Friday Flash: "No."

"Do you love me?"

"No."

"Is it because I'm a man?"

"No."

"Do you love her?"

"No."

"But didn't you tell me you wanted to get engaged to her?"

"No."

"Are you just saying that now to soften the blow of not loving me?"

"No."

"Are you sure?"

"No."

"Aha, I got you!"

"No."

"You're more agitated than usual tonight."

"No."

"Is that all you can say?"

"No."

"Then say something else."

"No."

"No?"

"No."

"I love you."

"No."

"How do you know how I feel? Are you me?"

"No."

"Do you want to be me?"

"No."

"Do you want to be with me?"

"No."

"I thought we were at least friends."

"No."

"Do you want me to leave?"

"...No."

"You hesitated."

"No!"

"Then here, why don't you be with me?"

"...No."

"You hesitated again."

"..."

"Do you like that?"

"N...no."

"Are you sure?"

"No..."

"I thought so. You told me you liked that before."

"No..."

"Is your memory cloudy?'

"No."

"You know what else you told me before? That I was the only person who could understand you. That I was the only one who saw you for who you really were inside. That you would stop the world if it meant keeping me near you until we were old and gray and fading away. You tell me lots of things when we're alone, like now. And I will tell you now, that I love you. I love you so much that I put up with your stubbornness and your hateful ridiculousness because it's better than being without you."

"..."

"Do you love me?"

"Yes."

Friday Flash: The Fortieth Time

What do I do with this tho.

(What? It's Friday here!)

This is my entry for the Second Campaigner Challenge, which is kind of the King of Clusterfulandia. Basically, a 200 (oh excuse me, LESS! So I shot for a nice 199) word flash fiction based on five different prompts. Oh Lord. (I'm not listing all the requirements here. If you're interested, click on the link!)

That said, here is my entry. Writing in my same genre, not sorry. Then again I write just about every genre except YA Paranormal Romance (why I will never be able to support myself writing, apparently) so I suppose it doesn't even matter =P

As usual, this story takes place in the CROSS// universe. But you've never heard these names before.

No ~dirty language~ this week, but there is gun violence. (Also, I'm entry #80.)

---

Once children ran and played with each other on that bridge. But not today.

Not ever again.

Karra’s body slumped forward from the support beam and landed in the mud, her leg too broken to support her. Ireya sobbed beside her and readied a pistol for the inevitable.

The world crumbled around them. Ireya brushed the wet hair out of her face and gazed down at Karra’s vacant eyes and trembling breath.

Ireya stood; the pistol cocked. Looking down the barrel and towards Karra’s muddy blond hair made Ireya choke on her courage, but so long as Karra “lived” there was no room for hesitancy in Ireya’s failing heart.

“I always love you.” Her lips quivered, but the finger on the trigger held in resolution.

With one shot Karra no longer felt pain.

Ireya had one final choice:  join Karra of her own volition, or let the collapsing planet claim her.

A shot.

Ireya’s body fell with a thud in the rain. Blood spilled from her body and joined Karra’s, together at last, as they died for the fortieth time.

The rain fell upwards as two butterflies departed for the cosmic Void.

The world ended.

For the fortieth time.

"I'm Hearing Voices" Blogfest Day 3: Emotion Flash Fiction

It's day three of the Blogfest hosted over at Live to Write...Edit When Necessary and Reading, Writing, and Lovin' It! Today's challenge is:

Emotion Flash Fiction: Emotion is the engine of a story. Pick an emotion and in a flash fiction piece of 250 words MAKE us feel it! We want to connect with your character. This will be a challenge in 250 words.

  Had to think good and hard about what to write for this one. Eventually I got an idea from a comment Emily R. King left me in Wednesday's entry and decided to bring both Day 1 and 2 together in a preview snippet from the current WIP, CROSS//Revenge, which is book 2 in the CROSS// Pentalogy. (Book one is finished and sitting before I attempt final revisions again. I'm currently writing the rough draft of book two.) While this scenario will occur, I'm not quite that far yet so I'm not sure if it's going to happen as I've written below. But oh well!

...no screenshots for you today!

               While her charge continued to sleep in affliction behind her, Miranda maintained her vigil just yards away, her body poised for meditation.

               She opened her eyes, her head pointed low. Just over her shoulder she could see Danielle laid on the floor, hands clasped and face twitching in the throes of her nightmares.

               “What are you dreaming about?” Miranda wondered. She pulled out a cigarette from her back pocket and lit it with alacrity. “Are you dreaming about me?”

               Smoke wafted through the air as Danielle muttered an incoherent reply in her sleep. Miranda frowned. She stuck the cigarette back in her mouth and stood in silence.

               Her mind exploded.

               Fuck you, Danielle. Miranda exhaled. After everything I’ve done. After all the sacrifices. After all the blood? Another draft. The things I’ve done. The contacts I’ve made. The people I’ve fucked, all for you. Smoke. The deals I’ve made. Her cell phone rang with Yumiko’s tune. The horrors I’ve endured.

               Miranda counted each breath Danielle took.

               And you don’t even care to remember me.

               The tune died down as Yumiko gave up contact somewhere on the other side of the world. Miranda dropped the finished cigarette and smashed it with her boot, the ashes smoldering on the stone next to Danielle’s cheek.

               Miranda turned. She faced the circle of men and women donned in their black hoods and chanting their prayers. She pulled out her pistol and leveled it at the nearest julah, a woman.

               “Well,” Miranda said, “I’m ready.”

---

Didn't get a chance to edit as much as I like since I think I'm coming down with a cold just in time for the weekend here, so I'm posting it "as is". Oh well. Enjoy! This blog fest was a lot of fun. Looking forward to more great ones in the future.Thanks to everyone who's stopped by to read my humble stuff this week! You have no idea how much pride and enthusiasm all of your comments have given me!

EDIT: Oh ahahaha I must really be sick indeed now. I totally forgot to say something that I had intended all day.

I'm not sure what "emotion" to classify this. It's like a cross (lol get it) between "resolution", "frustration", and "determination". Any word to sum that all up? Haha. Let me know what emotion this evokes for you!