Wednesday, August 8, 2012

Full Red Haze Moon Madness


This month I didn’t have an opportunity to observe particularly odd behavior that I might credit to lunar effects. I was driving from Pennsylvania to Virginia on the interstate system, and it was impossible to isolate what might have been full-moon madness compared to normal crazed driving. So this month, sticking with a “Back to School” theme, I thought I’d talk a little about moon trivia.

For example, according to the Farmers' Almanac, many Native American tribes assigned names to full moons as a sort of time-tracking tool, a perfect example being the “harvest” moon – time to harvest! August is known as the Full Sturgeon Moon, a nod to the large volumes of sturgeon caught during August by tribes around the Great Lakes and other large bodies of water. Other tribes gave the name Green Corn or Grain moon, obvious agricultural references. My favorite, though, is the Full Red Haze Moon – named because of the reddish tint to the moon as it rises after those hot and hazy days in August.

I mean, what more perfect image could there be for a romance/suspense writer than that of a big, full moon, simmering in a red haze as it rises over, say, the ocean. I can see it so clearly…

On the beach, two lovers kiss,  their skin, slick from the heat of the day, now cooled by breezes sweeping in on the crimson-tipped waves. Engrossed as they are in each other, they never hear the approach of the psychopathic killer who’d observed them earlier while they dined al fresco at a nearby restaurant. Something about our heroine disturbs him.

Maybe it’s her waist-length hair the color of the coal his great-grandfather hauled from the mines back in the day. He knows coal as a dirty, noxious fuel, leaving a cloud of black dust in the air that kills those who breath it. Maybe it’s the way our hero, a handsome young man, brings her hand to his mouth for a kiss. He presses his lips not to the back of her hand, like a gentleman would, but to the center of her palm, while their eyes make love as surely as if they lay together, unclothed, in bed. What makes him so special? Why does he deserve her love? Anyone’s love for that matter? Or maybe it’s how the woman reminds him of that long-ago cheerleader who shunned him in high school. Life was never the same after that.

We’ll never know what sparks our antagonist to act, but something about our heroine fills him with a need to make her suffer, just as he has suffered. He stares at that moon, that big, red ball in the sky, and for a moment it appears to drip blood into the sea. His hands flex with the need to touch the girl, to sample her lush curves so happily on display in the white sundress with fanciful red flowers that look eerily like blood splatter, and briefly he wonders if he's lost his mind.

But no, surely it was destiny that brought him to this place in the world on this particular night. He is there for a purpose, a reason. He moves in. First on the boyfriend. So unaware. So full of youthful passion in the way he clutches her. A quick chop to the back of the head, and the boy-man is down, twitching in the sand. Our killer turns to the girl. She's retreating, her feet kicking up sand as she back-pedals, her eyes rounded, her hands over her open mouth, and screams bubble up, so loud and shrill they must have come from some deep dark place in her soul. Blood gallops through the killer's veins, carried by the excitement of the prize before him, and he laughs at the sheer power of the moment. He moves closer, close enough to see that her cheeks are wet with tears, close enough to smell fear. He reaches, his hands open, claw-like, and grabs for her, and...

Eeeeek!

So sorry, got carried away there for a moment and creeped myself out. I’ll stop now!

Anyway, as I was saying, full moons intrigue me. Am I alone, or does a full moon do something to you as well?

Leah writes stories of romance and suspense, and the enduring power of love. 
You can visit her at www.leahstjames.com.

18 comments:

  1. You weren't the only one creeped out. Wow. Nice job.

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    1. Thanks, Diane, for stopping by. I love writing bad guy scenes. (Hmmmmm....I wonder what that means.) :-)

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  2. An intriguing post! My personal favorite is the harvest moon, but I do enjoy looking at all full moons. :)

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    1. I always loved a harvest moon, too, Jessica. I actually had never heard of a Full Red Haze Moon until I started checking this out. And let's face it, there's nothing too "sexy" about a sturgeon moon, or corn or grain, or any other plant reference. :-) Thanks for stopping by.

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  3. Oh Leah, way to cool the romance in a midnight walk on the beach - glad I'm on my way to the mountains instead of the outer banks (well, maybe not)... creepy

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    1. Sorry about that, Dana. But you know me! I can't let a good potential bad-guy scene go to waste!

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  4. Very niiiice, Leah! Enjoyed this immensely. The moon has always had a particular allure, hasn't it. It figures in so many myths and superstitions, either as itself or personified. Thanks for the really creepy vignette, can't wait to see if you keep it rolling! Happy Writing!

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    1. Thanks, Denise. I had fun with this one. :-) Maybe I'll keep going with my two young lovers and see where they end up.

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  5. My mother (a retired hairdresser,) always said, "get your hair cut when the moon is on the rise and you'll be back for another before the end of the month." I wonder if there is any hard evidence to support that "hairdresser's tale"?

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    1. Your mother is a wise, wise woman, Sofie! That reminds me of the time I cut my sister's hair. It was back in the day when long and straight was in (I mean the original day...you know, like the '70s). She was wearing a knit shirt with a horizontal stripe, and the theory was that I would cut along the stripe so all would be well. Or it might have been if she hadn't had her head tilted! Oh well, it was only hair. It grew. So I could see how not seeing clearly (or straight) might cause problems!

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  6. Leah...I'm intrigued by the full moon, too. Always thought it had a nice, eerie feel to it. Love the way your romance turned creepy. As you well know, that's my 'thing' - LOL. I also love writing bad guys. You think we're a bit twisted?

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    1. I'm afraid we might be, Alicia! But we're having fun, aren't we?

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  7. It's always intriguing and yes that creeped me out too. Just a couple of days ago I had a big debate about whether the moon was waxing or waning with my husband. He was convinced it was at the max whereas I was sure it was waning - he was right of course.

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    1. I've never known the difference between waxing and waning myself, Maddy. And don't you hate that (when they're right)?! :-) Thanks for stopping by!

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  8. Nicely written, Leah. I'm intriguede by full moons, but not much scares me. :) Is there some wood around here for me to knock on?
    -R.T. Wolfe
    www.rtwolfe.com

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    1. Hi, R.T. Thanks for stopping by! I envy you your bravery! I'm afraid that I'm frightened by quite a bit! I remember watching the original Terminator movie, literally pushing myself away from the TV set when that hand was reaching for poor Sarah Connor! I still get shivers from that scene. :-) I appreciate your taking the time to stop by.

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  9. Great Job Leah - my favorite moon is the harvest one, in our boat, coming up over Lake Chesdin. Talk about romance!

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    1. Isn't it funny, Lenette, how you think of romance and I think of psychopaths? I'm starting to worry about myself. :-)

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