Day 324 Writing Short Stories

Hornet

The hornets’ buzzing in the garden was loud. She watched them move against the green background, recording their flight paths. To observe was to understand.

Setting

The time machine had worked, but it had one hiccup, and that was it had taken her to an alternative history rather than the actual history. She was sure that time didn’t work the way she thought it worked. That it flowed between dimensions, looping around the ripples caused by people and events. The ripples had taken her where she hadn’t meant to go.

She stood in the streets on the outskirts of the ancient Roman Empire, Britain. The streets were made of dust and cow paths. Her red hair was a mark of wildness. Her clothing was rough and green. She watched the land, so alien to her, undulate towards the horizon.

Time was time, and she was to understand and explore. She glanced at the spot where she had hidden her time machine and hoped it was secure enough. She stepped onto the cow path and made her way to the settlement rising on the hill with its wooden walls.

Frog

Everyone knows that if you kiss a frog, you get a prince. But everyone thinks that is a fairytale. She knew better. For the past year, the frog, aka the prince, had been following her around everywhere. She was obligated to the thing that needed her protection and support in every possible way. There were countless times she had thought to lose the prince at Ikea or on a run in the supermarket, but her heart had gotten in her way. He was like a lost puppy, with not a single brain cell.

She watched the prince stuff yet another ice cream sandwich into his mouth.

She regretted kissing that frog on a dare at a party. There was no taking back deeds done.

She had tried to get him to find a job or something to do several times now, but it was all pointless. He had no usable skills other than looking handsome, which was now gradually fading due to all the ice cream and his refusal to do anything except watch TV, complain, and spend hours in front of the mirror, pushing and pulling his skin.

He still had his looks, and that was why she was here on the mall. She saw several women looking at the prince in awe. But she wasn’t here to pimp her to another woman; she wasn’t that desperate. She had heard that several model agents sometimes found people in the malls, and she was hoping she had good luck on her side today.

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

I skipped yesterday. I was so tired after my workweek that I slept until noon, and then I had to go to a family lunch.

I’m glad I could write today, even when the tiredness is still there. It is silly how resting and relaxing cause tiredness rather than an energy spike. Though I get it. I have been pushing too much lately, and the mood hasn’t been that great in the first place. So even when I don’t like it when I skip days writing my prompts, I think I forgive myself and accept that it was necessary.

See you tomorrow!

Thank you for reading ❤ Have a day of rest!