Tuesday, April 9, 2024

(NEWSLETTER): "THE LAST CHRISTMAS CARD" (An Excerpt From My Latest Novel) - (Year 2022)

http://spillwords.com/author/phyllispcolucci/      

https://www.amazon.com/Phyllis-P.-Colucci/e/B00VMU8B44

 

 (PHOTOS, COURTESY OF PINTEREST)



     Here is an excerpt from my most recent Novel, "The Last Christmas Card", which I completed in 2022. (Mystery-Psychological Suspense - Romance)... Hope you enjoy it. Feel free to Click the link below if you are interested in reading the entire novel in ebook or paperback format (Amazon).

https://www.amazon.com/Last-Christmas-Card-Phyllis-Colucci-ebook/dp/B09R537G16

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        …When he reached his destination, Dom paid his fare and rushed out of the cab, both excited and curious; excited to see his beloved Rosa again, but curious as to why she sounded so desperate…Like the last time, there was Rosa standing at the end of the hallway, in the doorway to her apartment, looking as beautiful as ever. Her dark hair was pulled back into a ponytail, held in place with a long paisley-colored scarf that matched her pale green tailored blouse and olive green jeans. She wore the years well on both her body and her face. Her beauty was undeniable. Dom continued to gaze and admire her from afar, as he walked down the hallway to her apartment door. Once there, she welcomed him in and offered him a seat on her huge burgundy sofa. Dom was a bit surprised that she looked as calm as she did, after he heard the desperation in her voice over the phone. This prompted him to ask her why the urgent request that he come over to her apartment immediately.

          Rosa stood silent, as she forced the tears to fall from her eyes. She wanted Dom’s sympathy and she needed his help. Dom recognized Rosa was not being candid with him, and was putting on an act for his benefit. He hadn’t seen Rosa in what could be considered a “lifetime”, then realized that this older, more vulnerable, version of the young Rosa he shared a close friendship with many years ago, may not be that same Rosa. He was taken aback by her, and was not comfortable during this awkward moment. He looked deeply into her eyes as he sat a few feet away from her, and asked, “Why am I here Rosa? You sounded like you were in a life or death situation.” She replied that she was in a life or death situation, and still is. Then she approached Dom, threw her arms around him and pulled him closer to her body, and said, “I need your help. Please Dom. Help me. After all, you were the one who wanted to find me. Now that you found me, I hope you will help me…I told you my marriage to Brian was over, didn’t I?” Dom nodded and waited for Rosa to elaborate, as he slowly pulled away from her grip.

          She went on to say that Brian had packed his belongings early this morning, to head back home to Upstate, New York, today, when she and Brian got into a terrible argument which turned into a physical altercation. Dom, still quiet, listened even more closely as Rosa went into detail about their argument. She said Brian was upset that she had brought him back to Brooklyn to work on their marriage, when he felt she had no real desire to work on anything at all. He said she was only using him as her meal ticket until she was fully settled back here in Brooklyn. He accused her of wanting to find Dom, and then cut him loose like a bag of garbage.

          Dom asked Rosa if that was true. Rosa responded that it was not the original plan; but once she got back to Brooklyn, her old neighborhood, and back to safe, familiar surroundings, she realized she did not want to work on her marriage, and just wanted it to end. She stressed that they had nothing in common, and that perhaps the marriage should never have taken place. She said at the time, it felt right; but she now believed it was a fantasy. She fell in love with the image of Brian, not the man. The thought of starting a new life with him Upstate was intriguing. She realized she was wrong, and found that they were total opposites. He was the introvert and she was the extrovert. He was possessive of her, and she wanted more freedom in her marriage…She looked at Dom and admitted to him that she missed his friendship terribly, and hoped they could rekindle that relationship now that she was back home in Brooklyn.

          Dom continued to stare at Rosa. He could not believe what he was hearing. Those words were the words he longed to hear from her, but now those words seemed empty, unnatural, dysfunctional, improper, and whatever else he could think of that was absolutely wrong. Things did not feel right. Then she started pacing back and forth nervously, staring at the floor, with her fingers pressed against her lips…She said, “That’s not all of it Dom.” Dom asked, “Where is Brian now?” That’s when Rosa fell to her knees with her face in her hands and cried uncontrollably. This frightened Dom. His gut told him something very bad had happened here. Then she pointed to the bedroom door, and continued to sob. Dom ran to the door, pushed it open, and could not believe his eyes. There was Brian, sprawled out on the bedroom floor, motionless and bleeding from his head, as his belongings were neatly packed beside him. Dom checked for a pulse and was happy to find one. He yelled out to Rosa to call 9-1-1, to which she refused. She said, “I killed him! I do not want to spend the rest of my life in jail! Help me Dom! We have to get rid of the body!” Dom was horrified. “Are you insane, Rosa?” he asked. Rosa did not respond. He assured her that Brian was still very much alive, although unconscious, and he needed medical attention right away. So he grabbed his own phone and called 9-1-1 himself.

          As they waited for an ambulance, Rosa confessed that she became so angry with Brian because he called her a lying slut, a worthless human being, and a poor excuse for a wife. She said, when he tried to pick up his belongings to leave the apartment, she hit him from behind with the brass bedroom lamp. Rosa admitted she was so full of rage and hate for him at that moment, that she lost control of herself, and wanted to hurt Brian because his words hurt her deeply. She turned to Dom and said, “I should have just let him walk out the door.” Dom replied, “Yes Rosa. You should have. What the hell were you thinking? You are so lucky this man is still alive.”

          Then the awful sound of the bell rang. It was EMS. Rosa was grateful Brian was still unconscious, as she feared what would happen to her if he told the EMTs that she had attacked him from behind with a lamp. Dom was secretly thinking the same thing. However, there will soon be questions for sure, and Dom’s beloved Rosa will have to answer them. Dom was now mixed up in this mess as well, by coming to Rosa’s aid in the apartment she shared with her husband Brian.

Monday, April 1, 2024

NEWSLETTER (ALL AUTHOR): POETRY ANYONE?

 

📚"NEWSLETTER"📚

FREE PROMO - EBOOK 📘

ON AMAZON

FRIDAY, APRIL 5TH THRU TUESDAY, APRIL 9TH

 

(Be on the lookout for "Treasure Chest of Words" by Phyllis P. Colucci)

134 pages filled with literary treasures for everyone…  So take a peek into this “Treasure Chest of Words” and select a treasure of your own.

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One CLICK BELOW, and it's yours, beginning Friday, April 5th:

https://www.amazon.com/Treasure-Chest-Words-Collection-Original-ebook/dp/B01FL0SJSS/

 





 

 

 

 

Saturday, February 24, 2024

CHECK OUT: Phyllis P. Colucci ( aka "Fictiontarot") at ALLAUTHOR

https://allauthor.com/author/pcolucci56/

 

CHECK OUT: Phyllis P. Colucci (aka "Fictiontarot") at ALLAUTHOR (Click on Link Above to SEE MORE! )

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About Author

Phyllis P. Colucci

Phyllis P. Colucci

        AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY... and so much more!!! 

        CLICK LINK HERE  https://allauthor.com/author/pcolucci56/ 

 







 

       



 

 

Wednesday, February 21, 2024

Poetry and Fiction – Just “One Word” Away (Politics)

 

http://spillwords.com/author/phyllispcolucci/      

https://www.amazon.com/Phyllis-P.-Colucci/e/B00VMU8B44

   

            One word becomes one idea, becomes one sentence, becomes one poem, becomes one story. It must start from just “one word”.  (Spillwords Press / Spillwords.com Submission - 2/21/2024) (Photos from "Pinterest")

 




                      Politics


Untamed lions massacre the earth

and soon the flesh, blood and bone of Man

will be no more than a past civilization

…and where is the lion tamer?

Have the lions turned on their Master

or has their Master run away in fear?

 

Destruction has stretched its tentacles

across this once beautiful Land

As the Master remains in hiding

While all is gone with nothing left to savor

And untamed lions prey on one another

 

The earth seems at an eerie rest now

Blanketed by “sounds of silence”

Tainted by the stench of death among the ruins

We can hear an echo through that silence

An echo of a burnt nation’s battle cry

With drums beating in unison

in the corners of our mind

Faded images of rotted corpses

Musty odors and dampened soil

Gun powder and scattered grenade shells

Memories and Horrors of “our” War

 

The ailing fields climb high and low

Beneath a raging sky

King Neptune orders his powerful seas

To rise and cleanse the earth; far and wide

 

The water flushes out all decay

But the sea and sky no longer kiss

They just fade into a lost horizon

And with barren lands, must co-exist

 

The end is here for a second round

Minus Noah and his Ark

No one has been saved this time my friends

No animal, no human of any kind

The earth has grown cold and dark

 

This was not written in the “Good Book”

This was never meant to be

It was not in God’s great plan

This was once the Land of the Free

 

Yet we chose to bathe in self-destruction

Caused by “We the People” – Yes, You and Me

Political foes of this great land

Many too hateful and corrupt to see

The choice of Communism or Freedom

-  Are you strong enough to stay

-  Or ignorant enough to flee?


(AS POLITICAL FOES, WE HAVE A CHOICE TO MAKE... DO WE LET OUR ONCE GREAT NATION FALL TO COMMUNISM? DO WE STAY AND FIGHT FOR FREEDOM AND OUR BEAUTIFUL AMERICA? OR DO WE FLEE, AND ABANDON OUR COUNTRY? I THINK MOST OF US KNOW THE ANSWER TO THAT. FOR THOSE WHO DO NOT, YOU AND FUTURE GENERATIONS WILL PAY THE PRICE. )

Saturday, February 3, 2024

The "Cremation" (FLASH FICTION)

http://spillwords.com/author/phyllispcolucci/

https://www.amazon.com/Phyllis-P.-Colucci/e/B00VMU8B44

         

        “Cremations” can be controversial; thought I would spin a quick story (Flash Fiction) around it. In this piece, a step-mother makes a decision to cremate her recently deceased husband, with little concern for her husband’s biological son’s feelings about this; adding to an already complicated relationship. 






The “Cremation”

                          

                You died today. When the decision was made to place you into hospice, we knew the doctors could do nothing more for you. Your lungs and heart gave out. You could no longer swallow, eat, speak, move or breathe. The end was near. We all followed the gurney down to the Hospice Unit, and waited. We did not wait for you to get better; we waited for you to pass on because that was the only place left for you to go today. We did not expect it to happen so soon. We stayed there looking at your lifeless body, as you struggled to breathe with the normal oxygen tube that once kept you alive. It was no longer helping. Nothing was. You were there to finish out your life in comfort; not to be treated. There were no more treatments left to extend your life…We were so tired. It was a long and trying day. We decided to go home, since the timed shots of morphine helped you relax, brought you comfort, and made you breathe easier. That was a small miracle in itself. You fought a long, hard, courageous battle…We expected to come back the next morning to sit with you again, even though you most likely would not know we were there.  However, it was not in God’s plan. You passed away peacefully, several hours after we left you. There were no more tomorrows.

            On the day you died, we also learned that “She” planned on having no viewing for you at the Funeral Home, and no church service or burial. “She” planned on having you quickly cremated with plans to take you back with her to her own country once “She” sold the house you shared together. Your final resting place would not be in America alongside your parents in a mausoleum, where we could visit you; it would be in her country. “She” shared this information with us in a room filled with family members, including me and your Son, our Son, as doctors prepared us for your imminent death. Our son and I were shocked at this decision. “She” consulted no one and had no compassion for the family members sitting there as well, listening to this; no compassion for your Son, our Son. Yes, as his wife, perhaps “She” had the right to make that decision. However, “She” did not have the right to callously make a decision like that without at least mentioning it to your Son, our Son, privately or before this day happened.  With little decency and no compassion, “She” instead allowed it to come as a shock to him. Sometimes you learn more about who people really are at the most intense, strained and emotional times in life.

            As it turned out, “She” had a change of heart, I guess, and held a viewing at the Funeral Parlor for just three very short hours. We were all in attendance. Your friends, and all other family members, had the opportunity to attend as well to say a final good-bye to you. Perhaps “She” did it for your family. I will give her that. “She” did not do it for your Son, our Son. She did not discuss the arrangements with your Son, our Son,  at all. “She” went ahead and did it her way with other family members to assist her. Sadly, “She” did not involve your Son, our Son, at all. There was no church service, but a priest did come to the Funeral Home for a short prayer service. That following Monday, you were cremated. It was private, and no family members attended. Perhaps it was too hard to attend. Perhaps they were not in agreement with her decision to cremate you. Your Son, our Son, did not attend either as he was not in favor of his Dad being incinerated. He did not want to be a part of that. We did expect “She” would attend the cremation along with her biological family members who came in from her country. That was not the case. We later learned you were sent to the crematory alone, along with the Funeral Home personnel and driver. That saddened your Son, our Son, and I, knowing it was her wish to have you cremated in the first place; yet, “She” sent you off alone like an animal going to slaughter. “She” received your ashes on Wednesday. “She” never mentioned a word about any of this to your Son, our Son, and we have not spoken to her since. Your Son, our Son, has been kind enough to text her (because “She” prefers no phone calls) to see if “She” may need any help with anything. “She” said “She” was okay for now, but would call him if “She” needed anything. I doubt “She” will call. Maybe “She” will. Who knows. My feeling is that “She” does not deserve your Son’s, our Son’s, help, concern or compassion. “She” showed him none of that when you were alive.

            “She” will go about her life and make her plan to go back to her country, with you in tow in an urn.  There you both will stay. That will be it. “She” came between you and your Son, our Son, in life - and now in death. As sad as that was, is and will be, “She” bears that responsibility, whether she acknowledges it or not. You, unfortunately, allowed it to happen as well; even if you did not mean for any of it to happen. I know you feared repercussions from her. You told me so.

            Despite all of that now, which doesn’t really matter anymore at this point, may your spirit fly with the Angels. May you join your parents in Heaven, and may you be enlightened in the spiritual world and shine your light down upon this earth, as you look after your Son, our Son. May you Rest in Eternal Peace.