Day 213 Writing Short Stories

Corrode

Little by little, this heart of mine corrodes by the minds. I feel that I’m growing more cynical, and the youthness of my soul is slipping away.

Phone

She had been away the whole day; her phone was at home. It had been a peaceful day without any interruptions. But she was happy to get back to her phone and see if he had texted her back. They had plans for tonight. They were going to have sex for the first time. She had bought special underwear for that.

When she opened her front door, she was in a good mood, knowing this was and was going to be a perfect day. She had waited for him to make the move all week, and he had finally made it clear that he wanted her.

Her happiness didn’t last. Her mother sat in the foyer, and she had one of those looks she had when she was going to pay the price. She swallowed hard and was ready to bolt when she saw her phone on her mother’s lap. Her mother was a strict woman from the old country, and she knew nothing of what it meant to be a woman nowadays. All she wanted from her was for her to behave and be like her. Marry some man she and her father picked. A man from the old country. But she had cursed even them away when she had brought a boy home. Most likely, she wanted her to stay home as an old maid, while her brothers were free to be as they wanted.

She dared to face her mother’s scolding gaze. “No,” she heard herself saying.

“No,” she repeated.

Her mother didn’t move an inch, yet there she was next to her, seizing her arm. She hissed between her lips, “You don’t know what you are playing at, girl. I forbid you to see the boy.”

“No,” she said, barely able to breathe.

“Yes, you will. You are of a bad bloodline, and you do as I tell you to.”

She tried to shake free of her mother’s clutch, but her bony fingers tightened hard against her arm. “Hear me, girl. Love will bring you nothing but sorrow. Love will take away your power. You will hollow out as I did, and end up bitter as I did. I can see it in the cards. I can see it in the text. He is no boy for you. He will take you down with him.”

“You are speaking nonsense, Ma. No one believes those things anymore.”

She expected her mother to shout at her, but she dragged her to the hallway mirror and tapped her finger at it. “Look,” she said.

She saw nothing but her and her mother in the mirror, both looking angry and hurt.

“What?” she said.

“Look,” her mother said, tapping the mirror again.

She narrowed her eyes, and then she saw it. It was like a dark shadow standing beside her. A figureless creature was joined to her. She instantly looked beside her, and there was nothing. When she faced the mirror again, she saw it there, caressing her.

“No screaming.” Her mother clasped her hand over her mouth. She nodded towards her own image, and the shadow was twisted around her frame. “It is not still in you. Don’t let it take you. The boy will make sure it has you. It’s what he is made to do. But if you do as I tell you, you will be free of my fate.”

—

I started this one to write, I will not write the story since it is about a mother seeing saucy texts between her daughter and the boy she is seeing. I’m glad I forced myself to write it and give it a spin.

Gender

The hoops in his ears clicked together as he stepped onto the altar stones, facing his congregation. He lifted his hands in the air and heard the worshipers simultaneously praise Kraken. He let out the last amen at the end of the prayer and signaled the cultists to sit down.

He adjusted his long, colorful woolen coat around him as he knelt in front of his congregation. They fell with him into a silence, letting their thoughts wander to the ancient one, their god, their tormentor, their salvation.

He, Mister Sabine, asked for immortality, the power to infest the god’s will into Necropolis. Let its tentacles take over the city, and him to be the god’s oracle, executing its will. He could feel the power slip through his fingers as the young Agatha arrived at the altar with the offering. The congregation and God loved her pious nature, her calm temper, and her milk-white eyes. He would make sure she would not serve the god for long.

—

This prompt was about changing the gender of a character I had previously written about. So, I changed Madam Sabine from my books into a man. She became a much more sinister person when he switched genders. I could have tried to write him softer, more caring, but I went with the usual masculine role route.

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

Now, I have to leave for work. I had fun writing today. At first, the prompts disappointed me, but once I started writing, everything fell into place.

By the way, when I complained about the darkness here a few weeks ago, I learned a fun fact: the sun has only been visible for 6 minutes over the month. It was one hour less than last year—no wonder the darkness was getting to me.

Thank you for reading ❤ Have a joyous day full of old crones and cultists!