What Pegman Saw in the Snows of Kilimanjaro


Pegman saw the ghost of a musician named Gerry Clifford wandering through the snows of Kilimanjaro, lost in troubled thought. Pegman wished that he could say something to comfort Gerry. However, he had been strictly admonished not to interfere with the fates of those he observed, so he watched Gerry kick the snow and engage in a fruitless monologue with himself.

Pegman had an idea. He began tapping his fingers on the rock that he sat on. Although Gerry couldn’t hear the sound, he could sense it, and began to speak in rhyme.

“What’s the sense in setting her free, when I love her, and she loves me? You don’t call it quits you work through the rough bits. Babe, give me the chance and I’ll make you see.”

Feeling hopeful now, Gerry flapped his great dark wings and took to the sky.

Pegman looked to the vast horizon, smiling.

notes
Lately, I have primarily been working with Reedsy's prompts (https://blog.reedsy.com/creative-writing-prompts/) to help me complete Team Netherworld's forthcoming novel(s), but I really missed the Pegman prompts.

Then it came to me like a flash--like a vision.

I should also publish a yearly volume of Pegman flashes.

When Pegman flashes you, you don't see it. But you may feel his presence, and you may even become inspired, as Gerry has been. 

The creation of this piece was inspired by the 25 April 2020 What Pegman Saw prompt. Check it out.
https://whatpegmansaw.com/2020/04/25/kilimanjaro-tanzania/ 

You can join Pegman every week for a new prompt.

If you enjoyed this piece, please take a look at this list of ways you can support Team Netherworld and Naughty Netherworld Press. One of them pays both you and me in cryptocurrency--it's a real win-win!
http://www.naughtynetherworldpress.com/p/places-to-support-naughty-netherworld.html

And now, the unavoidable legalese blah-blah

Content coyright 2020 by Cara Hartley

Please do not repost

Reblogging is acceptable on platforms that allow it.

Sharing a link to the story is acceptable.

Quoting portions of the story for educational or review purposes is acceptable if proper credit is given.

This story is cross-posted to these sites:

http://www.naughtynetherworldpress.com

https://pegmaninthenetherworld.blogspot.com/

http://publish0x.com/naughtynetherworldpress

https://bitpatron.co/orneryowl.id.blockstack

http://ko-fi.com/naughtynetherworldpress


http://patreon.com/naughtynetherworldpress




Friday Flashback: Meet Ulrich von Brandt

Friday Flashback logo

Friday Flashback is a fun blogging game hosted by Fandango at fivedotoh.com.

The rules are simple. Choose a post that you wrote a year ago and share it with your audience.

My post comes from the official Naughty Netherworld Press blog (http://www.naughtynetherworldpress.com). I utilized the A to Z Blogging Challenge (http://www.a-to-zchallenge.com) to promote the Carnal Invasion series by introducing readers to some of our featured characters. You can meet Ulrich von Brandt and Samantha Zuniga, the King and Queen of Climax Castle, below.

The Carnal Invasion series is explicit erotica, but blog posts are rarely more than a PG-13. This post contains suggestive language but no explicit descriptions. 

If you are interested in checking out the Carnal Invasion series, please visit Naughty Netherworld Press' very own dirty book store. (https://www.naughtynetherworldpress.com/p/naughty-netherworld-press-library.html) This page contains no explicit pictures or text. You can look at previews of the currently available titles here, and if you choose to borrow or purchase a book through one of the preview links, I make a small commission from Amazon.

And now, meet Ulrich von Brandt!


vintage couple

Image by Jo-B from Pixabay

Ulrich von Brandt and Samantha Zuniga, as pictured on the cover of "My Cumly Bride: Vintage Erotic Tales of Lust"

Along with wife Samantha Zuniga, Ulrich von Brandt is one of the owners of Climax Castle. There was originally only one Gamma Iridian in the pod which landed behind a movie house in Bavaria where attendees were viewing an erotic film starring the original Ulrich von Brandt and Samantha Zuniga. 

The Gamma Iridian split into two beings, one which took on the appearance of Ulrich, the other which took on the appearance of Samantha. The pair entered the movie house, and an orgy ensued.

Ulrich is a kind-hearted if sometimes exasperating chap. He enjoys sex with men and women equally, and always looks for the best in everyone.

Ulrich appears as a tall, slender, sophisticated blond man with sky-blue eyes and a bright smile. He speaks fluent German and English with a German accent. Ulrich enjoys traveling and finding ways to better the lives of others. He is happiest when bettering others' lots in life involves getting to know them sexually as well.

Like other Gamma Iridians, Ulrich tends to be very literal. His affable manner has a way of making his blunt expressions quaint rather than crude.

Ahmose, my dear boy, you know, whenever I am sad about something, I find that there is a solution which perks me up right away. ‘Ulrich,’ I say to myself when I am sad, ‘there is one great cure for unhappiness. You must get back on the cock!’ Yes, it is simple advice, but it is time-honored and true.” --Ulrich von Brandt

Text copyright 2019 and 2020 by Cara Hartley

Please share or reblog rather than reposting

Climax Castle, Gamma Iridians, Ahmose Ike, Samantha Zuniga, and Ulrich von Brandt are the intellectual property of Team Netherworld Creations and Naughty Netherworld Press. 

This post is cross-posted to:

The official Naughty Netherworld Press blog (http://www.naughtynetherworldpress.com)

Naughty Netherworld Press on Publish0x (http://publish0x.com/naughty-netherworld-press)




WEP Challenge April 2020: Antique Vase



This story will serve as a chapter in Team Netherworld's forthcoming novel or collection of connected stories (however readers prefer to view it), The Ballad of Gerry Clifford, which is part of the Yadira Chronicles. Full critique is welcome, providing you use the Hamburger Method. Or Veggie Burger Method. Or Egg Salad Sandwich method. I ain't picky, providing your criticisms are palatable and wrapped in compliments. 

Lotus Clifford is the adopted elder sister of Gerry and Paul Clifford, who appeared in the Cafe Terrace tale.

Here are the stats:

Genre: Cthulhu Mythos fiction/Paranormal Romance 
(Or, for those of you who are really picky, this particular chapter of a book falling within those genres could be construed as strictly romance.)

Word Count: 1000 Words

On a cold November day in 2014, a rangy priest with thinning dark-brown hair was pricing items for a rummage sale to benefit his parish. The Chapel of Loaves and Fishes was a small Catholic sanctuary in London’s Crouch End borough. The door opened, and a small, swarthy woman dressed in black, her graying black hair pulled back in a simple ponytail, entered. A smile brightened the cadaverous cleric’s pale face.

“Did you enjoy your birthday celebration, Sister Lotus?” Father William Kroger inquired.

Sister Lotus Clifford smiled, but the smile did not reach her sad dark eyes.

“Bit of a shambles, I’m afraid,” she replied as she hung up her coat. “Poor Gerry couldn’t recall whose birthday it was, and he grew quite tired and irritable. I’d just as soon have stopped in for tea like any ordinary day, but our dear Paul always tries to recreate the way things were when we were young. Gerry’s dementia is a stark reminder that our youth is well behind us.”

Father William gently patted Sister Lotus’ shoulder. She gazed affectionately into his kindly blue-gray eyes, and squeezed his long, thin fingers.

Lotus noticed an antique vase sitting on a table behind Father William.

“Oh, you fixed it!” she exclaimed. “I still regret breaking it in a fit of temper.”

“Robert Fitzgerald could test the patience of a saint,” Father William observed.

“Well, I’m hardly a saint,” Lotus laughed, picking up the vase.

“I’ll take it to Anwar Seti at the curio shop” she proposed. “I’m certain it was made by the fish people. Look how the sea dragon forms the handles, and the fish’s face pushes forth from the rim as if it were emerging from water. I’ll be back in a tick.”

Lotus walked to the curiosity shop diagonally across from the chapel. The bell gave a merry jingle and an elderly bald man with gray, wrinkled skin, milky blue eyes, small ears, and a fishlike mouth poked his head out of the back.

“Lotus!” Anwar greeted. “I’ll put the kettle on. Then you must tell me everything!”

“I want you to see this wonderful vase, Anwar,” Lotus explained. “I broke it, but Father Will repaired it. It looks like something made by your people.”

Anwar returned with a tea tray. He admired the vase as Lotus poured the tea.

“It came back together nicely,” he observed. “You fumbled it you say?”

“I threw it at Robert Fitzgerald’s head.”

“He must have done something dreadful to prompt you to crack his coconut with this weighty urn. Care to fill an old friend in?”

“At the Halloween party last week, Rob was drunk as a skunk and telling John Michael that it was time to pack the old bald skeleton off to the churchyard and replace him with a newer model.”

“After everything that Father Will has done for him.”

“Indeed. I said ‘Mr. Fitzgerald, you seem to forget how Father Will saved you from spending a year in the clink for drink driving. A bit of gratitude is in order.’ The blackguard slurred out: ‘it might do the good sister to remember her vows to the Lord.’”

Anwar laughed at Sister Lotus’ imitation of a drunken Robert Fitzgerald as he nibbled a bit of dried seaweed.

“Blimey! What did you say then?”

“I said: ‘Mr. Fitzgerald, I remember my vows to the Lord whenever I recall that I must be charitable even to the most vulgar of philistines.’ Then that rogue had the temerity to say: ‘What I’m sayin’, Sister, is that it ain’t right for you to throw yer love at Father Skeleton when yer married ter the Lord.’ The thought that those hearing him might believe that Father Will was anything but righteous made me see red.”

 “John Michael stepped to my defense,” Lotus continued. “He said ‘Rob, you owe Sister Lotus an apology. ‘Course she loves Father Will. She loves us all as Jaysus ‘imself commanded us to do. Sister Lotus, I know you loves Father Will in the Christian spirit, not dirty like he’s implying.’ Bless John Michael and his innocent heart.”

Anwar squeezed Lotus’ hand.

“I am grateful for the vase, Dear. I intend to pay for it.”

“Anwar, please. It’s a gift.”

“Not another word. I shall donate to the chapel and throw in a morsel of advice for a friend whom I love as my own niece. Rob Fitzgerald has rubbish for brains, but he is not wrong in this case. You know that I will be migrating to the sea soon. Do an old fishman’s heart good before he departs and allow your love to bloom as it has been wanting to for close to forty years. You and Will could still serve your God and community as husband and wife.”

Lotus embraced Anwar and hurried back to the chapel. She found Father William still sorting items for the rummage sale.

“Ah, Sister Lotus!” Father William greeted. “The community has been generous, although I can’t for the life of me figure out what purpose some of these creations serve. Sister, you’re trembling! Whatever is troubling you?”

“It’s Lotus, William. Simply Lotus, hoping that she isn’t chucking forty years of hard work and solid friendship to the wind. Robert Fitzgerald’s lurid conjecture enraged me because I was embarrassed to have my secret exposed. I do love you, but if you don’t feel the same, I…”

 “Oh, Lotus, dear, brave, Lotus,” Father William sighed. “I feared I’d go to my eternal rest without you knowing how I felt. Thank the Lord for Rob Fitzgerald’s big mouth!”

“You can also thank that odd vase and Anwar’s wise counsel,” Lotus said with a smile that reached her eyes.

“Well, God bless Anwar and God bless that beautiful, hideous vase!” Father William laughed.

Father William tilted Sister Lotus’ chin and bent to press his lips to hers, melting into an embrace that had been hoping to happen since the moment the pair met in the summer of 1976.

Cie for Team Netherworld Creations/Naughty Netherworld Press


Click the banner to read other stories.

notes
When I was eighteen and still clinging to the last vestiges of my Catholic faith, I attended the St. Thomas Moore Church in Boulder, Colorado. One of the priests there, a kind gentleman in his thirties, was leaving the priesthood because he had fallen in love and was getting married. The idea I came up with for this story echoes that incident from my past, although there were no Deep One hybrids involved.

In Other Words/Shameless Self-Promotion
Dear Fans of Lovecraftian fiction, the first book in The Yadira Chronicles is the novella Tales from the Dreamlands: Ketil and Yitzy's Adventure in the Xura Dream House. This buddy story features an unlikely group of heroes on a quest to save the Cosmos from destruction by the Great Old Ones and Outer Gods and their myriad of sometimes not-too-bright minions. Pick up a copy here! You know you want to!









Aunt Cie's Ornery Newsletter

Image by heidijergovsky from Pixabay

Hello, friends of Aunt Cie's Attic, Good Stuff from Grover, and Team Netherworld Creations/Naughty Netherworld Press! Today I am creating my first-ever newsletter, and I've got to admit, I'm in way over my head. So we are going to do this one step at a time.

The nifty little house designed by Heidi Jergovsky actually looks like a cartoon version of the ole Grover Hotel! It's absolutely perfect. So, we will start with this little graphic to create a logo.


I then took the picture to pixlr.com to make this logo. You can do quite a bit with the free Pixlr X.

I then went back to my MailChimp account to upload the logo.

I've sent myself a test email and now I will wait for subscribers!

I put off starting an email list for years because I was overwhelmed by the thought of maintaining such a thing. MailChimp can do a lot of the heavy lifting for you. I don't have to maintain a list myself. MailChimp does that. A free account is more than enough for most bloggers. 

I have numerous sites and projects and it was becoming cumbersome to cross-post to multiple sites. Now if folks subscribe to my newsletter, they can stay up to date with what's what on all of my sites. Also, you can thank me for putting my subscription option in the sidebar and not in one of those wretched pop-ups. Those things fill me with liquid murder. I hate having that blasted pop-up fly in my face every time I visit a site, even if I've already subscribed!

That's about it for now. I hope to see some of you subscribe soon!

Your Ornery Old Aunt Cie


Ornery Owl
Image copyright Open Clipart Vectors on Pixabay



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