Day 243 Writing Short Stories

Pearl

The ocean rolled beside her. There, under the turquoise water, lay her namesake. Her mother had called her Pearl. She called her ‘her blessing’. She hadn’t felt like that in a long time. Her mother was now gone. There was only the memory of her name and its origin. Not that their relationship had ever been a blessing as her mother had wanted it to be. She had had her as a way to salvage her life and not for her sake. She had intended her to become her shadow, her everything, and she wasn’t able to be the pearl she had wanted for.

She was unruly, headstrong. All of what Pearls were not meant to be. They were looked at, admired, quiet, nice, beautiful, and all that she wasn’t. And she was never allowed to forget that.

The waves rose high against the shoreline. It was a perfect day to be out on the water. It was a perfect day just to exist. She was made for adventures and not to look pretty, as her mother had wanted her to.

She pulled her diving mask on and descended into the waves.

Nap

He cracked his eyes open, having dreamed the whole morning on top of the heater. His human was once again running somewhere. She had dressed in the fur she used when she left the house. She kept muttering under her breath, and he could feel her anxiety.

He stretched his body, arching his back, then his chest. He let out a soft purr, which usually merited pets. But not this time. His human was again dashing around the house, preparing for her exit.

He was glad he wasn’t a human. The only upside of their lives was that they were handy with cans, but that was about it. He had noticed that they never got enough sleep. They were constantly nervous. The only time his human seemed to calm down was when he curled on top of her chest and purred her to sleep. He would do that instantly if the human stopped running around the house.

He took his position in the hallway and blinked slowly at her. He tilted his head, and he heard the usual chirps from his human. She was giving her excuses for why she had to leave the house and leave him alone. They both knew she felt guilty about it. And they both knew that his being in the hallway made her feel more guilty. But he wouldn’t change a thing. She would eventually come home, and as a price for leaving, she would cuddle with him until he was ready to stop.

Driving Lessons

A father teaches his sixteen-year-old daughter to drive. It’s a disaster. I skipped this one.

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

I almost couldn’t write the prompts because my cats thought they needed their cuddle time at the same time. One was on my chest, and the other was on my legs. So I had no other choice but to let them be there and nap. What a horrendous fate!

I found today’s prompts difficult to write. The first one didn’t echo inside me. I couldn’t find a story that contains the word ‘Pearl’. I really wanted it to go differently from how it went. I wanted there to be something deep and magical. But now it was just about the expectations mothers have for their daughters. An important subject, of course, I know what it means, but I have touched on it here in my blog so many times that I wished another story would come, but none did.

Driving Lessons didn’t speak to me at all, so I skipped it. The only fun I had was with the cat story, but I didn’t experiment with it either. So I’m not that happy about my writing today. It didn’t feel exciting. Maybe tomorrow brings prompts that titillates me.

Thank you for reading ❤ Have a day full of cuddles!