Day 116 Ruminating And Writing

Storm

She stood in the middle of the storm. The wind whipped her jacket, and the rain drummed against her hat. She stared down at the lighting, waiting. She had a meeting with Destiny, and Destiny was a dramatic bitch.

Soon, the thunder hit the ground just in front of her, blinding her. She kept her focus on the point, seeing nothing but whiteness. But when the shadows returned, she saw the god stand where the lightning had hit. The rain and wind didn’t touch her.

“You rang,” Destiny said.

“And you came, sister.”

“Family is family.” The goddess smiled amused. She was loving this. Destiny had warned her not to descend amongst the mortals; that all the rules were off if she chose a mortal life. There was no kinship amongst the gods. There were only petty rivalries.

“I thought I wasn’t family once…” She looked down at her mortal body.

“I was curious.” Destiny shrugged.

She knew what she meant. She had left the gods in a blazing fury, swearing never to return, and cursing their ways. She had been naive and foolish. She needed her powers back if she was…

“It’s about that child of yours? Isn’t it?” Destiny asked.

She swallowed and felt the tears running down her cheek. “Yes,” she whispered, the storm swallowing her word, but nothing was lost on Destiny. It never was.

“And you want me to intervene? You want me to save her from certain death.”

“Yes.”

Little Girl

She stood her ground as the dust cloud rose high in the distance. It slowly got closer, and she could see the horses and the men. She widened her stance, squeezing tight at the paw of her teddy bear, letting her white night gown flap in the wind. Then they were upon her. The men and their horses. Most had their faces covered with a rag, but some had a ragged beard and their yellowed, black teeth showing. These were no men of civilization. These were the desert bandits. These were the only ones who could help her.

Her gaze met with the leader of the men, and he saw it in her eyes. The need for vengeance. Need for the tears to go away. He lowered his hand, and she took it, letting him yank her in one swift movement on the horse.

“Let’s go, boys. We have a destiny to fill.”

Hedgehog And Otter

It was a good day for a murder. The Hedgehog had his pen ready as the Otter sniffed around the crime scene. Together, they would get to the bottom of the Frog’s demise.

“Can I now get up?” the Frog asked.

“No, you are supposed to play dead,” The Hedgehog said.

“But I’m really hungry, and the Otter is taking too long to decipher that it’s the Rabbit who done it.”

Everyone sighed, and the Rabbit came out of the closet.

“What?” the Frog croaked.

“You better say that your mother made jelly sandwiches or you will be truly dead,” the Otter squealed.

“There might be sandwiches,” the Frog said sheepishly.

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

Today was full of dramatic stories with destinies and murders. I loved the electric, expectant mood. It’s like something good will come after the storm.

I’m in an odd mood today. I was pinged with a review for my book, The Council of the Dead. It was a good one. Someone had gotten what I wanted to say with the book, getting all the allegories and nuances. I felt sick about it, waiting for the other penny to drop. I don’t know why it is hard to take in good news and praises like that. Or I know. It’s my childhood, but I really have to start learning to move beyond the habit of expecting payment for flattering words. I had to center my nervous system before I could thank them for their review. I managed to do that with the tricks I have learned from my job: movement, dancing, cold path, counting things in the room with all your senses, taking a nap, squeezing something… There are so many ways to regulate the nervous system.

Anyway, there will be a thunderstorm today. I love them.

Thank you for reading ❤ Have a lovely, moody day full of wonderful storms — whatever kind of storm you want!