Its not nessicarily a story post but I felt the need to post something. My laptop crapped out on me, so I upgraded to a Samsung Tab A with a keyboard case. Yay for mobility on my writing! Hopefully this will help, in addition to my writing play date with Remi.

Wish me luck, my nonexistant followers!

Flash Fiction.....

So I got off work early and instead of being a sociable human being, I hermit-ed myself into my apartment and kicked a story out of my head.

This little thing has been rattling around in my head for a few days now.

~~~~

“Don’t you think it’d be nice for her to wake up and fall asleep in the same place for once?” Dad slapped his hand down on the table with a crack. His shoulders were bunched up and tight as he stared at Mom.

I couldn’t see her but I could picture Mom’s face scrunch up. She had her back to me as she hissed at him. “You’ve got to keep it down.” She balled up the t-shirt she was scrubbing in the sink and I heard her breathe in, long and slow. “I can’t have this argument again. It’ll just end with you and me mad at each other for weeks and Cee wondering what she did this time.”

From my hiding spot in the bedroom, I saw Dad throw his hands up. He said something I didn’t understand and pointed at Mom. “Far be it from me to oppose the will of the great Enora! We’ll just keep running and running and running. We’ll just run until we fall down and then who will protect Cee then? Who?” His voice rose and rose until he was shouting the last words.

Mom stood as tall as she could, her head almost bumping the 7 foot ceiling of our pop up camper. I saw her face as she turned to look at Dad, her gold eyes glowing in the dim lamp light. “Do you think you can go head to head with the Council? I know I can’t. I can talk trees into walking across the road and sing the rivers to a frozen crawl but I cannot go against the Will.” Her voice was low, almost a whisper. “If the Council were to say Cee is to be put to death and I, her executioner, I would have no choice but to. Its is not more and no less than that.”

Dad tried to cut in, his whisper a sharp hiss but Mom cut him off with a gesture. She continued. “Cee is my treasure, Berryt. I will not cast my precious pearl before those swine. I knew the minute I held her, I would never let her go.”

“That’s what caused this in the first place! You had to have her!” Dad smacked the counter again. “Eight years ago, you couldn’t resist the call and we’ll always pay the price. She’ll pay the most of all. She won’t belong here any more than she did in Avalon. She’s eaten of the fruits of Avalon and will never feel at home here.”

Mom backed up a bit so I couldn’t see her face any more. Her voice became softer, trembling as she spoke. “They wouldn’t have loved her like we do. They had too many children as it was. The woman even said she didn’t want her around. You heard her, Berryt.”

Dad sighed and turned away from Mom, walking towards the bedroom. I scooted backwards on my butt, pushing myself further into the shadows around the big bed. He stopped at the curtains which marked bedroom entrance. I could just see his hand as it squeezed the door frame. “Yes, Enora, I heard her. And I let you convince me it’d be better for her if we took her.” He sighed again, a low breath of air that seemed so sad. “I’m as guilty as you are. I know.”

A sniffle was the only reply that came from Mom. Dad turned his back to my hiding spot. “She won’t be safe no matter what we do. She’s marked. Here and back home.”

I inched forward again, straining to hear Mom from the kitchenette. The lights flickered as she whispered in the same strange language Dad had used. I peeked around the corner and saw her sitting at table, head on her folded arms. Her long hair draped over the end of the table, black and glittering in the low light. Her voice was muffled and hoarse when she replied. “I used to enjoy seeing all of this world. The sunsets are so much more amazing here than Avalon. Each time we stopped, the sunset was just a little different than the last one.”

“Enora, the sunsets aren’t-” Dad stopped and shook his head. I watched him walk over to Mom and put his hand on her head. She looked up at him. “The only way to truly protect her is to give her all the knowledge we have.”

I stood up, still partially hidden by the curtain between the bedroom and dining room. I pulled the edge of the curtain back far enough to see fully into the room. Mom was holding her necklace in her hands, turning the apple charm over and over in her fingers. After a few minutes of silence, Dad took her hand and stopped the movement.

I could see tears on Mom’s pale cheeks. “What if she hates me? She might not ever forgive me.”

“We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.” Dad kissed her on the forehead. He pulled her close and hugged her. “But we have more important things to talk about.”

Mom stood up straight and pushed her hair behind her ears. Her eyes were still red and puffy. “Its time we told her, then.”

“In the morning.” Dad squeezed her hand.

I took a step forward and pulled open the curtains. Mom looked at me with wide eyes as Dad put on his stern face.

“Cee, what are you doing up? It is way past your bedtime.” Dad loomed over me, more than 6 and a half feet tall. I stared right up into his eyes.

“You said its time to tell me.” I looked from him to my mom. They both stared back, silent. “So tell me.”

Mom came to me, smoothing her hands over my bed head hair. “Cee, we can talk in the morning. Lets all go back to bed.” Her voice was too calm, too happy to be real. She smiled at me and I didn’t believe it.

“No. I want to talk now. I want to hear you say it.” Again I looked at them, right in my parents’ eyes. “Go ahead. Say it.”

Dad cleared his throat. “Cee, that’s no way to speak to me or your mother. I think you need to go to bed.”

I stamped my foot onto the thin carpet and felt the boards underneath. “I won’t. If you won’t say it, I will.”

“Cee, you don’t know what you’re talking about.” Mom’s voice got higher as she gripped my shoulders, kneeling to my level to look right into my eyes. “There’s so much to this you don’t understand, honey.”

“You took me from a human family when I was a baby.” I gazed back into her eyes, my brown reflecting in her gold. “I’m a changling.”

~~~~~

Also gonna try experimenting with Google Drive as a mobile cloud so I can work on stories and poems on the go. You know, instead of constantly playing Fruit Ninja or Sailor Drops. Adulting, productive, all that jazz. 

Alright lovelies, gonna go sleep now. laters!