CORVUS
BANG!
Shots fired.
Screams heard— ‘A-HA!’-
Sirens ringing in distance.
Blood splattered across the floor.
Dogs across the neighborhood all BARK~
The officers zip past many red lights.
BOOM—goes the dynamite- & the front door.
The helicopter, now, tries to catch someone running away.
Somebody keeps running until they end up in a crowd.
The officers lose track of the stranger and put out an APB.
#CORVUS.
(#HappyPoetryDay.)
All Rights Reserved.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=II4sfbrsdn4
CORVUS
Bob squinted his eyes, and stared at the blue sky. He took a moment to just simply relish his first long day off from work. Then he heard something like a bird like call coming from the distance. Soon its piercing turkey like cry echoed in the clear azul sky.
Bob quickly scanned his surroundings. He spotted a gathering of bamboos behind him. He decided to run and duck behind them.
But as soon as Bob did so, the bamboos, too, had made up their minds to not play some silly game of hide and (go) seek with Bob. They did not want to be the angry bird’s target.
Now Bob had to quickly come up with a different plan. He dived into the river, and swam deep into the frigid blue-ish waters.
In a matter of nanoseconds, something took a hold of his neck, and began to squeeze the life out of him. Bob’s body squirmed around in the water like a fish out of water.
An hour passed by, and all that was left of Bob was his skull that had been pushed by the river current, all the way back closer to where the bamboo had left Bob out to fend for himself not too long ago.
#CORVUS.
Fri., 21.03.2025
All Rights Reserved
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=LJ2mpcrOWC4
CORVUS
‘‘Whoa— there- don’t be afraid, child. C’mon in. All are welcome in this humble abode!’’
The radio static like voice startled the kid. But soon after recalling that there might be some tasty snacks/treats in here, the child stepped into the abandoned building. Pieces of glass were scattered all about the floor. The place had no lights on. The only light that was present was the one that seemed to pour in through the cracks on the roof. The walls of the building looked as if someone, or something had been chipping away at the paint. There were a bunch of cigarette butts that were lying around in random corners of the old building. The kid wondered if someone, or a bunch of other folks had been around here not too long ago.
The child stared at the random still life Dutch paintings- and one in particularly kinda looked like the building, but it seemed to be a throw back to what it might have been like back in its glory days. The more the kid gazed at the painting, the more it seemed to come to life. What kind of trickster was pulling this off?
The sound of heavy footsteps approaching brought the kid back to the present moment. Then a pair of hands landed on the child’s shoulders, and the child let out a scream. Turning around to face the person, or whatever the thing was, the kid came face to face with an elderly person. The older folk smiled, and then revealed a pair of beaver teeth.
The cries for help from the abandoned building could not be heard by any other person around. The child had not listened to its parents warning. The kid had wandered too far away from the village, and ended up lost in the middle of thether world.
The elderly woman rubbed her hands together, and hummed along to the sounds of the spectres playing lively jazz music in the parlor. She bowed her head, and one of the spectres came along to dance with her. They spun around in circles— while waiting for her good and traditional famous hot dish to be ready that she liked to call: Petit Oiseau. She would enjoy and have the meal all to herself.
The spectres did not need to eat anything anyway…well what they enjoyed was something much more tasty. The elderly woman would need an extra boost of strength first before she set out to gather what the spectres liked to devour.
#CORVUS (All Rights Reserved)
Lundi, 10.03.2025
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=MDbYmImkKMg
CORVUS
Mr. and Mrs. Fert lived in a small, mostly quiet, and jocund village with their newborn child. They enjoyed fishing, as well as camping in the nearby village forest. One day, a stranger came into town. The stranger wore a giant dark cloak, always took a slight bow when greeting folks, and carried a small backpack with them. Mr. and Mrs. Fert were polite, and offered their spare free upper level room to the new person in the village. Their guest stood by the front door to their house, and said with a gentle smile: ‘‘Won’t you welcome me in…please..’’ Mr. and Mrs. Fert smiled, and both said: ‘‘Of course. Come on in. You’re welcome here.’’ It was said among most of the village the folks that that was the last day that anyone had seen Mr. and Mrs. Fert alive. Some had concluded that they had been tossed into their giant kiln, and the strange had consumed the whole small family. Other folks had claimed that they believed that the stranger had turned them into teeny tiny little bugs, and then squished them with the heels of his black boots. But oh dear reader just stay tuned and let me tell you what had actually happened on that eventful day!
So, Mr. and Mrs, Fert had invited the stranger into their home. He had carried with him a collection of odd books in his backpack. There was one particular one that looked like it was made out of human flesh. Mr. and Mrs. Fert were no strangers to having strange guests over, or getting to take a sneak peek at what peculiar things they brought with them on their journey. But this book by far was the strangest thing they had ever come across. As soon as that odd looking book had been placed on the dining table, the light from the outside begin to fade. Mr. and Mrs. Fert also started to feel their place becoming much hotter. The stranger began to slowly slip out of his cloak revealing a pair of wings, plus a multitude of human faces -which all seemed to be now screaming- that were placed across the stranger’s back. Mr. and Mrs. Fert were quite shocked to fear. The only thing that they wanted to do at that moment was try to protect their child. Mr. Fert rushed to his kid’s room, and slammed the door behind him. But the stranger just ended up phasing right through it, as if he was some kind of apparition. Mr. and Mrs. Fert were no match for their guest. It pushed Mr. Fert to the side, and waltzed over to the baby’s crib. It’s eyes bulged in disbelief. ‘‘Where is the child?’’ It asked Mr. Fert. The young father burst out laughing, and replied, ‘‘You’ll never find our precious little one. By now my wife should be almost out of this village, and on the way to somewhere safe.’’ The stranger roared in anger, and then slammed Mr. Fert’s body into the walls of the room. His spine snapped from the impact, and his skull had been split, too. The last thing that he saw was the stranger bringing out a giant sword toward Mr. Fert’s face.
https://youtu.be/MA0aCUxItYA?si=dS3EF1PhK-S3A-Nc
#CORVUS 18th February, 2025.
Shadow & Light
"Above the cloud with its shadow is the star with its light." (Pythagoras)
__________________________
The guards marched into the heart of the inner city streets. Folks soon began to burst into hearty cheers to cheer on the celebrations for the coronation ceremony. Images of the young heiress had been plastered all over the city. But not everyone had been amused to see the next in line to the throne. A huge crowd had gathered around, and the guards had been told by the council to be extra vigilant— if they saw anyone that looked suspicious they’d have to take action- right away. Somewhere not too far from all the cacophony of deafening chorus of cheers~ a little kid looked on in awe from the top of her self made tower. How he dreamed of…someday being a part of that crowd..and maybe even getting to see what it was like being in the heart of the big city. For now all the kid could do was just got extend the latest invention, and use that to view what was going on from the top of the kid’s watchtower. Suddenly, a gust of a strong wind came out of the middle of nowhere. It rocked the little tower back and forth. The kid was tossed into the air, and tried to grab the edge of the tower, but lost its grip and began its descent toward the spiked wall that was around the home base grounds. The last thing the kid saw was the sharp point of the star from the top of the watchtower spinning fast. It spun and finally stopped— with its sharpest point embedded in the kid’s young heart.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ALXFl6HfKbg
Short Story Contest
’Guidelines
• ’The story must be original, fictional, written in either Japanese or English by the submitting author and never been published (even online).The use of generative artificial intelligence and plagiarism in the creation of submitted stories is prohibited. Please contact the organizers at imaginelittletokyo@gmail.comfor any clarifications.
• ’The same story submitted in a previous year cannot be resubmitted.
• ’The setting of the story should be in Little Tokyo – either past, present or future.
• ’Submitted manuscript should be 2,500 words or less for English or 5,000 ji or less for Japanese and have a title.
• ’File should be a Microsoft Word doc, docx or rtf.
• ’For English-language entries, please use 12 point font, preferably Times Roman or Courier type and double space.
• ’Please remove any mention of your name from your short story, including headers.
• ’The short story manuscript must be submitted digitally as an e-mail attachment to Imaginelittletokyo@gmail.com (include SHORT STORY in the subject line). In the e-mail message, please include your name,phone number and age if 18 or under.
• ’The submissions should include a signed agreement, which can be found on the Little Tokyo Historical Society website. The agreement can be either e-mailed or sent via US Postal Service.
• ’Submissions need to be e-mailed by February 28, 2025, 12 midnight PST. NO EXCEPTIONS.
• ‘Immediate family members of judges (first-round or final) are ineligible.’
CORVUS
Mr. O’Connell paced back, and forth next to the delivery room. His wife had gone into early labor, and he was taken aback by the news. He did not even know that she was expecting a baby. His mother had informed him that his wife had gone to work on securing a business deal with the Japanese— and he knew that the voyage there would take a while. But then one of his guards had informed him that his wife had been admitted into the labor ward. That had shaken his very inner heart’s core- or in fact where his heart was supposed to be. After what seemed to be eons he heard the screams of a little babe. He stormed into the delivery room, and nearly pounced into his wife’s OB/GYN Doctor. She rolled her eyes, and muttered to herself: Here we go, this fella has no control. The Doctor was familiar with this man- his father had been here to help a young woman not too long ago with an issue. She had claimed that she was carrying his son’s child. Mr. O’Connell Sr. made sure that the young woman in question would never see the light of day ever again. The Doctor had tried to contact her, but her line did not patch through. So, the Doctor had come to the conclusion either the young Miss in question had been disposed of, or she had been sent to a far away island where she would not be a problem any more. Mr. O’Connell Jr. almost was at a loss for words. He gazed upon the newborn child- the first born. It’s hands were teeny tiny. Mr. O’Connell Jr. was afraid to good it. The newborn just cried, and cried. Mr. O’Connell did not seem pleased. He grabbed his wife’s bags, and soon there were right back at the O’Connell abode. The O’Connell abode was a mix between a Victorian style home with a touch of the most modern gizmos, and gadgets. From the top-notch security cameras with 24/7 surveillance, all the way down to an underground bunker in case of an emergency, or total world alien invasion. The moment his wife stepped into her own chambers, Mr. O’Connell Jr.’s hand moved across his wife’s cheeks. They burned and started to turn a mix between purple- and blue, with a touch of scarlet, too. She held onto her baby making sure that it felt, and knew that it was in safe hands. Mr. O’Connell stared with bulging eyes at his wife and then bellowed: You think you’re a clever lass…huh?! That child may have come from your womb, but it looks nothing like me..Who’s its real father? His wife felt the bitter sharp stings of pain in her heart. Why in the world had she decided to come back to the O’Connell’s, to be more precise….back to Mr. O’Connell Jr.’s side?
Slowly time passed, but the wounds in the newest mother’s heart did not fade away. She had taken great care of her kid. He was growing up to be a big, and strong lad. But deep down in the lad’s heart, he felt something begin to grow in his heart, mind, and soul. He felt it sink into him like an anchor going down into the depths of the Indian Ocean.
Sometime during the dead of night, in the summertime, a dark shadow had snuck into the O’Connell’s abode. It moved stealthily past the guards, and managed to sneak into Mr. O’Connell’s room. The man was snoring like a humpback whale. It was the loudest sound that echoed throughout the mansion. The dark shadow squinted its eyes, and growled. It protracted its paws, and slashed at Mr. O’Connell Jr.’s throat.
One of the guards had heard the sound of Mr. O’Connell sputtering out: Cccc….ooo….or…..vvv.
The guards called the police. When then finally arrived on the scene, they were in for quite a pickle of a case.
The Detective sighed, and then shook his head: When god, and his angels slept…something sinister took their place..showing not a single trace of grace for Mr. O’Connell.
#CORVUS. Monday 01.27.2026
https://youtu.be/AqSOTpBmYhQ?si=-Gd0aF7mxBIXH_AR
The Manny.
Ian slipped on a banana peel, and his bottom hit the ground— HARD. None of the children gave even the slightest snicker. All of them carried on with their daily chores. Sasha came tumbling down the stairs- her newly found method of speedier moving than crawling, or walking. This, too, did not seem to faze the other kids. They continued to carry out their tasks~ but as soon as Ian went to open the front door…a grand burst of laughter proceeded out of the McGregor villa. Ian had had enough, and was ready to storm back in when he was greeted by a little birdie. It cooed, and cooed. Ian tried to shoo it away. Then it began to laugh. This was now all too much for Ian. He ran toward the little birdie and took a dive trying to grab a hold of it. The little birdie flapped its wings, and took off into the beautiful indigo cotton candy like evening sky. Ian had landed in a pile of the McGregor’s cow dung. What a day he was having! He took a deep breath, and tried to calm his nerves. This had been quite an arduous time for him. Not only had he been instructed to watch over the McGregor hyper bunch, but he had to also make sure that even their livestock- including the indoor and outdoor pets- had to be all taken extra care of. Ian stared at his reflection in the front entrance glass door. In his current state, he looked like some kind of manny who just happened to have finished performing a circus act- either being chased by a pack of cackling hyenas, or swimming in a tank full of great white sharks. This was the end of trying to be a serious manny. Maybe he would just have to work on being hired as a birthday clown for children in other parts of the village, or at least further away from the McGregor estate.
https://youtu.be/lvPvBTSr-mc?si=BzCOi0gA1kmXf0YM
Sunday 01.26.2025 #TheManny.