By and copyright of Owen Quinn author of the Time Warriors and Zombie Blues
cover by Conaire McMullan
The zombie rollercoaster continues as the undead continue to give us their view of being a rotting corpse under the control of Mother Nature.
This time round we meet Comic Book zombie and the zombie who thinks the ending of Toy Story 3 is sacrilege. What happens when a zombie’s faith in God is rocked to its very foundation and why is the spirit of Elvis Presley still going strong in the vast
roaming herds?
A zombie tells why the covid pandemic was much preferable to being undead and why having a club foot makes you feel normal as a zombie. Plus more zombie characters than you can shake a stick at.
Available on Amazon now!
Photographic Zombie
I was alone on top of that hill lost in a wave of musings about a history I had not witnessed but could only imagine. I could see the priest at the altar while the faithful gathered round hanging on to every profound word thankful but so afraid for the opportunity to be close to God.
This place was like a photograph; a way to the past we never touched but seemingly lost forever.
As I basked in a time I had not lived, there was a rustle from the long sinewy grass to my left. Being the countryside I had no idea what was there. I had a fear of rats so prayed it wasn’t a nest of them. I also had a freaky run in with a rabbit whose face was figured with myxomatosis on another country walk. It was one of the most creepy disturbing and disgusting things I’d ever seen in my life. The image of that decaying slimy face has stayed with me to this day. Maybe it was a zombie rabbit, one of Mother Nature’s test runs.
But as I watched with slight trepidation, the shape of a grey and black speckled slender necked grouse strutted proudly out from the grass. It never even acknowledged my presence. I was after all the intruder in its habitat and it was almost as if it knew I posed no threat. To my amazement seven chicks waddled out in a line right behind their mother and like their mother never showed any fear of the human close to them. Barely daring to breathe, I deftly picked up my camera, focused the lens and began quickly snapping away at this perfect family as they passed by in this perfect photo. Within minutes the little family disappeared into a dense splay of long grass further down the hill.
Remember that scene in Stand By Me where Wil Wheaton’s character had that solo encounter in the woods with the deer? Well that was exactly what it felt like.
One moment in time captured in my memory for the rest of my life. My moment; an encounter so magical it would mean nothing to anyone else. I sat there looking at the countryside around me in silence. I saw birds wheel around in the blue sky above me hearing their cries. I watched the sentinel blades of grass tremble in unison in the sudden light breeze. I felt something lightly brushed against my hand in the grass. As I squinted in the bright sunlight I saw the familiar black and red mottling of a ladybird walking amid the hairs on the back of my hand. With a flit of its wings it took off into the air. I could hear sheep bleating somewhere nearby and there were horses peeking over a fence in my direction. A sudden caw caught my attention and I looked up at the old stone cross. A magpie had landed on it, its black head jerking round its beady eyes searching for something shiny to steal probably. Finding nothing it cawed in protest and stole away back into the sky. The emerald greenery was dotted with daisies, their pimpled yellow faces framed in white fans, ideal for kids to make daisy chains. In contrast their neighbour crocuses seemed to float between lilac and blue in a carpet woven from bitch Mother Nature herself. How ironic I think now. This was life; a million brief moments caught in the memory of whomever was lucky to observe them.
The Time Warriors and Beyond 