I’ve done it again! 908 words! Thanks for the awesome prompts @flashfictionfridayofficial
The Dark Side Of The Moon
Mia stared out at the dark abyss laid waste ahead of her and felt, for the first time on this journey, like sinking to her knees and burying her head in her toes. The first woman to set foot on the moon. What an honour that should be. A dream few could realise, and yet, Mia had. Here she stood, on the surface of a cold moon, staring out at a sprawling blackness.
To be successful. To be strong. To be big enough to hold her sisters up high on her shoulders and let them know, even the moon wasn’t too high to reach. That was the dream. Slicing out a path to leave open doors she had broken down.
Now, in the silence of space, Mia couldn’t help hearing the sound of them slamming. At worst, a successful woman could be rendered a fluke. But an unsuccessful one? She was an excuse to keep women on the ground once once again.
Mia was the latter.
The dark side of the moon, a mystery forever hidden from Earth. Mia had been positive. Had been persistent, badgering her superiors about the potential of all the secrets held there. That’s why she headed the new lunar campaign, why she poured thousands of tax payers dollars into this launch, why she told the entire population of Earth she’d come back with information that would change the face of this moon.
But now, staring at the craters and rocks, she realised it was all child’s play. There were no secrets. She would be returning a woman of empty promises. A confirmation of what they already knew. She would be shunned from astronomy, labelled a scientist of no science, a reckless dreamer who now owed the entire nation billions of dollars.
And those women? She hadn’t paved a way, she had sealed entrances so tight even water couldn’t get in. What was that about no-one hearing your screams in space? Maybe no one on Earth would hear, but Mia certainly believed she would shatter the planet with how loud she could shout.
‘Lunar module.’
It was mission control.
‘Lunar module, come in.’
Mia took a deep breath. Fake it til you make it, right?
‘Mission control.’ She said sharply, ‘Permission to inspect the far side?’
A pause, static buzz like a mosquito Mia wanted to squash.
‘Permission granted. Communications held. You have ten minutes.’
Mia nodded despite no one to see her. This was it. A final scrap to save her dignity and the futures of all those budding young astronauts. Counting down in her head, she forced herself to stare out at the land ahead of her. Cold. Barren. Empty. All words she already knew to describe this place. How was it such a surprise?
Mia took a step forward. And another. Searching the land for something. A sign of water. Of metal. A new element perhaps. A pool of acid. Maybe even a geyser.
The terrain didn’t reveal much, Mia finding her chest tightening as more and more of the same rugged landscape rolled out in front of her. How could this be? How could there be more nothing? How could she have fallen for such childish wander? Mia could see the headlines now:
‘Woman promises gold, brings back old rocks.’
‘Your money wasted on a one-woman thrill ride. Why we should have given Mia a one way ticket.’
‘Want to see earth from space? Apparently anyone can!’
Mia was a certified failure. That’s the burden she’d bare. She decided to turn back. Better to face the music with her head held high and suffer a dignified ending.
But then, something caught her eye. A sliver of blue cut into one of the craters. Her eyes flicked down to her watch. She still had six minutes.
Instantly, she was marching, crossing the moon without care for the geology her boots were destroying. This was new. A discovery. A chance for women.
Mia jumped down into the crater and ran the final few meters. Here, the slither revealed itself as more than just a cut. It was giant gaping hole. With three tiny stars carved just above it. What’s more, the surface wasn’t rugged like the rest of the moon. There were clean cut stairs stemming from the lunar surface and spiralling down into darkness.
Mia followed them.
With silent footsteps, she hurried into the tunnel, hand sliding across the wall, rough but somehow creating an even curve all around. Her fingers slotted easily into the ribbing and as she stepped down the last step, she tested whether she could remove a piece, hoping to carry out tests when she returned home.
She moved to grab a test tube from her belt, but as her eyes glanced over the cavern ahead, the tube slipped between her fingers and shattered on the floor below.
The cavern. It was no cave. It was a masterpiece, big enough to be a concert hall. Huge spiralling pillars held up the ceiling, reaching between delicately carved arches that cut through the cave like a dome. The floor was polished, blue like a frozen lake, and reflecting the beautiful ceiling, painted with mesmerising swirls of metallic blues, purples and silver.
Mia followed the design with her eyes. It was reminiscent of an old stately home but altogether different. There were no human figures or furnishings, but instead splashes of colours and geometric shapes. And carvings of flowers didn’t line the joinings, but sculptures of waves and intricate spires appearing like water suspended in a splash. Different, yet so similar. Stunningly powerful. Dazed, Mia reached up to her chest, clicking the camera strapped to her chest. She had found it. Evidence of an ancient civilisation living in Earth’s very own moon.
But ancient became obsolete so quickly Mia nearly shot through the the roof. Behind her, a tinny voice rang so clearly it was like a knife.
‘Please.’ They said, a weight falling on Mia’s shoulder. ‘No flash photography.’
Flash fiction Friday! Hurray :3 I’m so tired haha, so I’ll just drop this and go. Couldn’t say no to a wonderland episode ow<~* Hope you enjoy! Feedback is always appreciated 💜
FFF is organised by the wonderful @flashfictionfridayofficial
Prompt: Strange lands
Words: 1016
Characters: Storm and the Cheshire Cat
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Everything smelled so sweet, like jam and cream. Sweet and swirling and sickening and the sooner Storm could get back to something with a semblance of reality, the better. Try as he might to fight it, frustration frosted his chest, devouring the building anxiety and growing stronger with each minute he spent lost in these weird woods. Fists clenched and unclenched at his sides as he rounded, you guessed it, another tree. The leaves brushed each other like chuckling rice maracas, dappling shadows somehow darker than the surrounding inkiness to dance along with the tempo. The darkness was more than a simple absence of light. It was a presence in itself. It was as though a beast of void had settled to rest, filling the space with the hum of its breathing where there should have been silence. It was disconcerting, if he let his mind linger too long, which he endeavoured not to do. Despite the darkness, he could still see. Or rather, he understood what should have been seen. Man, this place was giving him a headache.
He paused, leaning against the rough bark of an ashen birch. It didn’t matter how much air he drew in, he couldn’t scent anything beyond its jammy tang. He just had to keep searching. He’d find Echo, get them the hell out of there, and thoroughly lecture her about wondering off. Again.
Just stay focussed.
He moved to continue on, but a furred flash under foot had him careening backwards, almost tripping over himself in his efforts not to crush the thing. It was something like a mouse. If it had been mixed with a mushroom. The fungal creature flared its neck frills at the insult of its near maiming, darting off again before he could react.
“Strange. This place, it’s so… strange.”
“We usually prefur curious,” A voice purred into his ear, “curiouser and curiouser, as the saying goes.”
Storm bolted back, pivoting on his heel to face the stranger. Ears pinned back, fists raised, he was ready for immediate counterattack. His shoulders dropped, confusion slacking the tension. He’d almost punched a cat in its grinning face. It hadn’t been there a minute ago. He’d have noticed.
“Aww, you didn’t even scream. How disappointing.” He lolled onto his back, staring at Storm with big amber eyes. If he’d wanted to look disappointed, it wasn’t a convincing display.
It wasn’t often Storm was dumbstruck. The words tumbled out of his mouth, the only sentence his brain could produce.
“I don’t talk to animals.”
The cat pouted, dripping lazily off the branch, suspending himself instead in the air. “Maybe they don’t talk to you. I wouldn’t blame them. You are terribly rude.” He hissed a laugh, putting his paw to his grin like a cutesy text icon. “I’ll furgive you if you make an exception for me~.”
Not bothering to wait for an answer, he floated closer, wrapping himself around Storm’s shoulders. What kind of cat smells like smoke and spices?
“I’m curious, you see. Curious about what you’re doing wandering around our quaint little world. They call it a wonderland you know. And yet, here you are looking all ruffled. Hmmm, are you purrhaps struggling with those demons that like to take up residence in human heads? Alices have a habit of finding themselves here. You’ve got a lot too, I can tell. Nasty little creatures.”
Storm shoed him off. “What, no. I’m just looking for my sister.”
The cat didn’t seem to care, floating wherever he saw fit. “Not a rabbit? Shame. I could tell you were he is.”
“No. My sister, Echo.”
“Echo, echo, echo.” The cat vanished and reappeared further away three times, one for each repetition. He reappeared, a puff of stirred smoke, back on his branch.
“Well, there are three echoes for you. Wasn’t that an easy quest.” His tail curled with mirth as Storm’s jaw clenched. Why was he wasting his time with this stupid cat?
Because it was the only lead he had. He took a deep breath, biting back the frustration.
“My sister. Have you seen her? She’s seven, about this tall, black hair, mute, has a toy sheep.”
The cat’s grin widened, “Oh yes, the lovely little kitten who came through. Such a sweet thing, nothing like you. You’re so sour.” If he noticed Storm’s glare, he didn’t react. “I sent her along her merry way.”
Storm perked up. “Where did you send her?” He didn’t know whether to be furious that the cat wasted so much time or relieved that he might finally get a trail.
“To the Hatter of course. He and the March Hare are having a tea party. It’ll be a splendid little affair. Oh, but don’t worry Big Brother, they’re quite mad so she’ll be perfectly safe. They will have a marvellous time, I’m sure. Then along to the unicorn and the lion. Such silly creatures, those two. You would probably like them. I couldn’t recommend them, but I did purromise an introduction and what is a cat without his word?”
The cat blathered on; Storm’s fur bristled. “What do you mean they’re mad?”
“They’ve lost their heads, naturally. It makes for an excellent baker but a terrible conversationalist, I’m afraid.”
Storm fought to keep his cool. Ice crackled up his wrists and through his feathers. Through gritted teeth, he managed to ask, “Can you tell me where they are.”
“Oh no, I couldn’t possibly do that!”
His teeth creaked under the pressure. “Why not?”
“I simply can’t direct you! You’re terribly mad. I wouldn’t want to be around you for so long. Sour is one thing, but I’ve never been partial to spiciness.” He sighed, still grinning.
“Please tell me.”
“Okay, here’s what we will do, I think you’ll like this, I’m going to go and then, when you’re more palatable, I’ll come back. A very joyous reunion, I’m sure. Then I will no longer be unable to tell you what you want to know. Cheerio Big Brother!”
“Wait!” But he was already gone. Damn. What was Storm going to do now?
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Tag List
@snobbysnekboi, @inkovert, @kainablue, @i-rove-rock-n-roll, and @goblin-writer
shorter than usual, but since all my wips are in a different universe thinking of what would is a strange place for them took me a bit, and I didn’t want to go too far with this one because spoilers
Clear This Obscurity
This place was strange. It seemed like it was supposed to feel cold, yet it’s frigidity never seemed to touch her pelt. The wintery air was hazed by mist, endless mist, its expanse covering as far as she could see. The ciralpu huffed, and it wouldn’t be until later that she’d realize her breath didn’t form condensation in the air. Or that despite the clear presence of snow, there were no clouds, or wind. Only the veiling mists. Tall, dark conifers were the only things that parted the thick mist, their leafy boughs heavy with snow.
She tried to inhale the comforting scent of pine, but the air was strangely devoid of any kind of scent. She figured it must be masked by the snow. Her mood temporarily lifted, as she wished this mist would at the sight of another ciralpu, tser darker fur standing out against the white. One that looked mysteriously familiar, and tse passed through the trees a short distance away, and only looked up at her briefly, nodded, waving tser tails in a friendly manner yet made no attempt to speak. She was alone again. Alone with the residuous feeling of fear anger that pulsed behind her thoughts. But she couldn’t recall why…which was frustrating.
She could not quite remember how she got here...actually…
She wasn’t entirely sure who she was. Someone who gets frustrated apparently, she quipped to herself, and flicked her tails in annoyance.
She tried to remember. But the memory wouldn’t come. She tried relaxing her thoughts, letting it come back to her naturally, it didn’t work.
She tried guessing, in hopes the correct answer would appear, it didn’t.
Poking and prodding, trying to pry open her thoughts the way she would a half-rotten log to catch a tortu hiding from the cold.
It didn’t work.
But she’d try until she did. As many times as necessary. She had the feeling she’d have more than enough time for it.
Besides, this strange, yet hauntingly beautiful forest of mist and quiet was starting to really bore her.
He wondered if that feeling would ever change, now, even if he went back, even if he returned to the place he was born, or to the place they had lived.
The landscape around him was covered in deeper snow than he had ever seen. Where he was standing, the wind had cleared it off a small mound, and that was the only reason he wasn’t sinking into it to the knee, or maybe to the hip, or maybe all the way as if he had never been there, gone like the other.
The unfamiliar cold bit sharply into his cheeks. Above him, in the clear sky that had been dark for too long, the north star stood higher than he had ever seen it before. Navigators through the ages had followed its unfailing direction, but it didn’t make him feel any less lost.
Looking up at it, the sky changed. At first it was only a brief flicker, then it blossomed into bands of startlingly bright green, waving through the sky like light curtains on a soft summer breeze.
It was, it must be a sign from the gods, from the spirit world.
Maybe from the dead.
He fell on his knees, and cried for all that was lost, warm tears freezing to his numb face and releasing the ache he had carried inside.
For @flashfictionfridayofficial I have this story, which isn’t quite as far along as I’d like, but I wanted to get this out as it is. I’m afraid of where I might take it next, for various reasons.
The mirror is small, but I should be able to see the reflection clearly, I should know my own image but I don't, the face looking at me is a stranger. I look odd. Different. Unfamiliar. Not myself. No, that's wrong, I am my own self, the new self, the self chosen for me. Hair, clothes, name, all new, all decided by him.
I force a smile as I put on lipstick, a bright carmine red, the rosy-hue of Hollywood and Madison Avenue. He picked that for me too. He said it made me look more alive.
He touches me, gently on the knee, fingers tapping, I can feel the contact through the denim skirt. He doesn't move his hand up my thigh, he doesn't linger, he just brushes against me for a moment to get my attention.
"Are you ready to get out?" he asks. His voice is soft and kind. He's not impatient. Not demanding. Not now. I could sit here forever and he wouldn't get angry. But I don't have any reason to make him wait, I'm nervous, but what could happen to me here? It's daylight, safe, open. Yet I feel the danger, the sense that all around me are people who would drive me out if they knew who I was. Who I had been. That person was no longer me, not any more. He had told me so. But didn't they still care what I had done?
"It's safe, nobody here knows anyway, they won't bother you." he says, he must be able to see my nervousness. The fear. It chokes me at times.
I nod, and flip up the visor, before I take his hand and step out of the car.
The parking lot is busy, people walking, a lot of families together, husband and wife with assorted children, holding hands and chatting happily. It's peaceful despite the noise.
I've never had anyone take me to a place like this. None of the men who have kept me. None of the boys I dated while I was still in school. Not even my parents. I think. It's been so long since I was taken from them, I can't even remember their faces. Just the way they smelled, like cheap booze and cigarettes, the way they fought, and how they used me.
I've never been to Church. I wonder if God can forgive me if I can't forgive what He let happen to me.
Maybe I can just fake it. I've faked a lot of things before. I just have to do what a man tells me and keep him happy.
Maybe that works with God. Maybe I just did everything all wrong before. Maybe I didn't listen.
I step closer to him, press my side against his, I know this is good. It feels right.
Maybe I should have come here before. Maybe this is where I belong.
Nothing more than a dull throb that echoed through her skull reminded her of what had happened.
"My Sun..."
The utterance almost pained her. She stood.
Trees. Trees everywhere. To the east, there would be oceans. She could feel it in every inch of her body. To the west, god only knows.
An abandoned forest that would be soon approached by rain. The scent of the sea that reigned so close yet so far. The crater that smelled of smoke and dirt. The throb of pain that rang in her mind. The feeling of a dread that she wished she could forget.
She didn't know how long she walked through these strange lands towards the east. But it was soon enough that the beaches were upon her. Course sand that caved beneath her feet, leaving the only proof she was there. The sun already gone to the west. She knelt at water's edge, examining her reflection.
She wasn't human. Of course she wasn't. Otherwise, how would she be here?
Pale blue was her main color. Pale blue skin, hair so pale of a blue it was nearly a silvery white, and a pale blue outfit reminiscent of perhaps a princess mixed with a knight, with a hint of something unknown to us all. The water swirled beneath her. She blinked.
The cracks that ran along delicate skin, trailing from the shimmering gem laid gently upon her, blurring her vision in one eye.
"...My Sun... This is where you wished us to be, is it not? This... 'Earth'."
Inhabited by nothing less than measly organic beings and defects from her home. She had never thought she'd be here.
Did that make her a defect too?
Her fingers trailed along the white insignia that marked her chest. That marked her as part of the world she had ran from. That would mark her defective, if she were to go back.
She didn't want to remember. She wanted to forget.
The sound of shouts. The sight of her Sun. She had witnessed it all. She had tried to protect her. She had paid the price.
"...May the Sun shine again. And on that day, may we rejoice under it's light."
The strange lands where she would forever be without her Sun. The splash of rain. The final boom of thunder.
Back again this week! Thanks again to @flashfictionfridayofficial for this opportunity!
Prompt: Strange Lands
Warning: nothing.
Oh boi, I had such an hard time choosing a story for this prompt! I just LOVE prompts like this one, and I started writing three different stories before finally setting down to this one!
This is set in one of the newest worlds of my creation. One of the characters ends up in a mysterious place, and she meets a curious individual.
I think the ending is a bit abrupt but I’ll be honest this was written quite at the first try, and I thought it gave a nice feeling, haha.
Title: Under a gray sky (560 words)
The very first thing she noticed about that place were the differences.
The gray sky and earth were so different from what she was used to see in her homeland. She missed the grassy hilltops of her home, the grass waving under the wind's breath, the blue sky towering over her head, patches of houses greeting her view from far away.
But that place, it was dead. Not a blade of grass, not the fleeting movement of a rodent in the bushes.
Nothing. The plains were devoid of life.
An eerie silence filled the air, whispers of unknown origins grabbed her ears, an irked wind ruffling her hair.
She had no idea for how long she walked in that place, her footsteps echoing in that empty plain, the silent gray sky sitting still above her, devoid even of clouds.
She briefly wondered how gleaming she looked, with her colorful dress. She chuckled. It was such a common thing to see in her village, and only now she realized how glaring it would look in that gray place.
With a steady pace, she continued to walk. Despite the isolation, she didn't feel scared. She knew her friend would come to rescue her, sooner or later. She just had to survive until then.
Nighttime arrived, cloaking the world in its dark embrace. She gazed at the sky, hoping to see stars, but in that desolate world not even the stars dared to appear.
Who was there to see them, after all? Stars were so vain. They always had been.
She had no idea for how long she walked, but dawn was breaking when she smelled the ever-so familiar scent of bread.
Bread? In such a dead world?
She noticed a flat rock beneath her feet. There were many flat rocks, all placed one beside another, creating patterns on the ground.
...a road?
She begun to run. She ran, until her breath drew short and she had to stop. The smell of bread was stronger, encouraging her to keep going, the flat stones under her feet a welcome change from the rocky desert she had just crossed, when she noticed a house was standing in front of her.
She blinked.
«Am I dreaming?»
She touched the wood with a careful hand, as if the house could disappear if she were to touch it in the wrong way, but the house stayed still.
And the smell of bread made her stomach grumble.
She knocked on the door, brushing her hand on her clothes to dust them off. She had no idea what the idea of courtesy was in these lands, but she definitely didn't want a dirty skirt.
The door opened.
A creature towered over her. His face was flat, two black eyes watching her, his mouth half-open in surprise. She thought that, if he wished, he would have no problem crushing her with one hand, considering his size, but for some reason she knew she didn't have to be afraid.
«Can I help you?» his voice was hoarse and low, but a hint of gentleness made it one of the most joyous sounds she had ever heard.
«Yes!» she said, perhaps a bit too loud. «I'm hungry, lost, and I smell food.»
«I just baked some bread», the creature remained still for a moment. «...do you want to join me for breakfast?»
