Find the Girl - MWBB

This was my entry from last weeks Mid-Week Blues-Buster flash fiction contest. I rather liked it, but the last line was hard for me. I wanted it to be more. But on the whole I liked the piece. Hope you do too.

Song prompt: 

The Cure - A Forest

He could hear her; her breath, panting, but it was distant. He followed where he thought it was from, but a crunch of twigs turned him in another direction. Damon pushed through the undergrowth, ignoring scratches and cuts to his arms and face, and janking at his long overcoat as it caught on branches. He had to find her, had to get hold of her, and soon.

He heard another crash and a squeal with it. It froze him in his tracks as he strained to hear more but there was nothing. He slammed his shoulder against a tree trunk as he tripped over a root, pausing a second to catch his breath before going on. How much longer could he keep this up?

Then he heard a shot, fired somewhere off to his left, but no scream followed it. He hoped it had missed, he hoped he still had time as adrenaline gave him another shove forward. He was determined; he had to be the first to reach her, he couldn’t fail again.

A wall of thicket appeared in front of him. As he approached it he wondered how best to get into it, but found that throwing himself into it was the only way. Was she in here? He didn’t know, but he had to try.

As he pushed further in, Damon was momentarily blinded by dense leaves, and felt his foot catch on something as he slid face first into a carpet of leaves and mulch. But he barely felt it as his attention was caught by a sound next to him; a sharp intake of breath.

Damon turned his head and there she was cowering away from him, caught in the undergrowth, hugging her naked body tight in an attempt to cover herself. Her leg was bleeding where he’d caught it with his shoe.

He pushed back onto his knees, and swept round, opening his long overcoat and sweeping it round her as best as he could in the tight space. She pulled it round, and let him embrace her, resting her trembling body against his. Whether from fear or the cold Damon couldn’t tell, but at least he had her first before the monsters came.

Neither of them made a sound as they heard them come crashing through the trees. Damon hoped the twigs and leaves of the thicket had bounced back behind him, and they wouldn’t spot where he had dived in.

Footsteps crunched nearer, and two voices spoke in rough whispers.

“She came through here, I’m sure of it.”

“We should have brought McKlennan, he could have tracked her better than you.”

“She’s here somewhere, I’m know it.”

“You said that a mile back.”

“We’re getting close. Shhh!”

The men went still and Damon held his breath, feeling the girl do the same. Everyone waited. Then something crashed off in the distance, an animal maybe, and they were moving again, excited by the sound.

“She’s over there!”

“I can’t wait to have her!”

Damon and the girl didn’t move or speak, though they relaxed as the sounds of the men became more distant.

Eventually the girl’s head came up from Damon’s chest, and she whispered, “Why?”

He looked into her pale frightened eyes, and said, “Because you’re a valuable human being, not a piece of meat to be hunted.”

Daily Picspiration - Retreat

I have stopped with serial I was doing for my Daily Picspiration and I have moved back to doing single pieces of fiction. This one got a bit long, but I do love it. It has a nice dark and confused twists in it, and hopefully stays with the reader a little afterwards. Hope you like it too. 

Posted on Sunday 14th of June - you can find 'Retreat' here.




Did you like it? What did you like about it? Let me know in the comments below. 


 

Visual Dare - Balance

This weeks Visual Dare threw up an interesting photo, and combined with the word balance, made me think more of a juggle. This is what surfaced.

Sophie stumbled her way into the station with all her bags and saw the melee in front of her. Damn, it was rush hour, how was she going to get through all that lot unnoticed?

She juggled the suitcases round until they were more comfortable and set off, pushing her way through, mumbling apologies as she went, not daring to look anyone in the eye. She hoped no one would offer assistance, they might ask what she was carrying and she wouldn’t want that.

Fortunately she reached the platform uninterrupted and set the bags down. Glancing at the clock, she had ten minutes to decide whether to leave the cases in the luggage rack. She didn’t fancy standing all the way. Then she caught someone glance at one of cases and saw blood seeping through. Damn, it looked she had no choice if he wasn’t going to remain hidden.

149 Words

Five Sentence Fiction - Spunk

A quick one for this weeks Five Sentence Fiction, the picture giving me a different take on the word.

Timmy shifted round in his seat and craned his neck to watch the big truck that was coming up alongside them in the outer lane.

Mandy didn’t like her son doing that while she was driving and reprimanded him, telling him to sit back round, but as she glanced over her shoulder their car swerved towards the lorry causing the truck driver to swerve out too and almost hit the central reservation.

Timmy watched as the driver tried to correct his position on the road, his hands working hard on the steering wheel as he came level with their car. The blare from the

trucks horns made Timmy jump, and he looked wide-eyed up into the truckers angry face.

Timmy giggled and said to his mum, “You’ve got to have some spunk to drive that big truck, mama.”

 

MWBB - Untraceable

This is an entry to Mid-Week Blues-Buster from last week. I didn't have time to post it as I was busy at a writing event in Nottingham. Although it wasn't placed, I really liked it. I hope you do.

Prompt song:  “Freedom”, by Anthony Hamilton and Elayna Boynton.

Belinda looked out the open window, across the vast expanse of land and leaned back, stretching her back. She surveyed all she had packed so far. The tiny backpack had all the essentials.

It would be a while before anyone would notice she’d gone; the kids were going to their grandma after school under the guise of an appointment, so she had a few hours head start, and that was plenty for what she had in mind.

She’d spent the first couple of hours of the morning shutting everything; deactivating social media, deleting mail accounts, diverting information that he might need to their home email, and then switching funds around in the banks – emptying hers.

She’d laid all the bank and insurance cards out on the dining table, so he couldn’t miss them – hers and the kids. And left the keys to the house and the car, everything, so there was nothing he had to track her down.

Her stomach clenched at the thought, but she pushed it away and took another deep breath; if she let the thoughts in she wouldn’t be able to go, and it wasn’t an option anymore.

She’d seen the signals; the slightly coincidental non-coincidences that others missed. And then the signs had started to appear; first in the kids chalk drawings in the pavement, and then in the ever changing fridge magnets. It was time to go.

She ran through everything in her mind, hoping she hadn’t missed anything. She had to be untraceable, there had to be no leads.  She had to walk away with not one single tie – other than DNA.

She squeezed her eyes tight shut for a second, swallowing hard. They’d be okay as long as she went. That was the deal.

She saw the bus in the distance, and walked out the front door, making sure it was firmly closed behind her. She strolled casually to the stop and stepped up onto the bus when it arrived.

Belinda looked out the back window at her little house, and the little life she was leaving behind. She had to keep moving, that was the price she paid for her freedom. And although they’d never know it, she sought comfort in the fact that she was giving them their freedom too. 

Daily Picspiration - Final Decimation

I thought I was done with my Daily Picspiration serial, but this photo was perfect for an ending. This one made me cry when I wrote it, so I hope it moves you too.

Posted on May 31st, you can read Part 10 - 'Final Decimation' here.  

For the rest of the story, here are the links. 

You can read Part 9 - 'The Future' here. 
You can read Part 8 - 'Dealing with shit' here.
You can read Part 7 - 'Discovery' here. 
You can read Part 6 - 'Occupied' here. 
You can read Part 5 - 'Provisions' here.
You can read Part 4 - 'Moving Out' here.
You can read Part 3 - 'New Recruit' here.
You can read Part 2 - New Location here. 
You can read Part 1 - Frozen here.

 

100 Words - Smooth

I have missed the 100 Words challenge linky, but I liked what I wrote, so I am posting it anyway. It's a little different. Enjoy!

He licked the surface with great care, not wanting to rush and lose any of the sensation as the smooth texture of the cold granite glided across the flat of his tongue. Martin craved it, almost wanted to bite it, feel its hard brittle stone texture against his teeth too. He couldn’t help it. It reminded him of their night together; how she had shoved everything off the kitchen counter top and pulled herself up on to it, and then wrapped her legs round him, pulling him in too. This was the closest he could get to experiencing it again.