Beautiful Sorrows (20 page)

Authors: Mercedes M. Yardley

Tags: #Horror

BOOK: Beautiful Sorrows

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“Heartless”
This i
s a story that I've had in my head for quite a while. While it is, of course, a play on Eros and Psyche, which is one of my favorite tales, it's more a tentative exploration of loss. Could a woman be so consumed by her depression, so mired in her apathy that she wouldn't care if a demon came to her every night? And what of this nameless demon, who is so lonely that he is willing to cross worlds in order to do nothing but sleep next to a broken slip of a human woman?

The story itself is quite brief, but I'm intrigued enough by the underlying motivations of the characters that I might follow their journeys, possibly separately, and see where they end up. I'm very drawn to dark things in love.

“Pixies Don’t Get Names”
I based this story on the idea of loving somebody so fiercely and intensely that it burns you alive. It came about after a spirited conversation about whether or not everlasting love is feasible in today’s society. I adore my broken little pixie, who was horribly alone even though he never seemed to realize it. He believes in a lifetime love, as do I.

“Ava”
A short tale of a woman who knows she is going to disappear and tries to make it as painless as possible. I find that when people are fighting their most ferocious battles, they tend to pull away from the rest of us. Most likely to make it easier on us if they lose, I think, but it still hurts. I’m very afraid of losing those I love.

“She Called Him Sky”
I wrote this story for a lovely little magazine that publishes the most beautiful things. The editor requested a story, and I felt that a tale of ultimate love would fit the bill. The opening lines—“There was a boy. And there was a girl. Many stories begin this way”—was a snarky nod to the fact that most of my tales have a nameless boy and a nameless girl. I crack myself up with all of these inside jokes that nobody else understands. It’s sad, really.

“Big Man Ben”
This tale has something special. Ben tugs at my heart in a way that I can’t fully describe. Perhaps it’s the fact that it was based on a true story.

I was reading Dear Abby, of all things, and came across a letter that stopped my breath. A man wrote for advice, saying that he was in love with a married woman and had followed her across the United States ever since he was a young man. Now her husband was retiring and he was afraid their affair wouldn’t continue, and what was he to do? I nearly cried. It was a tale of love given and love lost. I created Ben, but I couldn’t bear to leave him as a middle-aged man who had nothing of his own. So in the most horrendous and kindest of ways, I released him. I wish him a beautiful life. He very much deserves it.

Mercedes M. Yardley
wears red stilettos and writes whimsical horror. Her work has appeared in numerous magazines and anthologies including John Skipp’s Bram Stoker Award
^™-winning
Demons: Encounters with the Devil and His Minions, Fallen Angels, and the Possessed
,
and
A Cup of Comfort for Parents of Children with Special Needs.
Mercedes lives in Sin City.

Visit her at
www.abrokenlaptop.com
.