forum Writing Prompts: Hurt/Comfort Edition

Started April 09, 2022 by Deleted user

tune

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Rules are simple. I give a prompt, you respond. Some of these deal with dark topics. You have been warned.

Prompt 1:

"Damn, you look like shit."

(sick, thanks!)

This is from my short horror story. Riley just had his dramatic hero moment showing up at the right time to save his little brother's life from the murderer plaguing the tiny town. The killer captured Felix and his father, and Riley was given all his information by the youngest brother. F formatting ig

Felix wasn’t sure how he’d gotten to Riley’s car. One moment he’d been lying on the ground, the next he was stumbling along, or being carried, he couldn’t really tell, and he was in the passenger’s seat of an unfamiliar sedan, and Riley was driving them back down the road, leaving the murderer and his truck far behind.
“Dad?” he whispered, and Riley reached over, placing a hand on his shoulder and squeezing reassuringly.
“I got him,” he promised. “He’s in the back. You’re going to be alright Felix, just stay with me. You look like shit, but looks can be deceiving, eh?”
There was a fierce determination in his tone, and Felix nodded, letting his eyes fall closed. His brother would keep them safe. He didn’t need to be afraid anymore.
“How’d you get here?” he asked, and Riley snorted slightly.
“Thought I’d surprise you. Mail’s been taking so damn long to get through, I figured it would be fun if I just showed up. Dunno if you got my last letter, but after I sent it I got frustrated, and wrote to the general. I guess it went through, because two weeks later he promised I’d be on a plane heading back home by the end of the week. Well, one week turned to two, as tends to happen, but I’ve been flying for the past fourteen hours. Almost had to cancel, I heard every flight after mine was shut down thanks to a bombing threat. I just got to Boston, rented this car, and drove all the way here.”
Felix nodded slightly as Riley broke off his story and gave him a small shake to make sure he was still awake. Satisfied, Riley continued.
“I got home, the house was trashed, and Ben was hiding in that tiny crevice he likes to crawl through under the stairs. He told me everything, and now I’m here.”
“Where is Benji?” Felix murmured, the words catching as a pothole made the whole car rock. Riley muttered an apology.
“He’s alright. I took him to Coral, and called the police to update the situation. They should be there by the time we get home.”
It was all Felix needed to hear. He let out a breath he felt like he’d been holding ever since Benji first went missing, and finally let himself drift away, ignoring Riley’s voice calling his name with more and more alarm as it faded to silence.

Riley felt Felix slump over in his seat, and grit his teeth in frustration. He needed to stop and see if he could stop the never-ending blood that seeped steadily from Felix’s stomach, but he didn’t want to give the man in the bog any chance to catch up. One glance off the road at his brother’s face made his mind up for him however, and with a curse he pulled as far off the road as he dared, cutting the engine and turning off the lights. With luck, it would be enough even if the murderer caught up with them. This certainly wasn’t the welcome home he’d been expecting. But his time in the military as a nurse had prepared him well for this exact moment, and he knew Felix needed help right now.
It was tricky to maneuver in the tight confines of the car, but he managed to reach over Felix and recline the seat before rolling up his sleeves and gently peeling away the soaked through fabric on his brother’s abdomen. The wound was hard to see under the layers of fresh and slowly drying blood, but Riley hadn’t come completely unprepared. The first aid kit was retrieved from the floor and while he felt a little bit like he was trying to combat a wildfire with a sprinkler, he determinedly cleaned around the wound as best he could, putting pressure on the deep cut as he worked. It wasn’t pretty. The cut itself was clean and neat, but it must have been aggravated several times, the edges showing signs of tearing and with every movement, a stain of new blood seeping slowly through the cloth he held there.
“Come on,” he muttered to the wound. “Stop bleeding, I don’t think he’s got much more in him.”
It was miraculous that Felix was still alive. He looked like he’d lived through a hurricane, bits of leaves, ice, mud, and twigs caught in his hair and clothes, cuts and bruises illustrating every inch of exposed skin. As Riley moved Felix’s arm out of the way, a dead wolf spider fell from his sleeve.
“You gotta tell me this story,” he told his unconscious brother. “Seems like you’ve had a hell of a time.”
Stay with me, is what he meant. You didn’t come this far to die on me now.

Prompt 2:

"I thought you would die on me, you jerk!"

Prompt 3:

"You humiliated me! And for what?"

Prompt 3
“You humiliated me! And for what?”
“I was doing it for your own good!” He cried, his eyes misting.
Estel grew silent, dangerously. She bit her lip before speaking, not daring to look Shaan in the eyes. She wasn’t sure what she would look like if she did meet his eyes.
“For my own good? What about Ayo? Did you ever think of him? Do you know what you must have put him through? He did nothing to you!” She shouted surprised at her own outburst. She wasn’t someone who got angry easily, but now she felt it boiling over inside of her, unstoppable.
“I never wanted to hurt him. But if I didn’t…we would have lost you. I’m sorry that it had to be this way, Estel, I really am!” Shaan cried, the emotion rising in his voice. He took a step closer.
“He would’ve died for me!” She said, suddenly choking on her voice. She felt painful, hot tears surfacing.
“He would have killed you! Do you really think you would have been safe outside the castle? It’s a warzone out there!” Shaan said, hands flying up in frustration. She looked away from him again, turning to stare at the red swirling wallpaper at the top of her walls. She usually loved the colour red, but she was honestly starting to hate that patriotic colour.
“I trust him…”she said through tears, “and I thought I trusted you too” It was too much for her. She couldn’t bear to listen to Shaan’s angry, emotionally charged voice and the sound of her loud heartbeat and the continual chugging of the Air conditioner and the electrical buzz of the ceiling lights. It was too much.
“What? What do you mean? I did the right thing!”
“I can’t do this anymore, Shaan. I want you out of my room. I don’t want to see you.” She said, hiding her face in her hands. She didn’t want him to be in the same space as all her emotions. It was too personal.
“No. We need to talk. Please Es-”
“GO!” she shouted, grabbing a pillow from her pillow and throwing it at him. It missed. He pursed his lips, his eyes narrowing.
“Fine. Fine!” He said, shrugging. Then he left the room, the door closing hard behind him.
She waited until the door closed before she spilled her emotions into her hands, the sobs racking through her entire body.
She knew Ayo would have been ashamed to see her act so spiteful to Shaan. She knew it wasn’t right. Ayo was always so kind, so patient when he was mistreated by others. She could imagine his strong brown eyes, looking upon her disapprovingly, scornfully-though he had never looked at her this way before. He was always kind, but honest and firm. Why? Why had she been prevented from escaping the castle? Why had Shaan lied to Ayo, telling him such horrible things about her? And telling her family such horrible lies about him. She wailed, hugging the ground. But the worst of it was that nobody believed her. Everyone believed she had been enchanted by some mysterious stranger, into planning a daring escape with her beloved to a fantasy land. Nobody saw how much she wanted to escape this broken castle.

Prompt 4:

“You didn’t deserve that, I’m sorry.”

(Yo that's so good-)

Thanks! It is a part of my novel! I haven't actually gotten to this part yet tho in writing