FLASH FACTORY FRIDAY #1
4/27/12
4/27/12
3 Word PROMPT:
bruise, spectrum, wind
Ready ... set ... FLASH!
To Review:
3 word prompt
50 word minimum / 350 word limit
24 hours
GO!
*Remember, post your entry right here in the comments, please! Don't forget word count and Twitter handle! (Or another way for me to reach the winner!)
ENTRY POSTED FOR DARCI COLE:
ReplyDeleteThe wind warmed my face. It was not a comfort. I looked to my necklace. The silver charm floated in front of me. The direction to him.
“Kolina?” Lukon called.
“Hmm?”
“We need to go there,” he pointed left, to the Robaean Mountains. I stared, confused.
“But, what about…”
“We can’t walk right into the palace, Kolina,” Dusan interrupted. “Even the passages Bo is familiar with will be guarded. We need to go to the Mountain Chapel and seek the God’s guidance.”
“Bo?”
“’Fraid so, lady,” he answered, rubbing a bruised eye. “I ‘aven’ spen’ as much time here as other places, so I don’ know much more than your average servan’.”
No. “But… I thought…?”
“If we could, dear. That was the plan,” Ahni said, soothing me. It did not.
“Koli, I think they’re right,” Dax said. “I grew up with him too, remember? But the safety of the Three Kingdoms is at stake. We’ve got to –”
He stopped. He heard it too. A voice.
A voice I’d longed to hear for months. A voice I prayed was safe. A voice… calling my name.
“Kolina? Kolina! Koli!”
I looked at my necklace. It pointed northwest along the mountainside. I searched there, wishing for the voice to be real.
It was.
“Gunnar…”
My feet were moving. I couldn’t run fast enough. Tears clouded my vision. A spectrum of emotions soared through my heart. He ran too. Behind him, Markku and an unknown girl smiled at our reunion. They weren’t important now.
I threw myself at him. He spun us around. I wanted to stay here forever. We fell to the ground, still entwined. His hand slid from my waist to my back, to my neck, never breaking contact. He raised my face to his. He swept tears from my cheeks.
“I was afraid…” I started.
His lips were on mine. Relief flooded my body. More tears, of happiness, joy, ecstasy – all inadequate.
We parted. His green eyes shone brighter than ever I’d seen. I touched his long blond curls, grateful.
“We’re together now,” he whispered. “That’s all that matters.”
350 words EXACTLY!
@darci_cole
http://darcicole.blogspot.com/
I love this! tell me its part of a WIP so I can read more someday!
DeleteENTRY POSTED FOR BREE(WOMAN FRIDAY):
ReplyDeleteHer situation was what many called trapped; she just called it hell.
Day after day it was the same thing: wake up in the late afternoon, eat, get ready, head to her usual spot, go home with a man, get paid. Some days she paid her boss his share, other days she had off, where all she did was watch TV until her mind was numb, her spectrum of emotions dwindled to none. She used to watch the wind smash the rain against the window pane with such force that she wished the glass would shatter into a thousand pieces, stabbing her over and over again so that she would realize she was alive simply because of the pain.
One day, she was staring at her arm’s bruise, her face’s bruise, when the colors reminded her of a deep, endless ocean. And she wanted to go see it, lie on the beach, meet a man that would not destroy her. Her contract was not up, but she didn’t care; she’d give half her savings to her boss, and use the rest to get away. Her cousin lived in California…
On the bus, she looks down at her bruises, notices that it’s raining, and smiles.
204 words
@BreeBrouwer
http://geekmylife.blogspot.com/
I love the metaphor with the rain - that as she leaves her hell, the rain is washing it all away so she can have a fresh beginning. (At least, that's what I got from it.) Very good! Thank you for entering!
DeleteBruised apple cider. She drank enough to cover the spectrum of drunkenness. Three sheets to the wind overtook mild stupor four glasses back. She's looking at sober in the rear view mirror. Prone to extremes, she thinks this is healthy.
ReplyDeleteAfter all, an apple a day keeps the doctor away. She'll be good for years.
I love the way you can always say sooooo much with so few words. Seriously! My wordy butt could learn so much from you!
DeleteCody stared down at the man he was about to kill. Blood ran in streaks down arms rippled with scar tissue, and dripped from claws only reluctantly retreating back into the tips of his fingers. Below them, thirty stories down, the night’s high society bustled as people drank, and scandalized. But here, on the roof, the only sounds were panting breaths, and the roar of unabated wind.
ReplyDeleteThe man disturbed the gravel of the rooftop as he rolled from his sprawled position, and propped himself on his elbows. He started when he saw the boy that stood over him.
“What are you?” He asked, breathless.
Cody could smell his fear. Ever since that day, Cody had refused to ever look into a mirror again. Over the years, from the uniform reaction of horror and revulsion, he’d gotten used to the idea of his hideousness.
What they couldn’t see was the worst thing about him. The gnarled scar on his shoulder marked and cursed him. Teeth. A last, desperate attack - and an unintentionally effective one. The stain it left separated him from everything he knew, even as it reminded him of how he’d failed.
But not this time. This one would be a bruise he could heal.
“You killed her,” Cody said, his voice as gravely as the rooftop. Combusting from the inside-out will do that to a person. He couldn’t stop his hands from quivering. Fear, anger, sorrow; his emotions screamed across the spectrum, unrestrained. It felt good just to feel, even if it was this.
“Who? I didn’t kill any—“ The words caught in his throat as those claws, malformed and serrated, extended from Cody’s fingers with a scream, as if baring them to the world pained the air.
“I SAW IT!” The strain of yelling turned his gravely rasp into a monstrous roar. “This one I can fix,” he added, more to himself than the killer. “I can make this right.”
The man scrabbled back, arm raised protectively over his face. He screamed, but up there, only the wind heard.
344 words
@shroudbetween
THIS: '...with a scream, as if baring them to the world pained the air.'
DeleteThat part gave me chills! Love it!
It lay limply in her hand, the mangled apple.
ReplyDeleteFunny, she hadn’t thought it could bruise so easily. It had sparkled so beautifully on its branch, looked so crisp and sweet, a glowing piece of the full spectrum of reds splashed across the orchard.
In his hand it had still glowed, as he gripped it and began to wind his arm.
She hadn’t thought she could bruise so easily either.
70 words
@postupak
I don't know if its because I'm having an overly sensitive day, or because of my own past experiences, but WOW. You brought tears to my eyes.
DeleteGREAT job.
The punch knocked the wind out of her. Half an hour later, she thought of all the ways she could have retaliated. Her face flushed with the bruise to her ego. It never works out that way. Why can't she think of ways to stab her perpetrators before she's back home?
ReplyDeleteAnd she called them friends. Connection was so damned important to her. More important than the pecans at a neighbor's house she'd been picking up that day. And she Loved pecans! It was only later in her life she would learn to condense the spectrum of characters she could call friends without regard to the intense feelings with which she sought out kindred spirits.
115 words
@dailybipolar
THIS:
Delete'It never works out that way. Why can't she think of ways to stab her perpetrators before she's back home?'
That's so me! I always have the most AMAZING things to retort - the wittiest, snappiest comebacks ... once I've sat on them for far too long to still be relevant! lol! It sucks when you come up with a response far too late! Grrrr!
Sorry for the delay everyone! Thank you for your entries! I will post the winner shortly!
ReplyDeleteoh sad, i found out about this too late, I'll post my writing on my blog anyway. http://glosdrumbeat.blogspot.com/2012/04/flash-fiction-bruise-spectrum-wind.html
ReplyDelete