Ficlet: Not Tonight
Title Not Tonight
Author Bruttimabuoni
Rating PG
Word Count 220
Prompt 122 (London)
Characters/Pairing (if any) Drusilla
London, October 1940
It’s not a fairytale sort of name. Li-ver-pool Street un-der-ground sta-tion.
No, there’s no poetry there. But just now it is Drusilla’s favourite place in all London.
There are loud noises outside, flashes and crashes and all manner of nasty things raining from the sky. But down here it is warm, and dark, and safe, and there’s company, music, shelter and food.
Drusilla cuddles up to her food. The girl barely stirs, so very tired from nights of endless bombing, so very used to the proximity of strangers in these sheltering tunnels. She doesn’t flinch, until the fangs bite down, and then she barely sighs in protest.
She won’t be tired any more. No need for her strange new-familiar paraphernalia, for ration books and gas masks, that have been constant companions for over a year. No matter that it’s cold out and she can’t heat her bathwater. No need to Dig for Victory; home grown carrots won’t be necessary. No fear of what the invaders might do, if they come (when they come) - no cyanide in the shoe, insurance against a fate worse than death.
But no, it’s plain old death for the food tonight. Drusilla wants a new playmate so very much. She’s been looking everywhere for someone to love.
But not tonight.
~~~~~~~~
Um, footnotes again:
Underground stations were used both officially and unofficially as air raid shelters during the Second World War in London, especially during the Blitz (1940-41) when bombers came over most nights and many people didn’t even try to sleep at home. At this time, a German invasion was still a real possibility.
This is set in Liverpool Street; new sidings where tracks hadn’t yet been laid were used as vast overnight shelters - Henry Moore did a lot of his shelter drawings here as a war artist. It’s at the east side of the City of London, where some of the worst bombing occurred.
Most of the rest is self-explanatory I hope, though I might explain Dig for Victory was a government food-production slogan encouraging citizens to bring land into use for food production.
Author Bruttimabuoni
Rating PG
Word Count 220
Prompt 122 (London)
Characters/Pairing (if any) Drusilla
London, October 1940
It’s not a fairytale sort of name. Li-ver-pool Street un-der-ground sta-tion.
No, there’s no poetry there. But just now it is Drusilla’s favourite place in all London.
There are loud noises outside, flashes and crashes and all manner of nasty things raining from the sky. But down here it is warm, and dark, and safe, and there’s company, music, shelter and food.
Drusilla cuddles up to her food. The girl barely stirs, so very tired from nights of endless bombing, so very used to the proximity of strangers in these sheltering tunnels. She doesn’t flinch, until the fangs bite down, and then she barely sighs in protest.
She won’t be tired any more. No need for her strange new-familiar paraphernalia, for ration books and gas masks, that have been constant companions for over a year. No matter that it’s cold out and she can’t heat her bathwater. No need to Dig for Victory; home grown carrots won’t be necessary. No fear of what the invaders might do, if they come (when they come) - no cyanide in the shoe, insurance against a fate worse than death.
But no, it’s plain old death for the food tonight. Drusilla wants a new playmate so very much. She’s been looking everywhere for someone to love.
But not tonight.
~~~~~~~~
Um, footnotes again:
Underground stations were used both officially and unofficially as air raid shelters during the Second World War in London, especially during the Blitz (1940-41) when bombers came over most nights and many people didn’t even try to sleep at home. At this time, a German invasion was still a real possibility.
This is set in Liverpool Street; new sidings where tracks hadn’t yet been laid were used as vast overnight shelters - Henry Moore did a lot of his shelter drawings here as a war artist. It’s at the east side of the City of London, where some of the worst bombing occurred.
Most of the rest is self-explanatory I hope, though I might explain Dig for Victory was a government food-production slogan encouraging citizens to bring land into use for food production.