ensuring all their survival. The pressure he hadn’t realize sat so heavily upon him lessened of a sudden and he sighed a heavy sigh that didn’t go unnoticed by the girl. She turned and looked up into his eyes. Taking his hand that encircled her tummy in her own she kissed it.
“They’re saved, Erik,” she said softly. “You did it.”
“By Zeus,” he declared, emulating Argos with a grin. “We all did it. Ah, Peenemünde – I can’t put in words how happy I am to see those lights! We’ve still days of marching ahead of us once we get them started back on the trail, but the goal is in sight. It’s right there.”
Now Dakar scrambled excitedly into the tree. With each passing moment the sky grew darker while the distant city became brighter and brighter as its denizens prepared for nightfall. While they watched, the entire northern skyline became dotted with the lights of a mighty metropolis.
Erik had no idea what city it might be. He had become so turned around during his ill-fated flight they could be anywhere on the continent as far as he was concerned. No matter, he didn’t even care; if he inadvertently marched into the hands of the enemy it would be far preferable to being a quarry slave for Deneb. And anyway, had he made it back to his own lines he would very likely be shot – not an endearing prospect. On second thought, he hoped it was the British.
After descending the tree he finished building the fire while Dakar and Frediker, the other hunter who’d accompanied them, prepared to grill steaks from a fresh kill. At day break they would strike out to fetch the people and bring them to this city.
Later that night, curled on bedrolls of antelope skin, he and the girl lay in one another’s arms where they fell fast asleep and dreamed dreams. For the first time since escaping the city in the valley Erik felt truly hopeful. The heavy weight he’d carried the long weeks in the wilderness began to dissipate. He could hardly wait to tell Argos the good news.
Acknowledgements
I wish to extend my heartfelt gratitude to my wife for listening to me go on and on about my stories. Gads – I know she has got to get tired of hearing about it. But she always listens and offers what advice she may – so thanks!
I wish to express my gratitude to my good friend, Scott. I’ve often sought Scott’s opinion in ticklish situations and he’s always helped me out of my conundrums. We both have a hearty love for pulp era authors and have spent many an evening discussing our favorite yarns and writers.
I must acknowledge the many fine authors who, after devouring their written material for years and years, influenced me from beyond (for many of them have sailed the Darkling Sea as McKiernan would say) to begin writing myself – to simply give a little something back to the world for all those rich, well-spun tales I’ve read since I was young. They are legion.
I wish to thank Charles van Buren without whose honest criticism this story would have ended very differently. Without his prompting that he wished a sequel an additional story might have never even been considered.
I wish to extend my gratitude to a fine peer, Gary Weston. Mr. Weston has offered his invaluable insight by reading my stories and offering constructive criticism, pre-warning me with “authors need to have rhino skin…” Gary – you are so right!
And I also wish to thank God for giving me whatever it is that drives me to write stories. I have only one favor to ask: keep ‘em comin’!
About the Author
Chris hails from Dayton, OH circa Spring, 1969.
At about age six his family moved to Virginia. After a couple years the countryside beckoned and his family moved to a horse farm in southern West Virginia where his parents yet reside.
The farm afforded plenty of opportunity to enjoy the great outdoors. There an adolescent Chris played Tarzan in the trees and Huck Finn on the Bluestone River which surrounds his folks’ 80+ acre farm.
In the wilds of the farm and surrounds he scaled cliffs, learned to shoot and ride horses and played ‘war’ with his friends where they utilized an arsenal of BB guns to heat up each other’s derrieres to howls of laughter and cries of pain and wrath.
Growing up without the benefit of cable and satellite he developed a love of reading early on. After devouring many of the classics of both ancient and modern literature he settled into his favorite niche of pulp authors upon discovering such authors as Lovecraft, R. E. Howard, Edmond Hamilton, Clark Ashton Smith, A. Merritt & etcetera. And of course, Edgar Rice Burroughs.
An avid hobbyist, he is a guitarist having been in an out of many bands since the late 80s. Besides reading, writing and dabbling in guitar he also enjoys collecting historic militaria of the WW2 era.
Chris has been employed with ABB Inc. since 1992, having worked in the Engineering department as a sheet metal designer and later as a layout person. Currently he is a Senior Systems Engineer in IS.
He resides in southern West Virginia with his wife and children.
An Invitation
My dear reader,
I do hope you enjoyed this despairing little tale.
I wish to extend an invitation to leave feedback for this story in the form of a review should you be so inclined. As an independent author, you should know your ratings and reviews are crucial. It is through your opinions that one who writes stories gains much coveted encouragement to continue to fashion and publish tales.
So join the discussion about The Valley of Despair. Revisit the site from which you downloaded this story and let me know what you thought of it. Did you like it, or was it meh? Did it remind you of a favorite author? It is entirely possible because I write the kind of stuff I love to read.
If you enjoyed this story you might be interested in my other works. Please visit my author page for descriptions of stories you may find appealing. I’m working feverishly to add to my published library, so check back often for any new additions.
And thanks.
Best regards,
Chris
List of Works
Currently available (listed in order of publication):
The Valley of Despair (Tales of Despair Book I)
On A Winter’s Eve
The Treasure of Akram el-Amin
The Blonde Goddess of Tikka-Tikka (Tales of the Tomahawk Book I)
The Cosmos of Despair (Tales of Despair Book II)
Coming soon:
The Banshee of the Atacama (Tales of the Tomahawk Book II)
Bizarre Tales
To keep up with what Chris is working on check out his blog on GoodReads – Bizarre Tales.
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/15259542.Chris_L_Adams/blog
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