Day 84 Ruminating And Writing

Talon

The talons twisted against her wrist. The thick leather gloves made the hawk latching on her more bearable. She didn’t want to show any strain from holding the bird up. Not when, finally, her father had accepted that she, as a girl, could become a falconer.

The bird bit at her. She stifled her scream. It was her father’s bird, and it was only getting used to her. He was testing her with one of his eyass. The nasty one, who was always hungry. She latched the string onto its talon while avoiding its peak. She put the hood on, and when all that was done, she gave it its reward. The hood instantly calmed the skittish bird down. When she was done, she walked out of the aviary to show her father.

Garden Of The Sun

The gates were always difficult. They were guarded by hexes, and she was running out of runes to hide her when she was slipping in. She had more jobs lately, not having enough time to revise her kit. She took out her last rune and invoked it to counter the hexes on the Garden of the Sun gates. This was not a job. She wasn’t tasked to steal some rare flowers for a customer with deep pockets. No. She was doing this for her Ma. Her mother needed the leaves of the rare flower that the garden only had. She was dying, and the leaves were the only thing that took the pain away.

The path to the upper-floor conservatory was empty. They always were. She had been coming here twice a week. Not daring to take too much. The orange flower was in bloom again. She wasn’t sure how the garden kept them in the eternal bloom. She reached for the flower’s leaves, collecting them one by one into her satchel. She sneaked back down to the gates, feeling relieved that the garden had such shoddy security.

“Ma’am,” came a booming voice.

She froze in her spot.

“We can see you. We have been able to see you,” the voice continued.

She sighed and turned around, seeing an elder man at the top of the steps. She could take him, easily, or she could run. All possible. She was about to bolt, but the man spoke again.

“We have not interrupted you before. We know why you take the leaves. We know about your mother.”

She swallowed. She hated the divine places. They had all sorts of characters with powers the mere mortals could only dream of. “Yes?” she said.

“We let you have the leaves if you do us a favor,” the man said.

“What is with the royal we:s?” she asked.

The man’s booming laughter filled the staircase. It was like thunder and rain, and a command to make her yield.

“We as the garden, Ma’am.”

“It’s miss.”

“Miss, then.”

“So you need me to steal something for you?”

“Yes, miss. We need you to steal a box from the gods.”

The World End

She tightened her coat around her. The wind was whipping her hair. The cold sea air felt colder than it had in the hundred days that had gotten her here. She took the small electric scanner from her satchel and watched the readings on the plates. They were close now. Past the cold sea, the world would end. And after the readings and the measurements they would get, she had volunteered to step into the void unknown. She had accepted her destiny. Whatever would happen would happen, and she would do it for the others. The thought made her stomach squeeze. She closed her eyes, feeling the cold, harsh air against her skin. She had lived a good life. She wanted to do this. If she survived, it would be important.

The ship stopped. They lowered the anchors. And the machine in her hands went haywire. The warp in the ocean was there. It was like a wall of some sort. Nothing had returned there before—no object they had sent through. The signals had died.

The Prompts are from the book A Year of Creative Writing Prompts.

I wanted to continue all the prompts, but again, time doesn’t permit it. My morning was already too slow for all the things I had to do. I still have a few more weeks until my summer vacation. I hope I get to reset everything then. I’m feeling slightly anxious at the moment. Like, there is an odd pressure inside me. I’m not sure where it comes from. I’ll go and do a headstand against the wall and then move to write my book.

Thank you for reading! I hope you have a splendid day ❤