Kindle Edition Amazon Official Author Page Amazon Page Facebook Page Category:  Fantasy Publisher: Frigid Moon ISBN-10:  1500303437 Pages: 130 Copyright: September 11, 2014 ISBN-13: 9781500303433 Price: $2.99 (eBook) A collection of fantasy and horror short stories. Some of these stories are related to the Gems of the Goddess series. Ignition Teenaged girl, Victoria Surelli awakens when she had enough of the teasing from the one person she thought who was her friend. At first she wonders if it was a trick. Why was she the only one to see something happen with the Ouija board? Why did she have to be so different? In a Child’s Eyes This is a continuation of the first story Ignition. Victoria is now an adult and visiting her two young children Angel and Devlin McGee. The voice of the story is from the daughter’s point of view who is six years old. The mother hasn’t seen her children in four years for reasons unknown. The power grows within her with fury? Do her children hold the same the power? The Fire Within Nora Hawkins thought she was doing the right thing when took her niece and nephew from their mother, but little does she know she just made her death wish. Could there be more to this family than she could comprehend? Lunar Kiss A lot is said when someone is unfaithful. The church wondered what they could do about it. Too many marry just to cheat. It was time for someone to pay for their sins and it was going to be them. In these desperate times a creature called a Lunesha was created to rid the world of the unfaithful. What happens when one crosses the path of an unfaithful couple? Find out in this original creature horror short. The Other Me Lily knows who she is deep within herself. She fights with her inner darkness that stares into the mirror. She does not want to be the second of command in this war. She knows it is there, but she wants to be good. How can she hold on? What is within her that is too strong to fight? Silent The rapture is upon us. Jesus Christ has taken all of the good people. Too long things were silent because of the narrators’ sins and now that he let Jesus in nothing will ever be silent again. There may be a connection to The Other Me and Silent. The Four Seasons A love letter written in the blossoming of true love Fantasy An erotic love story of the narrator’s deepest fantasy. Children A poem about a man who got annoyed by the sound of children playing. One day he found his whole family killed and now that sound drives him insane because he will never hear his children play again. Fate A romantic comedy about Zeus’s Destiny Couple. Attempt after attempt he tries to get this couple together throughout their lifetime. The Christmas Unicorn A desperate mother finds a legend about The Cove where a Christmas Unicorn lived and granted wishes. She knew it was a long shot, but she was willing to try anything to do what was best for her children. Could the legend be true? What would they wish for? Phoenix Flyer- Book One Neglected girl Jenna May had the curiosity of a cat. She just had to touch the pretty plate that her mother so protectively kept high. When her mother and father go over a friend’s house and leaves her home alone with her “wonderful” babysitter she can’t help but give in to her curiosity. Magical things happen when she touches the golden plate with the ruby in the middle. Could this be the beginning to the end of her life? Precious A romantic fantasy story about a prince who sets out to find the rarest of unicorns, but encounters something far more enchanting. A beautiful woman appears and then disappears into the woods. When he finally catches the unicorn he locks her in a stable only to find a woman in rags. Could this be the same woman who he saw earlier? Did she release his most prized possession? Or is there much more to this woman that meets the eye? Enlightened Rosa Giovanni didn’t want to marry the man her parents have chosen for her. She didn’t even know this man. How could parents expect their daughters to have any feelings for someone she didn’t know, not even their name? In her attempt to runaway she comes across a beach tunnel that leads her to someplace she has never been before. At least she thinks she has never been there. What is this strange place and why does it seem so familiar?         Excerpt Fantasy & Horror Short Story Collection With other shorts Jessica Rister   Table of Contents Ignition In a Child’s Eyes The Fire Within Lunar Kiss The Other Me Silent The Four Seasons Fantasy Children Fate The Christmas Unicorn Phoenix Flyer Precious Enlightened     Ignition Thirteen year old Victoria Surelli brushed her long brown hair as she got ready for a birthday party for her best friend, Diana Prowl. She didn’t really know anyone else that was going to attend. She only cared about Diana. Victoria didn’t really have that many friends, and Diana was her only female friend. Victoria mainly focused on her boyfriend at the time. However, she didn’t really feel a strong connection with him or anyone else she dated and hoped one day she would. She heard her mother calling her from the living room. It was time to go. Wearing her white bodysuit with a pair of jean shorts and a black short sleeved netted tie top, they will have to do for tonight’s event. She grabbed her birthday gift to Diana and rushed downstairs from her white bedroom to join her mother. Her mother wore an elastic pair of dark denim jeans and a white blouse. Her shoes creaked as she stepped into them. Victoria and her mother stepped out of their pink one story house and slipped in their white 1990 Corsica LT. Diana lived right up the road, but it was too long of a distance for Victoria to walk. When they arrived at her house, the blue and white one story home had balloons on the mailbox to show everyone else, who didn’t already know, where she lived. As Victoria got out of the car she noticed it was almost sundown. She had a feeling that tonight was going to be a night she will never forget. Diana greeted her at the door. Her long blonde hair and slender figure showed through the doorway. She wore a pink bodysuit with light denim jean shorts. Her blue eyes glistened in Victoria’s brown eyes. “Here you go,” Victoria said, handing Diana a small box wrapped in pink and white striped wrapping paper. “Thank you.” “You’re welcome.” “Come on in. You’re the first one here.” Victoria walked inside. By the time everyone showed up it was already night time. There was karaoke at the party. All the girls sang together and then individually and they taped themselves singing too. It was really a normal birthday party, up until Diana brought out the Ouija board. Candles were lit all around and all lights were shut off, except for a section of dim lighting, which lit up the length of a large couch. Victoria never saw a Ouija board before. She wasn’t even sure what it was used for. She shivered as Diana took it out of its box. A couple of the girls took one look at it and refused to even be near it. They sat on the large beige couch instead. Victoria didn’t really see the big deal in it. Sure, she got a creepy feeling from it but curiosity got the best of her and she went along with it. There were only three of them playing it; Diana, some girl named Tracy, who Victoria only knew from dance class and herself. They began asking the Ouija board a bunch of yes or no questions. Victoria was kind of bored with the whole game. She thought one of them had to be moving the cursor. “How about we do something else?” “W-h-y?” The board answered. “I just don’t see the point in this.” “Y-o-u w-i-l-l.” “What’s that supposed to mean?” “Y-o-u w-i-l-l s-e-e.” “Why do you keep saying that? Who are you?” “L-o-o-k” “What?” Victoria started to grow impatient with whoever was pushing the cursor. When she looked up Diana and Tracy were looking at her funny and their hands were off the cursor. She gave them the same strange look they gave her. Was she just talking to herself? She heard a loud boom, like thunder, coming from outside. That was strange. She didn’t remember seeing any storm clouds. Something caught her eye in the dining room. With what appeared to be a flash of lightning, it showed a slave wearing a white bloody t-shirt sprawled out on the dining room table reaching up to the sky. Victoria screamed. The lights that dimly lit the room now glowed brighter and then blew up, shattering the bulbs one by one. Glass scattered all over the front of the couch. The rest of the girls screamed when the bulbs busted. Victoria shook in her white tennis shoes. Wait, where did he go? No, it couldn’t be. Could it? Did she just see… a ghost? She had to get out of here, from the rest of them. She didn’t think any of them saw him. “Where are you going?” She heard Diana ask. Victoria didn’t answer her. She just went straight into the bathroom and had a hard time finding the light. Looking into the mirror, she suddenly wished she didn’t. Two red eyes stared back at her. She screamed again and heard several footsteps rushing to her rescue. The bathroom door flew open. Concerned but mocking eyes glared at her. “I… I thought I saw something.” Giggles erupted in all of them, including Diana. “Didn’t your mom send you to bible humping camp?” Diana asked. “Yeah, maybe she saw the devil,” Tracey teased. “Shut up! Stop laughing at me!” Victoria screamed. The more she protested to their teasing the harder they laughed. She knew she saw something and didn’t understand why nobody else did. Why did she have to be so different? Their laughter echoed in her head. She felt something warm and energetic ignite within her. Placing her hands over her ears, she couldn’t take their teasing anymore. “Stop!” Victoria closed her eyes and imagined all of them flying across the room like rag dolls. When she heard them gasp and scream with a thud she opened her eyes. No, it couldn’t be. How could this be possible? No, it’s not possible? Is it? No, she must be dreaming. She uncovered her ears. “What happened?” Victoria asked the girls. “I don’t know. I saw a white light then next thing you know all of us, except you, are flying through the air and landed here in the hallway,” Diana said. She looked at them, and all the girls nodded their heads in agreement. Victoria didn’t speak to anyone the rest of the night, only stayed in her own mind. Could it be that she was responsible for sending the girls flying? Did she move them with her mind? Did she have… telekinesis? Could it actually exist outside of the movies or was this just a prank put on by the girls? She may never know. The day after, everyone seemed to forget last night’s event, so she decided she was going to do the same thing. Her mother picked her up and she said goodbye to Diana and headed back home. After she got home, she wondered if her power actually existed. She had to know for sure if she had a real mind power or if it was just a lapse of sanity. Looking at her pillow, she imagined it floating in the air and coming toward her, landing in her arms. She was about to give up and laugh the whole thing off when her pillow really did come off the bed. With outstretched arms, it landed in her arms. She gasped and then laughed falling back on the bed. She cuddled and laughed inside the pillow until she finally fell asleep.   In A Child’s Eyes I don’t remember my mommy. When I was two, she disappeared. Everyone speaks badly about her, but I know she loves me and my brother, Devlin, who’s eight. My name is Angel McGee and I am six years old. How old are you? Wow, you’re much older than me. Do you like ponies? I love ponies. My daddy went to sleep. He has been asleep for a really long time. When I saw him lying in that funny looking bed, he was still sleeping. Silly daddy. Then strange people lowered him in the ground. I don’t know why they did that. That was the last time I saw my daddy. Now, my brother and I are staying with my aunt Hilda. She tries to act like my mommy. She’s not my mommy. Mommy is much prettier than she is and nice too. She plays ponies with me over the computer. I really liked talking to her. Why does Aunt Hilda not let me talk to her? Have I been bad? Aunt Hilda wants us to put our coats on. I wonder where we are going. Aunt Hilda sure seems mad about something. I think she was yelling at my mommy earlier. I wish she wouldn’t do that. Why does she have to be so mean? Yes, Burger Town. I love Burger Town. They have places I can climb real high. Brrr, it’s cold. The snow needs to go away. I like snow, but I’m done with it. Finally inside, I’m hungry. What did Devlin say? Did he just ask Aunt Hilda if that was Mommy? I have to see this. “Mommy!” Angel ran as fast as she could into her mother’s arms. Her embrace was so tight her mother had to adjust herself, so she wouldn’t fall over.Devlin gave the same tight embrace on the opposite side of his mother. Before that moment they have not seen each other in person for four years. To them it felt like a lifetime. This is the happiest any of them have felt in a really long time. None of them wanted to let go of the other. Hilda pulled Angel away. Victoria, the mother of the two children, thought that was rather rude of her. Of course Hilda was never known for good manners. Why did Aunt Hilda take me away from Mommy? She better not do that again. I want to hug my mommy. If she knows what’s good for her, she better not do that again. Big mean Aunt Hilda with her fluffy hair. I think she’s a doo doo head and so does my big brother. She takes care of us, but she’s a big meany. I hope Mommy will stay and never go away again. I love her so much. What’s she got in her hands? She gave big brother a really cool truck that lights up and makes sounds and stuff. “Pony!” “Yeah, baby girl.” “Thank you.” “You’re welcome, sweetheart. Come on, honey, let’s go sit down.” I’m really hungry and this coat is making me hot. I want to sit next to Mommy. I love my mommy. Mommy got my toy free for me that was with my food. My mommy loves me and Devlin. I can tell. “I don’t want to eat no more. Watch me climb and slide, Mommy. I can climb really high.” Yay, Mommy is paying attention to me and Devlin. She waves and smiles at me. I am so happy she is here. I hope she can take me home. I want to live with her, not mean old Aunt Hilda. “Mommy, look at me, here I come, sliding down the slide.” Mommy and big brother are being silly with the phone. The phone is making a funny clicking sound. I think she’s taking pictures. I like my picture being taken. So does my big brother. People say he’s a ham, but he looks like Devlin to me. He doesn’t look anything like ham. “Ouch, my pony hair wrapped around my finger, Mommy!” “Oh, honey, how did you do that? My mommy tried to get the pony hair off my finger, but she pulled the wrong way and it squeezed tighter. Aunt Hilda don’t touch me. I want Mommy to get it off me. Mommy kissed my finger and picked me up to sit me in her lap. I wasn’t going to let her go ever. Mommy held me and my brother closely. I can tell Mommy loves me. I love my mommy too. Aunt Hilda said we have to go. I don’t want to go and I can tell Mommy doesn’t want us to go. Why does Mommy look so sad? Why can’t Mommy come home with us? Why can’t we go with her? I don’t want Mommy to leave. No, I won’t let Mommy leave. “No! I don’t want to go with you. I want my Mommy and so does Devlin, right, Devlin?” “Yeah!” “Don’t be ridiculous. Mommy doesn’t have a home here,” Hilda stated. “I don’t care.” The room to the play area started rumbling. Kids everywhere started running. Adults thought it was an earthquake. They had no idea what was really causing it. “We will go home with Mommy, Aunt Meany, and you can’t stop us.” “You are mine. Not hers, she left you.” “I love them and they are right, you can’t stop us and you won’t. Custody papers or no custody papers, you will not tear apart my family, you bitch.” Victoria, Angel, and Devlin joined hands. A white light surrounded them. The family’s power ignited, sending Hilda backwards. The force was so strong it sent her through the play area window wall. Victoria grabbed her kids and placed them in the car. She didn’t have any car seats, clothes, or toys for them, but she had them and that was what truly mattered to all of them. The Fire Within You told me to trust you, and I did. You assured me that you were going to follow through and deliver my children, and I believed you. Going against my own instincts, I went up there with my husband and father-in-law to reunite with my children, and you deceived me. You said you didn’t have a choice. Everyone has a choice. You didn’t have to take them away from me by lying to the judge. You didn’t have to lie to me and make me come all the way up to the country, in hopes to pick up my children, but you did, and for that you will pay for. For that you will rot in my hell. I am Clarabelle Rowan, your worst nightmare. I used to be weak, but now I am strong. I used to let men, like your brother, walk all over me, but now I am loved. I used to be deeply afraid to where I did not even know the truth from a lie, but my eyes have been opened. My fears have been turned into courage. The hurt that you and your family has caused me is gone, Nora Hawkins. You will pay for all of your callousness, and I will be the angel of karma that will bring the fire, which will consume you. They may have awarded you temporary custody, winning the battle, but you will not have them for much longer. I will win this war. You stole them from me, their mother, and I am here at your doorstep, stalking you to get them back. My children know my scent and know I am there for them, but they do not say anything. They are distracting you from the noises you hear outside. You believe it is the wind, but I can assure you it is not. It is the whisper of your death. You made a grave mistake when you underestimated me and have no idea who you are messing with. You may think you know me, but you do not. You think I am just so stupid that I don’t know you are just telling me lie after lie. You think you can bully people and have them not react to you. You think people are arguing with you when they disagree with you, like they are not allowed to have their own opinion. I am here to tell you how wrong you are. The kids did what you asked after they talked to me over the phone, like they do every night, and went to bed. They know what is going to happen. They know it’s about to get messy. They know Mommy’s wrath. They know that I will not let anyone come in between us again. I work my way up through the woodwork till I reach their cheap trailer they call home. If the judge only knew how much of a piece of trash you were, he would have never let you have my kids for one more minute. You have no class. I will outsmart you and then I will kill you. I am not afraid. I am confident. I am here to take what is rightfully mine. With courage, I ring your doorbell. I will not sneak up on you like a coward. I will face you and make it known that I have come here to kill you. You will have no chance to run or call your little boy toy, who must be dumber than a box of rocks to be with someone the likes of you. You both are no match for me. I am a mother protecting her young from the scum of the Earth. I am the deadliest bitch alive. “Clarabelle, what are you doing here?” “I have come here to take my children.” “I was awarded temporary custody, not you.” “Do you think I seriously give a damn? They are my children no matter what the judge rules. It doesn’t matter what you do I will always be a part of their lives.” “I think you need to leave.” “I will not leave without my children.” “Then I am calling the cops and you will never see your kids again. “The cops are not going to save you, Nora. Nothing is going to save you tonight.” “Are you threatening me?” “No. I am making you a promise.” It was now or never. I lunged forward, catching her off guard. Her boyfriend, Dick, came running to Nora’s defense. “What the hell are you doing here? Get the hell out of my house!” “Not until you give me what is rightfully mine.” “The hell with this shit, I’m calling the cops.” I quickly flashed through towards the phone before he could even take one step. I ripped the phone straight out of the wall. The cord whipped Nora in the face. Her cries sent Dick running to her aid. “I am going to tell you one more time or…” “Or what are you going to do?” “I will kill you.” “Whatever. Get the hell out of my house. You will never see your kids again, you psycho bitch.” I licked my lips. I tried to do this the human way, but these morons didn’t want to listen. The rage within me boiled. I let the flames of hate consume me. From the looks on their faces, they were surprised to see I had fangs. They were surprised to see how quickly I could get to them before they could even take a breath. I bit into Nora’s neck first. The taste of her blood sickened me. It had a bitter taste. A bitter taste for a bitter person. It had to be the worse tasting female blood I have ever had. Her screams were bittersweet to me. Before Dick could come to her rescue I ripped her throat out, sending waterfalls of crimson throughout their living room. “Nora, no,” I heard Dick yell. I took him by the throat, lifting him off the ground. “You should have listened to me. Now you will die.” I squeezed his Adam’s apple till I heard it give out. Then I sank my teeth into his neck. His blood tasted a little sweeter than hers but not much. My kids heard the commotion and came running. “Come feast my young ones. I know you must be thirsty after one month of nothing. Mommy and Daddy will provide for you from now on.” “I thought our daddy was in heaven,” my son said. “He is. The one I am talking about made us who we are. He is the master of our kind. We will not be apart again. We will stay together forever.” “What are we, Mommy?” My daughter asked. “We are vampires.”

Unique & Entertaining
Jessica Rister is an author I look forward to reading more from. She has put together a startling combination of fantasy and horror, which is unique in and of itself as a genre. Walk into a physical bookstore and you will see what I mean. Fantasy and horror, as genres, are rarely, if ever, found together on the same shelf. Think Harry Potter along side Frankenstein on a book display shelf. Not happening. But....this is an entertaining combination.

Anyway, my favorite story, of all the great stories in this book, is "Ignition." Right from the get go, the author shows creativity because of the multiple meanings of the term, ignition. How was I supposed to understand it? What ignites the events our storyteller gives us? Curious, I began to read, and became engaged immediately in the fast flowing plot. It is written with intentionality. Rister moves the plot forward rapidly, hurtling objects and people through the air, invoking the supernatural and apparitions of ghosts from centuries past are shown to you, and then, rather like putting on the brakes at the climax, the resolution gives us that short story feeling of, "there must be more" to this story, before flipping over to read the next fantastic story. Well done, Jessica! This is a writing style perfectly adapted to the lightning pace at which a short story must move. Highly recommended.

Entertaining
Being an avid novel reader (I read mostly YA), I kind of stumbled across this and was pleasantly surprised by this collection of short stories. Most of it is fantasy writing. I thought the story about the magic unicorn was especially entertaining. It's not a very long read, great for travel if you do that a lot!

Fantastic set of Stories
I downloaded this collection of short stories not knowing what to expect.

I was surprised to find out that all these stories are awesome and very fun to read, especially if you are in to horror stories ;)

Highly recommended!