CM Simpson: Writer & Gamer

Still working on the next poetry collection. This one's an experimental  piece written from the perspective of someone in a futuristic and/or fantastical mercenary company. It’s not all Balls to the wall Firefights and gunships Daring rescues Heroics and near-miss slips   It’s not all Royal balls And blushing men and maidens Drawn by holstered blaster Or sheathed sword Both battle-worn.   Sometimes it’s the quiet of a pre-raid wait Or a small cell complete with shackles While your company debates The whyfors of your capture The jurists’ long delay And the value of a single man They can send into forays   Sometimes, you get to sleep In the bunk that you’re assigned And to dream without the fear Of raids or a mission misaligned   Sometimes, there is peace A moment, rarely more Where you can ponder why it was You sought your fortune In a life of war.    

I've decided to celebrate each release with a series of extracts that run for the month it's released in. This month saw the second edition of 366 Days of Flash Fiction released. Links to the collection can be found at Books2Read at: https://books2read.com/u/b6MrN0   How I Joined McCurdy’s Started on February 15, 2016, and finished on April 7, 2016, this piece reflects the unexpected turns life takes. It was written for the March 23 entry of 366 Days of Flash Fiction , and is exactly 1,000 words long. Pooled in the dark, the water gleamed, a thousand jewels floating on its surface, cave-stars, glow worms on another world. It took me a moment to realize they weren’t eyes, were not hunting me. I forced myself to stand still, take one long, slow breath, take another, scan the cavern, find a path around the pools. I was deep beneath the starport’s heart, and would soon need to climb upwards, find myself a quiet space in the hold of the next freighter out. Halfway acros...