I wish this cold had stayed as just that – a cold. Instead, I was in bed until almost one this afternoon after a night of hot and cold fever and throwing up. I feel mostly better now, aside from an irritating headache, a runny nose and a slight temperature.
Hopefully Liberty is feeling better than I am and is still up for writing a new instalment of There’s No Such Thing As Fairies.
Liberty, your prompt for this week is:
…Fever…
Enjoy!
xCx
As Carole is doing her utmost best to finish NaNoWriMo off this week (she’s currently only 3000 words from finishing and tomorrow is the last day!), I’ve said I’ll guest post a prompt for Liberty. (Liberty has finished her NaNoWriMo project already, so it seems only fair she should continue to have a prompt 
)
Last week Carole (or more accurately, Arthur) set the prompt of “Percy” for Liberty to continue her short story series with. You can read the excellent twist taken with that prompt over on Liberty’s blog.
Having just spent an hour in front of the sink clearing a massive washing up backlog (finally), and now relaxing with an Indian courtesy of a local takeaway place, my prompt is rather directly inspired by that.
Liberty, your prompt is
Having to finally do that which you know you have to, but don’t want to.. and gladly reaping the rewards thereafter.
Hope that spurns the creative juices out onto the page for you!
Caius
I’ve been a bit over-emotional this week with one thing and another, and I’m shattered. NaNoWriMo has been taking it out of me a bit and the housework is blatantly suffering for it (though saying that I have done a total overhaul of the kids’ room whilst they were at their Dad’s for an extended holiday stay so it hasn’t been a total housework no-go). I know Liberty is also pooped and has a brain like scrambled eggs currently so it’s time for me to give her a boost by providing a new prompt for There’s No Such Thing As Faeries.
Liberty, this week’s prompt is:
…Disappointed…
Enjoy,
xCx
This week has been one of little niggly things resulting in several moments of grumpiness, stroppiness and quite a few tears – and that’s before you take the kids into consideration. Things have been forgotten and/or lost, random allergies have popped up and a million other tiny annoying things have happened – I’m quite looking forward to next week so we can start over.
However, today is Caius’s birthday (HAPPY BIRTHDAY!) so there is, at least, plenty of cake floating around to patch things up.
Cake doesn’t add to wordcounts though, sadly, else I’d be roaring ahead in my NaNo. But prompts help add to Lib’s so here’s her next one for the next story in her There’s No Such Thing As Fairies series 
Liberty, your prompt for this week is:
Exhausted
Enjoy!
xCx
With NaNo currently putting me through my paces it gives me a little kick of pleasure to inflict a writing task on Liberty too. Because I’m nice like that. And that’s why she loves me.
Last week I set her the prompt of ‘A Break In The Clouds’ and she responded with a particularly exciting instalment of There’s No Such Thing As Faries, which you can read over here on her blog: Liberty Falls Down
This week has been a busy one – what with Hallowe’en and lots of DIY and house sorting going on in our little world – not to mention it being half-term so the Smalls have been very full on ALL day, EVERY day, so I feel that this week’s prompt should lead from something in that little lot…
Liberty, your new prompt is:
…Not a moment’s rest…
Enjoy!
xCx
I present to you here a piece I wrote for my homework for the Writer’s Club Liberty, Ivy and I have recently joined. I was given three things to work into a piece of writing in any style I desired – a long-held secret, a secluded country hotel and a music box. This is what I came up with.
Warning: it contains adult content and explicit language!
The Music Box
“I still can’t believe we’re the only ones here.” Hetty giggled as Ben pushed her up the stairs ahead of him, trying to get his hands up her skirt. “Benjamin behave!”
“Why? You just said there’s no-one else here. I could just strip you here and now and have my way with you – nobody would see,” he teased.
“Don’t you dare. There’s still staff around.” Hetty flattened her skirt against the back of her thighs and ran up the last few stairs and down the thickly carpeted corridor to their room. Her cheeks were flushed with both embarrassment and excitement; it was a Wednesday afternoon in the middle of September and the rest of the world was at work and a million miles away whilst she was here in the middle of a forest in a country mansion with the only man she had ever loved. For the first time in months the last thing on her mind was real life and the first thing was how quickly she could get Ben into their luxury four poster bed.
Ben had the room key so Hetty had to wait for him to saunter up the corridor and unlock the door. Instead of opening it though, he kissed Hetty and leaned her back against the door. He pressed against her and she couldn’t help but put her arms around his neck and kiss him back, furiously and deeply, letting him know with just her mouth how much she wanted him.
Ben broke the kiss for a second and smiled, running one of his hands through her long dark hair, down her side and slipping it back under her skirt. Gently he ran his fingers along the edge of her underwear, teasing and tempting, before stepping back and finding the key to unlock the door.
Hetty almost ran to the bed and sat down on the edge, watching Ben as he carefully locked the door behind them and placed the key on the coffee table in the corner. His hair was slightly tousled and the top two buttons of his shirt undone. There was colour in his cheeks that showed his desire almost as clearly as the bulge in his jeans. The fire in his blue eyes when he looked at her was almost hot enough to feel. He wanted her again. The same way he had wanted her when they met, when they married. Recently that fire had dimmed as he worked too hard and so often far from home, but now it was back. The only thing in the room worth his attention was her and that was how she wanted it.
She shifted slightly so that he would be able to see up her skirt. She had bought new lingerie just for this trip away, hoping this would happen. The heat between her legs increased as he noticed and smiled wickedly before striding across the room towards her, unbuckling his belt and stepping from his trousers.
“They’re new,” he murmured, lying her back on the bed and pushing up her skirt to have a proper look. “Red suits you.”
Hetty concentrated on keeping her breathing steady as Ben slowly pulled off her t-shirt and admired the bra that matched her underwear. His hands were warm against her skin as he trailed them across her stomach and round her back where he fumbled with the clasp, clumsy in his desire.
“Yes. Definitely your colour.” His voice was almost a growl as he dropped her bra to the floor and took her breasts in his hands. He stroked her for a moment before taking one of her nipples into his mouth, licking and nipping gently. Hetty couldn’t contain a moan of pleasure and arched against him; the heat of his mouth echoing the pulse of warmth where his erection was pressed against her thigh.
Grinning, Ben quickly unbuttoned his shirt and pulled off his boxers before tugging off Hetty’s skirt and underwear in one swift movement.
“I’ve missed you,” he whispered as he kissed his way up her body, stopping only when he reached her soft smiling mouth. “No-one in the world is quite like you, Henrietta Owens. Not one girl.”
Hetty pressed herself against him and whispered in his ear, “So take me.”
It had been a long time since Ben had made love to her and it wasn’t long before Hetty was shuddering beneath him, flushed and exhausted as he gently brought her to orgasm before satisfying himself.
Afterwards, they lay together and talked softly about everything and nothing until, without warning, a wave of grief swept over Hetty and she found herself sobbing into Ben’s chest as he stroked her hair.
“I miss her so damn much, Ben. Do you think they’ll ever find her?”
Ben gently kissed the top of her head. “You’ve got to keep hoping. They haven’t found any evidence that she’s dead, so maybe she’s fine. Don’t give up on her, Hetty. She’s feisty.”
“But it’s been three months. They haven’t found anything yet. She’s just vanished like those other girls. Gone.”
Ben sat up, carefully propping Hetty against him as he moved. “Hush, Hett. This trip is supposed to be about us and forgetting the world. Don’t worry about Beth for now, she wouldn’t hold it against you for letting her slip your mind for a couple of days.”
Hetty sniffled and nodded, moving to pull the bedcovers around herself. “Sorry.”
“It’s okay, Baby, I understand.” Ben smiled and brushed the tears from her cheeks. “Tell you what, I’ll get dressed and go downstairs and ask the receptionist where we can go for dinner. Somewhere outrageously posh – we can dress up and go in style. Pretend to be royalty for an evening. What do you reckon?”
Unable to hold back a grin, Hetty agreed. “Okay. I’ll jump in the shower – freshen up.” She tucked her hair behind her ears and kissed Ben lightly on the jaw. “I am sorry though. I know this is meant to be about us.”
Ben pressed a finger to her lips and smiled. “Forget it.”
Hetty sat on the bed and watched as Ben retrieved his clothes, pulled them on and flattened down his hair. She smiled at him as he blew her a kiss and closed the door behind him as he left before hopping out of bed to go find her wash bag.
She rummaged through their overstuffed suitcase, not entirely sure where she’d packed it, or even if she’d remembered to pack it at all. Feeling underneath a stack of Ben’s boxer shorts her fingers brushed against the rough material of a wash bag. Unsure whether it was hers or Ben’s she tugged it out, surprised by the weight of it.
It was Ben’s scruffy black wash bag. She balanced it in her hand wondering what on earth he’d packed to make it so heavy when two faint music notes tinkled out of it.
Intrigued, she opened the zip for a better look.
Inside was a pretty silver music box, tucked into a compartment on its own away from his wash kit. Heart thumping with excitement, Hetty carefully took it out and held it up to the light. There were delicate roses engraved on all sides, a winding key on the bottom and an intricately patterned latch on the front.
A voice in her mind told her to put the box back where she found it and pretend she hadn’t seen it – she didn’t want to ruin the surprise when Ben presented it to her later. She should just go get in the shower and try to forget it but curiosity got the better of her. So, cautiously watching the door, she wound the key and carefully unclipped the latch, lifting the lid without looking – paranoid that Ben would come through at any second.
The metallic tune plinked out through the room, sounding to her like gunfire in the silence. Cursing herself for automatically winding the key instead of just silently opening the box, Hetty looked down and frowned.
Inside were several locks of hair tied with thick coloured ribbon. Pulling out the first one – blonde hair wrapped in a pale green bow – she noticed a pair of letters written neatly in the centre of the bow, ‘GB’.
“What the…?”
She looked at the next – dark hair, blue ribbon, ‘TL’ – and a name suddenly crept into her mind.
“Tara Langley. The hairdresser from the city.”
She shook her head and reached into the box for the next lock. The letters on the bow were just coincidence. Chance.
The next was dark blonde with hot pink ribbon and the letter ‘AR’. Hetty frowned in thought.
“Amélie Roussin. French exchange student. Part-time model.”
She realised her hands were shaking and closed her eyes to think. It was coincidence. The letters clearly meant something else. They were relatives. Obviously. It wasn’t a gift for her at all but a memento of family history that Ben liked to keep close but secret. Probably embarrassed. In fact, now she thought about it, wasn’t his Grandmother called something like Trisha Long? That explained the ‘TL’. Yes, that was it. A secret and slightly unusual family tradition that Ben had never mentioned. All she had to do was put everything back in the box, hide it away again and pretend she’d never seen it. He’d tell her in his own time.
It was fine.
She opened her eyes again, ready to put everything back when the urge to see everything in the box overwhelmed her and she tipped the box, emptying it onto the carpet. One by one she lined up the locks, bows facing up, trying hard to block out vague names and descriptions as they crossed her memory.
One lock had remained in the box, caught on one of the hinges. Hetty carefully tugged it free painfully aware of the thumping of her heart in her throat. She could barely breathe.
The hair was a bold red. Fiery bright.
Like Beth’s.
The ribbon was bright purple.
Beth’s favourite colour.
With a twitch Hetty flipped the lock of hair and looked at the letters carefully scripted onto the bow.
‘BM’
Bethany Moore.
From that moment, there wasn’t a trace of doubt in Hetty’s mind that she was holding a lock of her best friend’s hair.
She was still sat on the floor beside the suitcase, music box discarded and Beth’s hair clutched in her fingers, when Ben walked back into the room. He stood for a moment, just looking at her before letting out a sigh.
“Oh Hetty. I wish you hadn’t found that.”
His face was both sad and infinitely tired as he shut and locked the door, never taking his eyes off Hetty.
“I don’t understand.” Hetty’s voice was barely a whisper in the stillness.
He sighed and sat down beside her, prising the lock of hair from her hand and replacing it in the box. One by one he put the others on top of it then closed the lid and put the box down between them.
“They weren’t you. It was exciting and thrilling and dangerous but then it would be morning and they weren’t you, Hetty. I couldn’t live with that. With what I had done. So I had to make them go away, so that I could put them behind me and forget. That way I knew it wouldn’t hurt you because you would never know. I only wanted you, Hetty. Only ever you.”
Hetty closed her eyes so she didn’t have to watch her world collapse around her. She wanted to close her ears as well but Ben just kept talking, his voice breaking as he fought against tears.
“The only thing I ever really wanted was you. And now… now you’ve ruined it.”
Hetty jumped as Ben suddenly leapt to his feet beside her, snatching up the music box from the floor as he moved.
“You should have just had a fucking shower, Hetty.”
There wasn’t enough time for Hetty to react when she realised what was happening. All she saw was Ben crying as he brought the music box crashing down between her eyes.
There wasn’t even time to scream.
This week for Josie’s Writing Workshop I decided to skip forward a bit in my current WIP and write a scene I’ve been planning for a while but just hadn’t reached yet. It’s from about chapter five of the ‘book’ but I don’t think much background is needed as the scene is fairly self-explanatory. The WIP doesn’t have a title yet either so I can’t even tell you that – I hope you enjoy it regardless!
****
“Eòghan will you please sit down for a minute, there’s something I need to tell you.”
Eòghan tried to rush past his mother but she reached out and steered him onto a chair.
“Eòghan, please! It’s important.”
He slumped in his seat, glaring at his mother. “What, Ma? It’s almost time to go. We can’t miss the start – you only get one Evolution in your life after all. You had your turn, now it’s mine.”
“Hush. Listen to me.”
“Wait, are you even dressed yet? Ma! I’m your only son, are you not even going to make an effort for my Evolution?” Eòghan squirmed in his seat trying to get up but she stood close before him, blocking his escape.
“Eòghan will you sit still and listen to what I have to say. It’s about your Evolution.”
Sensing something in his mother’s voice, Eòghan stilled and looked up into her startling green eyes. “What?”
“You can’t go.” She closed her eyes, unable to look at her son as she spoke. “Baby, you can’t go to Evolution because you aren’t going to Evolve.”
“What? Everyone Evolves.”
“Humans don’t.” Aubrey stepped back, freeing her son. She couldn’t stop the tears burning tracks down her cheeks as she forced out the sentence she had been dreading for years. “You’re a…I swapped you with… Changeling, I…I stole you from your cradle. You aren’t a faerie, Eòghan, you’re a human. I left my own baby in your place then brought you home.”
There was a moment of silence. A stillness. Aubrey gazed hopelessly at the child she had raised as her own for the last 13 years and waited for the world to collapse.
“You’re lying.” Eòghan’s voice was almost as still as the room, his blue eyes were cold. “Tell me you’re lying.”
Aubrey shook her head, unable to speak.
“No-one brings the human baby back to Otherworld. They leave them somewhere where they’ll be found and let nature make its choices, they change them and they leave them. That’s how it works. That’s how it always works.” Anger began to creep into his voice as he spoke, his voice going as hard as his eyes.
“Eòghan. Baby. I had to bring you back, I needed you. I loved you.” Eòghan suddenly found his mother kneeling at his feet and talking desperately to his knees. “You have to understand…”
He jumped up, pushing her aside. “I understand just fine. You had a baby that was chosen to be a Changeling. An honour beyond all others and you…you dirtied it by breaking all manner of rules and bringing me back here. And then you lied to me for my whole entire life and thought that it would all be okay?”
Aubrey didn’t move from the floor, she simply sat staring up at her son. “I love you. Please, Eòghan, I couldn’t just leave you somewhere and not know what happened to you. I needed…”
“You needed me to fulfil your selfish need for a child. Well you know what? I wish you’d left me on a hillside. I’d rather be dead than your son. At least then everything I know wouldn’t be one big fat lie!” Eòghan kicked out and sent his chair skittering across the floor. “I hate you, Aubrey Valeris. You’re no mother of mine.”
With that he stormed out of the kitchen and into his bedroom, slamming the door behind him.
*
For a minute he just stood and stared at the wall breathing heavily and clenching his fists, then, with a burst of energy he flew across the room and slammed open his wardrobe. Hauling out a bag he stuffed in a change of clothes, the pouch of money he had saved up from his birthdays, his secret stash of biscuits from under his bed and the length of rope that he had got when he had wanted to build a tree house the previous Summer.
Hands shaking slightly he buckled on his belt, sheathing his twin daggers at his side. They were his pride and joy, a thirteenth birthday present from his mother, he had spent hours training with them in the woods and he could no longer imagine going outside without them.
With one final glance around the room Eòghan shouldered his bag and flung open his window. With a grace that implied he had done it many times before, he leaped from the sill, swung down the tree beside the house, landed softly on the grass and set off for the forest without looking back. The forest would be his home now, it couldn’t lie to him or deceive him, he didn’t need anyone else and the forest wouldn’t care whether or not he was Fey. He could pretend as much as he liked in the sanctuary of the trees.
Second is sometimes better than first.
First can feel like a dream. Unreal. Unstable.
Second cements first. Holds it steady. Keeps it in place.
After first, hold on for second. It’s even better.
It’s time for Josie’s Writing Workshop over at Sleep Is For The Weak again. I really love doing this because it makes me think and I love reading everyone else’s interpretations too because there’s always so many different ways of looking at the same prompt.
This week’s prompt jumped me forward a bit in Lyall and Tahni’s story to a key point in their relationship where Tahni has to face the truth of everything and accept who she is. (If you are new to Lyall and Tahni have a quick peek at the summary here to get the background, it’ll make everything below make more sense! And should you want to read the other short stories about Lyall and Tahni they are all linked under the Fiction and Poetry button at the top of the page.)
I Was, I Am, I Will Be
Revelations -A Tale Of Lyall and Tahni
I shivered and looked up at Lyall who was crouching over me with his head on one side and his eyes on mine.
“Lyall.” My voice was nothing but a broken whisper. “I still don’t understand.”
He whined and touched his nose to my cheek. It was wet but warm and somehow reassuring.
I shivered again and felt cold ripple through me like a wave on a beach, leaving behind it an itch that almost burned, touching every single inch of my body. I wanted to scratch but my arms were aching so fiercely I could barely move them.
I forced myself to move, rolling onto my belly and drawing my knees up under myself. My eyes were squeezed shut in pain and I dropped my head onto my arms breathing heavily to try and ease the hurt.
Then I froze. My arms were warm. In the same way a cat is warm when you rest your face against its fur.
Fur.
I squinted. Swallowed. Closed my eyes again.
I felt Lyall shifting beside me. I could smell something odd, tangy like oranges mixed with something much less sweet. It made me uneasy. It felt like fear.
I could hear a strange whining noise and it was only when I realised it stopped whenever I feverishly gasped in a breath that it was coming from me. I sounded like a dog left out in the rain.
There was a sudden series of crunching and grinding noises and I was aware of Lyall moving away briefly before returning to my side.
“Tahni. It’s going to be okay, just keep breathing deeply.” His voice was rough, as though he really needed a drink or had been crying. “The itching will stop soon. You…your fur is almost through now. Then the ache will fade.”
I wailed involuntarily. He stroked the back of my head.
“It’s okay. Shhh. The first time is always the worst. Next time will be quicker and not so scary. Just try and relax.”
I panicked then. This was not happening. I’m a girl. A normal, fifteen year old girl. Human. All the way through. If you cut me in half it would be written through me like a stick of rock: Homo Sapiens.
I’m not a mythical creature. Mythical creatures are just that. Mythical. Not real.
I forced myself up onto my hands and knees and glared at Lyall. I desperately wanted to shout at him, blame him, ask him why he seemed to know everything. I couldn’t manage anything other than a wonky sort of growling which hurt my throat.
I tried to launch myself at him. Hurt him like I was hurting. I just fell on him instead and he held me. Firmly but gently against his chest, which was naked but still warm despite the cold air. His hands stroked my head slowly and rhythmically and I found myself breathing along with the pattern, letting myself focus on that and nothing else.
“I’m sorry, Tahni. I thought you knew. I didn’t know you never knew your parents and they never told you. I should have told you who you are before…” He paused and stopped stroking. I whimpered until he started again. “At least you aren’t alone.”
I think I blacked out after that. Everything hurt so much the world went white and all I could hear was crackling like fireworks exploding right next to my head.
Then I was quivering on the floor and my entire body felt full of electricity, shivering through me every which way and back again. I opened my eyes and my heart skipped. The world had gone mad. Everything was tinted blue or yellow, as if I were looking through a stained glass window. I whined.
“Weird isn’t it? You’ll get used to it after a while. I think it’s a canine thing, different colour spectrum.” Lyall sounded a bit amused.
I stood, realising as I unfolded myself that it felt strangely normal to have four feet. Concentrating I turned to face Lyall who was sitting cross-legged on the grass totally naked but for his jumper laid across his lap.
“You’re a very beautiful wolf, Tahni. Deep reddish brown, like your hair when you’re human.” He caught my eyes with his and held me with a look so intense I didn’t dare blink. “You’re going to be okay you know? I’ll help you. The pack will let you in. They have to.”
He paused and looked at the floor.
“It’ll all be okay.”
I just stared at him and thought about what he’d said.
I am a wolf.
I will be fine.
I had to believe him. I had no choice.
