Category: Short Stories

Betrayed – Part 4

~ ~M ~ 8 Comments

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The continuing story… Part 3 can be found here.

As night approached, Scarlett began to feel a sense of dread wash over her.  Dark billowy clouds were rolling in from the west.  It looked as if she was about to cross paths with an advancing storm, and without shelter, she knew she was in trouble.  The trunk was too heavy and too deeply embedded in the sand to move by herself, so without further hesitation, she continued on.  She walked the length of the beach, which seemed to continue on for several miles.  After walking for at least an hour, she could go no further.  The tide was coming in, and her path was blocked by a sheer limestone cliff.  Her only other option at this point was to negotiate the tree line, with the hope of finding safe refuge beyond the desolate beach.  Scarlett was apprehensive about crossing over into the thicket.  At least on the beach, she could see what was around her, but within the confines of the forest, she knew she would be facing the unknown.  And yet with darkness pressing in and a storm about to break forth, she began to meander her way through the dense vegetation; hopeful to find a place to shield herself from the coming storm.

To be continued… Part 5 can be found here.

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Betrayed – Part 3

~ ~M ~ 16 Comments

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The continuing story…  Part 2 can be found, here.

After exploring the tide pools in hopes of finding something edible, Scarlett noticed a large object floating in an inlet not too far from where she was.  She walked cautiously at first, unable to determine what the strange looking object could be.  Yet as she got closer, she realized exactly what it was.  It turned out to be her very own wooden trunk, the one she had stowed away aboard the ship, with all of the things she had brought with her from London.  She assumed Darius must have thrown it over the deck, right after throwing her in; and thankfully so.  She hadn’t been able to determine what it was at first since the entire chest was covered in a bunch of rapidly decaying seaweed.  After getting over the initial thrill of seeing her possessions lying right in front of her.  She soon realized that prying open the enormous chest would be no easy task.  The lock on the front was made of finely crafted silver and bore the emblem of her family crest.  The key was obviously long gone now, as Scarlett had always carried it with her in a little satchel which she kept tied to her wrist.  And after looking down at her hand, she realized it must have fallen off in her frantic pursuit to save herself from drowning.  She knew she had to find a way to open the chest, as it was really was her only hope of survival.  Yet without the key, she felt her one beacon of hope was quickly fading.

To be continued… Part 4 can be found here.

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Tales of the Dark Side – (Part 2, The Broom Incident)

~ ~M ~ 11 Comments

Continued from:  Tales of the Dark Side – (Part 1, The Broom Incident)

It was actually quite comforting to be back home.  Five months of military training had worn me out, and I was excited to have a few weeks off, before having to report to my first permanent duty station.

As I readied the kitchen to steam the spice broom, I began to daydream about a guy I had recently met during AIT.  He had the bluest eyes of anyone I had ever met, and I loved the way they lit up whenever I caught him smiling at me.

Mom didn’t know it yet, but I had actually gotten a tattoo while I was in AIT, and this guy I liked, (Kyle) had actually forked over the money to pay for my tattoo.  He had even told me that he wanted to marry me and had begun working an extra job, in order to save for our future together.  And yet I was still surprised to see twenty-four long stemmed roses delivered to the house earlier that day.  I wondered… could he really be the one?

After becoming lost in my thoughts of Kyle, I soon realized the pot of water had begun to boil.  Grabbing the spice broom, I carefully held it over the steaming pot of water.  The rich spicy scent of cinnamon soon enveloped the tiny kitchen, and I stood there patiently steaming the broom, entranced by thoughts of Kyle and reveling in the euphoric smell which now engulfed me.

All of a sudden, my day-dreamy eyes caught sight of a wisp of smoke, which seemed to be curling up from underneath the broom.  Then, not even a second later, the entire broom burst into flames.  I couldn’t believe my eyes, and for a split second, I had no idea what to do.  I began to panic, shaking the broom violently, hoping this would somehow put the fire out.

I had just been trained on how to: throw a live grenade, operate a machine gun, set up a land mine, fire a grenade launcher, shoot an M16 rifle, survive in a gas chamber, fight off a person using hand to hand combat, stab someone efficiently with a bayonet, and yet for the life of me, I had no idea in this moment, how to put out the blazing fire which was now right in front of me.

Then suddenly out of nowhere, instinct kicked in and I knew what I had to do.  So without another thought, I held onto the broom as tightly as I could and raced to the back door.  I pushed open the glass sliding door as far as it would go and then threw the broom down onto the concrete patio.  I began stomping out the fire as best I could and then ran quickly back inside to get a bucket of water.

The broom was still smoldering when I returned, and yet the water did the trick.  The broom hissed and steamed at me as I doused it with the entire bucket of water.  Looking down, all that was left, was the tightly woven handle of the broom, the rest of it had completely disintegrated into a pile of ash.

Breathing a huge sigh of relief, I went back into the kitchen, where a thick haze of smoke now lingered near the ceiling.  I knew my parents were sure to kill me when they returned.  My stupidity had almost cost them their entire house, and I felt like a complete idiot.  So much for the courageous soldier, I thought I had become.  It turned out, I was still the same foolish girl I had always been.

The Daily Post prompt – Instinct

Betrayed – Part 2

~ ~M ~ 12 Comments

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The continuing story…  Part 1 can be found, here.

Weak and weary from her merciless ordeal, Scarlett mustered up enough strength to explore her whereabouts.  As exhausted as she felt, she knew she wouldn’t survive if she just stayed where she was.  Earlier that day, she had been carelessly tossed into the icy waters, by a man whom she thought she could trust.  He was someone she had swooned over, for the majority of her young adult life.  Eventually, she discovered a scandalous side of him, which in the end made her disposable.  She had never been a very strong swimmer, and the frigid waters nearly took her breath away.  After almost drowning from the undertow, she somehow managed to escape the forceful current, before it had a chance to overpower her completely.  The sandy beach was deserted, and from first glance, the island seemed to be uninhabited.  Although she had heard rumors of headhunters settling on islands like these, she tried to keep her mind focused on her current predicament, and not assume the worst.

To be continued… Part 3 can be found here.

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Tales of the Dark Side – (Part 1, The Broom Incident)

~ ~M ~ 9 Comments

At the age of 19, I enlisted in the Army.  By the time I finally got shipped out, I was 20 years old and ready for the adventure of a lifetime.  After finishing boot camp and AIT (Advanced Individual Training), I decided it was time to go back home and visit my parents.  I’d like to say I was a bit smarter and wiser at that point, but as you’ll soon see, I was still really naïve.

I was fairly happy to be home again.  It had been two years since my mother had dared me to leave, and of course, I had been all too eager to accept her offer.  On this particular day, my parents left to go shopping and so I decided to tidy up a bit and surprise my mother like old times.  I began cleaning and scrubbing the entire house from top to bottom, and when I was finished, I wondered if there was anything else I could do to improve the place.

I noticed a cinnamon scented spice broom over by the hearth and remembered that I had sent it to my mother for Christmas.  I picked it up to see if it still smelled as good as I’d remembered, and was somewhat disappointed that the scent had mostly faded.  Around the top of the broom handle, was a small tag; and I was happy to see that it actually provided directions for maintaining the cinnamon scent.  After reading the directions over, I decided to give it a try.

The directions said to hold the broom over a pot of boiling water, in order for the steam to refresh the cinnamon smell.  So without any worries at all, I proceeded to the kitchen to steam the broom.  I was so excited, because I love the scent of cinnamon, and I knew my mother would be pleasantly surprised when she returned.  I hadn’t counted on what would happen next.

Continued here.