29 Wednesday Feb 2012
Posted in Project 365 for 2012
This shot was taken with the Nikon L16 – f4.7, 1/250 sec, ISO-91, 17mm fl. The day was very overcast and grey, almost devoid of color. I set the Nikon to black and white mode to take advantage of the mood of the day. No post-exposure manipulation has been done.
© 2012 – Veronica Marie Lewis-Shaw. All Rights Reserved.
28 Tuesday Feb 2012
Posted in Project 365 for 2012
This was taken with the Nikon L16 – f2.8, 1/15 sec, ISO-800, 6mm fl. I pushed the brightness and contrast all the way on this picture in order to ‘white-out’ the background. A little ‘warming’ was added back to ‘color’ the shadows.
A 16×20 framed copy hangs in my therapist’s office, a ‘thank you’ for her encouraging me to take up the camera again.
© 2012 – Veronica Marie Lewis-Shaw. All Rights Reserved.
27 Monday Feb 2012
Posted in Project 365 for 2012
This shot was taken with the Nikon L16 – f3.7, 1/176 sec, ISO-64, 11mm fl. Winter flooding toppled trees and left other’s roots exposed in its aftermath. This is near the boat launch in Milwaukie, Oregon, on the east bank of the Willamette River.
© 2012 – Veronica Marie Lewis-Shaw. All Rights Reserved
26 Sunday Feb 2012
Posted in Project 365 for 2012
VENGEANCE IS MINE
By Veronica Marie Lewis-Shaw
(Author’s note – The following story contains mature themes. If you find such material objectionable, you may not wish to continue. Thank you. vmls)
~*~
After eight years of dark bloody war, the tide had turned… the enemy pushed back against their own borders… their defeat now a foregone conclusion. My unit is finally going home. Morale is high.
~~**~~
The attack came while our company was still a day and a half out from my village. Word reached us through the underground wireless… we double-timed the last thirty kilometers.
~~**~~
Against my captain’s wishes, I take point… a thousand meters ahead of the rest. Half a kilometer out from the village, a sudden shift in the wind brings the stench of death and destruction to my nostrils. A silent scream echoes inside my head as I sprint the final distance.
Rounding the last bend in the road, the village comes into view… and I come to a skidding halt… assaulted by the scene in front of me… a sledgehammer blow to my senses… I reel back.
Winter wheat was harvested a fortnight ago… the field on the left side of the road leading into the village lies fallow… empty… save for the poles littering the open space… upright in the dark soil… obscene scarecrows.
In a scene straight from Hell… the women of my village… heads and arms hanging limply from the poles… the wood wet and dark with blood… naked bodies impaled… the one nearest the roadside… my mother…
My rifle slips from nerveless fingers… I fall to my knees in the middle of the road… a low wailing sound rises up from my chest… I lift my eyes to the field… doubling over as my insides clench… a raw gag is torn from my throat… heaving… the morning meal splatters the roadbed.
Another spasm… and then… another… yet another…
~~**~~
Dimly aware of the sound of boot heels pounding up behind me… a strong hand on my shoulder. I try to straighten… my stomach clenches again.
“Steady soldier… just… what the hell… breathe, soldier… breathe…!”
I push myself upright… the hand relaxes its grip… turning, I face my captain.
“I’m alright, sir…” I push the image of the violated body of the woman I knew as my mother back… for the moment. Reaching down, I retrieve my rifle… clicking off the safety. Turning back toward the village… dreading what lies ahead… I start up the road.
“Stand down, sergeant!” I turn to my captain.
“Sir?”
“Take Radic and Batista… I want you three to set up a .50 ….” I turn and walk away.
“That was an order, sergeant!” The captain’s voice is unnaturally loud in the quiet of death’s aftermath. I step back in front of him.
“Sir… this is my village… my family… my sisters…” I choke back a sob, setting my mouth in a hard line… staring up into my captain’s grey eyes.
“Sir… permission to…” Swallowing hard the rising lump in my throat… “… permission to reconnoiter the village… sir!”
Our eyes meet… grim determination… controlled rage… I feel the red rise in my irises… my captain flinches.
“Erin… ” he stops… sensing the futility of his words.
“Va multumesc, domnule!”
~~**~~
We make our way slowly up the main street, stepping over debris… around the craters left by mortar strikes. On either side of the road, the low, stone houses lie in rubble… portions of the outer walls still standing, held up only by the charred frames of doorways.
The smell of death… the rich, coppery reek of fetid blood heavy in the air… close, but not… charcoaled bits of furniture smoulder in the ruins… the smoky tang mingling with the stench of burnt mortar and plaster.
Every house we come to… a mortar-torn ruin… charred remains of casements and furniture… but, no bodies. With mounting dread, I approach my mother’s house.
The apotropaic figure hangs crooked over the burnt-out doorway. Senka used to tease me that I “could not really be a vampyre, my sister, because…” the unbidden memory tears a sob from my throat. We cross the threshold. Again, no bodies… my dread rises… a looming tide.
Reaching the town square… the church looms in the stench and smoke-laden air. We enter the church… and find the children… their lifeless bodies… strewn carelessly across the pews… lips black with poison.
My peoples’ future…
Destroyed!
~~**~~
One hour later… the company is on the road again, marching north. Icy calm on the face of each man and woman… underneath… a black, smouldering rage… building with each step forward.
A silent vow is made to loved ones.
Veţi fi răzbunat!
~~finis~~
© 2011 – Veronica Marie Lewis-Shaw. All Rights Reserved.
25 Saturday Feb 2012
Posted in Project 365 for 2012
This was taken with the Nikon L16 – f2.8, 1/8 sec, ISO-644, 6mm fl. I took this shot while standing in the front passenger seat, from the open moon roof of Jenny’s Nissan. There was no post-exposure manipulation other than minor cropping on the bottom of the photograph.
© 2012 – Veronica Marie Lewis-Shaw. All Rights Reserved.
24 Friday Feb 2012
Posted in Project 365 for 2012
This shot was taken with the Nikon L16 – f5.6, 1/369 sec, ISO-64, 6mm fl.
© 2011 – Veronica Marie Lewis-Shaw. All Rights Reserved.
23 Thursday Feb 2012
Posted in Project 365 for 2012
GHOST
By Veronica Marie Lewis-Shaw
(Author’s note – The following story contains mature themes. If you find such material objectionable, you may not wish to continue. Thank you. vmls)
~*~
Under cover of darkness, I crawl up the pitched roof to the padlocked attic skylight. With a practiced hand, I slip the hinge pins and raise the polycarbonate bubble, sliding my slender frame through the narrow opening. Hanging onto the inside edge with one hand, I look down in the gloom and see that the attic floor is only a few inches from my feet. I let go… landing on the balls of my feet and bending at the knees to soften the impact.
I kneel in the near pitch-black attic for several moments, my eyes adjusting. My heart rate picks up a bit as the silent litany runs through my head… no motion sensors (cats)… the carpeted areas have pressure pads… contact switch in the study doorway, but not on the picture frame… disarm button for the safe is in lower left desk drawer, behind the jellybeans… remember Veronica… you’re a ghost.
The condo is empty. Still; I do not want to make any unnecessary noise. I quietly make my way to the door, which opens onto a winding stairway, leading down to the second floor. Mindful of the pressure pads, I place my feet on either side of the treads and move slowly down the stairs. Stopping at the bottom, I peer around the corner into the hallway… it is empty. A lamp on a small corner table at the end of the hall provides ample illumination. Hugging the south wall, careful to step only on the bare hardwood floor, I make my way to the study.
Kneeling, with pick in hand, I have the door unlocked in six seconds flat. Bypassing the contact switch set in the lower edge of the doorframe, I enter the dimly-lit study, closing the door behind me. Moving to the large teak/rosewood desk, I slide the bottom-left drawer open and disarm the safe’s alarm. Popping a couple grape jellybeans in my mouth, I turn my attention to Sickert’s Femme de Lettres, hanging on the wall behind the desk. Shining a hooded penlight behind the frame, I ascertain there are no surprises there.
Swinging the frame back on its hinges, I study the black AMSEC wall safe for a few moments. Damn! I silently curse Serena… you said it had a digital electronic lock! Armed with my “little black box”, even the most sophisticated digital locks are embarrassingly easy to open. Fortunately, I came prepared. Sighing, I pull the Littman electronic stethoscope out of my waist pack and set to work on the dial combination.
Six minutes later, the safe door swings open. Pushing aside a sheaf of papers, I reach in and pull out an 8×10 black tri-fold coin portfolio. Setting it on the desk and folding back the cover, I am struck by the warm glow… forty coins… 20 and 40 franc gold Napoleons, minted over the period of Bonaparte’s reign… all uncirculated. And, I might add… all stolen from a very dear friend of mine. Madame de Villiers will be most pleased to have these returned.
I unzip the soft leather jacket and the front of the black bodysuit underneath. Sliding the portfolio into an inside pocket, I zip it back up. Closing the safe, I set things as they were before and exit the study, removing the bypass once the door is closed and locked again.
As I make my way back up the hall, I suddenly realize that a light is coming from the partially opened master bedroom door. I freeze… there was no light on before… I would have noticed it! My heartbeat doubles, but I force myself to remain calm… taking slow, measured breaths… let’s not panic, girl. I stand and wait… nothing… waiting longer… still nothing.
Curiosity has me now. I edge closer to the doorway… slowly…peering around the edge of the door… the room is only partially lit… a small lamp on a side table giving a soft glow to the room…large four poster bed… quilted white comforter… and… a woman sitting on the opposite edge of the bed, facing away from the door… completely naked. I stop. I stare. She remains motionless.
It is dead quiet in the room… I swear that I can hear the woman’s heartbeat. She has medium length reddish-brown hair, fair skin… and a backside I could stare at for hours… the swell of her left breast, partially hidden in shadow… waistline dips in… rounded hips… the cleft of her bum drawing my eye… she belongs in a painting. The woman speaks…
“You’re quite good, you know. But for one thing, you would have gotten out completely undetected.” I stand silent… waiting.
The small crescent-shaped scar and tiny mole below her left shoulder blade brings back the memory of the first time I saw the woman. It was in a conditioning class at Refine Method, over on the Upper Eastside. She had been in front of me on the workout floor, chatting up an older woman. It had been over a year since I had picked a mark at Refine, so I had felt safe in returning there. The woman was breathtakingly beautiful, and I knew then that our paths were destined to cross again.
“Don’t you want to know what your mistake was?” Finding my voice… “Yes… please tell me… what was my mistake?” I ask, moving further into the room.
“Make love to me, and I’ll tell you.” the woman replies, turning to face me, and moving up on the bed. The look on her face is serious, but… for just a second, and then it is gone … a bare sliver of a smile.
I look over at her for several moments, and then begin disrobing… shedding the jacket… unzipping the bodysuit… slipping it off of my shoulders and sliding it down my torso and over my hips… heeling the black Reeboks off… the bodysuit slithers down my legs and I step out of it… clothing a puddle of black fabric at my feet.
I walk around to her side of the bed and stop… naked, save for my “signature” purple Victoria’s Secret cotton bikini panties. The woman motions that I should remove them as well. I slide the panties over my hips, stepping out of them as I climb up on the bed. She lies back on the pillows and I straddle her midsection, the heat from my sex spreading across her firm belly. My desire flames and I lower my mouth to hers, the soft warmth of her lips melding to mine.
~~**~~
Some time later… drained and sated… we lay in the afterglow… bodies shiny with a patina of sweat… the scent of our passions filling the room.
I sit up on one elbow and trace my finger lightly around her swollen nipple… a soft moan escapes her lips. My hand moves down to the rise of her mons…
“So… are you going to tell me my mistake now… lover!”
Serena sits up in bed and laughs, her hazel eyes alive with mischief. “You didn’t make one, Veronica… not a single one. I cheated… I set a motion detector in the hall.” “Why, you…” I start, ready to pounce…
My lover, and partner in crime for the last six months, raises her hands…
“Save that for later, baby girl… we need to blow this scene before the owners come back. Their flight landed twenty minutes ago.”
~~finis~~
© 2011 – Veronica Marie Lewis-Shaw. All Rights Reserved.
22 Wednesday Feb 2012
Posted in Project 365 for 2012
This shot was taken with the Nikon L16 – f5.6, 1/500 sec, ISO-64, 6mm fl. Medium overcast, mid-day, north of city center. I cropped this down to bring the log closer to center frame and pushed both brightness and contrast back.
© 2012 – Veronica Marie Lewis-Shaw. All Rights Reserved.
21 Tuesday Feb 2012
Posted in Project 365 for 2012
This was shot was taken with my cell phone – a Samsung Eternity II – f2.7, 1/60 sec, ISO-100, 3mm fl. I pushed the contrast out a bit to silhouette the foreground, making the sky the focus of the picture. The sky looks like it is on fire. Mount Hood is in the background.
© 2012 – Veronica Marie Lewis-Shaw. All Rights Reserved.
20 Monday Feb 2012
Posted in Project 365 for 2012
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~*~
© 2012 – Veronica Marie Lewis-Shaw. All Rights Reserved.
