Day 264 Writing Short Stories

Bound

The stones were bound together in golden chains. Chains that had long since been robbed or eroded. She was more inclined toward the former explanation. Gold was a noble metal.

There were signs of the bond that once held together the stones. It was her professional opinion that the arrangement was a gate. The symbols on the stone spoke of a transition between realms. This realm that desert had hidden underneath its sand for decades, and the realm that seemed almost godly from the scriptures she had been able to translate.

She had received approval to lift the fallen stones back to how they once were. The gate stood as it had stood three thousand years ago. Instead of golden chains, robes moved between the stone obelisks.

It was a circle that formed around the floor, which was made of the same stones. She had translated the plate she now stood on. And if she was right, in a fortnight, the stars were aligned for the opening.

The gate would be ready then. She would bring the realms together and see the world of the gods.

Coffee

A kid drinks their mother’s coffee behind their back. I skipped this one. All I remember about drinking coffee as a child was my heart racing and feeling slightly jittery. Nothing strange happening.

A Lazy, Rain-Drenched Afternoon

The clock made a loud click. It sounded throughout the house, letting everyone know that time was crawling slowly towards afternoon. It had been raining hard all day, and everyone in the house was feeling sluggish. She had been trying to sort the jigsaw puzzle her aunt had left there, but she was sure there were pieces missing. It was as well. It was a stupid image of a horse. She didn’t particularly like horses.

She was sure she was going to die of boredom before the clock turned twelve. Even the hard candy her mother had laid next to her didn’t make the time pass any faster.

The clock made another loud click; she wanted to scream. Instead, she swallowed her breath. The world around her had stopped. The rain hung in the mid-air. Her father’s hands were frozen high above him, and her little brother looked as if he had swallowed a fly. His nose was all wrinkled, and his eyes bulged out.

She looked around. Everyone was frozen in time, except her. She moved around her family, poking at them. They didn’t budge. They were statues of the moment that didn’t go on. The clock face was frozen. She was about to pull her kid brother’s pants down, but there came a cough at the kitchen door.

She looked at her mother standing there, radiating joy. She pushed her finger against her lips and motioned for her to follow as she disappeared into the kitchen.

She rushed after her mother and saw her slipping out in the rain. She waited for her on the outside step, arranging the raindrops into groups of five.

“It has to be five,” she said as she emerged.

“Mom?” she asked.

“You looked like you needed to dance in the rain without getting too wet. You looked ready to learn the gift that all women in our family know. You looked ready.” Her mother smiled at her.

Seeing her mother smile made her feel a whole lot better.

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

I almost couldn’t write today. I got out of bed in the wrong mood, but I’m feeling a lot better now, and I’m happy with what I wrote today. They felt like stories that live somewhere else, as if I had glimpsed them accidentally.

I hope you have a better day than I am having! Have a day full of stories, and thank you for reading ❤