BE ADVISED … THIS IS A DARK STORY.
The Grim Calling
He’d arrived a few days earlier in London from his native Scotland and would return on the morrow. His fold awaited him and he could not stay away long not even for this important work of the Lord.
The cold thick fog of London swirled around him as he walked along Buck’s Row in Whitecastle. The clock struck the half hour and he’d pulled his coat collar up to his ears where it nearly meet his hat in order to keep out the cold and damp.
He’d prayed that this cup might pass from him, but alas he was called to do the Lord’s work and couldn’t do less than follow His will. Ah, but it was a grim calling. Here among these poor creatures of the Lord, it was his duty to save whom he could. His duty it was to purify the souls of these poor fallen women, so that they might be received into Heaven.
And so, he walked, waiting for the Lord to lead her to him, she who would to be saved.
Mary Ann Nichols moved towards him, and she pulled down her shawl to show her white shoulders and bosom.
“Oy Johnny, do ye no want a bit o’ warmth?” she brazenly said to him.
“Aye, I’m in need of some warmth, lass. And you dressed the way you are could do with some warmth as well I’m thinking! Come, let me take you from this darkness into the light.”
He put one hand into his pocket where his sgian-dhub was hidden and with his arm around her shoulders he led her to a nearby alley.
Written for Mindlovesmisery’s Menagerie – Tale Weaver Prompt – Grim
Bastet and Sekhmet's Library 
You’re right—this one is ready for Halloween!
BTW, did you read that they recently made a positive identification of the real Jack the Ripper? [http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2014/sep/08/jack-the-ripper-polish-aaron-kosminski-dna]
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Yeah … it’s not my usual so I thought I warn people. No I hadn’t … Might have chosen someone different to write about. Polish no less … ?
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I don’t know why, but somehow I feel disappointed that one of the great mysteries has been solved, and now is just a case of a very sick serial killer. It probably doesn’t make sense, but it feels like a lot of potential stories are nipped in the bud.
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Tell you the truth, after reading your link, I’m not really convinced the guy has solved the case, believe it or not. In any case, there’s no doubt that the guy was a sick serial killer whether a poor Polish immigrant or someone in high places. Basically it was one of our first journalistic hyped up stories and a great piece of sensationalism which we’ve come to know if not always love 😉
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Ah you have led me into a trap. The title and your warning reeled me in, I’ve read worse but I didn’t like it because it was treacherous but too light to be so… I’m afraid you’ll have to be darker than that to impress me 😉
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LOL … it wasn’t mean to be a trap dearest … I don’t write dark stuff, basically because I can’t, in the sense that my talent doesn’t seem to go in that direction. People are used to reading different kinds of posts here. The few times I did try to write dark, I got protests so I decided to warn those people off. I’m sure that you’ve read and seen worse, esp on TV. Glad you let me know why you didn’t like it … helpful. I’ll try harder if I go the dark road again 😉
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Do tell me if you do 🙂
I don’t watch TV, but maybe in films or stories even in speakeasy and trifecta stories! Speaking of which I should watch the news but it’s never the right time when I think of it
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Don’t get into the bad habit of watching the news dear. It’ll corrupt your mind … is trifect back??? I’m not writing for speakeasy this year .. too complicated. But I saw there’s another similar prompt – dark stories: Grammar Gruel Press – which I might try for now and again.
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Well it would be interesting to watch the news once in a while to know what’s going on. It could be useful for geography class too. No trifecta is not back I meant before it stopped. Actually technically the speakeasy has gotten simpler, it just looks complicated 😉
It’ll be sad not to see you at the speakeasy but I’ll try to check out what you’re doing when I have the time. Cool for the prompt but I barely manage to get the speakeasy done (and even then…) so I’ll stick to just that
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I’ll try to pass by speakeasy to read you and the others … I’m not fond of the idea of having to email my post …. anyway, news can be useful of course but it’s really so biased one must be careful listening to it 😉
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I will be careful don’t worry 😉
You don’t have to email your post, just submit it and if Rowan doesn’t like it she’ll send you a love letter explaining why and you can change your post but if you don’t it stays on the grid but people just can’t vote for you.
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Ah … so perhaps I’ve misunderstood .. speed reading posts is not a good thing! Thanks for telling me. 🙂 By submit it dose this means link your post as usual or is there a special place to link? Ok .. guess I go back to reading the requirements a little more carefully!
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Yeah you just link it as usual and now the written prompt is always the first line. Glad I could help 🙂
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Many thanks!
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Very interesting, and realisticly grim. This, I am afraid, scares me more then stories of myth monsters and demons. It’s a real monster story and thats what makes it so scary, knowing that this actually happened.
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Thanks .. unfortunately as you know, I’m not very good at writing about mythical monsters and demons .. a vampire to me is a corrupt politician or gready bank president for example. I guess I have too literal a mind. So my monsters can be found in real life … which is probably why I don’t write much dark material 😉
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See, Georgia — I KNEW that when you joined the dark side it would be brilliant. Now sing with me: “hey babe, take a walk on the wild side … I said, hey honey, take a walk on the wild side …. Doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doo….” 😉
In all seriousness though, this is very, very grim indeed — scariest thing is knowing that so many killers *have* thought they were “saving* their victims this way …. and when you consider *why* so many of these women got into prostitution to begin with … very cruel indeed.
A great write, Georgia — [bowing]
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Thanks Jen … love that song!
I got a comment which said it was treatorous because it was too light … but of course it was a young person who likes vampires and stuff I think.
The idea kept buzzing in my head all day yesterday and figured that it was suitable for a grim write 🙂 I’m happy you enjoyed it!
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Just read the comment and I’m shaking my head … the person’s comments are a bit rude, if you ask me. There’s nicer ways to say, “I prefer blood and gore and guts and veins in my teeth” . (Remember that line from Arlo Guthrie’s “Alice’s Restaurant”?)
Well …. *I* appreciate the piece of writing and I certainly appreciate that you took a brave step into the uncomfortable world of horror. 😀
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I “know” the young lady and her age group. The new generation really is into a lot more horror than we ever were … so I wan’t upset by her comment. She was probably expecting vampires, as that is what dark is all about now days. I feel closer to Hitchcock though. Bramstoker never phased me … and when I was expecting my first son, it was my husband who had to leave the movie theatre before the end of a vampire movie, when the ticket taker thought I might have problems with some of the scenes, due to may “delicate” condition. But Psycho still scares the pants off me and the film I had to leave was Ken Russell’s Devils of Loudun based on Huxley’s book. 🙂
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Hitchcock scares the crap out of me, even still! The Birds is the most terrifying thing I’ve ever seen — and Psycho comes in a close second.
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OMG .. the birds was terrifying for sure … every time I see the starlings fly a little voice says “The birds” !
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I watched that movie for the first time – alone – on a windy winter night when the shrubs around the house kept scratching the window panes. Was horrifying! Didn’t sleep for days!
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Oh my! Like the first Nightmare film with me. I wasn’t even following it closely, but I was alone (ironing) it was the ending that got me and just as the guy jumped out the phone rang … I about jumped out of my skin.
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Nightmare on Elm Street? Believe it or not, I’ve never seen that. Freddy looks like a fella who’d inhabit my dreams and … well …. thanks but no thanks! o.O
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That was in the old days when we still had the boob tube .. they transmitted it one evening. I’d never heard about it and as I said, scary movies don’t usually scare me … never watch the follow ups but mostly because I don’t go for gore and the real scary surprise was the first film’s ending.
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Perhaps some day I’ll see if I can find the ending on YouTube so I can understand what all the hype was about — it was REALLY popular when I was in middle school perhaps ….
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I tried to find something for you … but just realized that the movie was probably scarier than I thought. The only thing I remember about it was the ending … where everything starts all over again when it all seemed like a nightmare. Just realized that Johnny Depp was in the movie … I sure missed that!
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