Sunday Smiles…

Award-winning hyper-realistic painter Petterson Silva, born in Mato Grosso, Brazil, paints tropical birds or bird-inspired artpieces. To achieve his hyper-realistic effects, Petterson Silva states that he uses several layers of oil paint. His bird portraits begin with his initial sketches. He states that his emphasis is on their behavior in their natural habitats, based on his personal memories and study of these birds.

Oil painting by Petterson Silva. © Image credit: Instagram @pettersonarte via Boredpanda

Work in progress – Oil painting by Petterson Silva. © Image credit: Instagram @pettersonarte via Boredpanda

(*Completed piece of the image above) Oil painting by Petterson Silva. © Image credit: Instagram @pettersonarte via Boredpanda

Oil painting by Petterson Silva. © Image credit: Instagram @pettersonarte via Boredpanda

Oil painting by Petterson Silva. © Image credit: Instagram @pettersonarte via Boredpanda

Oil painting by Petterson Silva. © Image credit: Instagram @pettersonarte via Boredpanda

Oil painting by Petterson Silva. © Image credit: Instagram @pettersonarte via Boredpanda

Oil painting by Petterson Silva. © Image credit: Instagram @pettersonarte via Boredpanda

Oil painting by Petterson Silva. © Image credit: Instagram @pettersonarte via Boredpanda

The Runner, A Sunday Story – Chapter 10 [2 of 5]

Image credit: ArtSpark | Pixabay

*Previous Chapters’ links are below

Chapter 10 (Part 2 of 5)

She landed smack dab on her derriere…!

In her giant form, her body came crashing to the ground with a thunderous thud that shook the ground around Druidess Brys Pater!

The reasons for her tumble?

A giant dirt ball bound together with hematite rock pieces pressed together. The earth and hematite mixture was crafted by Lord Amon sūtiẖ (Seth), The Destroyer in his form as a giant colossus-sized scarab beetle.

He rolled (shaped the giant ball of dirt and rock) and lobbed it at Druidess Brys Pater when he snuck up on her from behind…

…while along the dirt pathway of the seemingly rundown thatched roof shanty village by a lake now filled with real water (from the twenty minutes ago torrential monsoon-like downpour).

A village which was the Kingdom of Uisce camouflaged and hidden forever by dark and forbidden gaeldercraft…a dark magic whose unfortunate side effects were a cause for concern for Druidess Brys Pater still in her giant-sized human form and her fellow battle companions, the two Filagra dragons Prophetess Isag-Orr and Nyah.

Hoisting her giant form the height of the Burj Al Arab’s 56 stories, Druidess flipped in the air and took the opportunity and opening that Lord Amon sūtiẖ (Seth), The Destroyer possibly unwitting provided…. Not realizing that Druidess Brys Pater’s other half is triggered by being startled…!

Druidess Brys hoisted her legs high in the air as she flung the rest of her body long jumping with extensive hang time in the air…

… by using the same massive boulder that Lord Amon sūtiẖ (Seth) had just thrown at her which had knocked her off her feet as a counterweight to gain even greater distance and height off the ground.

Then the boulder tumbled down the rundown shanty village dirt path and rested back harmlessly in the same crater out of which Lord Amon sūtiẖ (Seth), The Destroyer had emerged and also the rocky and magical soil from which he fashioned the boulder he had lobbed at Druidess Brys.

Prophetess Isag-Orr and Nyah her kin Filagra dragon looked on in amazement neither having seen Druidess Brys in this form before:

Druidess Brys swooped in the air like a bird with one wing which is what her form as a dhow looked like from the air…

As she reached her desired height in the air for she was not chained like we are to gravity, Brys’ feet disappeared as the sail, the dhow opened with a resounding flutter that sounded like a massive flock of geese flying from the north to winter in the warmth of the southern regions….

Her massive sail was the height of the Burj Al Arab’s 56 stories and her shape was not that of a woman any longer but the shape of a single-masted ship’s (dhow) sail gleaming in the evening sunlight like a gossamer wing large beyond imagining….

Stunned by the events. Lord Amon sūtiẖ (Seth), The Destroyer and what he had feared would happen (Brys changing form into a dhow sail), he began to run for cover knowing what was coming next…it seemed he had foreknowledge of Druidess Brys’ abilities in her dhow form…

He ran for cover, cowering near one of the huts which of course could not hide his large giant girth as a scarab…

at which…the hut came crashing down at just the touch of his arm ( meaning one of his six scarab beetle legs he used like an arm, ) and he stumbled trying to run seeking better cover….of course there was none… from what was about to happen.

Using the silhouette of the sword of the Second Horseman of the Apocalypse, Lord Amon sūtiẖ (Seth) tried to steady his footing as he ran, darted and hopped looking for a place to retreat from what he feared was about to happen to him!

Brys spoke with measured calmness:

She said, to Prophetess Isag-Orr and Nyah both still in their tremendous size as Filagra dragoness and dragon (Nyah.)

“Close your eyes my friends and do not open them until I tell you and for both your safety, please do not move.”

Brys’ voice boomed from nowhere and everywhere…

For in her form as a dhow sail..her ethereal being was speaking from another realm to which only she had access —a real which had the knowledge to transport her voice’s sound and energy from there….(there being from the nether realms) into this reality that we know it.

As the dhow sail Brys could change color and mass of the sail to fit day or night sky conditions. Her sail was a brilliant gossamer cream color and fluttering loudly like many birds taking off at once…

And then Druidess Brys in her form as the 56-story high dhow sail hovering and fluttering in the cool afternoon breezes over the seemingly rundown abandoned village aka the Kingdom of Uisce in hiding…

Suddenly, Druidess Brys as the dhow engulfed the entire visible expanse of the sky over the village….

The dhow glowed like the morning sunrise at the horizon in gold hues muted by the end of dawn’s light…Brys as the dhow looked like a golden wing of a bird….

Suddenly, Brys as the dhow, glowed and glowed brighter and brighter until she was like the rays of the sun…but with no heat of radiation’s effects…

The rays from Brys’s dhow came down to the tiny shanty village in appearance like walls of fire veils spinning, the brightness of the light from these walls of fire veils no one could look upon without fear of losing one’s eyesight….

The fire veils from Brys as the dhow (ships sail of the Nile) followed Lord Amon sūtiẖ (Seth), The Destroyer targeting him alone as he hustled now running away looking for cover. He held the silhouette of the sword of the Second Horseman aloft as he…

frantically dove into the now real rainwater-filled moat…

This is actually the front portion of Prophetess Isag-Orr’s mini-castle and drawbridge. The moat served as the entrance to the Kingdom of Uisce, hidden in a magical cloak.

But just as he dove into the water hoping for protection from Brys’ veils of fire targeting him…

inexplicably for some reason…

suddenly the moat water spewed out Lord Amon sūtiẖ (Seth), The Destroyer in his scarab beetle giant form…

… back onto the path of the seemingly rundown shanty village in a resounding tumbling sound as he landed…head over heels still holding aloft the sword of the second horseman of the apocalypse

His startled expression spoke volumes. He knew that even the magic of the water’s moat sensed that he was an unwelcomed “guest.”

And then…

…to add to this scene….

Suddenly high in the sky above Druidess Brys as the 56-story high dhow (sail)…

A rider appeared on a great horse with one wing …the horse’s wing’s many eyes looking in all directions at once flew at a great clip from somewhere in the heavens and darted past Brys disregarding her dhow form…

The fire veils now in a blazing bright golden hue of the morning sunrise on the horizon had no effect on the two new arrivals….

And the two new arrivals? Archangel Gabriel and his great steed Chayot Sus.

Archangel Gabriel remained silent as his steed Chayot Sus spoke to Lord Amon sūtiẖ (Seth), The Destroyer in his giant scarab beetle form currently trying to regain his footing after being spat out from the magical moat which did not want him hiding in its waters…

Lord Amon Seth still held the silhouette of the sword of the second horseman of the apocalypse aloft, its outline like a cross written with dots of the constellations in the night sky.

Chayot Sus Chayot Sus, was a special breed made exclusively for the archangels and was designed by God to obey only His voice and theirs (the Archangels).

The great steed Chayot Sus had one wing and twelve hooves—three on each of its four legs.

Chayot Sus was a pale horse with a silver mane and tail. The silver gleam of his flowing mane illuminated the sky like the North star.

Chayot Sus’ singular wing…was not like a normal wing. It was a massive half circle full of moving light…light that splayed out in beams to look like feathers fluttering, catching the wind as he flew.

On all sides of the Chayot Sus’ single wing, there were many eyes in beautiful hues of never-before-seen blue and gold, searching every realm as he carried his rider in the skies.

The gleam from the horse Chayot Sus’ silver mane suddenly shone on The Runner, Father Time…the light was like a huge spotlight on Broadway…

The silence was jarringly awkward;

Then…

Chayot the great steed spoke to Lord Amon Seth:

“You Lord Amon Seth were given Divine authority to secure and hide this silhouette (of the sword of the second horseman of the apocalypse) in the ‘Land of Two Fields‘ where you should be right now in fact. What are you doing troubling this land?”

Lord Amon Seth then bowed and quickly shapeshifted quickly into his original being as the King of Egypt and leader of many battles….His height was human height of about six feet three (1.9m) and he was of slender build with a fierce brow.

He was suited in gold and silver armor. And on his head he wore a helmet of soft leather adorned at the front with a image of a scarab beetle painted as a symbolic third eye where the edge of his helmet met his browline.

Lord Amon sūtiẖ (Seth), The Destroyer suddenly changed to his real likeness because— in the presence of truth and light, he (Lord Amon Seth) had no choice— it was the way of the universe…

Lord Amon Seth stammered in reply to Chayout Sus, Archangel Gabriel’s great steed’s query:

“Wwwwelll, I thought that you wouldn’t mind if I borrowed it for a spell or two…”

Chayot Sus replied, gently:

“Enough…hand it over please, Lord Amon Seth you are relieved of your responsibility to look after this silhouette.”

Sheepishly and humbly Lord Amon Seth handed over the silhouette of the sword of the second horseman of the apocalypse.

As soon as he handed it over, Chayout Sus and Archangel Gabriel lifted off high into the heavens and vanished out of sight…in silence.

Druidess Brys swiftly reformed back (from the dhow– sail) into the giant version of her human half and jumped back to the ground of the dirt path in the seemingly rundown shanty village.

And then before anyone could speak….there was another torrential and brief downpour and this time it was not raining water….

This time the strange downpour’s contents were a bit more “visible.”

It was raining ancient evil hordes by the thousands in a strange primordial ooze that fell in what seemed like large water bubbles that shrank in size and then settled throughout the shanty village adding to the already strange and never before seen mist billowing and moving throughout the shanty village.

Seeing all of the above that just transpired in the strange and brief rainfall…

Lord Amon Seth reasoned within himself that he might be better off with Druidess Brys and her battle partners (Prophetess Isag-Orr and Nyah the Filagra dragons)…

And so, Lord Amon sūtiẖ (Seth), The Destroyer now in his original human form spoke to Brys—

{who as she walked towards Lord Amon Seth transformed fron her giant form…back to her human size of a petite young woman in her linen leather-look battle suit girded by magical tumbleweeds as her breastplate}

Lord Amon Seth spoke as follows in in his native mother tongue of ancient Sumer with Egyptian thrown in. He said to Brys:

“You know, perhaps we started off on the wrong foot, Druidess Brys ehmm… I could be very useful as a warrior you know….I see you may have some uninvited guests…What do you say…partners you and me? And about earlier, it was nothing personal. Just a misunderstanding let’s say, eh?”

Brys not understanding a word Lord Amon sūtiẖ (Seth), The Destroyer said called out to Nyah:

“Its okay, you can both open your eyes… but we have trouble. Nyah can you translate please what Lord Amon Seth just said? Thank you, my friend.”

Immediately, Prophetess Isag-Orr still in her Filagra dragoness form rushed to Druidess Brys side, Nyah followed suit seconds later still in his Denali-mountainous size as the last male Filagra dragon.

Nyah understanding Lord Amon sūtiẖ (Seth), The Destroyer’s language quite well having lived in the time and place of Lord Amon Seth’s origin, Nyah translate loosely what Lord Amon Seth said adding his (Nyah) own unspoken tone of distrust to his translation;

Nyah translated what Lord Amon sūtiẖ (Seth), The Destroyer said as follows:

“He (Lord Seth) said:

‘Never mind that I just tried to kill you all and lay waste to this place…that was just a minor misunderstanding, my bad. Let’s be allies. What say you, Druidess Brys?'”

The tone of sarcasm in Nyah’s translation of Lord Amon sūtiẖ (Seth), The Destroyer’s “offer” of partnership was unmistakable.

Druidess Brys replied:

“Be on your way Lord Amon Seth. Make sure we never meet again. I have a feeling that your ‘offer’ of help comes with quite a few strings attached. No thank you! Please leave our land now and never return in any age, for any reason.”

Brys nodded to Nyah as if to say please translate my refusal…but Nyah sensing her reply had already begun to translate her words to Lord Amon sūtiẖ (Seth) even before Brys finished speaking.

Lord Amon Seth lifted off the ground at once in an eerie fashion powered by his strange movements of his feet and vanished for good…

Meanwhile…

…an unknown army of unwelcomed hordes milled about in the strange mist that flowed about the seeming rundown and abandoned shanty village aka The Kingdom of Uisce in permanent hiding.

Apparently inadvertently these hordes were called forth from the abyss by accident by the reverse chanting of the spell that Des Pater had to use to recloak the Kingdom of Uisce yesterday.

These hordes were awakened and released from their eternal and hidden prism encased in an eternal hourglass of sand and water in the abyss near Gehenna awaiting the day of final judgement.

Their leader… a former Filagra dragon warlock vanquished to the abyss long ago for unspecified crimes…!

**Chapter 10 Continues Next week in Part 3 of 5**

Previous Chapters: Preface Introduction Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 10 Part 1

Optimism – Haiku 2025; Reena’s Xploration Challenge #353

Image credit: Valter | Pixabay

trudging in fresh snow

the trees and I with umbrellas

grasp optimism


In response to Reena’s Xploration Challenge #353 where Reena’s invitation this week is to use the following Oscar Wilde quote as inspiration:

The Fish Market Door – Haiku 2025 – Thursday Doors

On the right is the archway to the Fishmarket Door, Moderno Cathedral, Italy © Francesco Riccardo Iacomino | Dreamstime

His story inscribed

feeding many who enter

the fishmarket door

*

Consecrated in 1184 and built in the Romanesque style predominantly but with prominent Gothic notes, Duomo di Modena (Modena Cathedral) stands. Its present pristine appearance is thanks to its most recently completed restorations.

Side portal, North side to Modena Cathedral, The Fish Market Door. Image credit: Sailko | Wikimedia CC 2.0

*The featured doorn (image is above) is not the main door; but rather it is the side door (North Side) of the Modena Cathedral, Emilia-Romagna region, Italy.

This door has been used by pilgrims since the twelfth century to enter the cathedral. The featured door goes by the name Porta della Pescheria, The Fish Market Door.

It is believed, although there is debate, that the name refers to an actual fish market that was once outside the cathedral doors in the space (arcade) between the buildings in the piazza (as seen in the feature photo.)

Trivia #1: The story of legend in the sculptures on the tympanum of Modena Cathedral’s Fish Market Door.

Close up of tympanum sculptures, North Side portal The Fish Market Door, Modena Cathedral, Italy. Image credit: Sailko | Wikimedia CC. 2.0

And so…

Above Modena Cathedral’s Fish Market Door are intricate sculptures depicting a story in minute detail. The sculptured scenes above the Fish Market Door tells in dramatic fashion a story… which you may have heard before. (A close-up of the tympanum sculpture is shown above.)

The story according to the sculptured depiction in the tympanum above the Fish Market Door…goes as follows:

‘Once upon a time…A king’s beloved was taken (kidnapped) by an evil ruler and taken to a castle and land far away. The King mustered some of his closest friends (dressed in the sculptures as knights) to help him rescue his beloved. The group of knights fought the evil ruler valiantly and rescued the king’s beloved returning her to her home and castle.

Many schools of thought still wrestle with this careful depiction of what some say is the Legend of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round table. No one knows for sure.

Trivia #2: His birthplace, the city of Modena, prominently displays this legendary opera singer and tenor’s monument… Luciano Pavarotti was born in Modena.

A marquee name in Formula One Car Racing: Ferrari’s Headquarters in Maranello has been situated 12.5 miles (20 km) from Modena since the 1940s — the Ferrari 360 Modena car was named in the town’s honor.

Modena Cathedral, Italy Image credit: © Francesco Riccardo Iacomino | Dreamstime

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And for more #ThursdayDoors

Visit Dan Antion at No Facilities

ThursdayDoors
In Primo piano

For Dan’s CFFC – Water Everywhere Photo Challenge

Along the banks of the *Athabasca River, Alberta Canada, Early- Spring 2022

Another view further along the banks of the *Athabasca River, Alberta Canada, Early- Spring 2022

Wider angle – banks of the *Athabasca River, Alberta Canada, Early- Spring 2022

These are views along the banks of the Athabasca River in Alberta, Canada, just off the junction of Highways #2 and #55. You may be able to spot the power lines along the highway on the hillside in the last photo.

The Athabasca River begins in the Canadian section of the Rocky Mountains.


For Dan’s Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge (CFFC) where this week the invitation is: Water Water Everywhere!