open, Sgt. Moore reached inside and undid the seatbelt. Before the commander could get hold of him, Cpl. Pence fell onto the sand in a crumpled heap of death.
Pvt. Fudgerié looked off into the distance. He wondered if the girl had anything to do with this. Through the billowing sand he saw a flapping pane of yellow, then the girl standing there in her colorful outfit, the wind tousling it to and fro. His first thought was to alert the others (anything to make him a bit helpful on this wrecked mission)—
—but then a peculiar thing happened. She raised the paint can and smiled.
He reflected for a moment, a twirl of coal-black smoke billowing behind him, then responded in like kind through a large grin that appeared in the middle of Pvt. Fudgerié’s moon face.
A sheet of grit snapped across the desert. Azra’eil was gone. The private heard the derogatory call of: “Fudgie, get over here!”
When Pvt. Fudgerié turned back toward the Skullcrusher he noticed that the fat tires had been painted into lilies, too.
Azra’eil & Fudgie
Afterword
In this story the angel of death, who has taken the form of a precocious eight-year-old girl, tags along with Private Fudgerié and his team of marines as they sweep for roadside bombs in Afghanistan. Death takes many forms and manifestations.
It comes for many people when they least expect it. Death visits on sunny days and when people are in the best of health. Death comes to the park and playground alike. Around the time of the first Gulf War when I saw the photos of The Highway of Death between Kuwait and Iraq, I got the idea for a story about a girl who beautifies destroyed war machinery by sticking flowers in tank muzzles, painting colorful designs on the sides of the machinery. She is a ray of sunshine during the horrors of war. At the time I wrote a few lines of dialogue between the girl and various soldiers. That’s as far as I got with other projects I had undertaken.
These bits and pieces remained in my electronic filing drawer, bouncing from computer to computer over the years. In 2009 I used those few lines of dialogue to build the story that you have just read and I included it in my first short story collection: Mailboxes – Mansions – Memphistopheles.
About Andrew:
Andrew Barger is the award winning author of Coffee with Poe: A Novel of Edgar Allan Poe’s Life and the short story collection: Mailboxes – Mansions – Memphistopheles. He has also edited a number of acclaimed books, including Edgar Allan Poe Annotated and Illustrated Entire Stories and Poems, The Best Vampire Stories 1800-1849 and The Best Ghost Stories 1800-1849. Andrew is recognized for his scholarly and creative writing. He is a leading voice in the Gothic literature space.
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Read Other Titles by Andrew Barger
Mailboxes – Mansions – Memphistophels
A Collection of Dark Tales
A finalist in the short story collection of the International Book Awards, Andrew Barger’s first collection of stories unleashes a blend of character-driven dark tales, which are sure to be remembered.
In “Azra’eil & Fudgie” a little girl visits a team of marines in Afghanistan and they quickly learn she is more than she seems. “The Mailbox War” is a deadly tale of a weekend hobby taken to extremes while “The Brownie of the Alabaster Mansion” sees a Scottish monster of antiquity brought back to life. “Memphistopheles” contains a tale of the devil, Memphis, barbeque and a wannabe poet. “The Serpent and the Sepulcher” is a prose poem that will be cherished by all who experience it. “The Gëbult Mansion” recounts a literary hoax played by Andrew on his unsuspecting social networking friends that involves a female vampire. Last, “Stain” is an unforgettable horror story about a stain that will not go away.
The Best Horror Short Stories 1800-1849
A Classic Horror Anthology
The Best Horror Short Stories 1800-1849 is a book for anyone who loves a classic horror story.
Thanks to Edgar Allan Poe, Honoré de Balzac, Nathaniel Hawthorne and others, the first half of the nineteenth century is the cradle of all modern horror short stories. Andrew Barger, the editor, read over 300 horror short stories and compiled the dozen best. A few have never been republished since they were first published in leading periodicals of the day such as Blackwood’s and Atkinson’s Casket.
At the back of the book Andrew includes a list of all short stories he considered along with their dates of publication and the author, when available. He even includes background for each of the stories, author photos and annotations for difficult terminology.
‘The Best Horror Short Stories 1800-1849’ will likely become a best seller . . .What makes this collection (of truly terrifying tales!) so satisfying is the presence of a brief introduction before each story, sharing some comments about the writer and elements of the tale. Barger has once again whetted our appetites for fright, spent countless hours making these twelve stories accessible and available, and has provided in one book the best of the best of horror short stories. It is a winner.
AMAZON TOP TEN REVIEWER
Through his introduction and footnotes, Barger aims for readers both scholarly and casual, ensuring that the authors get their due while making the work accessible overall to the mainstream.
BOOKGASM
[a] top to bottom pick for anyone who appreciates where the best of horror came from.
MIDWEST BOOK REVIEW
Coffee with Poe
A Novel of Edgar Allan Poe’s Life
Coffee with Poe brings Edgar Allan Poe to life within its pages as never before. The book is filled with actual letters from his many romances and literary contemporaries. Orphaned at the age of two, Poe is raised by John Allan—his abusive foster father—who refuses to adopt him until he becomes straight-laced and businesslike. Poe, however, fancies poetry and young women. The contentious relationship culminates in a violent altercation, which causes Poe to leave his wealthy foster father’s home to make it as a writer. Poe tries desperately to get established as a writer but is ridiculed by the “Literati of New York.”
“The Raven” subsequently gains Poe renown in America yet he slips deeper into poverty, only making $15 off the poem’s entire publication history. Desperate for a motherly figure in his life, Poe marries his first cousin who is only thirteen. Poe lives his last years in abject poverty while suffering through the deaths of his foster mother, grandmother, and young wife. In a cemetery he becomes engaged to Helen Whitman, a dark poet who is addicted to ether, wears a small coffin about her neck, and conducts séances in her home. The engagement is soon broken off because of Poe’s drinking. In his final months his health is in a downward spiral. Poe disappears on a trip and is later found delirious and wearing another person’s clothes. He dies a few days later, whispering his final words: “God help my poor soul.”
To give us a historical fiction look at Edgar Allan Poe is great. The start where we are at his mom’s funeral gives a little insight into why he may write the way he does. It is very interesting the ideas the author has put into the story about Poe. I like the idea of detailing the life of Edgar Allan Poe into a historical fiction novel.” . . . “A great idea to give us some insight into why Poe may be the way he is.
Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award Expert Reviewer
The Best Vampire Stories 1800-1849
A Classic Vampire Anthology
Unearthed from long forgotten journals and magazines, Andrew Barger has found the very best vampire short stories from the first half of the 19th century. They are collected for the first time in this groundbreaking book on the origins of vampire lore. The cradle of all vampire short stories in the English language is the first half of the 19th century.
Andrew Barger combed forgotten journals and mysterious texts to collect the very best vintage vampire stories from this crucial period in vampire literature. In doing so, Andrew unearthed the second and third vampire stories originally published in the English language, neither printed since their first publication nearly 200 years ago. Also included is the first vampire story originally written in English by John Polidori after a dare with Lord Byron and Mary Shelley. The book contains the first vampire story by an American who was a graduate of Columbia Law School. The book further includes the first vampire stories by an Englishman and German, including the only vampire stories by such renowned authors as Alexander Dumas, Théophile Gautier and Joseph le Fanu. As readers have come to expect from Andrew, he has added his scholarly touch to this collection by including annotations, story backgrounds, author photos and a foreword titled “With Teeth.”
The Best Ghost Stories 1800-1849
A Classic Ghost Anthology
Ghost stories became very popular in the first half of the nineteenth century and this collection by Andrew Barger contains the very scariest of them all. Some stories thought too horrific were published anonymously like “A Night in a Haunted House” and “The Deaf and Dumb Girl,” with the later being anthologized for the first time since its original publication in 1839.
The other ghost stories in this fine collection are by famous authors. “The Mask of the Red Death,” is by Edgar Allan Poe; “A Chapter in the History of a Tyrone Family,” by Joseph Sheridan le Fanu; “The Spectral Ship,” by Wilhelm Hauff; “The Old Maid in the Winding Sheet,” by Nathaniel Hawthorne; “The Adventure of the German Student,” and “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow,” by Washington Irving; as well as “The Tapestried Chamber,” by Sir Walter Scott. Andrew Barger has added his familiar scholarly touch to this collection by including annotations, story backgrounds, author photos and a foreword titled “All Ghosts Are Gray.”
The Best Werewolf Short Stories 1800-1849
A Classic Werewolf Anthology
Andrew Barger has compiled the best werewolf stories from the period when werewolf short stories were first invented. The stories are “Hugues the Wer-Wolf: A Kentish Legend of the Middle Ages,” “The Man-Wolf,” “A Story of a Weir-Wolf,” “The Wehr-Wolf: A Legend of the Limousin,” and “The White Wolf of the Hartz Mountains.” It is believed that two of these stories have never been republished in over 150 years since their original printing. Read The Best Werewolf Short Stories 1800-1849 tonight by the light of a full moon.
Knowledgeably compiled and deftly edited by Andrew Barger, “The Best Werewolf Short Stories 1800-1849: A Classic Werewolf Anthology” is a 170-page literary compendium covering a fifty year span from 1800 to 1849 and identifying famous and not-so-well known authors who wrote werewolf stories . . .. After an informed and informative introduction on the subject by Andrew Barger, five of these stories are presented in full, followed by a listing of short stories considered from 1800 to 1849, along with an index of Real Names. A seminal work of impressive scholarship, “The Best Werewolf Short Stories 1800-1849: A Classic Werewolf Anthology” is highly recommended reading for fantasy fans, and a valued addition to academic library Literary Studies reference collections.
MIDWEST BOOK REVIEW
Edgar Allan Poe
Annotated and Illustrated Entire Stories and Poems
For the first time in one compilation are background information for Poe’s stories and poems, annotations, foreign word translations, illustrations, photographs of individuals Poe wrote about, and poetry to Poe from his many romantic interests. Here is a sampling of the tales and poems included: