by Mayumi-H | Mar 28, 2012 | Short Stories
Doc says she can hear. So, he reads.
The book labeled “Grimm” is her favourite, but the German is gibberish to him. Instead, he chooses another story: about a little girl lost, trying to find her way home. That’s the one he reads to her, in the hope that she’ll hear him, and find her way home, too.
But hours turn to days among the tubes, pumps, and beeping monitors, and the time comes when the words on the page – ‘What was the rabbit late for,’ wondered Alice – dim, waver, and run.
The book falls, forgotten.
And he falls, too: down, down, into the lonely dark.
This was my original entry to the 100 Word Challenge for Grown-Ups for Week 36, where the prompt was to include the phrase, ‘What was the rabbit late for,’ wondered Alice … and also to hook the end of the story with ten words from which another author could write a new entry.
I like this entry, certainly. There’s a lot of what I think is pretty fun wordplay and description. But it’s also so depressing and dark. Plus, the end hook doesn’t allow for a lot of variation in theme for the next person. It’s like I’d be sticking someone with a depressing story! So, in the end, I went with something more lighthearted, instead. I’ll leave it up to you which one you prefer.
by Mayumi-H | Mar 21, 2012 | Short Stories, Songbirds
This week’s 100-Word Challenge for Grown-Ups prompt: “…the red box…”
Just like the government, we’re dealing with fiscal budgets at work, right now. So, I veered off from the obvious choice of “the red box” for this week’s prompt, and instead went just a bit to the left:
Eyes twinkling with charmed interest, she pushes him in front of the red box and raises her camera into his face.
“Brilliant,” he mutters at the lens. “Now, we’re tourists.”
She shushes him and clicks. He fidgets, feeling ridiculous as the subject of a photographic cliche.
“Satisfied?” he asks.
She lowers the camera with an elfin smile. “Not just yet.”
She pushes him again, trapping him into the antiquated phone box. Then, she presses up and kisses him: soft, warm, sweet.
He’s dizzy when they part.
“Satisfied?” she echoes, smiling wide again.
Closing the red box around them, he grins. “Not just yet.”
image courtesy Favim.com
Another little Songbirds Series drabble, because the moment I thought about those red phone boxes, I thought that Sally might take a moment to bother with a snapshot…and Larry would probably scoff about it. But even two people who see the world from such different perspectives can find a way to mutually enjoy something so quaint.
by Mayumi-H | Mar 14, 2012 | Short Stories
For this week’s 100 Word Challenge for Grown-Ups, the prompt was “…but I turned it off….”
At first, I thought (with admittedly naughty amusement), “There’s no way I can make this one PG!” But, delving a little bit deeper, I came up with this somewhat lonely piece:
“Let it play.”
That’s what she’d say, no matter what trite, insipid song would come on. And he’d let it do, for her smile, for her sway. But he turns it off, now. Because, with her gone, he can’t bear the sound.
He curses his foolish jealousy. It was only Fred, only tea…!
In oppressive stillness, he limps to bed.
A song startles him awake. Heart pattering, he stumbles out. But I turned it off, he thinks. I know-! Then, he sees her: smiling, swaying.
Their eyes meet.
She moves to silence the radio.
He smiles. “Let it play.”
I have plenty of other writing to do, but I’ve found that taking a time-out to write these little vignettes helps me with the larger story: I’m really paying more attention to the words I’m choosing when I write, and I think that’s showing through in the novel, too.
by Mayumi-H | Mar 7, 2012 | From Hell (A Love Story), Short Stories
This week’s 100 Word Challenge for Grown-Ups (100WCGU), courtesy of Julia’s Place, was a bit different. We were given a visual prompt: a horse statue, from the Eden Project in Cornwall.
They say that a picture is worth a thousand words, but I could only use 100! Anywho, here’s my attempt:
Mummy crouches close, frowning. “Don’t you want to see?”
Katie’s head judders. She hates statues. Especially angels, with their blank eyes and cold faces, looming over silent graves. In her dreams, they move, lightning fast, grasping her collar, spiriting her away.
She whines; Daddy’s trouser leg rustles in her grip.
He smiles. “But, you like ponies…!”
She blinks; the word intrigues.
So, now, Daddy scoops her up, and she sees: No stoic, marbled nightmare, this, but a majestic mount, captured mid-motion in a canter.
Mummy takes her tiny hand, pressing it to noble, knotted muzzle.
Enchanted, Katie beams.
Nightmares (night-mares) are horses from Hell, made popular by the Dungeons & Dragons game and manuals. There’s nothing horrific about this particular horse, though. Rather, it’s actually quite lovely and majestic. I wanted to try and capture some childhood ambivalence about statuary (especially those sometimes-scary angel guardians), and make Katie’s fear turn around, when she comes face to face with unexpected beauty.
The Nightingales are characters I’ve visited before, but this was a fun new take on them. It is certainly difficult to break these relationships down into 100 words! I’m tempted to collect the drafts and put some of them up for people to see, to illustrate how ideas start out but then get pruned. Maybe that’s a project for another day, eh?
by Mayumi-H | Mar 3, 2012 | Fearless, Short Stories
Another entry for the 100-Word Challenge for Grown-Ups over at Julia’s Place (because, even though I have so much novel writing to do, these are just too much fun to pass up). Week 32’s theme was “take a leap of faith.”
Here’s my go:
He’s worn this armour a long time: hammered from the humiliating rejection of one woman seeking a diversion, buckled by the manipulation of another endeavouring to impress.
He doubts it will ever come off.
But then, one day, a pretty, gentle girl smiles at him, and the metal strains. She takes his hand, and the straps creak. And when she finally pulls him close, pressing her lips to his with honest, heartfelt love, all he knows is that he wants this, he wants her: warm, soft, cuddled to his naked chest.
He takes her in his arms.
The armour’s forgotten.
As I’ve done before, I skirt the edge of the theme a bit, here. But if you can follow my logic, hopefully you can see where the leap of faith comes in.
Readers of Fearless may recognise familiar details from the main story in these little challenge vignettes. I’m not going to make any excuses, there. These characters are so embedded in my life right now, I don’t think I could tear my brain away from them if I tried. (Though I’m not really trying, I admit. I just want to keep writing and writing and writing them!)
If you enjoyed this challenge, I suggest you take a look at some of the others, over at Julia’s Place! They’re only 100 words, so, why not?
by Mayumi-H | Feb 24, 2012 | Fearless, Short Stories
Julia’s Place has a 100-Word Challenge going. These are always fun opportunities to write, especially for someone like me, who has a tendency to be verbose.
This week’s challenge theme is “The Flip Side.” Here’s my entry:
One of his students, a girl, lingers at his side, batting her lashes. “Thanks for the lesson, Neville.” She sucks a breath that makes her chest puff. “If there’s ever anything I can do…?”
“Just practise,” Neville says, before sending her on her way.
Beside him, Ross watches the girl go, too. “How do you do it, mate?” he asks. “Everyone loves you!”
Neville turns and looks at him, his friend with the luscious smile and the eyes so deep and blue he thinks he could drown in them. Then, he sniffs. “Not everyone.”
This little support piece for Fearless has been bouncing around in my head since I started the story’s initial plotting, back in October 2011. You can be the judge if it adheres properly to the “Flip Side” theme. (Hint: It’s not so hard to see.)
Hope you enjoyed it!
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