Thursday, May 31, 2012

A Night in Camp

This is a continuation of a previous post "The End"


As he slept he had the same recurring dream that he had almost every night. Well, the nights that he slept. It was the beginning of it all. He was home with his wife and daughter when the explosion happened. He still didn’t know what it was, or where it came from, but it was the last memory he had of his family. The last memory he had of anything before this.

When the flash took over the sky he threw himself over the only two people in the world that mattered to him. After that, in the light that overtook the world, everything went black. When he woke up he had no way of knowing how much time had passed. He saw no signs of life and he was surrounded by rubble. When he remembered what happened he dug through the rock for his girls. He dug through the remains until his fingers bled, and then he dug some more, not stopping until he collapsed of exhaustion. He screamed their names as he realized they were gone. He found no sign of them, or anyone else for that matter.

That’s when he began to wander through the remains of the city. Everything had been crumbled to the ground. When he reached the outskirts, there was still nothing. What wasn’t destroyed was just left to decay. He grew determined to find out what happened. He had to know what caused this. If there was anyone else left.

He jumped awake with cold sweats and shaking. Again he was overwhelmed with the feeling of being watched.

“Who’s there?!” he shouted at the darkness while he jumped to his feet.

There was no reply, but he was almost certain he saw the shadows move again. He shined his light in the direction of the movement and there was nothing. He was done sleeping for the night. He packed up to be ready to move at first light.


The above is a response to the Trifecta Writing Challenge. This week's word was decay.

Thursday, May 24, 2012

Rubbernecking

Three lanes of practically motionless traffic on the northbound side of the interstate. On the opposite side of the barrier he had seen a convoy of emergency services speed by. Finally, he crawls past the flashing red and blue lights scattered around the overturned vehicle blocking southbound traffic. The doors were cut off and there was far too much blood on the broken glass.

His stomach began to turn as he was overwhelmed with a sickening feeling. Not so much by the sight, but by the way the passersby gawked at it, like this tragedy was some sort of spectacle.



Above is an entry to this week's 100 Word Challenge

Friday, May 18, 2012

The End?

Everything had been destroyed. All he had ever known was left in ruins. All he had to look back on was the remains of rubble and his own memories, which appeared to be fading more and more by the day. For a long time he thought he might be the only one left, but now he wasn’t so sure.

His days were spent traveling and scavenging for supplies. For anything that could help him survive one more day. He would look for any signs of life, but that always ended with nothing. All logic told him there was no one else. That he was left to spend the rest of his existence aimlessly wandering this barren wasteland.

It was what happened after nightfall that made him start to believe that he wasn’t alone. As he sat in the darkness he would become overwhelmed with the feeling that he was being watched. The more he tried to ignore it the stronger the sensation became. As he would lie still in his camp for the night it appeared the shadows would move, and he was even sure he had heard voices…screams in the distance.



This was a response to this week's "Friday Fiction" at The One-Minute Writer.

Thursday, May 17, 2012

The News

She sat him down to tell him the news. She had been playing this moment over and over again in her head for the past week since she found out. She still didn’t know what to say. She knew what she had to say, but she was clueless on how to get the words out. Where was she going to start? Was she going to be able to get through it without crying? How was he going to react? She opened her mouth and everything she planned on saying was gone. It was like someone else was speaking through her and all she could do was standby and listen to what sounded like the rambling randomness of someone else’s words.

His head was spinning as she spoke. It seemed like she couldn’t keep a straight train of thought, and he couldn’t keep up with anything she was saying. One minute she was talking about how much she had been looking forward to prom, and how she had already picked out the dress that she would never be able to wear now. Then she went on about graduation and going away to college. How for the entire four years of high school she pictured the dorm room she was never going to see. After all that she said something about rite of passage, or missing out on it, or something.

He was completely lost, trying to decipher the hysterical ups and downs of whatever it was she was trying to say. Then, all of a sudden, it was clear. It was as if he cracked the hidden code in her speech and he was able to finally see the whole picture. It was with that realization that the trouble set in. Her voice faded into background noise behind his own thoughts. After that all he heard were individual words...

Dizzy spells...

Nauseous...

Doctor...

BABY!!!



This post is a response to this week’s Trifecta Writing Challenge . The word this week was ‘trouble’.

Tuesday, May 15, 2012

The Least Likely

He sees something in her she doesn’t even see in herself. Something that makes him want to be with her more than anyone else he’s ever met. Her hidden attributes, which were unwittingly exposed to him, changed him forever. He hardly knew she existed before. Now, he couldn’t imagine a life without her.

He was always strong and confident. She was always more comfortable staring at her converse when she spoke. She never thought anyone would see her as he does.

All the girls throw themselves at him. Why me? she wondered. I'm shy. Fragile. Not his type at all.



The "100 Word Challenge" brought to you by Velvet Verbosity

Tuesday, May 8, 2012

Emptiness

He stared into the dark emptiness of the eyes across from his own. They filled him with a sense of familiarity, but with that he felt no comfort. When he looked deeper into them, hoping for answers, all he saw was a cold blankness that instilled uneasiness and fear in the depths of his existence. It was a feeling that the more he focused on the more it overwhelmed him and a shudder coursed through his body.

As he widened his view of the face he was examining he saw lines that came with age and thinning gray hair tousled on his head. With the narrow cheeks that led to a firm, chiseled jaw he still projected a bold masculine presence despite his obvious age of seniority. He knew the face, but he couldn’t recall anything else about it. Looking at the man in front of him he couldn’t remember the simplest detail. No name, no birthday, whether he had children or what he did for a living.

As the frustration took over his mind and body the shaking came back. A tear ran down his cheek as the sense of loss and loneliness embraced him. He grabbed the closest object he could get his hands on and threw it at the taunting face in front of him.

The sound of shattering glass resonated through the room and the shards fell into the sink. He broke down and sobbed over the now hundreds of tiny reflections that looked up at him. A frantic knocking came upon the door. When he opened it there was a frightened looking older woman who instantly started inspecting him for injuries and asking him what happened.

“I’m sorry ma’am,” he responded through his tears. “The man in the mirror is just such an enigma now. He got the better of me.”

“It’s okay,” she said as he sobbed in her arms. “It’s me, your wife, Judy. It’s all going to be okay.” She cried, knowing she was lying.

________________________________________________________________

The trifecta word this week was enigma

Sunday, May 6, 2012

Just friends


This weekends trifecta challenge is to write three truths and a lie in 33 to 333 words.





No matter where I go or what I do, it doesn't matter how many people come in or out of my life, you are and always will be the most amazing person I've ever met.

No matter how many sunrises or sunsets I witness, the countless night skies filled with glorious full moons, you are the most beautiful thing I have ever laid my eyes on.

No matter how much time goes by, or how much distance there may be between us, my love for you knows no boundaries.  It is eternal and unconditional.

Of course I understand...Just friends...That’s exactly what I want too.