Wings
Today's exercise: wings.
She could still feel the pain where they'd torn one of her wings off. The bleeding had stopped, at least, but it still ached and burned, and there was the sense of loss that nearly overwhelmed her... She would never fly again. All because of a mistake, a word in the wrong place, a smile at the wrong person... She was now outcast, alone, an exile, never to return home. She looked back at the shining city, the last she would ever see of it, as it rose above the clouds. "Damn you!" she screamed, raising her fist to the sky. "I will show you that you were wrong! I will not forget! Never! You will regret this someday, you and your descendants!"
She screamed until her voice was hoarse and the city could no longer be seen, her throat dry and aching with the fire of straw and kindling. Then she knelt, cradling herself, trying not to think too hard about the way it had felt to have wings... She'd known she was skirting the edge of the law, but this punishment... And she would have all of her immortal lifespan to think it over. "Well," she said to herself, "I will think it over... And it will be to your grief." She turned her back on where the city had been and begun to trek through the wilderness, leaving a trail of feathers and blood behind her.
"What do you see, Tansy?" asked the young tribesman. "Is it another boar running wild?"
Tansy, his lion companion growled and nuzzled a spot on the ground. There was blood, and a single golden feather.
280 words, 5 and a bit minutes. This one felt like it went kind of slowly. I'll admit to thinking about how I wanted the piece to end. If I'd had more time I'd probably have fleshed out the hunter and his kitty, er, lion. ;)
She could still feel the pain where they'd torn one of her wings off. The bleeding had stopped, at least, but it still ached and burned, and there was the sense of loss that nearly overwhelmed her... She would never fly again. All because of a mistake, a word in the wrong place, a smile at the wrong person... She was now outcast, alone, an exile, never to return home. She looked back at the shining city, the last she would ever see of it, as it rose above the clouds. "Damn you!" she screamed, raising her fist to the sky. "I will show you that you were wrong! I will not forget! Never! You will regret this someday, you and your descendants!"
She screamed until her voice was hoarse and the city could no longer be seen, her throat dry and aching with the fire of straw and kindling. Then she knelt, cradling herself, trying not to think too hard about the way it had felt to have wings... She'd known she was skirting the edge of the law, but this punishment... And she would have all of her immortal lifespan to think it over. "Well," she said to herself, "I will think it over... And it will be to your grief." She turned her back on where the city had been and begun to trek through the wilderness, leaving a trail of feathers and blood behind her.
"What do you see, Tansy?" asked the young tribesman. "Is it another boar running wild?"
Tansy, his lion companion growled and nuzzled a spot on the ground. There was blood, and a single golden feather.
280 words, 5 and a bit minutes. This one felt like it went kind of slowly. I'll admit to thinking about how I wanted the piece to end. If I'd had more time I'd probably have fleshed out the hunter and his kitty, er, lion. ;)
posted by Selene at 9:02 PM
0 comments
