In response to the Alien Art Hive Community's Inktober Prompts that were part of their Cosmic Creations Edition #6 Contest, Cosmic Creations Edition #6 is LIVE: INKTOBER PROMPTS, members were encouraged to choose a prompt theme from the Inktober Prompts list for their entry into the contest.

After my entry into the contest with Prompt #17 - DEMON which I published on 9/23, I decided to take the Inktober concept one step further. I will focus on the remaining 30 Prompts on the list, beginning with Prompt #1. How fun the themes will be preparing my projects utilizing the mixed media art themes. If a Drabble story (100 words) or other flash fiction emerges, then all the more fun!

Below is my project for Inktober Prompt #21:

With each new dawn, another chance for serenity seeped into Chadwick's room. He woke this day and rubbed his bloodshot eyes. He could barely breath as the abundance of alcohol he consumed the night before threatened to return bringing with it the remains of appetizers whose ingredients he didn't recognize. But, as he remembered, that didn't prevent him from forcing them down, alternating between Vodha shots. The face of his competitor he didn't recognize. If his friends had accompanied him to that pleasure parlor, they wouldn't have allowed him to blunder.

The night sky was aglow with bright city lights. Chadwick continued on to the edge of town. The after-hours' club sat off the main section of highway near the waterfront. This area welcomed the neon lights and steady flow of traffic.

And it wasn't the first time Chadwick had visited. The environment spoke to him, filling his head with exhilaration, leaving him breathless, his heart on fire.

Resembling any nightclub known for having an awesome time until the late in the night, the main part of the club glistened with overhead pulsating lights. The dance area, and spacious seating to enjoy it all, complete with live music, food, and female workers clinging onto poles providing the night's entertainment.

The clinging didn't end there. It continued in the parlors located in the rear. The rooms that cost an additional fee from that charged at the entrance. The rooms where dreams materialized and taken to the next level.

Given a choice of pleasure items from the storage room, he had only to nod when presented with a tool he'd not yet experienced.

Now, he lay staring at the wall, grappling with the events in the nightmare that gripped his throat, leaving him panting. Was it real? he pondered. He had only to look down at the chain impressions on his arms.

Central air circulated his room as the night's blurry scene struggled to break through the hangover. Hair stood on his arms. His face turned pallid as he gripped the sheet, knuckles turning white.

Elbows pressing into the sides, he pulled the sheet up around his neck waiting for his head and stomach to subside. Flashes of light, faces, and lightning strikes close to his body flooded his mind.

Panicked, he touched the sheet. Crawling into bed the moment he returned home, he knew he hadn't freshened up.

He searched for his clothing. There thrown across the edge of the bed was his pants. He grabbed them and turned the pocket out, as his lip trembled.

His back shifted ramrod stiff. He couldn't remember if he wore protection. His thoughts guided him toward the nightstand. There, lying unopened was his proof.

Abandoning his resolve, he attempted to remedy his immediate problem as he jumped from the bed and ran to the restroom before he expelled the alcohol and rancid appetizers.

With his head lying on the toilet, a calmness descended upon his head.

He remembered the blessed chance at life proclaimed by his mother. She prayed often for his soul. Looking into her eyes, it was the somber expression on her face. The shakiness of her hands as she cupped his when he visited told him she knew the demons he grappled with.

She prayed for his clarity in the garden of darkness in which he had surrendered and descended deeper over time.

My approach to Inktober Prompt #21 - Chains involves the restraints of the mind. The links in the chain symbolizes each of the vices that one can become dependent upon. Breaking free of the bondage that various addictions can hold over one's mind is a constant struggle for those under the influence. The character in this prompt's story labors under the influence of sexual proclivities that leaned toward pain to achieve pleasure. Together with other addictions, one may be in jeopardy of losing his life.

Five pure fractals I created in Apophysis 7X were included that I felt enhanced the scene. The first fractal is a veil I used as the background setting. It represents the calm in his life in the day. The other fractals represents the turmoil in his night life.

Other images that lent credence to the scene were of course the chain, a goat, a hand, and a skull. Each represented the night life in the club.