Day 366 Writing Short Stories

Jasmine

See, a perfect tea is made with hot water and patience. Some might say there’s no time in the world for such patience, for tea. But I would argue that a perfect cup can transform a person. It can and has been reported to take them thousands of miles away into a state of quietness of the soul.

Here on the outskirts of the Milky Way, my tea anchors me back to the soil, the sun, the slow-moving winds, and the hands that picked the leaves, to the place I left behind. The hint of jasmine in my tea reminds me of my mother and her habit of stealing a slow morning for us, even though the day was going to be busy.

I will lose that memory soon. I will lose the importance of the tea. Of everything. Now my decision weighs on me. I feel everything. I remember everything. All those things that will be lost on me. The thought that, soon I will exist only as a function, as a salvation, lets me afford this moment—this moment of lapse, of doubt. I will not back down. I will be the salvation I signed up for. I let them push me through a wormhole so they would understand, so they could save our galaxy. I do this for you.

Will it hurt if I turn into a million pieces, or become one? Will I know it? Will I care?

I take the last sip of my tea and hit the button. All is done. All the goodbyes were said. There’s only one path and no return.

Letter

A man finds a letter addressed to him that starts with ‘Dad.’ He is not a father. I skipped this one.

Smile

He had always been a thunder hunter since his first storm as a child. There is something magical about the sky being pierced in half. Now, as an adult, he had made it his job. He had become a meteorologist, winning awards for the algorithms he had developed to predict weather patterns, yet he didn’t forget where he had come from. He had come from thunder and the love of it.

He stood there on the hill, watching the sky turn darker. The wind was picking up, and he could feel the pressure in the air. This was going to be the mother of all thunderstorms. His readings had said as much.

He had left his car down on the hill, having hiked up to the highest point. He was being careless. He knew that. But this was going to be it. He was going to feel it.

The cameras were already set up, and all he had to do was stand there in his wellies and raincoat and wait for the thunder to roll in.

He didn’t have to wait too long. It came. He saw at first small lightning taking up the sky, but it grew bigger and bigger, flashing against the black clouds. He watched in awe, a smile on his lips, as the thunder roared over him.

When it passed, he was soaking wet but happy. He collected his cameras and headed to his car, blasting the heat to the fullest.

He sighed and pushed the gas pedal, then hit the brakes to the limit. There on the road stood an unlikely animal made of fire. It was small, like a baby bird. He got out of a car and rushed to it, shielding it with his raincoat. The thing blinked and crackled.

“A baby thunder,” he gasped.

The creature let out another crackle. He watched towards the horizon where the storm had rolled and knew what he would have to do. He scooped the baby thunder inside his raincoat and rushed to the car. He was going to chase the thunder as he did in the old days. The car roared as he hit the pedal.

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

This is it. We have come to an end. The prompts have been written, and I know not what to say. There is just this silence, the thought that this is so soon. I just started. I forget those times I struggled to write, remembering only the good parts, some of the stories, and all your comments and likes. So, so, so odd.

I’m not sure what will happen tomorrow. Shall I take a break or not? Shall I continue with my plan or not? I think the day will show that. So many endings. So many things finished: my book, my climbing project, and now this. Odd, odd, odd.

Thank you all for taking this journey with me! Your reading my stories and ramblings has meant a great deal ❤ Have a day of thunder and tea!