Tranquility Lost: A Short Story Novel

By David Pennington

This is a short-story, fiction/horror novel that will open your eyes to the way some things are and how some things should be on this rock we live on.
You will read about those who take advantage of others and those who evolve into someone or [haha] something that just won't tolerate their personal misfortune anymore. It's a book about perspective while entertaining the reader to the fullest of my ability, a real page-turner, if you will.
This is my first book and I truly hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing these stories for you.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Oct 30, 2020
• ISBN: 9781664130340

David Pennington

David just turned 50 this week and have started the process of publishing his first book, it’s been a long journey but a fulfilling one. He is blessed to have a great family and the proud owner of three dogs, whom he loves dearly. David always had an active imagination, you might say he has a movie reel in his head and loves to put what he see on paper, sure enough he’s not alone. Some folks think he is a little strange because he believes in aliens but not big foot. Well, David only believe in what he has seen....fair enough, right?

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Copyright © 2020 by David Pennington.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

Rev. date: 09/16/2020

Xlibris

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CONTENTS

Smoke And Mirrors.

Mummy’s Jewels

Careless Whispers

Dancing With The Dead

Carousail

Morgan And I

Korn Stalkz

S O PEACEFUL WERE the rice fields that one could easily become addicted to the tranquility. You could get lost in the beauty and the space out there. Mae Ling found this out at an early age, by age 7 she was working the fields with her mother. She was truly happy. The work was hard, but the beauty around her was endless and undeniable. Her mother allowed her to play some in those fields. Mae Ling did not have to work all day, but she enjoyed the time there with her mother more than anything else. She was completely unaware of the rest of the world. She did not have any idea of the wars that were breaking out all around them. She had no knowledge of evil, death, misery, or anything that wasn’t completely pure, innocent, and happy. Mae Ling was completely pure, innocent, and happy. The white blooms of the water lilies that floated along lazily mirrored her innocence, purity, and happiness.

She learned how to cultivate, weed, and harvest. She knew how important it was to successfully grow rice for it provided nourishment for her village. Her father spent his days catching fish in nets along with the other men, obviously fish and rice were the main source of nutrition. She was allowed to help fish with her father on occasion when she asked to spend time with him. It wasn’t as beautiful to her as the rice fields, but she enjoyed being with her father. She knew that she would not be a fisherman because the rice fields called to her. It was pretty out there with her father, but not the beauty of her rice fields. She believed with her whole heart that there was nothing else as beautiful and fulfilling as working with her parents. She wanted to be just like them. One day her husband would be a fisherman, and she would work in the rice fields. She would introduce her children to her beautiful rice fields, and they would live happily. She knew her life was pretty perfect.

Mae Ling and her mother were working in the rice fields early one morning when far away bombings brought the sounds of thunder across the sky. Mae Ling thought that thunderstorms were looming until her lovely mother corrected her. The grown ups had all heard the rumors that war was coming and that the Americans were coming to lay waste and take control of their lands. They all believed that they were safe though being so far away from any of the major cities. They were wrong.

No Mae Ling. It is not storms you hear, but the mighty Americans.

What is an American, Mama? Mae Ling asked.

They are devils who fly across the sky and breathe fire on those who make them angry. They destroy whatever is in their path with an evil smile. They are to be feared my precious daughter.

Mae Ling didn’t know what was coming. She just assumed that when the Americans saw those rice fields they would be all consumed with the beauty and just be still. She put too much faith in those rice fields ability to stop war, but she still believed in magic and beauty.

As the weeks passed and the bombings grew closer, a quiet fear had its grip on the village. Everyone was on edge, but still Mae Ling knew that they would be okay. The rice fields would settle this unrest. The tranquility there would save them. She daydreamed that the rice fields would open up and protect their village. The men still fished, and the women and children worked the rice fields. Mae Ling took in the beauty and majesty every day. Even she began to wonder if they were safe. For the first time in her life she learned fear. One morning when she woke from the sounds of the bombing she knew that tranquility was lost amongst the chaos on the horizon. The sky started glowing from the bombings early mornings and night alike. Booming rumbles were a constant reminder that the devils were on their way. Mae Ling had nightmares about fire breathing, winged creatures and everything she knew and everyone she loved was set on fire. The screams of her parents, so much pain. She would always see the beautiful white- water lilies stained with blood as they floated down rivers of devastation… She would wake, breathing heavily and she would worry that her beautiful rice fields were gone.

They were in the rice fields that horrific day that the American devils came to Mong Loin Village and Mae Ling’s nightmares came true. They appeared suddenly from the wood line, men with guns and fire breathing devices alike. The devils systematically burned the fields and anyone who was foolish or unlucky enough to be in their way. The devils stomped through the white flowers and the fields with no regard for their beauty or majesty. The flowers were damaged and began to resurface from the water, stained red. Women and children were running for their lives only to be cut down by gun fire. It was over very quickly, but the memory would forever plague Mae Ling. Her mother’s widened eyes staring at Mae Ling while frothy blood spewed from her lips and her intestines spilled from her belly into her shaking hands. Mae Ling just sat there in the water in shock, tears streaming down her face as the chaos surrounded her. A single bloom from a white-water lily slowly floated past Mae Ling. This one perfect bloom with no red stains floated past her and her mother. Her mother’s corpse would be forever in her mind. And that beautiful flower would be in her minds eye as a reminder of the horrors of war forever. Such beauty in that flower, but such death and blood surrounding it.

The nourishment of despair was all that was left for the survivors because what was their home, was now the Devil Dragon’s lair. The Americans set up camp in houses that hadn’t been destroyed. They laughed as they moved the dead bodies and burned the rest of the fields and the flowers. The nets that caught fish were used to hold her people now. Her father laid still in one of the nets. His eyes were open but seeing nothing. Her brother was next to him. The Americans had thrown the nets over them as they tried to run, and once they were caught, they were killed. Her family was gone. She was the only one left and she was all alone.

As the surviving children were hog tied and thrown in choppers to be taken to a remote base for interrogation reasons. American women in uniforms took the surviving babies and very small children with them to those bases too. Mae Ling learned that rich American families were adopting them. They were so young that they would never know about their parents and families. The Americans were truly the devils that her mother told her about. Not all of the babies and small children made it. There were no tears for them. They would never be missed by anyone. No one would take one of the flowers to release in their memory. They would just be forgotten forever.

Mae Ling kept hearing the term tunnel rats used by the American soldiers. At that time, she did not know the meaning, but she tucked it away to study later. Mae Ling was just a child, but now, she was a child with revenge in her heart. If she could just survive she would find a way to right these wrongs. Her mission was now