Simonpet
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Awesome Storyteller
Posts: 89
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Post by Simonpet on Mar 16, 2021 21:14:11 GMT -8
Create-A-Village Scenes ChallengeThis is where I'll store my writing and art for the CAV scenes challenge. I'll be using both Black Rock Weyrhold (CS) and Gold and Iron (site). ╔
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| Flexible Prompts 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 11 - 12 - 13 - 14 - 15 16 - 17 - 18 - 19 - 20 21 - 22 - 23 - 24 - 25 26 - 27 - 28 - 29 - 30 31 - 32 - 33 - 34 - 35 | ║ ║ ║ ║ ║ ║ ║ ║
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Simonpet
Global Moderator
Awesome Storyteller
Posts: 89
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Post by Simonpet on Mar 16, 2021 21:21:01 GMT -8
𝐃𝐞𝐬𝐜𝐫𝐢𝐛𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐯𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐚𝐠𝐞'𝐬 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐜
(592 words) "Pust begut neuklyuzhe Peshehodi po luzham, A voda — po asphaltu rekoi," Elizabeth sang as she walked through the forest, heading for the lake. As much as she loved hiking and exploring, there was only so much time she could go without listening to something. And since she was saving her iPod and iPhone, the only thing she could listen to was herself. "Ooh prohozhih, na vedu..." It was practically tradition for her to sing this track, which had...way too many songs on it. But it lasted for just over an hour, so she could keep track of time relatively accurately. If you ignored how there were still a few songs she didn't really know and had to hum to. "V'golubom vertalyoti" If Raphael had been with her, he'd probably be yelling at her to stop. But he wasn't, so oh well. This song was one of her favorites--it was about how despite the rain, it was the singer's birthday and so all was good. Nothing could ever top that one birthday when it had started raining so her mom and her brother woke her up by singing this song. Elizabeth's eyes burned for a moment before the sensation subsided. "Ah ya igrayu na garmoshke Ooh prohozhih, na vedu! K'sazhelenyu, den razhdenya Tolko raz v'gadu. K'sazhelenyu, den razhdenya Tolko raz v'gadu."
"Stretelis odnazhdi mi staboi!" sang Elizabeth and George, "Iy tyepehr ne nuzhin mne drugoi. Stretelis staboiyu mih neh zra--ti riskuish ti zavohsh minya!" Evenings always ended with a campfire and some songs or stories or even just a companiable silence. With the three of them, it was hard to converse constantly; they had exhausted most of their catching-up weeks and weeks ago. Now all they could do was survive, build, and hope that they wouldn't be alone for too long. But this song, a song that was about hope and risk and love, a song that Elizabeth had sang ever since before she could talk, a song that she had rerecorded and sent to as many people as she could so that she wouldn't be the only person who remembered it, so it wouldn't lost... This song was her light in the darkness that her life had become.
As Elizabeth tried to sleep that night, she found that she couldn't. The years of separation had been hard but they hadn't broken her. Now that they were in a strange (probably magical) land with only her dad and her brother...the cracks had begun to show. She wanted her mom so badly. She wanted nothing more than to hear her voice. She wanted to hug her grandparents, tell them how much she loved them. She wished that she could go back to before everything had gone south. Before...this. Tears slipped down her cheeks but she had trained herself too well to give off any sounds. She had to be strong. For Raphael. For herself. Guitars--and then drums--played in her head. A trio of voices joined soon after. Kogda na mori topli dozdh, i chaiki beliye litayut... Ribka was a song about wanting more but needing to be content with what you had. What a song for her to think of in this moment. But it had such a beautiful ending that she always wanted to belt out to the world. She fell asleep to her imagined rendition of the song, every note memorized after 19 years of playing and replaying it on her iPod and in her head. She woke to a different song, one about smiles and bright mornings.
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Simonpet
Global Moderator
Awesome Storyteller
Posts: 89
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Post by Simonpet on Apr 7, 2021 15:47:08 GMT -8
𝐃𝐞𝐬𝐜𝐫𝐢𝐛𝐞 𝐚 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐫'𝐬 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐫𝐞𝐣𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐝
(586 words) Waxinnan looked forward to the evenings, when he was relieved of his duty to babysit Eshni. He was especially eager to relax in the chair he had purchased from a traveling merchant a few days ago. Maybe with Renolla sitting across from him, if he ever worked up the courage to talk to her. While he knew that she wasn’t to be feared, she had a certain commanding presence about her that left him stammering and uncertain of himself. Wax’s thoughts were broken by the sound of a creaking door and he realized that Eshni was trying to sneak away. Again. “No!” he exclaimed, exasperated. The young child stopped, wearing a guilty expression on her face. “Sit back down! You’re supposed to be…uhh…” What were they even doing? Right. “Coloring the page!” He was currently teaching her the types of edible plants with the help of a coloring book but he planned to go back to the Teaching Songs in a few days. Eshni was a quick learner and got bored easily, but never seemed to tire of singing. He was considering taking her as a Harper apprentice due to her memory and aptitude for music but she was a bit young for right now. “Any problems?” asked Renolla innocently. Wax looked up to see her standing in the doorway. Startled, he almost fell over Eshni as he tried to put her back into her seat. As the little girl got settled, he looked back at Renolla and quirked an eyebrow at the bucket she carried. “Well, the place has to be clean,” Renolla explained, “and there aren’t many of us free to do that.” Wax nodded his understanding; if he hadn’t been needed to teach Eshni, he probably would be conscripted into cleaning too. Faranath, she’s beautiful, he thought distractedly. Yes, Renolla wore her dark hair in a severe bun--a style he wasn’t fond of. Yes, she often wore a stern face. But she was graceful, kind, and had a good sense of humor. It certainly helped that she had a nice figure. He felt a blush coming on and forcibly squashed his emotions. This was not the time. “I don’t need help,” he said, smiling at Eshni who was now coloring a klah tree. She was getting better at coloring between the lines and he felt a sliver of pride at that. “I can handle this little rascal.” Eshni looked up at Wax, wounded. “I’m not a wascal!” she exclaimed in her small voice. “Momma says I’m a good girl.” Wax and Renolla traded amused glances. “Well then,” said Renolla, “I’ll leave you be.” She sighed, suddenly, looking exhausted. “And…Wax?” Oh no. “I… Ugh.” The words were clearly hard to get out and Wax was dreading them more and more. “Don’t… I don’t like you that way,” she said in a rush. “I know it’s bad timing but it’s always bad timing and I just noticed and-” “No, no,” Wax said, feeling sick to his stomach. This was not how he’d intended things to go. It was more embarrassing, for one. But life didn’t adhere to what people wanted. “I get it. I…yeah.” Shards and shells! This was one effective way of getting rid of a crush. It also was a very good way of not speaking to the other person for a few days out of the sheer mortification. Renolla nodded stiffly and closed the door softly. Wax sighed and sat back down across from Eshni. This evening would be a lonely one.
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Simonpet
Global Moderator
Awesome Storyteller
Posts: 89
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Post by Simonpet on Apr 7, 2021 15:50:44 GMT -8
“𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐩𝐨𝐢𝐬𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐭𝐬 𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐝𝐲, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐡𝐨𝐩𝐞.”
(603 words) Elizabeth couldn’t sleep one night so she slipped out of her bed and grabbed her phone to use as a flashlight. Pine, who slept beside her, made a mumbling chirrup and snuggled into the blankets. The air was cool and the forest was quiet, apart from the occasional rustling of leaves. She pointed at the campfire and carefully, oh so carefully, coaxed it higher. Magic. This was a magical world (literally) and she had magic. She shook her head and exhaled deeply. She suddenly noticed her legs getting stiff and decided to sit in one of the chairs that her dad had carved. “Chairs.” Wooden logs was what they were. When it all comes freely, it’s wonderful Let it all come crashing like the ocean tide As she settled onto the chair, she hunched over and sobbed quietly into her hands. The feeling of tears and snot quickly became gross so she forced herself to stop. There wasn’t any way for her to properly blow her nose, so she really shouldn’t be crying like this. She took a few shuddering breaths until her breathing evened out. It was cruel, so cruel to give her something like magic and not let her do what she would have done. She’d have brought her Red Blanky over here. No, even better: she’d have gone home. Taken her parents and brother and their dragons and gone home. She’d have burnt the zombies to ash with a thought. She’d have healed as many people as she could get to. She’d have… Climb up to the top of the mountainside And scream it out She closed her eyes again. Her mouth was open and the suggestion of a sound emerged from her throat. Had she been all alone, it would have been a scream. The kind of scream that made people for several blocks wonder where the murder was. The kind of scream that she’d never dared scream for fear of what the neighbors would say. The kind of scream that broke people’s hearts to hear. If she couldn’t help the ones she loved, then what was the point of magic? Don’t hold it inside Elizabeth’s eyes burned. She was tired. She looked at the campfire through bleary eyes and went back to bed. Her sleep was dreamless, thankfully. She didn’t know what she’d have done if it wasn’t.
Everyone deals with grief differently. George didn’t talk about it. Didn’t talk about his family. Didn’t talk about the best friend he’d lost. Didn’t talk about the little group of survivors that had found him. Didn’t talk about the dog that had wormed its way into his heart. He went off into the woods sometimes and wouldn’t come back without something to show for it; some berries, a rabbit. Helen could be prodded to talk about her family. Her worries for her sister and her nephews. Her hope that her employees had found safe places of their own. Even in the apocalypse, Helen cared for the people she’d employed and worked with. Elizabeth alternated between talking non-stop and silence. She too went off into the woods, walking aimlessly. Pine sometimes walked beside her and sometimes fluttered through the trees. On rare occasions, she persuaded Elizabeth to let her side on her shoulders. And Raphael… Not a day went by when he didn’t mention someone; his friends, his cousins, his grandparents. All that kept Elizabeth going was her family and the hope that someone, anyone, would pass through the veil between worlds and find them here. Hope was a cruel thing. But if she didn’t hope, then there was nothing left.
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