Category Loss

Lurk – Magpie Tales

freyathewriter 12 Comments

highway

They think that I only have myself to blame, those who look upon me from afar. They, who are safe in the knowledge that their lives are sorted. They gaze upon me. They see only what they want to see.

Once, in the glory days. I was like them. From high on my pedestal, I judged, I commented, I highlighted the shortcomings of others. I was sure I knew it all.

Oh, how times change. Here I am, eking out my existence on the periphery. This underpass is my home, for tonight at least. Tomorrow, I move on, as always. Tomorrow, I sit with my hand out, waiting for coins to be tossed in my direction, as always.

I move on, but I don’t move far. I circle the town, spending my days in the streets where my former friends still shop and eat and drink. They see me. I am the only person static in a frenetic, non-stop world. They see me. They resent me. I am the reminder that life can turn on you in an instant.

I am the conscience they would rather not have.

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Here’s my latest entry into Magpie Tales. I don’t know why this picture of cosy winter socks took me down this road. Sometimes, the muse is slant-eyed…

Please visit Magpie Tales for more creativity – you know you want to!

The Girl – Magpie Tales

freyathewriter 9 Comments

socks

The Girl had given up long ago. You could see it in her eyes.

She had decided – as young girls often do when life turns on them, viper fast and twice as deadly – that self-protection was her only option.

She pulled up her drawbridge. She armed her battlements. She opted for ‘No’ when she desired ‘Yes’.

Oh, The Girl’s life was safer, alright. How could it be anything more when she had turned her back on the world? How could she take risks with her arms folded tightly across her chest and her hands clenched into tiny fists?

She looked, but she did not see. She observed and noticed nothing.

She turned inwards. She defended herself from anyone and everything.

And so, she disappeared.

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Here’s my latest entry into Magpie Tales. I don’t know why this picture of cosy winter socks took me down this road. Sometimes, the muse is slant-eyed…

Please visit Magpie Tales for more creativity – you know you want to!

The Conversation – Magpie Tales

freyathewriter 8 Comments

035a

“This is where we marked her passing,” you say.

“She didn’t die here?” I hardly dare ask the question, my voice barely a whisper. You are a man for statements, not explanations.

“She did not die here,” you say. It is a bald statement.

Yet again, as has been our custom, I let the silence hang between us. It is a new routine, to replace those of my prior, solitary existence.

“She died out there,” you say, pointing to the hills that brood on the horizon.

“I am sorry,” I say, looking at you. You are staring towards those hills, as if to destroy them with your thoughts. I kneel down, reach out to brush the dust and lichen from the worn stone, to reveal her name to the elements.

“NO!” You grasp my arm, pull me up and away from the headstone. I bite down on the yelp of protest as pain arrows across my shoulders. You do not like dissent. I have learned this lesson well.

“She was careless,” you say and stride away from me. You mount your horse, landing in the saddle in one, supple move.

I turn my back and walk into the house.

You will return.

You will return.

 

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Here’s my latest entry into Magpie Tales. There is a theme running through my weekly writings once again. If you want to know more about Sarah, please read my Five Sentence Fiction and Three Word Wednesday entries. Can you identify with her at all?