7/27/10 Drabbles!
#61 - Picture of fruit salad (3 of 100)
I catch the scent of her strawberry shampoo wafting on the wind. I visualize her chestnut hair floating in the air current. The blooms of exertion on her cheeks that are the color of ripe raspberries. We’re drawing closer together like magnets that have been separated until this one explosive moment. Her lips taste of oranges, tangy and acidic. She sets my senses on fire with her very existence.
Her image starts to flicker as she pulls away. I struggle futilely to hold onto her sunlight.
I wake up, cold and alone. The taste of oranges plays on my lips.
#9 - Lust (4 of 100)
I’m waiting at the table when he arrives. He spots me across the smoky room, a slow grin moving across his face. The lounge singer croons seductively while the band plays the soundtrack to our love affair. As he saunters over, I take a drag from my cigarette, admiring the blood red nails matching my dress and lipstick. He pulls out a chair, his eyes never leaving the cigarette dangling lazily from my fingertips. I blow smoke rings into the air between us. I shift in my chair, and my dress rises.
He removes his wedding ring and pockets it.
#76 - Author’s choice: Picture of couples dancing in the waves (5 of 100)
His parents stand on the beach, yelling for decorum. But we don’t listen.
This isn’t a time for mourning. It’s a time for celebration, and it’s just what he would have wanted. The water is freezing, but my funereal garb insulates me from its chill. Or maybe I can feel the warmth of his smile shining all the way from heaven.
His young sister, Lily, watches us forlornly. Her mother holds her tightly, scared she’ll fade away. Lily meets my eyes. She breaks free. Her mother falls to the sand and screams as she runs to join our waterlogged tango.
#32 - Road Trip (6 of 100)
We’ve been on this road for days, neither of us talking, and the scenery is the same red dirt horizon it has been for hours. It’s given me ample thinking time, and I’m ready to make my move.
I thought this trip would help us, but nothing can be salvaged from this emotional trainwreck.
Driving down this never-changing road makes me realize this relationship is an absolute dead-end. I don’t want to be her knight in shining armor; her savior; her everything. I want to be free.
I pull off the road and cut the engine.
“We need to talk.”
#77 - Author’s choice: Picture of packed bags on the beach (7 of 100)
The waves lap at her feet ferociously, begging her not to go. Lana doesn’t know when she’ll see the ocean again. She wishes she could bottle it up and take it with her.
As she climbs up the beach toward her packed bag, she looks over her shoulder, trying to capture this moment forever. She’s lived in this town forever, but she’s outgrown it. No one understands but Zach.
He appears at the top of the dunes. She hugs herself and turns to the sea. His footsteps sound behind her.
“I’m scared,” Lana murmurs.
“We’re all we need,” he says.
I catch the scent of her strawberry shampoo wafting on the wind. I visualize her chestnut hair floating in the air current. The blooms of exertion on her cheeks that are the color of ripe raspberries. We’re drawing closer together like magnets that have been separated until this one explosive moment. Her lips taste of oranges, tangy and acidic. She sets my senses on fire with her very existence.
Her image starts to flicker as she pulls away. I struggle futilely to hold onto her sunlight.
I wake up, cold and alone. The taste of oranges plays on my lips.
#9 - Lust (4 of 100)
I’m waiting at the table when he arrives. He spots me across the smoky room, a slow grin moving across his face. The lounge singer croons seductively while the band plays the soundtrack to our love affair. As he saunters over, I take a drag from my cigarette, admiring the blood red nails matching my dress and lipstick. He pulls out a chair, his eyes never leaving the cigarette dangling lazily from my fingertips. I blow smoke rings into the air between us. I shift in my chair, and my dress rises.
He removes his wedding ring and pockets it.
#76 - Author’s choice: Picture of couples dancing in the waves (5 of 100)
His parents stand on the beach, yelling for decorum. But we don’t listen.
This isn’t a time for mourning. It’s a time for celebration, and it’s just what he would have wanted. The water is freezing, but my funereal garb insulates me from its chill. Or maybe I can feel the warmth of his smile shining all the way from heaven.
His young sister, Lily, watches us forlornly. Her mother holds her tightly, scared she’ll fade away. Lily meets my eyes. She breaks free. Her mother falls to the sand and screams as she runs to join our waterlogged tango.
#32 - Road Trip (6 of 100)
We’ve been on this road for days, neither of us talking, and the scenery is the same red dirt horizon it has been for hours. It’s given me ample thinking time, and I’m ready to make my move.
I thought this trip would help us, but nothing can be salvaged from this emotional trainwreck.
Driving down this never-changing road makes me realize this relationship is an absolute dead-end. I don’t want to be her knight in shining armor; her savior; her everything. I want to be free.
I pull off the road and cut the engine.
“We need to talk.”
#77 - Author’s choice: Picture of packed bags on the beach (7 of 100)
The waves lap at her feet ferociously, begging her not to go. Lana doesn’t know when she’ll see the ocean again. She wishes she could bottle it up and take it with her.
As she climbs up the beach toward her packed bag, she looks over her shoulder, trying to capture this moment forever. She’s lived in this town forever, but she’s outgrown it. No one understands but Zach.
He appears at the top of the dunes. She hugs herself and turns to the sea. His footsteps sound behind her.
“I’m scared,” Lana murmurs.
“We’re all we need,” he says.