Day 41 Writing Short Stories

Her

The grass sways in the gentle breeze, folding in half. It’s still moist from the frosty night, as the day grows hot and humid. You have been up before the sun broke loose. You are crawling in the grass, listening to the gentle steps of your target. You have your wooden sword with you. The one you always carry with you.

You see your nemesis. The giant white ninja, or as her parents know her, Lara. Her fierce eyes shine red, and she has wrapped crimson ribbon around the handle of her sword.

You watch her move clumsily like a panda, looking for you.

She cocks her head to listen, to find your erratic heartbeat, as she has been taught. One day, she will be a mighty warrior, making her father proud, making your father proud. One day, you wish you could follow her to the battlefield, but until then, you two are enemies, and you will defeat her, making her regret that she ever got out of bed.

You feel the wet soil between your toes as you push your feet hard against the floor. You can taste your own heartbeat in your throat; it tastes like iron. Your legs shook. They want to go, but you wait, wait for the optimal time. You remember the teachings that time is illusory, and if you let it conquer you, you will fall. You don’t want to fall, to fail.

You let her creep closer to you, still not sensing your presence, and when she is close enough, you attack, swinging your wooden blade at her knee. She topples, but you know she won’t go down as easily. She doesn’t. She swirls onto her back and hops back up, favoring her other leg. You lunge at her, and she bends away from your falling sword, and she draws her own sword in the air, hitting you in your stomach. You feel the wind caught in your chest. You want to cry out. To stop. To beg her to stop, but if you do, you will never follow her into a real battle. You bite your lip and push past the pain.

You block her next attack. The wood meeting wood echoes in the quiet morning. The clang takes you back to all the times you have met at the dojo, rising behind you two.

You meet her hit with your own attack, and she blocks it, letting out an involuntary giggle. The sound tells you that this will be a good day, that afterward you will go for a swim in the cold river running at the outskirts of the village, under the hanging trees.

You crack a smile, and her red eyes meet yours. You know she will let you follow her into the battlefield, and it makes your chest want to burst.

—

Today was a better day. I have yet to learn that it is important to get home early enough to have time to relax before bed. That a good night’s sleep does wonders, though my sleep was left short because our cat wanted reassurance that everything was good. He has an upset stomach, and he always seeks help if he finds it troubling. So he woke me up an hour before my alarm went off.

Also, shifting my thinking about editing my book eased my mood and made writing this morning easier. Altering how I viewed it made everything so much easier. The key was to slow down, to concentrate on one sentence at a time. Surprise, surprise! It made writing so much easier, even with today’s prompt.

Plus, my pronated pull-up strength is getting closer to its maximum. I did my set with 20kg (shy over 44 lbs) today. I still have a few kinks to work out in my shoulders and wrists, but I will get there. My maximum was 24 kg/53 lbs a few years ago.

I have been waiting to write today’s story for a long time, and now everything in the universe has aligned just right, and I got to write it. I saw the cover image a long time ago and fell in love with it. There was a story to be told, and I’m happy how it turned out here and now. What I got today was a conversational writing style, action, a voyage-and-return structure, and a second-person perspective.

Thank you for reading! Have a day of happenstances and happiness ❤