This week I wrote two stories for the Six Sentence Story blog hop: one for the SSC&B collaborative world and this one here because I enjoy writing the mini stories with the restraint of six-sentences. It's cool and sometimes a bit... challenging.
The host of the hop is Denise aka Girlie on the Edge, and on Sunday she provides the prompt. On Wednesday, the link-up goes live and many awesome authors add their sixes there.
Do check them out, even if you didn't fancy mine, as all writers are different and you may find something more of your cup of tea; even some on-going stories ;).
Umm, musically???
Imaginary Friend and Cruel Devotion by Night Club were playing in the moment, no wonder the six became something like this... and instead of Zinfandel I had Puglia. I love the primitivo wines, and Night Club's music.
Rules of the hop:
Write 6 sentences. No more. No less.
Use the current week’s prompt word.
The link is live from Wednesday at 6:00 PM until late Saturday night.
Spread the word and support fellow writers!
PROMPT WORD: DUST
Six-Sentence Story - The Well-Doing Woman
Emile leaned against the wall furthest from the bar, sipping on a cocktail while dodging men like bullets; they all looked at her like hounds ready to pounce as soon as the opportunity came, but what they didn't know was that her life had no room for hollow connections and what did they call them again...
one-night stands?
She craved a lover who would watch her dance half-naked in the middle of the night in her kitchen while singing along to her favourite songs out loud, drunk on some Zinfandel;
a man who would love her for who she was when there was no one left to impress.
In the midst of her thoughts, Emile recognized a familiar presence in the room;
the kind of presence whose absence had once left her feeling hollowed out,
the kind of absence that came with a loneliness that felt most harrowing
when accompanied by other people.
"You seem to be doing well without me,"
Emile knew that voice from the first syllable; it belonged to a man she had buried beneath the struggle of surviving his silence,
a man whom she grieved while dismantling the sandcastles she had once held onto.
"Did I have a choice?"
she looked the man straight in the eye, wanting to scream that she had two options at the time she made the decision to reach inside her rib cage and crush what was there:
to sink with the ship of a friendship that never belonged to her,
or jump off and fight for a life she believed she deserved.
"You know damn well that when the sun goes down, when I am sipping my morning coffee, walking through an art gallery, listening to music, or looking for a partner, I still think of you,"
she gave him a warm smile and, before walking off, said:
"Doing seemingly well without you has nothing to do with my admiration for you,
if that is what you are wondering,
love,"
and just like that,
Emile disappeared into the crowd of unsuspecting dancers,
each with their own demons to fight and feelings to bury or to dust off,
and once again,
leaving the man she loved
behind.
There's more of my work:
If you like short stories I have them scooped up into one category (including the six-sentence stories).
The Nervous Poet at the SSC&B can be followed here.
There is also poetry.
More personal entries can be found at the Blog.
There's also the IT studies blog in Estonian and "Chaos in Spring" on YouTube, Spotify and other streaming services.
Beautiful story. Being able to walk away means she has conquered.
Thank you.
Hard but necessary to calmly walk away from poisonous things.
Thanks for the comment, while I agree,I also think things don’t need to be poisonous for you to need to walk away. And maybe she was the toxic/needy one, and he simply, him, we will never know.
May the demons we have to fight be defeated.
I volunteer, right when I find my demon slaying equipment :D.
Thank you 😊.
Sometimes you just have to walk away….
I believe that to be true too, much like in this story I have had friends and family I have had to distance myself from…
And if it’s a lover…
if it’s meant to be it will be.
I would like to think.
Very nicely done, Reelika!
Thank you Chris!
She’s tough! And wise. She’s going to be okay.
I surely hope so.
Thank you!
damn! most excellent Six
and, like most (excellent storys) it has characters and situations we all know (and sometimes, identify with)… love the sparsity of …err ‘words go here’ layout or whatever you’ve done lol
like good poetry, you’ve hooked the Reader to the words on a bias smaller than conventional sentences… to the end that they are able to ‘toy with us’ as in… “No, not yet. Get back here, You need to stay a little longer.”
😆😆😆😆
Thank you so much Clark!
Sometimes no matter how much it hurts you just have to walk away – great write ❤️
Thank you for the comment and perhaps it is true.
I like this woman, and I like the atmosphere you’ve built around her. Lovely bit of writing, Reelika.
Thank you so much Misky, I also like that woman.
i love a walkaway song about sorrow love that has no future…. as if you just saw him yesterday and that ache screams for a voice to tell him exactly… well, see how easy that is to fight the fierce hurt of a broken heart… love your 6SS
Thank you, I do try to write in a way that things feel as emotionally as real as possible.
Even if the event itself never happened.
And loves/admirations don’t have to even be romantic at all for them to hurt, especially if one has feelings attached.
Tricky part is when to walk away, because usually people don’t leave people they care about.
And then she was gone. Great storytelling, Reelika,
Thank you!!!
Hopefully she just went to fetch a beer or something but thing with stories is…
You never know 😂
And the first words out of his mouth were about him, lol
As much as your MC struggles with conflicting emotions, it doesn’t mean she didn’t know what was best for herself. It takes courage to walk one’s own path despite love given or rejected.
Excellent Six, Reelika. I reread it with “Imaginary Friend” playing. Damn, that I didn’t find myself sitting at the bar and ordering a drink.
Thank you, and if he wants he can follow.
It seems she chose wisely.
Hopefully she did.