Ideas and Thoughts
*A/N* Early Mornings, Disappearances, and Apparitions is actually a true story of the other morning when we went to feed the horses, only the names are altered ;) hope everyone enjoys!!!!
16-Early Mornings, Disappearances, and Apparitions “None of the horses were in the regular pastures. ‘Mr. Mitchel must have let them in the backyard,’ Mom said. I nodded and pointed when I saw the top of a reddish bay head. ‘There’s Boss, I think,’ I said, and I leapt over the puddle that lead to Boss’s pasture. I already saw the gate on the other side of the horse trailer, and it was open. I then saw Kidd and Cinnamon, grazing on the lush grass in the yard. Fog hung around them, and it still smelled of the early morning. ‘Kidd-boy!’ I called quietly. Kidd’s head flew up to look at me, and I smiled. I made my way through the muddy pasture, grateful for my mud boots, and walked through the backyard gate. The swing set sat there, longing for someone to swing on it, and Kidd stood beside it. Cinnamon was off to the side, closer to the fence, but when she saw me she brought her head up to look at me. She reminded me of ice cream, so coated in caramel that all you saw of the vanilla was the wide stripe that started at her forehead and ended just before her nostrils. Kidd came up to me, his black-tipped ears forward excitedly, his black lips puckered, and his big, black eyes shining. ‘Come on, Mom,’ his eyes said, ‘I’m hungry.’ I smiled and tousled his black forelock. It had reddish highlights at the ends, bleached from the sun he was out in so often. He started to walk past me, his bronze shoulder brushing mine, and he and Cinnamon were through the gate. I paused a moment before following them. Where were Maple and Boss? ‘Hm,’ I grunted. I checked by Boss’s stall, which was right by the backyard. Nothing. I turned and followed the other two with the assumption that Maple and Boss were in the back pasture. It was earlier than when we usually fed in the mornings, so it was quiet outside. And yet, I could hear everything. The horses’ steady splashing as they trod through the mud puddles, their calm breathing as they eagerly made their way towards the barn, where Mom was waiting by the feed room. ‘I don’t see Maple or Boss,’ I said. Mom twisted her lip and placed her hands on her hips. ‘Did you check by Boss’s stall?’ she asked as I came closer. Kidd and Cinnamon were crowding around her now. I nodded. ‘I’ll be checking in the back,’ I said, and I marched off in that direction. The corner of the fence that surrounded the barn had a small tree beside it. It sat there as if it was waiting for somebody to climb it or use it for shade. Right now, I didn’t need shade, for the air was heavy with early morning fog. Once I reached the tree and passed it, I could see the rest of the pasture well enough to know that Maple and Boss weren’t out there. I called Maple, for she usually came if it was feeding time, but as I reached the middle of the pasture I could only see the neighbor’s to horses in their own pasture to the left of this one. Frantically, I drew my phone out of my pocket and called Mr. Mitchel, who owned Maple, Boss and Cinnamon. I kept my horse here in exchange for us feeding twice a day, and caring for the horses. ‘Hi Erin,’ he answered. ‘Hi Mr. Mitchel,’ I said, my voice shaking a bit. Had they been stolen? The thought kept running through my mind. Maple was an old girl, and Boss was a little fruit loop….What if they are stolen? ‘Do you happen to know where Boss and Maple are?’ the words came from my lips without me having to think. ‘Oh, they should be in the backyard,’ replied Mr. Mitchel casually. My heart was racing as I answered; ‘I looked and only saw Kidd and Cinnamon. They didn’t appear to be there.’ I glanced back at the barn and saw Mom coming out from the fog slightly. I made a gesture towards my phone and I saw her stop. ‘Okay, I’ll be out in a sec,’ said Mr. Mitchel. I thanked him and hoped that the horses were there. I ran back in the direction of the barn, nearly in tears, but I held them back. I stopped where Mom was. ‘They aren’t back there,’ I told her. ‘I swear I saw the top of Boss’s head too, when we first got here!’ We turned to look at the backyard, while Kidd nickered for his food, and saw Mr. Mitchel with Maple and Boss, in the backyard.” 17-The Elements’ Discussions “The sea shook its mighty head, splashing many people and various other creatures in the process, and said; ‘Oh, whoops, sorry….I’ll pay for that…..Anyhow, as I was saying….Wind…Sure does funny things, don’t you think?’” 18-Real Seeing “‘What does color look like, Amelie?’ Cora asked me. Her eyes were black and unseeing, and her pudgy five-year-old fingers clutched my own. ‘You’re wearing white,’ I told her. ‘White looks like soap, smooth, purifying soap.’ Cora brought her hand to her dress and felt along it, as if she could see it. ‘What about pink? Mrs. Blanco said that my pink shirt looked pretty yesterday,’ she said. I nodded to Eva Blanco as she passed through the hall, carrying a load of laundry. ‘Pink looks like bubble gum. It’s sweet and yummy,’ I replied. That made her smile. ‘I like pink,’ she announced, smoothing back her silky brown hair. ‘What color is my hair?’ she asked suddenly. I pulled her out of the way of George Blanco, who was storming down the grand hall after Eva. ‘Your hair is brown. Brown looks like soil, all moist and soft and fun to play in.’ I tousled her bangs, and she grinned. We rounded a corner. ‘I wish I could see, Amelie,’ she said, with more genuine longing than I thought a five year old girl could muster. I gently patted her head. ‘It’s okay, Cora,’ I said sadly, ‘people who see don’t really see at all.’” 19-Hopeless “Morgan was scared; I could see that, never mind how much she accused me of not seeing or feeling anything anymore. I didn’t scoot closer to her, didn’t comfort her in this dark, cold, wet cell. It wouldn’t have done any good in the place where the people don’t return. People said that fear lived here. It ate the prisoners like Morgan and I with relish. I could feel it eating Morgan up on the other side of the cell. I just shivered. Shivered with the stench of rotting bodies and blood flooding into my nostrils. Morgan leaned against the wall, clutching her arms and legs as close to her body as she could, as if that would protect her from what awaited outside. I knew nothing would. It was all hopeless. Hopeless. The single word that can suck all the energy out of you was the only one that ran through my mind. Hopeless.” 20-Careful Speech “Your lips touch as you shape the letter B. A tiny, insignificant little puff of breath continues the flow, and turns into the letter O. Then, your tongue presses the back of your teeth and the very front part of the roof of your mouth; an N. E and S flow together to make a little whisper of an S. It is a smaller one than its cousin, however. The E calms it down.” 21-Animal Dinners “The food spread around the table was beautiful. Delia almost didn’t want to eat the salad in front of her. The lettuce was too green and delicately torn; the blueberries too much like marbles; the tomato too much like a slice of the sun……Everything was too beautiful. When the little mouse politely folded her paws in her lap, the Master Geoffrey looked at her with concern. ‘Why do you not eat, mouse?’ asked the rabbit in a too loud voice (Delia suspected it was from the three glasses of wine he had drunk). ‘You look much too thin not to be hungry!’ Delia hesitated and looked around at the hedgehog, squirrel and three other rabbits at the table before answering. ‘Er….I’m allergic to salad.’” 22-Pursuit “Rhea ran, her breath catching on the sobs that were falling out of her. She could scarcely breathe as she shoved aside the thorny branches that blocked her path. She couldn’t hear her pursuers any longer, but that didn’t stop her. She ran and ran and ran, until something sharp plunged its way into her thigh. Rhea fell with a scream, clutching her leg to her with bloody hands. She lay, sobbing, on the damp, moldy forest floor. She saw a figure, a tall one, standing over her, but she paid it no mind in her pain. ‘Rhea?’ asked the figure. It had a softer voice than she had anticipated. Rhea looked up and stopped sobbing. Tears still stained her face and clung to her eyelashes, but she almost could have laughed. She wasn’t alone any longer.” 23-Grief “I could visibly see her breaking. It was as if a monster had walked up to her and slowly started to tear her apart, and now was finishing its job. She collapsed to the ground in a sobbing heap, banging the ground heavily with her fists and screaming. I instinctively bent down to help her to her feet, but she screamed at me too. She pushed me back, punching at my gut, telling me about how she hated me, and she would kill me, and she wanted me gone. I let her punch me, kick me, hurt me. I deserved it. When she finally stopped I had a bloody nose and my stomach hurt and she was breathing heavily, her shock of bright red hair a mess in the darkness. ‘Why don’t you fight me?’ she shrieked. Her green eyes were wild, darting all over the place. I wiped the blood from my now surely broken nose, wincing slightly. ‘Because you’re right,’ I replied simply. She unclenched her fists and stared at me for a long time. Then she spoke ‘He’s gone, isn’t he, Evan?’ she asked me in a hoarse voice. I felt a lump hurting my throat now. ‘Yes,’ I said. ‘I’m sorry, Natalie.’ I took a step towards her, my hand outstretched. She backed away. ‘I’m not going to forgive you,’ she said darkly. ‘Never. Now please, go away. I have to do something.’ I knew what she was about to do from the way that her hand went to her empty knife sheath. ‘No, Natalie. I can’t let you do that. Elliot wouldn’t have wanted you to,’ I told her urgently. There were tears in her electric green eyes again. ‘You speak his name? That’s my brother that you’re talking about! My brother! ’ she yelled. Then she shook her head and ran in the other direction towards the tents, leaving me alone in the open darkness.” 24-Uncertainty “The words passed my lips slowly, as if they weren’t sure whether they wanted to come out or not. I urged them and urged them, but all they told me in their tiny little fly voices was that this was a bad idea, and I should shut my big fat mouth.” 25-The Moon “The moon smiled at this point. ‘No one’s supposed to be out, Arabella,’ he said. His voice was deeper than any that she had ever heard. She stepped onto his outstretched hand and looked up at his wide, cratered face. ‘Well, my brother locked me out,’ she explained. The moon nodded, making Arabella stumble onto her knees, and said, ‘Yes, yes, I see. Now, I don’t believe in revenge—normally-- but what would you say to pushing your brother out into my great light tomorrow evening, instead of you? Y’know, give him a taste of his own medicine?’ he smiled encouragingly. Arabella nodded and smiled. She liked the moon.” 26-Candy Heaven “I was dancing on marshmallows. All around the field were marshmallows with chocolate candies, gumdrops sprinkled under the giant mushrooms. I didn’t particularly like gumdrops, but they were pretty. I plopped down and the marshmallow gave a mighty bounce. I grinned and took a chunk of chocolate and stuffed it in my mouth. I was in heaven.” 27-Just Sorrow “The empty room was sorrow. Just sorrow. It seeped through the walls and filled the air inside with it, suffocating anything or anyone that went in.” 28-The Strains of Saving the World “Moonlight was the only light that night. It highlighted everything in its white glow and left the most important things in darkness. Ben cursed under his breath. Of course. The whole world depended on those few things, and they were completely coated in darkness.” 29-Imprisonment “The ocean water was up to Mae’s waist now. She could feel it weighing down on her long dress, making it harder to walk every second. She held her arms above it, as the sleeves were so long that they would probably drag her under. It was so cold, so cold. Mae’s breath was coming in gasps now. She stopped walking and looked around her. She still saw them on the beach. She couldn’t go back, and she couldn’t keep going. Tears tasted bitter and salty in her mouth. She screamed furiously out into the night and let them fetch her. They grabbed her roughly by her arms, their teeth chattering themselves, and dragged her out of the water. She writhed and struggled, but knew better. They were going to kill her, or worse. Far worse.” 30-Changed “‘You don’t know me.’ The words stung like nothing else did. I closed my eyes, then opened them to look my daughter full in the face. ‘Madelyn, I--’ I began, but she cut me off. ‘You don’t know me anymore! Ever since Mom left you’ve been a wreck. I’ve changed. I’ve changed.’ Tears shone in her eyes, and, before I could say anything further, she turned around and ran away, slamming the bedroom door behind her. I didn’t try to follow her. I knew her well enough not to bother.”Genre
Comments
Thanks ;). Funny, I'm usually
Thanks ;). Funny, I'm usually the one who's jealous of other people's ideas! And you should, it's really fun. It is a break from work on my endless amounts of novels (most of which I am stuck on) and gets the creative juices flowing.
"You were not meant to fit into a shallow box built by someone else." -J. Raymond
Cool
18, 19, 24,27, 28, 29...Wow, I am jealous of all your ideas. Maybe I should just sit down and churn some out for a while. I am especially fond of the line "The empty room was sorrow."
Formerly Kestrel