Tuesday, August 13, 2013

Some impromptu fiction based on the prompt of 'errant clouds chasing each other across the sky' pulled randomly from "14,000 things to be happy about".

They lay on their backs, looking up at the clouds scooting across the sky. The sky was a bright blue that was almost painful to look directly at, broken by white fluffy clouds that were much easier on the eyes. The clouds formed fanciful shapes, that became even more fanciful in their imaginations.
"And there's a dragon!" His voice was gleeful but almost challenging. The sky filled her entire field of vision from horizon to horizon, and she quickly scanned the clouds to see which he meant. She knew she didn't have long before he would get impatient. Luckily this one was pretty easy, one of the clouds was forked as if it were the open maw of a large monstrous creature. Between the jaws, a smaller piece of cloud was in danger of being eaten.
"Mmhmm. And that rabbit had better run quick to get away."
'Hmph." She had kept her tone carefully neutral, but his response sounded a bit disappointed. She didn't hide her smile, but she didn't respond either. She knew he was waiting to trip her up, to get her to ask for clarification. Somehow, over the years it had turned into a competition. She wasn't really quite sure how, and they had never really spoken aloud what the rules were, but she knew that it had nonetheless. She vaguely wondered what she would have to sacrifice if she lost, but since she was determined not to lose, and since they had never spoken the rules aloud, she had never asked.
Spying a squarish cloud, she squinted slightly, viewing the surrounding clouds as a tableau. "There's a robot."
"Yep, a giant one, squashing Tokyo." He barely paused before answering. She frowned slightly, she had seen the surrounding clouds as a laboratory, and the robot as performing experiments in it, but she didn't challenge him. Even though, as she looked the other clouds were definitely all around the square one, not below it. She didn't know how he could have seen that as the city of Tokyo under the feet of the robot. She continued to scan to sky, looking to see if he had seen the wrong cloud, but she couldn't find anything even close.
Suddenly, his face intruded into her field of view. "The flower, do you see it?" The expression on his freckled face was one of triumph.
"Sorry. What?" Apparently, she had been lost in thought and had missed her turn. She tried to quell her disappointment and keep her face neutral.
"I asked about a flower." His face was disconcertingly close to hers. His breath hot against her cheek.
"Oh, umm." She pulled her gaze from his green eyes and scanned the sky. "Next to the dog?" As soon as she said it, she knew it was wrong. Not what she said, but the way she said it. That question mark at the end of her sentence.
Suddenly, she knew that she had lost, not because she was wrong, but because she wasn't sure she was right. And, she could tell by the grin that split his face, that he knew too.
He leaned even closer, so that his face replaced the sky, becoming the only thing that she could see. "Nope."
A creeping feeling pulled at the pit of her stomach as she tried to push her head back against the ground, to gain some space. She could hardly breathe, but she tried to hold herself together. She raised her hands and placed them against his chest, not quite pushing him away. She had lost, after all.
He pushed even closer, easily pushing past her halfhearted resistance, until his lip rested against hers, until his hands touched her body, slipped under her shirt.
Thoughts and feelings flew through her mind faster than she could recognize. Fear, surprise, anger, shame, loss, embarrassment all blended together in a strange brew that left her feeling slightly nauseous. Unsure of how she was expected to react, she just lay there and looked up at the clouds floating across the sky looking for the flower.

Thursday, August 8, 2013

A quick bit of impromptu fiction, based on the idea of getting a tattoo:

She leaned against the cushion, breath held in anticipation. Her breasts squished against the pad in front of her chest were a little painful, but she pushed harder, thinking the pain might distract her from the other pain. The other pain which hadn't even started yet, but which she knew would. She could feel cool air on her exposed back, and every brush of breeze caused her to tense even more slightly.
"It'll be ok. You need to breathe." His voice almost made her jump. Almost, but not quite, she assured herself, realizing that if she had to assure herself of that it probably wasn't true. "If you don't want to do this, you should tell me now." His tone was calm, reassuring, but she wasn't reassured.
"It's ok, I want to." She hated the breathiness in her voice. She paused to fill her lungs with air, and looked over her shoulder to meet his eye. "I'm sure."
He shrugged and nodded as he sat in the chair behind her. "You'll feel a sting. Let me know if it gets to be too much and you need a break." She was no longer looking at him. Facing forward, she nodded curtly.
Once he started, she realized that it didn't hurt as much as she had expected. In fact, the anticipation of the pain had been much worse than the pain itself. Not wanting to disturb the artist's work she smothered the sigh that wanted to escape her chest. She would just have to keep looking. Maybe the next one would be it. Or maybe she would have to keep looking for something that would hurt enough.
As the pain continued, she relaxed more, resting her head against her heavily tattooed arms. Maybe the next one would be the one. Until then, she would just enjoy this while she could.