Day 150 Writing Short Stories

Deluge

The little island floated in the vast ocean. It had been a sanctuary for years. It had let him escape the real world. There had been just the necessary things one needed to do to survive, and otherwise time to watch the stars, the migrating birds, feel the changing seasons, and the sand between his toes. The island had been a paradise, not shy of hard work, hunger, or those quiet moments, where you question whether it was all worth it, yet every part of it made sense.

But nothing ever seemed to last.

He knew what the flaming balls in the sky meant. He had seen their coming, but hoped that it wouldn’t come to that as an astronomer. Soon, there would be no little islands in the middle of nowhere. There would be a deluge that washed away trees, mountains, cities. There was nothing he could do to change that. He just had to hope that he had calculated their trajectory right and that he and the little island were far enough from the tidal waves.

He had tried to warn the others that it was a possibility. That it was all the stories in history that spoke of lit skies, and the myths about gods wiping out cities were not a fantasy. They had thought of him as a kook. He had hoped he was. An alarmist. But now he saw them with his own eyes, and they were here.

There would be panic. There would be fear. And he couldn’t stop any of that.

Conversation

They had an interesting conversation the whole way through the train ride. She had met her childhood friend on the train, exchanging news about what was going on in their lives. She had spoken at length about her husband, kids, and her work. They had laughed at the similarities as she had told them about her children and her work. It was just that she didn’t have actual human kids. What she spoke of was the werewolves she was helping to adjust to society, as well as all the other peculiars who came to her for help in finding a life among humans. But it felt good to talk to someone normal, as if everything she had gone through was something others had experienced too.

She waved goodbye to her friend and walked back to her home with a lighter step.

Make-Up

The colors sparkled in the little plastic box. They shone with the shine of metals from gold to copper, mixed into all the colors of the rainbow. It was her mother’s eyeshadow. She had heard her father gush to her mother about how much the thing had cost.

Of course, it had cost an arm and a leg, as her father had said; it was made of real diamonds and gold.

She opened it quietly, sitting in the corner of her closet, having dragged the little play mirror there with her. She took the brush and began painting her face. The soft brush felt amazing on her skin. It was like hugging her pet cat and snuggling her face against its fur. It felt like what clouds should feel like. It was as if the brush made her body feel as though it were floating in the air.

She watched her rainbow-colored face in the mirror and felt proud of how she looked.

Then the door cracked open, and she saw her mother’s astonished face. She embraced herself for her mother yelling at her, but all she heard was a sigh. Her mother lowered to her level and said, “Honey, I would appreciate it if you asked if you wanted to play with my things.”

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

I was sure I wouldn’t get a single word out today. Everything feels a lot more difficult today than it should. However, I’m glad I wrote all the prompts, even when my mind went blank when I first saw them. My mind feels blank still, and I don’t have a lot to say.

Thank you for reading! I hope your mind sparkles today; if not, try pressing your head into a cat or dog’s stomach. It works every time ❤