OLD MAN TREE PRESS

THE JAMAICAN: SOUL IN DARKNESS

Rena stood beneath the flickering streetlight, shadows dancing around her like whispers of forgotten dreams. The vibrant colors of Mexico City washed over her, a stark contrast to the darkness swirling within. It was here, in the depths of her despair, that she contemplated the twisted journey her life had taken.

The decision to flee Buffalo, NY had been impulsive-driven by an unbearable need to escape the chains of her struggling existence. She left behind not just her job and home, but also her ex-lover, Behanzin, who embodied everything a human male could ever possessed, until he made the mistake of propositioning her into the prostitution ring. It was so easy to walk away from him, unlike her ethereal soulmate, a powerful figure cloaked in danger and allure—Jahazap. The embodiment of everything she feared and craved, a riptide dragging her into an abyss she struggled to resist. 

Finding herself in a city where the air was thick with opportunity yet weighed down by despair, Rena tasted the bitterness of desperation as she wandered the streets. Being propped up by her past and present misfortunes, Rena was far from the girl who used to explore the world with passion and curiosity. Now, every glance in the mirror revealed a stranger—a dark soul, haunted by desires so intense they threatened to consume her. The very thought of embracing what resided within her pushed her toward the brink; a power she both feared and craved.

In moments of quiet, she recalled the warning from her soulmate, a being whose existence was both a blessing and a curse. His ethereal presence lingered in her mind, reminding her of the fragile boundary between light and dark. “To gaze upon me is to risk your survival,” he once said, a warning that had fallen on fearful ears as she let her heart drift to the physical realm, seeking the thrill of human connection.

She felt the urgency mounting—it echoed in her chest and throbbed in her veins. Whether it was the essence of danger calling to her or the allure of the unknown, she tried not to be drawn towards Luke’s ultimatum. The biggest drugs lord in Rochester whose money she needed to survive. “Find a man in Mexico, Rena. I’m tired of supporting you,” he had said, meanest lacing his voice.

With no other options, she embraced her predicament. Rena walked the streets with head held high, determination lighting the darkness within. She would become the hunter rather than the hunted, reclaiming her power.

Rumors of shifting beings flickered through the alleyways, tales of those who danced between worlds. Rena was drawn to whispered stories of a mysterious figure—the Jamaican—who could help her understand her newfound strength and embrace the darkness brewing inside. The Jamaican was said to be a master of shadows, able to shift forms and blend into the very fabric of night.

As night fell, she found herself in a dimly lit bar filled with smoke and secrets. Her heart raced, a lure of uncertainty coiling deep in her gut. Each moment felt electric, charged with potential and danger. “I’m here to find you,” the shadow declared to her in the dimly lit room where she was testing the air around her.

The figure emerged from the darkness, enigmatic and captivating. His eyes glimmered with an otherworldly light, unrestrained by the boundaries of this world. Painfully beautiful, the being held a promise of darkness and desire, an echo of her own Jamaican soul.

Rena's breath caught, and she battled the urge to surrender, knowing that gazing upon him might unravel the fragile sanity she clutched so tightly. Yet the pull was undeniable; questioning everything she knew about love and darkness, she stepped closer.

“To unleash the monster within, you must first know yourself,” he murmured, his voice a symphony that tugged at her very core.

With every encounter, Rena navigated the brink of surrender, flirting dangerously with the darkness that threatened to overtake her. Would she allow herself to harness the power she’d long hidden? Or was she destined to remain a beggar—both in spirit and in love—reflecting the remnants of the life she left behind?

The answer remained cloaked in shadows, waiting to be revealed as Rena discovered the depths of her soul in a world of chaos and transformation.

 Unleash Your True Self: The Jamaican's Journey from Desperation to Empowerment

YARDIE AND THE ALIENS

 Three alien sisters from the distant planet of Golealm, located a million miles from our solar system, found that they desperately needed matter to survive. For the first three hundred years, Roboliac, the youngest of the triplets, experienced the world by living in the diverse bodies of many different animals, where each creature taught her valuable lessons about the intricate game of survival. It was only after this extensive period that she shared a vessel with a young shaman in the lush Miombo woodland jungle of Tanzania. During this transformative time, she learned how to adapt and thrive as a human. In the shaman’s body, she sired numerous sons, and for over one hundred and fifty years, she resided in Tanzania, always assuming male vessels, until all the offspring she had brought into the world began to spread out far and wide. Meanwhile, her sister Jalaniac moved to the vibrant Caribbean, specifically Spanish Town, Jamaica, and Laliac, the most secretive of the three, only appear when she felt she was needed.

     A full one hundred years into a period marked by the horrors of slavery, Roboliac became inevitably entangled in human affairs when she was tragically forced into bondage. When all the bodies she had sired became obsolete, she survived being sent to her beginning by an explosive inserted in unsavory place. She found herself at Jalaniac house in Spanish Town, Jamaica. There, she was left with Jalaniac, who, unfortunately, was also ensnared in the clutches of slavery and had tragically lost her memory. Roboliac once again sought refuge by living as an animal until her sister finally regained her memory, a moment that sparked joy in her heart, enabling her to happily embrace the role of Jalaniac’s daughter and sometimes her granddaughter.

    In the year two thousand and twelve, when Roboliac was once again in need of suitable matter, the chance presented itself through Netty, Jalaniac’s daughter who was pregnant and tragically losing the fetus. It was in this moment that Roboliac perceived her opportunity slipping through her fingers, when another extraterrestrial being attempted to seize control of the vital fetus. Had it not been for the timely intervention of her devoted sisters, she would have been irrevocably forced back to her origins. 

    Unbeknownst to them all, the three extraterrestrial beings who had previously tried to snatch Klam’s body without success had cunningly latched onto Netty, transforming her into an abusive mother figure. Norma, being the caring sister that she was, felt compelled to take Netty to see Priscilla, another sister who possessed the extraordinary abilities of a voodoo priestess. 

     As Roboliac, who had now assumed the identity of Klam, journeyed through this unsettling time, she made a startling discovery: her sister had an incredible power to disintegrate into soil when she was injured, only to later reform herself with resilience. It was during this time that Roboliac uncovers the shocking truth about her human sister, Swofiyah, realizing with dawning terror that she was not human at all, but rather a manifestation of Earth itself come to life in human form. Roboliac became filled with fear as she comprehended the significant implications of this revelation, understanding exactly what that meant for their intertwined fates.

      Roboliac shocked her sisters once again when she discovered that she was unable to correspond with them, an unexpected consequence of her merging with the human body named Klam. 

       In another realm of existence, Dan, the powerful King of the Sky Beings, found himself irrevocably in love with a human, Priscilla’s daughter, Marshane. Determined to carve out a different destiny for herself, Marshane took the bold step of traveling to China to teach English, seeking a future that diverged sharply from the one she had previously envisioned. The unsettling thought of growing old alone with nine cats, who would inevitably devour her body upon her death, served as a catalyst for her decision to teach English in China.

     Unbeknownst to Marshane, the inner voice she had always relied on for guidance and understanding was none other than Dan himself, the revered king of the sky beings, often known as angels. In a twist of fate, he also happened to be her true love—an embodiment of justice tasked with being the punisher of all evil and vile things that roamed the earth. With a mere opening of his jaws, he possessed the power to make such malevolence simply vanish into thin air. Meanwhile, it became Dan’s solemn duty to gather the sky beings once more now that Earth—known affectionately as Solstilert—was back to face the challenges ahead, requiring every last one of them to join the fight for its survival. 

     The questions are: Would Roboliac and her sisters be able to set aside their longstanding differences to offer a helping hand in this dire time? And, crucially, would the humans possess the knowledge and resilience needed to confront the impending attaclapse? Most importantly, would Earth endure this formidable threat that loomed ominously on the horizon?

YARDIE AND THE ALIENS is a sci-fi tale about teamwork and personal awakening leading to unity.