The exercise:
Write about: chains.
Okay, Mejaran is going to be a late visitor this month. I have stuff I need to finish tonight ahead of Max's birthday tomorrow, and I certainly won't have the time or energy for it then either. So likely it will come back around on Sunday.
At which point I will hopefully be able to give it the focus it requires. Crazy little village that it is.
Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go write my son a birthday present.
Mine:
Thick silver links snake their way from where they are attached to the wall, disappearing here and reappearing there from beneath mounds of dirt. They continue in this manner until they defy gravity, reaching upward to wrap themselves around my neck.
Chained, like some sort of dangerous dog. Guarding a junkyard, fed just enough to keep me alive but never satisfied. Needing the flesh of trespassers to give me strength.
Perhaps if I sink my teeth into enough foolish flesh I will be strong enough to escape this place.
I should know better than to think such thoughts. I've seen what they do to those of us who become a threat to their tyranny. We are monitored closely and they know the warning signs. Just as one of our number nears that distant threshold, just as hope begins to fill your chest, you wake to find a chain restraining nothing but empty air.
Until those that are taken away are replaced by newcomers.
It is a difficult cycle to bear witness to. I have seen it play out far too many times for my own mental health. But at least I am still alive. That must count for something.
Surely, it must.
2 comments:
Oh wow, you caught up on all the comments! (Well except for last month's Mejaran, but I think we understand why given your notes at the top of your post!) Congratulations!
And a happy birthday to Max ahead of time, although his birthday will start sooner over here that over there :) I hope it's a fantastic first birthday for him!
That's a disturbing little story you have there, and I'm sure you're very subtly writing a larger story with all of these prompts just inducing each chapter and section. I'm starting to feel like there's an overarching theme to a lot of your pieces at the moment. I shall be trying to puzzle it out further!
This one is very nice though, with the tension nicely balanced and the hints at revelations to come neatly presented.
Chains
Well, it had to have been bad luck; surely no-one wanders into a town with a brand new, shiny and bright identity freshly plucked from a child's grave marker and gets stopped by the Deputy Sheriff and asked for paperwork. I told him I was from out of town and looking for work, and he gave me a look like a lizard gives the fly and tells me I've got twenty-four hours to go get it.
That's not a lot of time, and I appreciate how hard you've worked to produce these for me. They're good. Real good, much better than the last lot I had. So you understand that it's hard for me to do this? Chaining you to the rafters was painful, I would have cried while I did if I hadn't had my tear ducts cauterised years ago. Wrapping you in petrol-soaked rags was hard too. I hope it doesn't sting too much. But you know I'm not who I say I am, and I don't want to take chances.
I picked out nice chains for you, shiny and smooth. You can probably see your reflection in them. Well, you can now that I've lit the fire and the flames are giving you some light to see by.
Adieu!
Greg - indeed I did, and I'm quite intent on staying caught up! That was a pain in the arse.
Yeah, a lot of my takes recently could easily go with each other, had I the inclination to stitch them together.
Ah, another visit from this mystery character. Some great details, and the voice is very clear and strong. Certainly a creepy fellow though!
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