ficlets100 - number seven.

[rawri]

001. Guilt
002. New
003.Solitude
004. Content
005. Tale

006. Distort
007. Luxury
008. Listen
009. Party
010. Scent

011. Storm
012. Lessons
013.Apology
014. Relief
015. Breeze

016.Fading
017. Passion
018. Stay
019.Rain
020. Within

021.Dread
022.Revenge
023.Time
024.Perfect
025.Eyes

026.Bloom
027.Beginning
028. Bath
029. Object
030. Lost

031.Pride
032. Death
033

Comments

ffvii -> ⌈53.⌋ Dare.

[rawri]

There’s a cat strung up by its hind legs, strung up on a string with is on a stick, and Cid’s carrying the stick because the rest of the kids are plain pansies. The cat’s yowling, and Cid tells it to shut the heck up (he’d been learning new words lately, words like heck and darn and goddangit), but it doesn’t, so he shakes the stick a bit, makes it go back and forth, back and forth, and he’s so distracted with this that he doesn’t notice Nibel rising around him.

It was a dare, a stupid dare, if you asked Cid- simply take the cat up to the base of the mountains and get back before the nasty wolves bit your butt (another word he’d learned). But all the other kids thought it was a grand plan-at least, it was a great plan until they had to pick the person to do it.

And then they’d kept on arguing and talking. Like they were adults or something.

Cid didn’t like being made to wait. So he’d grabbed the stick, made the obligatory you’re all a bunch’a darn pansies! and set off. Really, the worst part was how much the cat yowled.

Which it wasn’t doing any longer. Cid paused, taking once glance into the cave they’d stopped before, shook the stick and told it to yowl more - more because he didn’t like how the cave sucked away all the noise than because he was actually scared -- but it didn’t listen. It was beyond evening at that point, colors reflecting on the grey stone, with red and orange and yellow and bright neon blue-

He dropped the stick only to get the cat to yowl again. That was the only reason. There was a man at the entrance of the cave, arm outstretched toward Cid as if he was saying stop (stop what?), and just like the cat, Cid didn’t.

He did rise up on his toes, puff out his chest, and let out a resounding what the heck are you frikking doing, you old geezer? lost your frigging marbles? and then the cat was finally yowling and the man was gone.

Well, sort of. Cid (slack jawed and wide eyed, facts that would be left out when he told the story to the kids later) stared-because it wasn’t everyday you met an old man who could fly. Really fly, too, going straight up against the red and orange as a streak of blue, and Cid swore that he flew straight into space.

Cid vowed right then and there that he’d do the exact same thing. Dared himself (and not a stupid dare!). He’d do it before he got white hair, too, because he was Cid freaking Highwind, and no red-eyed weirdo was going to beat him.

-- Just like no wolf’s howl made him double-time it down the mountains.