Charmed Chaos
Musings on Life, Love, and Linguine-Poetry & Writing
Devoured
Everyone is gone now. The crows have disappeared, and the locusts have moved on. There is nothing left but dried stalks, whitened bones, and a cold wind. This empty field save for my lone silhouette, this is the barrenness of harvest or pestilence. First, came the rabbits and field mice, eating the last of the corn. Then, the final swarm of infected people staggered through the field, devoured everything. They left no seeds that may sprout in spring should the rains ever come again. Their hunger was so great, they even ate every grub and worm they could find. As they dug their skeletal fingers into the dark soil, anything that moved became their feast. But it was not enough and many fell where they were, dying in the ravaged field.
And me? I’m naught but a scarecrow witnessing the end of human life.
©2021 Linda Lee Lyberg
dVerse Poets Pub: Prosery 5: All Hallows
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Charmed Chaos 
Oh this was such a dark tale that I fear will happen, and once the bones are picked even the crows will be gone.
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Yes, I agree. Thank you Bjorn.
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Scorched earth devastation, Linda. I hope this is not a vision of the future. Scary tale for the season!
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Thank you Lisa.
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You are welcome!
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A grim look at the future I fear. Dark tale.
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Yes, thank you Toni.
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And now I superbly creeped out.
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Desired effect achieved. Thanks Carol.
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Zombies and ghouls are very popular today, you are bang on with your dystopian tale, and it rocks the prompt.
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Linda, love this dark and dire tale! Extremely well written. Made my spine crawl.
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Thank you Rob.
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Sounds like a script for a movie! Well done Linda.
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Thank you Dwight.
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Wow so much darkness and devastation…like a zombie land until the end of time. Really enjoyed this one Linda.
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Thank you Grace.
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I love that you wrote this from a scarecrow’s perspective, but the reader doesn’t know that until the end! A superbly eerie dystopian Halloween tale: a scarecrow without crows to scare. I found especially chilling: ‘There is nothing left but dried stalks, whitened bones, and a cold wind. This empty field save for my lone silhouette…’ and those hungry infected people dying in the ravaged field.
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Thank you Kim!
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Truly the barrenness of pestilence.
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Thank you Beverly.
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Great photo to go with this story. There’s something about this fat scarecrow that makes him very sinister contrasted with the scene of apocalyptic desolation he describes. My friend Mary Greer has a theory that the proliferation of Zombie movies is an outward manifestation of our communal fears about overpopulation
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That’s an interesting theory. That very well could be. Thank you for your thoughts.
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A dark tale indeed. Excellent, Linda. The scarecrow in the photo is creepy, too.
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Thank you Merril. I saw it and thought, that’s the one!
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Good choice! 🙂
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I like the fact that we hear this through the scarecrow’s voice. Dark and desolate, Linda!
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Thank you!
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