Tonight is the Night

The curtains were drawn, which is not unusual, as they have been drawn for the last two years.  Ever since Jared died.

Karen flopped down in the recliner she used when rocking him to sleep, as if the pockets of her oversized terry cloth bathrobe were weighted down with rocks.

She poured herself a glass of wine and brought Tchaikovsky up in iTunes on her laptop.  Karen sank into the recliner, sipped her wine and closed her eyes.

“Tonight,” she whispered.

She picked up Jared’s baby book and blanket that lay on the table beside her. “Yes. Tonight,” she hissed.

“No hesitation,” she thought. “Clean. Straight through,” she said as she reached for the knife under the mattress. She briefly remembered how her husband, Michael, taught her how to defend herself using the same knife she planned to use to take her life.

She reclined, finished the wine and let Tchaikovsky sink into her soul. She opened Jared’s baby book to his first picture — her holding him and Michael cutting the cord. She held his baby blanket up to her nose and inhaled deeply. The scent of Jared had left the blanket long ago, but for her it was still there.

Karen folded the blanket again and placed it back on the table. Closed the baby book and put it next to the blanket. She picked up the knife, rolled up her bathrobe sleeve, and held the knife tightly in her left hand. “Clean and straight through. Tonight is the night.”  She draws an imaginary line from the base of her right thumb on her wrist up to the middle of her forearm.

She hesitates. “No hesitation,” she says to herself. She bears the knife down and winces in pain. Karen smiles in relief.  She knows this time she’s successful. She hit the artery. “Won’t be long now, Jared.”

She sits back in the recliner holding the knife in her left hand. She closes her eyes and lets the blood flow freely and quickly from her wrist as she continues to listen to Tchaikovsky play in the background.

Karen smiles as she remembers each milestone in Jared’s short life. The day he was born. His first step. His first tooth. His first word, which was not mommy or daddy. It was “No.” A very loud and vehement “no.”  His first haircut. His first Christmas. His first birthday. His death.

Tchaikovsky is fading in the background and she could feel herself getting weaker. She tried to open her eyes, but her eyelids felt heavy. She could feel the warmth of the blood sliding down her wrist and her hand and her fingertips. “Not long now.”  She opened her eyes, but could only see darkness. “Yes. Not long now.”

_________________________________________________________________________________

For the Scriptic prompt exchange this week, kgwaite gave me this prompt: Have someone select one object at random from each of the rooms in your house. Now, write a story using each of those objects..

I gave Talia this prompt: In 100 words or less, describe (in as much detail as possible) the worst vacation you or your character has ever had.

Don’t Cry~~

Day 3 of the Blogging A t0 Z Challenge is C = Change Is Gonna Come by Sam Cooke. Click HERE and HERE to learn how I came up with this.

I’m a huge music, but you’ve probably guessed that since I’m using song titles and lyrics as my inspiration for the Blogging A to Z Challenge.  Another one of my favs is Don’t Cry by Seal; which is my D topic on this fourth day of the challenge.

Today, I decided to go a different route and I used the lyrics to tell the story.  I hope you enjoy.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Don’t Cry

Today I dreamed of you and those memories seem so long ago.  You told me, “Don’t cry because you’re not alone and you’ll always be loved.”

Tonight my baby, I feel so alone.  I hear your voice telling me “you’ll overcome the pain.”

I dreamed of you holding me close, and saying me, “Don’t cry tonight.”

“Don’t leave me now,” I cried.

You wiped the tears from my eyes and said, “my baby, keep me in your memories because you will always be loved.”

Change is Gonna Come

Day 3 of the Blogging A t0 Z Challenge is C = Change Is Gonna Come by Sam Cooke. Click HERE and HERE to learn how I came up with this.

This is one of my all time favorite songs.  Changes come.  They may not come when you want them or they may not be the change you want, but they do come.

I hope you enjoy and please feel free to let me know what you think.

Justin stands atop the narrow rocky summit of Challenger Point with his arms outstretched.

Sandra always felt protective of him.  “Be careful,” she says from below.

“I’ll be fine,” he said tilting his head back a little.  Every Saturday Justin and Sandra climb one of Colorado’s 14ers, mostly for Justin.  He has lived in a fog for as long as he could remember and for some reason climbing helped to clear the fog.  Even though he was ascending into the clouds with every new step.

He took long slow deep breaths and exhaled each one slowly.  “I wonder what it’s like up there,” he said to Sandra.

“Up where?”

“Up there,” he said with his arms still outstretched, bending further back, and opening his eyes.  “Beyond the sky.”

More often than not Justin felt it’s hard living but at the same time suicide is not an option.  Not because he’s religious because he’s not and not because he didn’t know how he was going to carry out, but because he didn’t know what it was like beyond the sky.  And he has absolutely no desire to go from one hate filled world to another.

This time he felt something different.  Some peace.  A tranquility he had never felt before.  He leaned back even further.

He sat down and looked at Sandra.  “You’ve known me a long time Sands.”

“Yup, since we were kids.”

“And you know I’ve never been really happy except for when I’m up here? Right?”

“Yes,” Sandra says looking at him with concern on her face.

“It’s been a long time Sands.  It’s been a long time coming,” he said as he stood outstretching his arms again.

Sandra stands along with several other hikers with worried looks.

Justin looks at Sandra and smiles, “I know what’s beyond the sky now.”

He falls to his knees clutching his chest and says with shallow breaths, “A change has finally come.  It’s been a long time coming.”

Powered by Linky Tools

Click here to enter your link and view this Linky Tools list…

“All These Lives”

Day 1 of Blogging A to Z Challenge is: A = All These Lives by Daughtry.  Click HERE and HERE to learn how I came up with this.

It’s been 10 years now since Drew saw his children.  Alexander would be 22 now; Corrine, 18; and Mikael, 16.

He remembers it as if it were yesterday.  Drew got off work early to surprise his wife, Stephanie, with five airplane tickets to her hometown, Valparaiso, Chile.  When he got home Mikael did not do his usual running head start before jumping on Drew’s back.    Corrine was not in the kitchen helping her mother prepare dinner as she liked to do.  And Alexander was not a soccer practice.  They were sitting on the sofa in the family room.  Corrine was crying and Mikael was asleep.  Stephanie was visibly upset.  She looked more angry than afraid and Alexander didn’t show any emotion at all.

“What’s wrong?” Drew said stepping in the family room.

“Hola Drew.”

Drew turned around to see his father-in-law, brothers-in-law, and three other men he didn’t know in his family room with guns.

“Drew,” his father-in-law said. “It is time for Estefania to take her rightful place.”

“Rightful place? What are you talking about, Josef.”

“It does not concern you.”

“Stephanie, do you know what he is talking about?”

“Estefania,” he says with emphasis on her name.  “Estefania is very well aware of what is going on.  I have tried to reason with her for years, but she would hear nothing of it.  She claimed that she loves you.  Time has run out and she must be delivered to take her rightful place.”

Drew sets off toward Josef, but two of the henchmen stop him before he reaches Josef.

“Drew.  Please don’t make this any harder than what it already is.  Estefania and the children will be well taken care of.  What you are about to do is going to be very hard for you, but it must be done.” Josef reaches into his briefcase, pulls out some paper and the men holding Drew force him to sit at the desk where Josef places the papers. He says, “These are divorce papers.  You will sign them and in process you will also relinquish parental rights.”

“No. I won’t do it.”

“Oh, but I think you will,” Josef says nodding to the third.  He pulls out a knife and places it to Corrine’s throat.

“Daddy!” she screams.

“Okay.  Okay.”  Drew signs the papers and Josef puts them back in his briefcase.  He nods to Stephanie’s brothers and they usher Stephanie, Alexander, Corrine, and Mikael out of the house.

“This really never should have happened,” Josef says.   “I tried to get her to come to her senses long ago.” He starts to leave, “The pain will go away.”

It’s been nearly ten years and the pain has not gone away.  The wound is still open and deep and with each breath and every passing moment his heart breaks a little more.  And as he has done for the last nine and half years, Drew goes to sleep with a bottle of scotch in one hand and his dad’s .357 in the other.

Powered by Linky Tools

Click here to enter your link and view this Linky Tools list…

Another Avenue for Writers to Publish Their Stories & Poetry - Readwave

Reblogged from toofulltowrite (I've started so I'll finish):

• 

Hello people of the blogosphere.

You're all looking particularly spiffing today.

Is that a new hat?
Haircut?
Shade of eyeliner?
Lucky mole?

You haven't washed your hair today? Oh OK.

Looks nice on you though, regardless.

Now on to business.

I've been informed by a lovely young lady named Nyasha about a new platform called Readwave that promotes Short Stories and Poetry.

Read more… 410 more words

Remember

This weekend’s Trifextra challenge was to use the following words: remember, rain, and rebellion in our piece.  I hope you enjoy.

He doesn’t remember — not for a long time.

“When is the rebellion going to be over?” he asks.

“Rebellion?”

“Yes,” he says pointing out the window.

“Daddy, it’s raining.”

“Rain,” he says walking from the window.

This weekend’s challenge is community judged, so please make sure you stop by the Trifecta website and vote for little ‘ole me. .  Thanks in advance.