Oisin Kelly Writes

Tag: Writer

  • Waiting At The Gates

    Standing still – occasional pace

    Peoples passing glances

    Momentary eye contact

     

    Running potential conversations

    Planning handshakes or hugs

    Where to go, what to say

    Informal Hi Excited Hello

     

    Seconds drift into minutes

    slipping away unnoticed

    Living in the mind

    Suspended in anticipation

     

    Then it all falls away

    Upon arrival

    Familiar greetings

    Comfortable space

     

    Conversation unrehearsed

    Theory and thought

    Teased out, explored, shared

    Discovering why, Discovering who

     

    Who was there – Will they always be

  • Remembering Yourself

    Carve your name,

    In soft fruits.

    Where it will wither.

    Where it will die.

     

    Carve you name,

    In tall trees.

    Where it will grow.

    Where it can hide.

     

    Carve your name,

    In cold hard stone.

    Where it is seen.

    Where it will weather.

     

    Carve your name,

    In my beating heart.

    Where it will bleed.

    Where it can live.

  • Night Reading

    When the sun set

    The darkness came

    Wrapping arms around me

     

    Suddenly, there was a light

     illuminated the words

    Drawing me in

     

    In those words

    I found solice, I found hope

    They took me away with them

     

    Each line like a brush stroke

    painting pretty pictures

    Until the night became day

  • Frank

    ( A Response Piece to James Joyces ‘Eveline’ )

     

    Frank sat by the window, looking out through the frost in the glass. The early morning was still in full bloom as the dew drops glistened on the tufts of grass, that lined the street. He had always risen before sun, ever since his days on the ship. Captain always expected all hands on deck and every man groomed and presentable. So he sat shining his boots, as the crackle of the dying embers in the fire, filled the room. Returning from abroad to see his long forgotten home was something he needed to do before he could begin his new life in Buenos Ayres. The streets were just as he remembered, cobbled, broken and cold! Not like it was when he travelled the world, on the decks of many, many ships. Far off places with hot climates, exotic plants, and wild animals. The many ports and cities had coloured the view in which he seen the world.

     

    Still there was no place quite like home, his real home. There was no space for another in the small flat he had grown up in, so he lodged with an old friend he met upon the seas. His mother, still strong as ever, ruling the roost and making sure the family home was well kept. Many years before, he received a letter from his sister, about his father. A hopeless drunken abuser who had tortured him in his younger years, forcing him to run towards a life on the high seas. One night his father had come home and raided their  belongings, taking his sisters few jewels and expensive things, then he disappeared. Frank had always felt it for the best but he knew it deeply hurt his mother who lost someone she had once loved. It was nice to be among his family once again and share his songs and stories from his travels, his younger sisters had grown into headstrong young women who were not fooled by local drunken scoundrels.

     

    The house was occupied by a few different sailors, all home to see their families but his old friend had been here for many years. A popular man among the locals , often he was visited by many different people. That’s where Frank had met Eveline for the first time, he was outside waiting in the cold for his sister when he seen her. She was a shuffling up towards him, lost in her own thoughts, looking down when she suddenly locked eyes with him and a cute wry smile snook across her face. Some days later he wandered into the kitchen, to find her sitting quietly over a cup of tea, so he asked to join her. She was beautiful, soft spoken and considerate, every word was chosen carefully and wisely. He told her stories about the sea, and about the new life he planned in Buenos Ayres. Whenever Eveline came to the house, he would find himself in the kitchen, sharing stories and finding out about her life. Soon they spent every moment possible together, he would wait for her outside the stores so he could walk her home from work. Even the crisp cold air could not distract him from Eveline or Poppens, as he had come to call her, affectionately.

     

    What he loved most was how simple things he felt with her, he could be himself and she would listen intently. It had not mattered what he gave her whether it was freshly picked flowers or tickets to the theatre, poppens cherished them both as much. All over the world he had met women in different ports and had fleeting, empty relationships, but this was different. Everything he had hoped for in the new life he had planned, he could see clearly now. Eveline was strong minded, soft, hardworking, dutiful, all these things he could see in her. She spoke proudly of her home and fondly of her brothers, although one she had loved so dearly, had long since past. For many years she has held the family home together and contributed everything she had to give. So he felt it was past time she get the life she deserves and he wanted to give it to her, and make her his wife.

     

    One night after walking her to door of her house, he stole a kiss. That was when he had a falling out with her father. He knew his type, just like his own, drunken, controlling, violent and miserable. A small mind and a small world he had lived in, and never left. He knew nothing of the wonders of travel or of the world. For years on the sea, people from different places and different backgrounds had shown him what truly was out there. So when he met this close minded horrible and cantankerous old man he knew they wouldn’t get on. Her father burst from the house and confronted them on the step, hurling insults and incoherent thoughts. Many had commented on ‘ da colour’ on him since his return but he was as Irish as the lot of them. The father was sure that this ‘sailor fella’ was only after Eveline for her virtue and her money, which was needed for the home. So that night they had a falling out over Eveline, which tore her apart and caused a drift between them. When he turned up at the stores the following day, she hurried along and tried to tell him it was best they didn’t see each other, she brushed him off. Day after day he waited outside, if only to walk beside her, even if she didn’t want him. She came around after a week and they began to talk about the future, hope returned, and his dreams felt within reach, once again.

     

    Eveline was talking about running away and starting a new life, but she was afraid, and too loyal to her family. Everyday they spent talking about the sea and travel and Buenos Ayres, he could see her light up. Finally, after many weeks he convinced her to come to Buenos Ayres with him, and leave this misery behind. They had it all planned out and were making arrangements to run away in the night. One early morning he awoke and polished his shoes, he dressed in his best shirt and trousers and pulled on his wool peacoat. As he stepped out into the street he pulled his peak cap down, tucking his chin as he walked towards the morning fog that had filled the air and obscured his view. The bank was just down by the main street and he passed all the early morning workers on his way. The green grocer was unloading a wagon full of fruits and vegetables, the butcher stacked boxes of ice as he waited for the meats to come in from the the farmers. Just before he reached the the end of the road he seen his favourite stall, the fishmonger. Many a morning had he come down and picked from the fresh catch, some of his favourites, for stews and the sailors dinner, as they called it. Something about the taste of fish warmed parts of him like nothing else could, there was nostalgia and familiarity in it, a part of who he was. In the past few weeks he wondered if he shouldn’t settle down, if he should board a trawler or a cruiser in the port and set off on another adventure. Buneos Ayres could wait, it would be there, like it always had been, but he wasn’t going to get any younger. The sea had been good to him, it had made him, moulded him, tempered his soul and taught him many lessons in life. What’s another adventure upon the water, on the deck, as the salty air wets the tip of his tongue, and birds soar above, free among the clouds, kindred spirits upon the winds of the ocean. Yet now, he had another to consider, his love, his flame that flickered and glowed and shone light upon the life he could live, if he only took a chance. Yes, he had given blood, sweat and years to the tides, enough for a lifetime, now it was time for a new life. He hurried along towards the bank just in time for the doors to be unlocked and the teller to see him in. Since he was a young man, before he left home, he had kept what little money he had in an account in the bank, at the suggestion of his mother. Money was to taken out to pay for passage to Buenos Ayres, for him and his beloved. The teller gathered the all the cash he had and closed the account and that was it, no turning back.

     

    Night came quickly and he gathered the last of his things into a little brown case. Travelling light was a habit you picked up fast when you moved from place to place on short notice. Soon he would be settled, in a new home, and have more things than could fit in a hundred cases. The road down to the port was full of people shuffling along, laughing, crying, silent, shrieking. Just beneath the lamplight he spotted Eveline, she was lost in her thoughts, he could tell from all the times he met her outside the stores. They embraced and he ran his hand across her face as he told her how happy he was that they were finally going to be free and be together. He grabbed her hand as he lead her through the crowd , he start to tell her about the ship, about their cabin, what it would be like on the sea, how he would make sure the crew look after them, how he was going to show her everything about ocean and the night sky. Suddenly he felt the weight of her, as he pulled her through the crowd, she resisted and looked pale among the faces that surrounded them. Their hands were clasped together and he called her to ‘come’ as she grabbed upon the railings and pulled away from him. Almost on her knees she let out a cry that cut through the thoughts that swarmed his mind, the crowd was pushing him onward towards the ship.

     

    He focused in on her and called out “Eveline, Evvy” , passing the barrier he called out again, willing her to follow him, to come with him, to be with him.

     

    Her face was washed white and expressionless, the eyes that had once lit the flames inside of him were empty and hopeless, he looked upon the one he loved and knew he had lost her, if he ever really had her at all.

     

    So the sailor was returned the ocean and washed away on the high tide.

  • Operation Solar

    The blizzard was at its height as Julie made her way across the frozen lake. Flags flew high in the distance signaling she was near the facility. She tucked herself in and pushed the snowmobile harder to break through the southern winds. As she approached, the gusts of snow began to clear and black smoke invaded the skyline. Julie stopped on the top of the hill and looked down in horror at the facility in flames. She picked up her speed and rushed down into the valley. The far side of the dome seemed less damaged so she drove there to see if she could find an entrance. When she arrived, she found the wall blown out and the light of the labs flooding like the sun out onto the snow.

    Julie made her way into the facility near the containment centre, which was empty. Wires hung from the ceiling, the terminals were destroyed, and the thick glass walls were either cracked or shattered on the floor. She moved down the hall toward the command, and living quarters. As she turned the corner she found the first body, an older technician named Joe, he was slumped over and his head dipped forward. His blood was all over the wall, the back of his skull was opened and exposed. Julie lost her footing, grabbing out for something and slipping forward, she fell into a puddle of blood. As she tried to gain her footing, not looking back, she suddenly noticed the body parts strewn about the corridor. It wasn’t quite clear how many people she was looking at. Arms, torsos, bloodied heads, scattered about. Julie tried to shield her eyes and moved towards the command.

    As she approached the double doors, she spotted a bloodied handprint. The doors had large portholes; one was lying slightly open. On the ground a hand was outstretched, stopping the doors from closing. Julie moved closer to look through the porthole. She came to realize the arm was not attached to anything, a limbless body lay in the center of the command space. The door was stiff and seemed to have been damaged, she struggled to open it and squeeze through. Julie made her way towards the central terminals where she might be able to call for help or thought she might find survivors. This was where they would be, the Command was the centre of the facility and was supposed to be the safest place. It seemed it was utterly destroyed; most terminals were damaged and there were small fires breaking out in corners of the room. As Julie turned into the room, she stood frozen as she looked up at the wall. The Director was impaled and hanging from the large research screens that occupied the entire space. The screens were flickering with footage, broken images and data. Sticking from his chest was the project solar flag, a Vitruvian man surrounded by a sun, in black and yellow detail. Julie could see other bodies and parts of people around the room and tried to focus herself on the task.

    The central terminal was beyond repair and meant she was without any means of communication. In the lower left corner of the wall, a screen was looping security footage from some hours before. Julie made her way toward the playback terminal and found it still functional. She began to search back over the footage to see if she could make sense of this tragedy. There was a power outage in the containment centre, it seems the generator kicked in, that explains the lab lights. Then it seems the security seals failed, and the pressure locks didn’t hold. The experiment, no, it woke up. It seemed to have broken through the glass walls, the security alarms began sounding but Joe was stuck in the lab, the power failed in the door. Once it escaped, it got hold of him, thrashing him against the wall before being set upon by the response team. Julie could not look away as she watched them all ripped apart and beaten to death. The final person was trying to get into the command when it caught him and used his body to burst through the doors before ripping him limb from limb.

    Julie watched as it stalked the director through the terminals, before taking the flagpole and running it through him like skewering meat, sending him flying into the wall. It made quick work of the other technicians and then set about destroying the facility. There were no cameras in the living quarters and Julie could not be sure if there was anyone left. Even worse, she was unsure where it might have gone, was it still here, she start to check the live feeds. Most cameras were down but she could pick up some flickering images. It seemed some of the south complex was still intact, perhaps people were there. The interior images showed nothing and so she began to check the exterior. Most feeds showed the storm or the billowing smoke or just flashes of white. Until she came to the tower above the containment centre, it was there. It was standing over her snowmobile, examining it, and pulling at it. Suddenly it lifted it clean from the ground and flung it into opening that Julie had entered through. The explosion shook the command, and she had briefly ducked beneath the desk during the impact. When she looked back at the screen it was no longer standing there.

    Julie broke from the terminal and ran toward the living quarters. She may be able to make it out through the rear of the food hall and into the southern complex, it may be safe there, it seemed untouched. Each door she came to lead to another new scene of death or destruction. She tried to set her mind to the task at hand but with each familiar face she passed, the fear within her grew. The roof in the food hall was caved in and hung by the suspension ropes that held the dome together. She made her way into the kitchen, the equipment was strewn about and it meant she had to climb and jump over counters and under overturned fridges. Finally, she came to the rear exit, this would take her through the tunnel and into the southern complex. She stopped and turned back into the kitchen collecting a large knife. As she entered the tunnel she noticed that the red emergency strip lights along each side were lit all the way to the southern complex. She walked down the tunnel and looked toward the large steel doors that led into the complex. There were two large yellow lights turning and flashing towards her as she came up to the door. Julie reached the steel doors, and the large security lock was engaged, maybe this was a good sign. She pulled her security badge from beneath her layers and scanned it on the keypad. A large beeping sounding filled the tunnel as the lock released and the doors opened into the complex.

    Julie stepped inside and noticed the electricity was still on and through the door she noticed a small fire, it seemed to be intentional. Her hands reached for the door, and she entered the room. At first, she could not make out the pile in front of her but it suddenly hit her, bodies. In the corner a stack of heads, their lifeless eyes looking deep into her own. The fire in the corner had bones sticking from it and Julie turned quickly, to leave the room. When she got back to the tunnel she looked down into the abyss. It was standing in the glow of the red lights looking down, and moving slowly toward her. Julie panicked and fell, crawling backwards on her hands, she had dropped the knife in her shock and was too far from it now. As it grew closer, she suddenly noticed the emergency button and rose from the ground, pressing it repeatedly, in a panic. The large steel doors began to close, and the beeping rang out once again, now it was picking up pace. The doors just shut as it reached them, and the security seal was closing but she could hear it pulling the large metal bars back into place. She made her way back into the room, and looked for another exit.

    The southern complex was where they kept the gas reserve to run the main labs, so it was set into the ground. It seemed as if it had made a type of lair here and must have been intending to settle in. Julie ran toward the rear of the room and looked for the emergency exit plans. There was a maintenance hatch that led up to the bottom of the south hill. She was considering her options when she heard the metal of the doors bending and cracking, followed by loud thuds, it was not going to hold. Julie looked around the room and thought her best chance was to make it to the outreach centre, across the frozen lake. There was still power in the computers, and Julie began to override the controls. There were loud warning sirens filling the space and a countdown was showing on the main screen by the tanks. Julie ran to the steel ladder leading up into a tube all the way to the surface, and climbed. Her body ached with each step she made towards the hatch, meters above. The sound of the door being pulled open echoed up the tube. It was in the room, then it was down below. She looked down, as it spread its arms and began to pull itself up the tube. Julie was nearly at the hatch now, and fumbling in her pocket as she rose. Julie swung open the hatch and burst out into the snow. Not taking a breath, she was over the hatch again, watching it climb. She pulled a remote from her pocket and pressed it, releasing the gas into the room. It ignited and filled the tube, engulfing everything as Julie closed the hatch over, and ran up the hill for safety.

    She watched from the hilltop as the ground around the hatch crumbled. The southern complex collapsed in on itself and she stood looking over the ruins of the facility, trying to make sense of how it had all happened. The southern hill lead down to the frozen lake so she set out towards it. If she crossed the frozen lake, she could make it to the outreach centre and contact the relief team. Each step she took cracked into the ice with intention. The studs of her boots holding her in place as the wind whipped up. She tried to set the thoughts of all her friends out of her mind. The bloodied bodies, the lifeless eyes, the limbs, it was more than she could bear. They had studied the experiment for months, getting to know its biology, movements, behaviors. It was the common consensus that proceeding was unwise. They had all agreed not to thaw out the others, all except the director. He was adamant that Operation Solar must continue, that understanding the experiment may change the world forever. The day Julie had set out for the supply run and to share the data with the relief team, the facility was winding down and they were discussing termination options. She had wondered now what had really happened and was it less divine intervention than blind sabotage.

     

    The frozen lake was an unforgiving landscape, and all Julie could think about was making it to safety. It had been hours since, and if it had followed, she had not noticed. Surely the flames would have destroyed it for good, she had hoped. The outreach centre had supplies for about a month if she needed, and it was set into the ground with thick steel walls on all sides. The hatch was the most secure she had ever seen. No storm or blizzard had ever come close to bothering her in the outreach centre. She was certain she would be safe there until help arrived. All she had to do was make it, and she may just survive. All that ran through her mind, was just how much of a miracle it was, that she had survived. The others had been torn, broken and pulled apart, here she was still standing, moving toward freedom, away from this waking nightmare. The flags of the outreach centre flapped in the wind upon the ridge and Julie felt hope rise in her. She dipped her head, forcing her way forward. Soon she was nearly upon the base of the path. Julie stopped in her tracks and looked into the distance, there it was, the man from the ice.

     

    He stood at the base of the hill staring at her, unlike anything she had ever seen. When they first discovered them, she been filled with fear. Large monstrous figures, muscular, chiseled, towering above them, frozen within the ice. Their eyes had haunted her dreams at the beginning, green with no whites always open, day and night. Now those eyes were looking at her across the lake. Julie had only ever observed him in unconscious states and now that she was looking upon him in the flesh she wondered if he was even of this world. His upper torso was as wide as it was tall, his enormous hands were spread, he held them in front as he approached her. Julie had not moved and now she was running questions in her mind with no answers. As he approached, her eye caught the ridge and she spotted them, the others, it can’t be. She cast her eyes back to him and realized it was not their man, it was another, but how. Then from behind her she heard the ice cracking. Julie turned to the thunderous sound of his feet approaching her. His body was blackened and burnt and his piercing green eyes locked with hers and she knew it was over.