forum Writing Prompts

Started May 02, 2019 by @Bandito

tune

103: You didn't have to do that, though.

104: I was going to bet my life on you

This is prompt one: You will never be a god
(sorry that it's literally months late)

Her body warps around the sword as it pierces the chink in her armour. Even the gods can't save her now. Her brothers have already fallen, she knows that she is falling as well. And even as she once hated her brothers and their tricks, their pranks, their laughter, she hates to see such fine warriors dead, although not as fine as herself. The city is on its last legs, and there will only be a few weeks left of its existence. She prays to Elysium, god of death, that her end will be swift, but she knows it won't. She will die, unmarked, unknown, on this battlefield. Her city's walls will crumble and quake.

She closes her eyes as death sweeps in and carries her spirit up to the heavens. When she wakes, she is not on the battlefield anymore. She is in the heavens. Beside her is Kiah and Xoel, her brothers. They wear long white robes and gold crowns, and she knows in her heart what they have become, just as they speak it.

"We are gods," they say, in unison. Of course they are. Their eyes, black as coal, black as death, the same as hers. She smiles at her brothers. They are happy here, far from the chaos and screaming below. To the right of Kiah and Xoel are ten more gods, and she knows them each by name, for how many hours had she spent praying to each, reading tales about each? Elysium is her favourite, she saw so much of herself in him. The love for death, the black eyes.

"Will I become a god also?" she asks. Imagine being a god! She would be Elysium's right hand woman, Death's Arrow.

"You are a girl," says Elysium, stepping forward, and her heart fills with awe. "You will never be a god." What - Why? Her thoughts are barely coherent. This is her wildest dream, only thought about as a fantasy. And it is tumbling down. Her brothers smirked at her, satisfied that their stupid sister was being put in her place.

"No." She takes a step forward, a sword appearing in her hand, as if out of the shadows. "I will never be a god. Because I will be a goddess instead. And tonight, all the gods will burn!"

That night, she slices through all of them, one by one, watching the heads roll onto the floor. When she is finished, she raises her sword in the air, and out of the mist, the goddesses come, all those who were promised godship but were denied it.

"We will never be gods!" she shouts, a battle cry. The women agree, as more appear, until everywhere she looks, she can see people. "We are goddesses!" And the chant echoes, until the world boomed with it, and even the living below could hear, and know what had happened to their precious gods.

103: you didn’t have to do that though

Money was getting sparse, he’d been laid off from his job a couple weeks prior which had barely paid enough as us and his savings were slowly dwindling. The man tore his eyes from the bills and papers scattered across his desk and let his gaze land on the digital clock of the stove, it read 8:03am.
“I suppose you’re getting hungry huh?” He turned to the dog lying peacefully on the worn out sofa whose ears perked up at the mention of food.
He got up from his chair with a stretch and Max followed in suit as they made their way into the kitchen.
“Shit.” He opened the bag to find it empty, nothing but crumbs and the putrid smell of kibble remained, he sighed and pulled the bag out from its spot in the cupboard.
“I suppose we’re making a trip to the store then.” He concluded as he snagged Max’s leash from off the counter. The walk to the nearby pet store was only around 10 minutes at a leisurely pace, but the sun still low in the sky boring onto his skin made it feel far longer. By the time he reached his destination he was drenched in sweat and did his best to wipe his brow with the edge of his t-shirt before entering the air-conditioned store, which felt like heaven compared to the summer heat outside.
He paused to let Max have a drink from the water bowl tucked against the wall before browsing the isles for the familiar label. After some brief searching he found it sat between some bag with a german shepherd on it and an isle of leashes, he tucked it under his arm and headed over to the counter where a salesperson in a bright green shirt stood shuffling around some items in a poor attempt of looking busy.
“You found everything okay?” She asked.
“I did.” He replied as he felt the leash in his hand go tight, he looked over to find Max sniffing at a strange looking yellow plushie which he could only guess was supposed to be a duck.
“What? Do you want that bud?” He asked and stepped closer to allow Max to further inspect, the dog must have taken this as an invitation as he snagged the toy off the shelf and started squeaking it incessantly.
“Alright alright” he grabbed the toy and placed it on the counter “this too please.”
The woman behind the counter chuckled, “Your total comes to $27.89.”
He flipped through his wallet and pulled out his bank card, jamming it into the machine with a silent prayer.
“I’m sorry, it looked like it’s been declined, would you like me to put it through again?” She asked, face shifting to something between embarrassment and pity.
“Um no, uh shoot” He fumbled through his pockets finding nothing but a crumpled $20 bill “How much without the toy?”
“$18.46.”
“Okay” the man took a sigh of relief “Sorry buddy, we’ll get you a toy some other time.” He apologized to the dog, handing the cash to the woman and jamming the change into his pocket and went on his way.

“Wait!” the man paused nearly half a block away from the store and flipped around to see a man around his own age with bright blue hair jogging up to him, waving something in his hand.
“Man you’re fast! Here.” ‘Blue boy’ held out the very duck that he had left behind, breathing heavily in an attempt to catch his breath.
“What’s this?” The man asked in confusion
“It’s for you! Well, for your dog I guess. He looked so sad when it was left behind! I couldn’t just stand by and do nothing, I mean, it’s not his fault you forgot to bring more cash. Not saying it’s your fault either! Things happen! I mean who am I to talk just last week I forgot my keys on the counter of some café and had to phone 4 different places to find them.” blue boy chuckled awkwardly, rubbing the back of his neck “Anyways I just wanted to give you that.”
The man paused and looked down at the duck.
“You didn’t have to do that though?” He replied softly.
“I know, I wanted to. See you around!” Blue boy waved as he jogged off.

(I return with more of Max and the man joined by blue boy, I'm not a writer but I'm kind of invested in them now)

~D A M N~ speechless

103: You didn't have to do that, though.

Maybe the days were getting long, running into each other like seems on a blanket.
perhaps the others were drifting away, and "no one noticed", no one but me.
Yes there is a chance that life was caving in, and there was no way out.
But that doesn't make it right, no it wont even break the surface. You left me.
I quote from that letter you gave me when we first fell in love. "i'll be with you forever"
Agreeing to this was a promise, a deal, a pact. but you lied.
lier.
a word with so much meaning a word that i screamed into my pillow when you left.
"liar"
A word i uttered at your funeral, alone to myself.
Liar.
We would have made it, we could have made it. so why i ask, did you have to give up on me, on us.
I advise anyone who loves someone, do not promise them a forever.
just like many others he didn't have to do it. but he did, and he would again.
but before you do it, and harm the people you promised forever.
please remember you don't have to do it.
you didn't have to do that, though

(gosh i hate this lmao. i cant do poetry or whatever this is lol)

I read that while listening to the amazing devil and DAAAAAMN

104: I was going to bet my life on you

The keys hit the counter with a subtle crash that went unnoticed. They slid a few inches in a splayed manner, like a corpse on an icy road.
He sighed.
There was a muttered curse as he fumbled with the light switch and missed the first two times, before slamming his hand upward, which he repented of a second afterwards, convinced by the pain in his palm. He stared around the small room, no particular intent in mind. The old chair with olive green padding beckoned to him, but he knew if he sat down it would be hours until he could get up again. He sighed again.
The microwave buzzed tunelessly as the subpar frozen lasagna spun slowly round, its halo of orange light serving to attempt a presentation of which it was quite unable to fulfil, which was just as well as no one cared. People who eat frozen single servings of lasagna generally don't. It was still cold in the middle when he did eat it, but the corners burned his mouth. He tried to savor the warmth of it. It was a late summer day, plenty of warmth still hovered in the air, but he did not feel it. His teeth broke through the center of the mostly tasteless brick, and he swallowed slowly.
He didn't feel like getting dressed for bed, but he was glad that he did. The change of clothes helped change his mood, and the cold felt better on his skin, not as unwelcome. His shoes lay at the foot of his bed, but he didn't muster up the energy to care. He could deal with it tomorrow.
He lay in bed, staring upward, the ceiling fan blowing down the air that had been warmed during the daylight hours. He ached. Gone were the plans for the future. Gone was the motivation that filled him with energy, pushing him onwards as he took extra hours in wait for the paycheck bonuses. Tabs were still open on his laptop to a pdf of an application to a larger apartment, as well as a page to different sites bragging low priced on expensive looking rings.
Well, he had thrown the dice. He knew the risks when he made the bets. He would recover. He had time and money and a few friends near and far. Still he turned in his bed, emotion keeping him a captive of the waking world. He had bet his life on her. As much as he wished otherwise, he wouldn't have taken it back if he could.