The Unicorn Challenge.
A magical new weekly writing opportunity from her – Jenne Gray – and me.
Visit her blog every Friday to see the photo prompt, and post your amazing story in her comments section.
Or on your own blog, and stick the link down in her comments.
The rules are:
Maximum of 250 words.
Based on photo prompt.
That’s it.
To hear me read my story, just click here:
Shadows
I’m a man who’s afraid of nothing.
Except, of course, the ghosts of the past.
The shadows of the things I’ve done, the people I’ve hurt, and who I was.
Or maybe that is the things we’ve done, the people we’ve hurt, and who we were.
Because we were always a team, weren’t we?
Always together.
Competing against each other in private, supporting each other unquestioningly in public.
We were invincible, indestructible, irresistible.
But we always wondered, didn’t we?
If it came down to it, which of us was stronger, more resolute, just, well, more…
When the time came to go our different ways, I think we were both relieved.
Marriage, family, respectability came, blunted the edge of our aggression, our violence.
Except when we had to quietly revive it to make a point to someone, some idiot who had no idea who or what he was getting involved with.
But this is different.
This is what we both feared, both knew was inevitable.
So I am here.
Waiting for a ghost.
Watching the shadows.
Afraid.
I think this describes many relationships.
Or maybe that’s just me. :/
This is a sad and difficult story. I think they’re universal thoughts we all have but we don’t all admit to the vulnerabilities we have before, during and after and those vulnerabilities can be chilling. The most powerful line in the story for me was the inevitable(?) crack in the foundation: “But we always wondered, didn’t we?” And there it lies…
Thank you, Michael, for your thoughtful comments.
There is, as I’m sure you know, nothing more rewarding for a writer than to know you have reached someone, provoked a thought, especially one as deep as yours here.
You nailed it.
Interesting…
Laughing.
I’ve been told that’s the word people use to be polite when they really think a piece is krap!
You are indeed masterful. Excellent.
Thank you, Sally, you are too kind.
I don’t know why this thought came to mind but it did:
Life with a friend is like two parallel lines. Perhaps the two rails of a train track. Everything running smoothly. The two lines/rails compliment one another.
Until one day the friends realize that what they had been taught: Parallel lines never meet – is not true after all. 🙁
And they have been on a collision course since the day they met.
Which reminds me of a musical “Stop the World I Want to Get Off.
I am finding I can’t comment to your post. I usually use FireFox browser. I switched to Google Chrome and maybe having better luck.
Kinda deep there, dear Lady, and possibly even true.
Re posting problems, are you not a (flavour of) Unix user?
Because I use Linux, and Chrome is a disaster.
To be honest, Firefox has problems too!
🙂
Shook me to the core, CE, because it reflects so much of the eventual failure of my own first marriage and, yes, the ghosts tarry, waiting to ambush your new life. But to finish with some levity: My wife and I were very competitive. But I was more competitive than her.
Thanks, Doug, it’s rewarding to touch someone with a short piece.
And your wife doesn’t agree with your last statement!
🙂
You build up such a tense piece in an understated way that sums up a whole life, but reveals neither the ‘why’ nor the ‘what’ – and yet it all makes sense.
I bow to the master of creative precision.
I guess sometimes ‘why’ and ‘what’ are less important than ‘who’, because this is all about the character and his frailties.
Thank you.
Truer words never spoken, both Jenne and CE. Heavy with watchful sadness.
Really great!
The battles continue…
An intriguing story.
Thanks, D, I’ll settle for intriguing !
Another great little story that packs a mighty punch, I really enjoy your writing style.
Apologies for the late reply, but this went into Spam.
Another wee WP trick!
Thank you for your kind words, always good to hear.
Do you know I recently published a full-length novel, written in the same style?
I did not! That’s awesome, where is it available?
If you’re in the UK:
http://bit.ly/42rHFiG
or in USA:
amzn.to/43kuVeS
Please let me know if you enjoy it.
And. more importantly, tell other people!