A Lesson in Fresh Starts

A Lesson in Fresh Starts

A Story by RKB
"

"After ten thousand years I rise again to destroy the kingdom of..." "It's gone." "I beg your pardon?"

"

"After ten thousand years I rise again to destroy the kingdom of..."



"It's gone."


"I beg your pardon?"


"The kingdom. It lasted like... I think around twenty-three years after you got 

sealed?"


"Well... This is awkward... Still! No one will be able to stop me now!"


"We have nuclear weapons now."


This tremendous demon hung its head, horns like down-turned lips. Its eyes were red as crushed berries as it gazed around weather-worn stone pillars surrounded by dead clumps of grass. Half-crumbled buildings surrounded the archaeologist and the released being. It broke out into a sob.


Meanwhile, Tamara Gross kept patting her cheek to check if she was dreaming. Her adrenaline rushed as her discovery seemed to be having a bit of a crisis�"but a remarkable discovery indeed. She reached for her phone. The team is going to flip! However, the demon frightened her as the sobs increased in volume. I suppose notoriety can wait. After she tucked away her phone, Tamara collected her sun hat, plopped it back on her head, and approached. “What’s got you so upset?”


“My entire existence�"just gone!”


“Have you thought that perhaps this could be an opportunity?” she offered.


“An opportunity?” the demon rubbed its pointed chin. “Yes, maybe I should aim higher�"I should destroy the nuclear weapons, and then I will destroy the world!”


Tamara waved her hands. “No no, maybe you can�"I dunno�"use your powers for good.” She shrugged. “Maybe this is a fresh start for you.”


“A fresh start?” the demon inquired, tilting its head. “I�"how would I do that?”


“You could go to a new city, come up with your own name�"which is--?”


“Balthazar the Great!”


“Sure, whatever you want, settle down somewhere nice and quiet, build little rituals for yourself like drinking tea in the mornings or enjoying an evening walk at least that’s the dream for me�"one day.”


“That does sound kinda nice.”


“Yeah.”


The demon’s form changed, the skin stretching like elastic. It turned into the shape of a very beautiful, swarthy woman that made Tamara’s skin break out in tingles, her skin hotter than this coastal sun. “Human, you will show me how to do this fresh start.”


Tamara could argue that she had her own life to tend to, but it was really hard to find words at the moment. Her tongue always froze at the sight of pretty women. 


“I can try?” her voice squeaked.

© 2025 RKB


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Featured Review

Not bad! Cute story :)
Check the first big paragraph, you have "surrounded" twice too close to one another; replace one with a synonym to avoid repetitiveness (this is one of my main writing issues, so I've recently learned to look out for that a lot).

Posted 2 Months Ago


1 of 1 people found this review constructive.

RKB

2 Months Ago

thank you and thanks for reading!



Reviews

I enjoyed reading this! It's cute, with good description and dialogue. Something I noticed was that the flow of the writing (how it sounded in my head) got disrupted when it went straight from all dialogue to all description. It also made that first paragraph a little confusing. Other than that, it was really well-written!

Posted 1 Month Ago


Not bad! Cute story :)
Check the first big paragraph, you have "surrounded" twice too close to one another; replace one with a synonym to avoid repetitiveness (this is one of my main writing issues, so I've recently learned to look out for that a lot).

Posted 2 Months Ago


1 of 1 people found this review constructive.

RKB

2 Months Ago

thank you and thanks for reading!
Nice. You used your words and description to create a cute story.

Posted 3 Months Ago


1 of 1 people found this review constructive.

RKB

3 Months Ago

thank you for reading and commenting!

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3 Reviews
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Added on December 10, 2025
Last Updated on December 15, 2025

Author

RKB
RKB

El Paso, TX



About
Hi! I’m Rowan. I write horror and fantasy with some dabble in romance. I love to read. So if you're writing in any of those genres, please send over a read request! Don't be shy. I always return.. more..