Two Sentence Story Challenge

He poises himself on the brink of the black boundary that blocks him from stepping any closer as he holds the orange ember in his hands and slowly lets it drop to the ground and bounce back into his grip. The eyes of onlookers sear into his sides as he releases the cinder into the humid air– praying it turns fireball and burns through the net, he hears the echo of the flame as it hits, and teeters on the edge, along with him.

My (somewhat long) contribution to C.S. Wilde’s Two Sentence Story Challenge. 🙂

Road Blocks – No E Story

Kasim nominated me to do the no ‘e’ challenge, but turn it into a story.
This isn’t really a complete story, but it’s something haha.

Ink has a way of spilling into your blood and vanquishing your familiar body. Taking what you know and transforming it into an unfamiliar ghost of what was. That’s why I am what I am.
My lungs gasp for words as my mind thirsts for a story. As I’m imagining what could occur, I am portraying my world as I know it- not as it truly is.
So many things block my path- and I can’t find ways to pass by. But my own thought is usually my road block. This block that’s contaminating my mind and soul. I lay down rocks in front of my path that I cannot climb, and as soon as I try, I fall. I fall into oblivion without anything to land on. My surroundings diminish as my mind dissipates into nothing.

The Flood- A Flash Fiction Narrative

Some days, you just feel it. You feel your whole life slipping away. It doesn’t flash by, it doesn’t instantaneously vanish. It slowly dissolves like paper in water. Your entire story is written on that piece of paper, yet a strong downpour is beginning.

That day was today. I felt the flood deepening. I felt the threat of the end. But what can I do? Wait it out? No. Fight through it? I have no choice.

It was coming. I don’t know who -or what- it was. But it was coming. I braced and I contested. But finally, I drowned.

“Something” – Part 6

I must have been out for awhile. When I woke up, I forgot where I was. I slowly sat up and propped myself up on my elbows. My head ached and my feet were numb from the cold. I couldn’t see anything.

“Hey.” A voice echoed through the room.

“Hello? Who’s there?”

Suddenly I felt a hand on my back. It was warm, almost comforting. “Sweetie, I’m so sorry. I know that you’re confused and scared and you have every right to be. But I assure you that I will keep you safe. Do you have your key?”

It took me a second to process what she was talking about, then I handed my mother the key that I received with the note.

“This key is meant for you, and only you. Remember that.” She handed it back, rolled my hand into a fist, and held it there as she spoke. “I don’t want you to worry. But don’t let your guard down. Ever. Do you understand me?”

“Where am I?”

“You began before he was ready, and you caught him off guard. He needed more time to prepare so he tossed you in here to pass the time. You’ve been knocked out for over 2 hours, everyone else is already in there.”

“In where?”

“They’re all discovering the truth, as you will in time. Follow me.”

We got up and headed back into the hallway. She lead me into another room where my brother sat, holding a journal. He looked up at me and smiled.

“Stay with your brother. He can help you.” She closed the door and left me in the dark once again.

“What is going on, Toby?”

“Sis, you need to chill out. Alex isn’t what you think he is. He’s just so-”

“Who’s Alex?”

“The guy with the screwed up hand. Anyway, he actually saved mom. I mean, he looks like a bad guy, but he really isn’t.” He started to read the journal again

“Saved mom? What- what are you reading anyway?” I snatched the book out of his hand and as my eyes fell onto the page, my heart fell into the floor.

“Where did you get this? I-I don’t-This is my handwriting, but I don’t remember writing any of this.”

“You might want to take a look at it then. Alex gave it to me, said it would have some answers. It looks like you may know more than  you think you do.”

To Be Continued…

“Something” – Part 5

He rounded the same corner my mother vanished into. Deja vu overcame me and it sent an unnerving feeling down my spine as he stepped into the room.

“Alicia, your mother cannot tell you why you are here, or why she is here. But she does have a story, and it’s time for you all to listen.” His deep voice cracked and his big, empty, light blue eyes remained steady on me as he spoke. He stood, studying the room, keeping one hand in the pocket of his hoodie and running the other through his long, black hair. My cousin, Jolie, adjusted in her seat, probably trying to release her pent up nerves. As soon as he heard her shuffle, he turned to her and warned, “stay seated. It’s not time yet.” He finally pulled his right hand out of his pocket to check the time on his watch. What he had left of his fingers were mangled and twisted and his fingernails were brown and crusted. Realizing what he had done, he quickly hid it back into in the confines of his hoodie as he slowly paced out of the room.

I glanced over to my younger brother, Toby, who looked… excited? Like he was about to walk down the steps on Christmas morning and find a corvette sitting under the tree. He was 16 after all, and he was sitting there, smiling, like a clueless child. We caught eyes and I asked why he was wearing that face.

“I know, sis. I think I figured it-”

There it was again, that strange noise that sliced through my stomach. That loud shrill. It didn’t sound like any human I had ever heard. Could it have been some kind of a machine? Or animal? I don’t know what that noise was, but it was daunting and taunting me to find out.

I looked back at Toby and asked him what he was saying and he refused to speak or make eye contact with me again. What does he know that I don’t?

I suddenly stood up from my chair, as my family looks over at me, silent. What is wrong with them? I stand by the hallway and look back at my family. “I guess I’m doing this alone then.” I swallowed and took a step into the narrow space. After about five steps, I felt a strong grasp on my shoulder yank me into a dark room, I banged my head on something and collapsed into the floor.

To Be Continued…

“Something” – Part 4

What was she doing here? What was I doing here? Why has she been lying to me? Why has she been hiding? Who or what caused this?
Questions rained down and flooded my mind.  I was drowning in my insecurity and confusion.
“-if only you all coul-”
“Mom!” I suddenly interjected.
She lowered her head as her eyes slowly shut. She swallowed, tightened her lips until they were nothing but a white crease, and shifted her gaze onto me with a look on her face as if she just tasted the bitterness of black coffee for the first time.
“Can you not just tell us why we’re here? Why you’re here? I thought you were dead! I graduated, went to the prom, had my heart broken…. I grew up without my mom to stand beside me and tell me that she’s proud, that she loves me, and that everything will be alright. I have spent the past seven years missing you every day, as you’ve been sitting here, doing what? Laughing about how you had me fooled? Why are you here?”
“I don’t expect your forgiveness, Alicia, however I do pray for it. But that is not why you’re here. It’s not why any of you are here. I have made a lot of mistakes and I greatly resent each one of them. If only I could explain, honey. But I can’t. You’ll know soon enough.”
She lifted herself out of her chair and walked past me, brushing her hand along my shoulder. My family and I watched her as she exited out of the room. We looked at one another, probably all thinking the same thing, why are none of us going after her? But there was something strange about this place. Something unwelcoming but we were drawn to it. I know we all felt it, we couldn’t leave but we didn’t want to stay.
My father, sitting on the other side of the semi-circle looked at me and smiled, like he always has during trying times. Why does he seem to have no emotion? His wife, the love of his life, is alive! Shouldn’t he be happy? Maybe he knows something. But why would he hide it from me? We’ve been so close ever since my mom’s “death,”what would he ever have to lie to me about?
As more and more questions filed in, I became more and more uneasy. Nausea over came me and I had to do everything I could to hold myself together. I felt like I was melting, like there was nothing holding me together, my solidity was dissolving and answers were my only solvent.
I pushed myself up  and turned to my family. “Does anyone know what’s going on? Why do I feel like I’m the only one who’s lost right now? Why am I here? Why are any of us here?”
“Because of me..” A voice so familiar, but so distant whispered behind me.
As I turned around, my confusion was no longer only a down pour, it became a hurricane.

To Be Contined…

“Something” – Part 3

Usually, after receiving a letter like I did, one would be comforted to walk into a room full of family members and to be greeted by their mother. However, my mom has been dead for seven years. Or so I believed.

Hesitantly, I headed to the huddle of my household, breathing heavily. I could feel my heartbeat in my throat. As I sat down on the cold, metal chair, I suddenly realized just how cold it actually was. I could see my breath each time my lungs decided to release some air and my fingers were beginning to turn a pale purple and were becoming increasingly more difficult to move. I looked up at my mother, who’s solemn stare felt more and more discomforting the longer I looked. She gave me a quick grin, took a deep breath, clasped her hands together, and began to speak. For the first several words, I couldn’t concentrate on her voice. I could only observe her. Watch how she smiled as she spoke, how she gave such attentive and meaningful eye contact with each of us, and how animated she became, as if she was telling a story to a room full of five year olds. But maybe that’s how she thought of us – A group of grown up kindergartners, falling for every fable she threw our way.

Finally after zoning back into reality, it took me a few moments to realize what she was talking about.

“- a group of strangers. I knew you all once upon a time, but I know all of your lives have been lead down different roads and that I can no longer claim to know any of you. However, I hope that I can rekindle some of our relationships and that you can understand why I did what I did. Especially you, Alicia….”

The moment I heard my name, my thoughts ran rampant through my mind and were once again lost in a jungle of confusion.

To Be Continued…

“Something” – Part 2

My family, friends, everyone I’ve ever confided in, sitting together in a semi circle with an empty chair sitting across from them, facing towards the group. My Aunt Emilia moved her chair slightly away from my Uncle Robert, her ex-husband. There was that sound. Wood scraping against wood, making that terrible, aching screech.

What did I do that was so terrible that I deserved an intervention? Or what was so terrible that I was about to find out about that they think may cause me to need one? Either way, I expected to be faced with something much more morose than my loved ones looking at me disconcertingly.

A week earlier, when I came home from college for summer break, I found a small package in the mail that was addressed to me. I began tearing it open as I headed toward my house. As I stepped inside, the words overtook me. I leaned against the frame of the front door and read:

“Dear Alicia,

Typically, invitations are sent out for for those who are invited to something. Which you are not. It is in your greatest interest if you would attend. Your obligation is to arrive at 335 Ronan Place 562 in Berkshire Hills at 9 p.m. on June 9th, promptly. Something is waiting for you there. Come alone, as I duly noted, this is not an invitation, particularly not an open one. Upon your arrival, you will simply walk up to the house, open the door and step inside. Further directions will be given to you at that time.”

That was all. No return address, no signature, no clue as to who sent me this. Along with the letter, I was given a single bronze key, which had an attached note that read “This is not for use of the entrance.” I felt that I had no choice but to attend to this demand. I was unsettled the entire rest of the week questioning what could possibly be waiting for me at that address. When June 9th arrived, I couldn’t rest all day and my stomach felt like I just stepped off of the tea cups ride after eating one too many pieces of greasy pizza. Despite my unease, at 8:30 that evening, I called a taxi and headed to Ronan Place.

*          *          *

“Hello, sweetie” my mother said as she walked around the corner from the hallway into the entrance room. She took a seat in the center chair facing the group and invited me to take a seat along with the rest of my family.

To Be Continued…

“Something” – Part 1

Something wasn’t right. I could feel it in the way the wind blew. I could taste it in the air. Sensing something lurking beyond my sight, something dark, something wretched, I began to worry. I felt myself trembling as I walked up the gravel drive to the house. My heart thumping wildly, my eyes frozen on the door. All I could think was, “I have to move. I have to run. Get out of here!” But my body continued its slow pace. Each hesitant step, creakier than the last. I was like an old machine starting up for the first time in years.

As I approached the door, I heard something. Something just… not right. A strange, seeping sound which sunk into the core of me. I felt cold and uneasy yet I still reached for the knob. My hand grasped the cold metal and I shuttered all over. I easily turned the knob and with every faint “click” of the handle, I felt my heart pound in response. As the doorknob reached the end of its revolution, my lungs reached the end of their air. I couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t blink. I couldn’t stop shaking. But I continued on. I pulled the door and with a loud, piercing squeal, it opened up to something I never imagined.

To Be Continued….