The wind is full of a thousand voices
They pass by the bridge and me.

Greetings, as I walked into the firelight. A hug from Amanda. Arm clasp from Phil. Sarah and Jess had wandered over by the musicians, Sarah taking up a borrowed guitar. Nothing like music by human hands. Nothing in the world like it. I smiled, nodding to my friends, heading over to where someone - my cousin, I think- roasted a duck on a spit. Proper food, thank god, proper food at long last. Fresh from the streams, the land. My cousin drew me a flagon of stout, smiled. We sat on logs, dragged out to this meeting place, and talked as the duck spun lazily. I was home. Looking up, I saw the multitude of stars for the first time in years. Sarah and Jessica's voices carried in a final stanza, above the laughter and voices.

I can see the lights in the distance
Trembling in the dark cloak of night
Candles and lanterns are dancing, dancing
A waltz on All Souls Night.

It stayed in my head until the early morning, when I lay under my blanket near the dying fires. Quite save the whispers of my friends and the crackle of embers, I watched candles move like will o' wisps, then extinguish one by one as we all drifted off into an untroubled sleep.


DE

Prolly a good thing you can't be declared the winner dude... those two are hard to beat. And also a great starting point for anyone who is stuck at the blinking cursor.