Compiling my two word prompt stories from January.
Sadly, even though there were four weeks worth of prompts, I only got myself together enough to write two pieces. Still, here they are. And, like I did on the collection of 2020 pieces, I added a poll at the bottom so, if you think either of them show promise, feel free to add a vote.
Darkness
All the lights in the house flickered, dimmed, then vanished. Only the low burning logs in the fireplace remained to give any illumination. Shadows pooled along the edges of the room, clots of darkness that thickened and spread before his eyes.
Without even thinking about what he was doing, Eric moved closer to the fire. It wasn’t until his shoulder bumped the granite mantle that he realized where he was. Startled, he pulled back, a swear word dying on his lips when he found he felt no heat from the flames.
Turning back to the room, he was assailed by a smell, something so fetid and rotting it struck him like a club to his solar plexus. He gagged, choked, almost falling to his knees as the odor drove the very air from him. There was grating laughter from the darkness.
Eric felt his body shudder, all warmth fleeing from him at that inhuman sound. He gasped, breath steaming for a second before vanishing. Even the light from the fire was dying, the previously comforting flames guttering down to embers, victims of the encroaching dark.
The dark crept assiduously closer, surrounding him. There were other sounds now; rasping, slithering, whispering. They came from all directions, giving Eric the impression that there was a multitude just beyond his vision.
Waiting.
I don’t really have much to say about this one. Hearing sounds in the darkness strikes me as being one of the primal fears so it tends to occur to me often.
Yvaine & Larissa
Yvaine stood on the balcony, watching with a childlike fascination as the fireworks burst above the lake, the myriad colors reflected in its placid surface. “I know champagne might be more traditional,” Larissa said as she set out the glasses. “But this is all we have.”
Larissa pried the cork free with a pop and splashed a decent measure of red wine into each of the glasses. Looking over to Yvaine she asked, “Aren’t you cold?”
“Maybe you should come over and warm me.” Yvaine’s smile was an invitation.
Larissa crossed to her and put her arms about the other woman, drawing her in close, a move complicated slightly by the glass she still held. Yvaine took the glass from her, pressing back into the embrace as she sipped the tart wine. “So, what are we celebrating?”
Larissa nuzzled Yvaine’s neck, breathing the honeysuckle fragrance from her black hair. “It’s a new year.” She whispered as another spray of fireworks spread over the lake. “We’ve new opportunities to look forward to.” She kissed behind Yvaine’s ear. “And new experiences.”
Yvaine melted against her. With slow grace, she raised her hand up and back, fingers sliding under Larissa’s hair to cup the nape of her neck. “You say that like you have plans.”
She could feel Larissa’s smile through her kisses. “Oh, I might have something in mind. There’s so much I want us to do, to show you.”
Yvaine let the wineglass rest on the balustrade & turned into Larissa’s embrace. She kissed her fully, deeply, their tongues touching for the briefest moment. Breaking the kiss she said, “We have all the time in the world.”
The main thing about this was that I wanted to try writing a romantic scene, not something I have a great deal of experience in. I’d like to think it came out not too bad.
With thanks for the prompts to:
Ken Turner of #MartialMonday, Laura Tatum & A.Z. Louise of #MuseMon, C. Beth Anderson of #YAMonday, Lexi Miles & Chloe Quinn of @foodpartytues/#foodparty, Nicola Noble of #BookishTues, Ida Richens of #TrickyTues, Tim Savage of @1linewedlives/#1linewed, E.J. Reine of @humpdaywrite/#HumpDayWrite and John Cordial of @TalesNoir/#TalesNoir.
The Scribblings 