#randl ficlet

[remembertherandler]

truck :-)

Rhett stood in Link’s driveway, his arms folded across his chest. 

“Pretty cool, right?” “Yeah! I couldn’t freakin’ believe it when you said your uncle still had the dang thing.”  Rhett shook his head and moved a little closer, tracing his finger through the scratch that ran the length of the rear quarter panel. “And I really can’t believe you managed to drive it all the way here.”

“Well it sure as hell wasn’t without incident,” Link laughed, turning to lean his back against the driver door. “Damn thing died on me three times… and once in the middle of nowhere’s asshole.”

Rhett laughed, cupping his chest. “Surprised you didn’t just leave it there.”

“Nearly did.” Link blew an exasperated breath through his nose. 

“The freakin’ Nissan is in L.A….” Rhett shook his head.

“Mmmhmm,” Link nodded. “You wanna take it for a spin?”

Rhett ran his hand over the hood. “You’re damn right I do.”

My prompt submissions are currently closed – in light of impeding nuptials and a mess of other crap – but I do have a few backlogged in my inbox that I am going to try to get through for those that requested them. (9/25/17)

Much love!

RTR

[remembertherandler]

Rain. :)

It’s cool as it splashes across his cheeks, a relief as it speckles the lenses of his glasses. It wasn’t supposed to rain, but what do meteorologists know? To be fair though, it rarely rained in Death Valley, and when it did? It came down in buckets. But this was a rain that felt familiar on his skin; he could imagine he was back home in the Carolinas when he closed his eyes.

He liked the silence that came with remoteness. Everyday life was deafening —constant buzzing and beeping, chatter and commotion — and being dwarfed in the deep cavernous hills of the valley, or swallowed up by the Appalachians, was like hibernation for his soul. 

As the rain began to pool at his feet, running down the planes of his face and dripping from the fingertips of his limply hanging hands, it was washing away the fracas of the world they’d left in the dust behind the 4Runner. 

“Just gonna stand there in the rain?” Rhett asked, peeking out from the seam of the tent. 

“Yes,” Link answered, smiling up at the sky, eyes closed. “Yes. I. am.”

[remembertherandler]

One word prompt: easy

There was a time when it was easy. Easy to be what they were meant to be. Easy to listen to the words and doctrines of another and adopt them with a whole heart. 

Choices were made out of loyalty and tradition more than examination and self-awareness. What it was to be a good southern gentleman overrode any creeping doubts they may have had. 

Be a good Christian and spread His word. Be a good student and get an engineering degree. Be a good son, find the right girl, and settle down. 

But somewhere along the way, their truth began to shine through. Curiosity turned to questions, and those questions would no longer go unanswered or ignored.

Something mythical this way had come, and though it brought with it a flood of change and a shift in the fundamental framework of their lives, nothing had been easier than embracing it wholeheartedly. 

[remembertherandler]

"Glow"

There’s this thing that happens around streetlamps when there’s just the right amount of humidity in the air, or a low hanging fog. The light diffuses out in a halo, spreading the beams further than it might otherwise, every molecule of water vapor refracting light out in all directions. 

Up in the hills overlooking Burbank, the sun having settled below the horizon, with the lamp lights flickering to life, the air began to glow overhead. The streets of their neighbourhood had settled into a peaceful calm —children called inside and preparing for goodnights and bedtime stories. 

Rhett stood in the street outside Link’s house, leash in hand, smiling as Link appeared on his front step. 

“Hey man!” he called, pulling gently on the lead in his own hand after locking the door behind him. “Let’s go Jade!” 

Barbara pulled, hopping on two legs, tugging Rhett behind her until she and Jade bumped noses. 

“Nice night for a walk, huh?” Rhett said, looking up at the faint hints of stars behind the streetlamp’s glow. 

“Perfect night.”