Dessert

Her name was Dessert. She lived in a castle on the edge of a cliff overlooking a deep, golden sea. Thick grass grew all around and up the sides of her castle, claiming it by degrees. A rough stone path cut a jagged scar across the sea of undulating green, ending at a cottage on the edge of the forest. The forest stretched on for miles stopping at the knees of the Horned Mountains.

Dessert lived in the uppermost turret of her castle because it had the best views. Each morning she awoke, doused in a pot of honey gold rays that streamed in from the eastern window. In the evening, warm tendrils of pink and orange fire licked the walls and danced merrily with her around the room. Some days she would walk from one window to the other and run her finger along the ledge and think, "I am the luckiest girl in the world."

Unfortunately for Dessert, she didn't realize she was most definitely not the luckiest girl in the world. In fact, she was doomed from the moment her silly mother let her name drop like a sticky curse on her newborn daughters yellow curls. At that moment, a wicked dragon stirred from his thousand-year slumber at the sound of her name. Two days later he stole her away and imprisoned her in the castle by the sea.

Dessert's life was full of empty purpose. Every morning she walked down a hundred and twenty-seven steps to the back door leading to the stone path. She gathered flowers and mushrooms and herbs and placed them in a linen sling worn across her body. Her curls bounced jubilantly and butterflies played tag around her head as she made her way toward the cottage by the forest. By the time the sun reached its zenith, her sling was laden with goodies and she stood expectantly at the cottage door.

"I'm here!" Dessert trilled happily. She hoped this time she would be allowed to go inside the cottage.

"Drop the sling girl." A low gravely voice gave the same command it had for all the years of her life. Dessert untied the knot at her shoulder and let the sling drop on the stoop. the door opened a crack and a razor sharp talon flicked through and pulled the bundle in. Dessert had become accustomed to her strange life. Still, she shuddered at the sight of the claw. She turned away and moseyed back through the yard. Twilight shuffled in and she found herself once again at the door to her castle. it opened immediately and she ascended the hundred and twenty-seven steps to her room.

That night she dreamed for the first time. A young, beautiful girl soared high above the golden sea on an emerald throne atop a scarlet dragon. The dragon was hungry. It reared and bucked attempting to dislodge the girl and the throne. The girl laughed, and as she did, tiny diamonds dropped from her mouth onto the hide of the scarlet dragon. The dragon roared in pain while the diamonds burst into orange flames all along its back. The girl gathered the flames up in her arms and buried her face in their warmth. They smelled of cinnamon, and she inhaled deeply. The dragon roared in fury and thrashed its body more forcefully to throw the girl and her laughter off its back. It didn't realize, with all its thrashing, that it was headed for a cliff. The young girl pulled her head out of the fragrant flames just in time to see the danger.

With a jolt Dessert awoke, sweat trickled down her neck and she trembled. It was dark and she was afraid. Her heart pounded against her ribs, and from the corner of her eye she noticed a faint glow from the western window. She walked to the window, paused then stretched up on her tiptoes, wary of what she might see.
The cottage windows glowed amber and crimson against the backdrop of night. A figure, long and sinewy paced from one end of the lit room to the other. The figure stopped and grabbed something from the floor. Dessert watched in horror as the figure tossed a long-eared creature above its gaping maw full of razor sharp teeth, and gulped it down in one bite. Her had flew to her mouth and she stumbled away from the window, falling to the floor. With arms wrapped tightly around her knees she rocked her body and thought to herself, "My neighbor is not human."

Dessert watched the far wall grow from varying hues of gristle to a tawny gray. Dollops of light pooled around her body and warmed the room. Her head swam with images from the night and she didn't know how she could face her day. But she was compelled by habit, and moved through the motions she knew so well, finding herself once again at the bottom of the steps. With the sling knotted firmly at her shoulder, she reached a hand forward to push open the door. Her heart thrummed like the fervent beat of hummingbird's wings.

Suddenly, the door wrenched open, brutally ripped from its hinges. Dessert could not even muster a scream as a large claw gripped her around the middle and dragged her from the gaping hole. A red, crusty eye smoldered inches from her face, and in it she could see death. The dragon tossed her high above his head into the bright morning light. Laughter rippled out of his mouth and her body arced downward. His jaws clamped shut. He gulped. A ripped square of linen clung to one notched tooth. He sighed contentedly and murmured to no one in particular, "That was absolutely worth waiting sixteen years for." He smacked his lips and flew off to his mountain cave for another thousand years.

Ah, nicmos. They do have their place in the world. I think it is about time that you started writing about your...exploits. Good moments. Good textures. I especially enjoyed the image of 'lips moving in rhythm. Well put. The whole moment of the story is very faithful to what it is actually like to be part of such a story. Bravo:-)

Sorry about the Formatting

I am having some major problems transferring from word onto my blog. i will have to do some work to figure out what I am doing wrong. hope the formatting doesn't distract you too much.

Two for One

The summer crowd had thinned to the slimmest of pickings, leaving only a few kids who hadn’t returned home to mooch off the parents. There was a week left before the onslaught of college students would return to the apartments for fall semester. I only had two roommates during the summer months, but as the first day of school approached, our apartment started filling up again. As students slowly trickled in, filling up the empty spaces summer had created, I made it my business to spend an hour a day in pursuit of “fresh meat”.

Lindsey, one of my summer roomies stormed in one day with a look of excitement on her face.

“Oh my gosh! There is this apartment full of the hottest guys ever! And a few of them are totally into ncmos!” I had learned earlier that summer about “noncommittal make out sessions” and couldn’t wait to try them out. One of my favorite pastimes, second only to checking out guys, was making out with them. If they were hot and not into relationships, then heck, all the better for me.

I grabbed her shoulders playfully, and we jumped up and down like little kids. I was very enthusiastic at the prospect of meeting up with these guys, and to see just how serious they were about being “noncommittal”.

“They are making the rounds right now, introducing themselves to all the girl’s apartments. I told them to come over here too. I raced back to tell you, to make sure you weren’t hanging out in your underwear.”

I rushed to my room to throw some clothes on and sling my hair back in a ponytail. Sure enough, ten minutes later there was a knock at the door. I squealed a little and my heart started thumping. I ran a hand over my hair and down my ponytail to shake off the few jitters I had. I threw open the door and with a huge, stupid grin on my face looked out.

“Hey, is Lindsey here? She said this is where we could find her.” A guy with rusty brown hair and green eyes followed me into the living room, scanning the apartment apparently looking for her.

“Yeah, she’ll be out in a second. I’m Andie, by the way.” I stuck my hand out like a dummy intending to shake, but retracted it a second later feeling like an idiot.

The guy with the rusty brown hair winked and sat down on the couch. “I’m Brian and this is Sam.” He pointed to his friend who had also sat down, arms rested along the back of the couch. They both slouched into the saggy cushions.

“Well, we are just doing the rounds, you know, meeting everyone.” He smiled broadly.

“Yeah, I do that on occasion.” I said beaming at them.

“On occasion, what are you talking about? That is your favorite pastime!” Lindsey skipped out of her room and jumped over the back of the couch to land in between the two boys. I stood there looking at them, then turned to leave. The guys had come to hang with Lindsey, and all I really wanted to do at this point was size them up, see if they would be worth my time and effort.

“Anyhow,” I said casually as I headed down the hall, “let me know if you want to, you know, get to know each other better.”

Sam spoke up then, “Hey Andie, why don’t you come over to our apartment sometime.”

“Sure,” I said, and left the room.

A week later I found myself walking up the three flights of stairs to the boy’s apartment. Most of the windows I passed were glowing brightly. I imagined they were full of students being studious. I knocked softly and entered after a loud voice hollered, “Come in!”

Sam was lying on the couch flipping through channels. He craned his neck around to see whom he had just admitted.

“Hey,” I said. “Where’s Brian? I told him I would come read him a bedtime story.” I held up the Dr. Seuss book and shrugged. Sam pointed down the hall and turned back to the television.

I found Brian sitting up in bed working on some homework. “You made it!” he seemed glad to see me. “ What did you bring?” He threw his schoolbook on the floor and scooted over to make room for me.

“Green Eggs and Ham.” I sat down, opened the book and read. Brian rested his arm across my shoulder and played with a strand of my hair. When I finished, he reached over and placed the book on the blanket. I turned my head to look at him and he pulled my face towards his. His breath was sweet, (probably from the pre-bedtime brushing) and our lips moved rhythmically together for some time.

He pulled away. “Thanks for the story. Make sure to come again.”

“Sure,” I said. I clambered off his bed a little weak in the knees. When I reached the living room I noticed the TV was no longer casting its bluish light on the walls. I glanced at the couch and saw Sam. He reached his hand out towards me.

“You’re leaving without saying goodnight?” He grabbed my hand and pulled me in front of him. His soft hands gripped my face, and I didn’t resist. He pulled me towards him and I climbed onto his lap and wrapped my arms around his neck. His lips were soft and pliant against mine. I melted against his chest and returned the kisses passionately, forgetting completely about my wobbly knees from before. Eventually I pulled away and ran a finger down his cheek. I traced the contours of his lips and he shivered a little as a crooked smile played at the corners of his mouth.

“I better get going. It’s late.” I stood up, wavering just a little and walked to the door. I decided not to look back. I wanted to leave it just like that, with me ending it on my terms. I stepped outside and the cool night air washed over me. I skipped lightly down the stairs and whistled happily all the way home.

10 in 10,000

Here is the gig, I am going to try and write ten stories. They will be 1,000 words each. This is Flash Fiction. I find that 1,000 words gives me a little more room to move around in than 500 words. We shall see what I come up with.