Status: will be adding some every once and awhile
Summer-time Writing
15 words for 15+ paragraphs
One Shot
Moonlight. Whoever said this crap was romantic needs to be shot. I can barely see as we make our way through the woods on this blasted night hike. Whose stupid idea was this? I wince as a tree branch smacks into my face. I make a small noise of frustration and I hear the giggle beside me. Her hand tightens around mine and as happy as I am that she’s next to me I’m hating the wilderness.
“Eventually it will grow on you, I promise.” Her light voice whispers into my ear. I can’t see her but I know she had to stand on her tiptoes to do that. My little Claire is this tiny little petite thing that looks like if you poked her she’d snap in half like a stick. Light brown hair that curls and an angelic face make her the most beautiful girl in the world in my opinion. Not that my opinion counts for much anyway.
Branches smack me in the face again and my attempts at ducking only bring on more branches. I hear her soft laughter beside me as I swear under my breath. I can hear the whispered voices of all the people around us. Although we are the last couple of our group taking the caboose of the crazy hiker’s train, I feel like their voices are all around me. Cal and Cameron lead the way because they’ve been here a bazillion times. Callie is like Claire’s sister they’re such good friends. Cameron… well he’s actually my foster brother but also my best friend. He’s the reason I met Claire and also the reason I hate hiking.
Sometimes people look at me and just feel bad for the poor, little boy who lost his parents. I’ve always been looked at as a pity or charity case but that’s not who I am. Cameron tells me I need to stop with the Mr. Tough guy routine, but it’s not a routine; it’s my way of surviving. When I was younger the only thing people saw about me was the sadness and pain. Maybe that’s all I was when I was younger, but that’s not me now. Now I’m hiking through dark woods being eaten alive by mosquitos and tripped by huge trees. This is exactly how I wanted to spend the Fourth of July night.
“…misunderstood the map… might be lost…can’t be…” Voices creep through the woods and Claire’s hand pulls me to a halt. Her little voice whispers up to me, “Did you want to crash into Vincent?” I scoff and I hear her laugh. She wraps an arm around me in an attempt to make me feel better. “We’re not lost are we?” She asks and she’s answered in many voices with the negative. I mutter under my breath, “We better not be lost, we’re on a fricking trail.”
Instead of spending the day on the shore of the lake or in the city, we’re out here. In the woods. I can’t believe I let Cameron and Claire talk me into this. ‘It’ll be fun!’ They said. ‘You’ll have a blast!’ They said. I think I’d be having more fun blasting music in my room and watching the fireworks from my roof like every year. But no. This year we’re going to be all romantic and gooey and watch the fireworks over the lake from this really obscure, hipster cliff that no one’s ever heard of.
Alternating voices of Callie and Cameron echo over my head. Claire is still clinging to me and I can tell she can feel my bad mood. I kiss the top of her head to let her know I’m alright. She knows I’m not one for words and I tend to be the quiet one. Her grip on me tightens so I just hold her back. Without her I doubt I’d be alive, but I’d also not be in this situation with bugs and tree branches. Have to take the good with the bad I guess. We continue walking again. I let go of Claire and she goes back to just holding my hand. Suddenly I feel pain in my wrist as Claire plunges downward.
Sharp pains throb in my wrist as I stagger to find where she fell. She let go of my hand and I heard her fall. There’s little light except from the moon and I can barely see a thing. I’m already pretty blind and the fact I’m not wearing my glasses doesn’t help. “Claire?!” I call and I hear the sound of feet stopping. I hear a grumble from my right. With my uninjured hand I take the glasses from my pocket and shove them on my face. I’d lied about wearing my contacts so I wouldn’t have to wear these dorky things.
Mysterious shapes meet my eyes as I look around at my surroundings. My mind is stuck on the dark outlines of the trees before another groan draws me back to the situation at hand. I look around myself in a circle and soon find the girl I’m looking for. She’s lying in the dirt holding her ankle and trying not to cry. That’s why she didn’t answer me. She looks at me with wet eyes and no lips because she’s biting them to keep the tears away. I begin to walk towards her but trip myself.
‘Clouded vision once again, good job sport’ I tell myself. I scramble looking for the glasses. I hear a whimper and then the frames slide into place. Claire. Claire found them and put them on my face. I take one look at her and know she’s badly injured but toughing through it. I look behind me and see the others. Four other couples all looking worried. I sigh before speaking, “I’ll take her back, you guys go on.” Cameron nods and gets everyone to go forward.
Petite and light are two words to describe my little ballerina girl. Claire is a dancer and I know that an injured ankle means more to her than most. I carefully pick her up so she’s cradled against me. Her arm slung over my neck ends in a clenched fist. “It’s okay baby, you can cry if you want. They’re gone now.” I whisper soothingly. Now it’s time to find my way back.
Explanitorial posts mark the path of the hiking trail. During the day families can read about trees or birds, the posts have information on the varied flora and fauna of this forest. Right now they are the only things telling me I’m on the right way. Claire trembles against me, tears escaping her eyes but she stays silent. I try to walk carefully and not bounce her legs that are carefully draped over my arm. I hate nature. I am never again doing this hike ever.
“Stop.” Claire whimpers and I obey her command. She looks me in the eyes and I just stare back down at her. “I didn’t actually hurt anything.”
She wiggles out of my arms and drops to the ground landing perfectly fine on her feet. She smiles up at me. Her acting was very good and I’m not sure whether to feel relived or angry. It’s not the first time she’s done this. During prom she had faked getting sick so we could go home early. I hadn’t told her but I hated it there. On a double date with Callie and Cameron she got a bloody nose and had to be taken home. That was right after C-squared’s big fight and the date was awkward.
“…Called you out.” She says quietly. I didn’t catch the first part so I give her a confused look. “You hate it here, I figured it out.” She smiles and takes me hand. “Let’s go home, we have a roof waiting for us.” I smile and kiss her.
“I love you, Claire.” I whisper to her as we reach the parking lot.
“I love you too, Mr. Readable.”
Moonlight. Whoever said this crap was romantic needs to be shot. I can barely see as we make our way through the woods on this blasted night hike. Whose stupid idea was this? I wince as a tree branch smacks into my face. I make a small noise of frustration and I hear the giggle beside me. Her hand tightens around mine and as happy as I am that she’s next to me I’m hating the wilderness.
“Eventually it will grow on you, I promise.” Her light voice whispers into my ear. I can’t see her but I know she had to stand on her tiptoes to do that. My little Claire is this tiny little petite thing that looks like if you poked her she’d snap in half like a stick. Light brown hair that curls and an angelic face make her the most beautiful girl in the world in my opinion. Not that my opinion counts for much anyway.
Branches smack me in the face again and my attempts at ducking only bring on more branches. I hear her soft laughter beside me as I swear under my breath. I can hear the whispered voices of all the people around us. Although we are the last couple of our group taking the caboose of the crazy hiker’s train, I feel like their voices are all around me. Cal and Cameron lead the way because they’ve been here a bazillion times. Callie is like Claire’s sister they’re such good friends. Cameron… well he’s actually my foster brother but also my best friend. He’s the reason I met Claire and also the reason I hate hiking.
Sometimes people look at me and just feel bad for the poor, little boy who lost his parents. I’ve always been looked at as a pity or charity case but that’s not who I am. Cameron tells me I need to stop with the Mr. Tough guy routine, but it’s not a routine; it’s my way of surviving. When I was younger the only thing people saw about me was the sadness and pain. Maybe that’s all I was when I was younger, but that’s not me now. Now I’m hiking through dark woods being eaten alive by mosquitos and tripped by huge trees. This is exactly how I wanted to spend the Fourth of July night.
“…misunderstood the map… might be lost…can’t be…” Voices creep through the woods and Claire’s hand pulls me to a halt. Her little voice whispers up to me, “Did you want to crash into Vincent?” I scoff and I hear her laugh. She wraps an arm around me in an attempt to make me feel better. “We’re not lost are we?” She asks and she’s answered in many voices with the negative. I mutter under my breath, “We better not be lost, we’re on a fricking trail.”
Instead of spending the day on the shore of the lake or in the city, we’re out here. In the woods. I can’t believe I let Cameron and Claire talk me into this. ‘It’ll be fun!’ They said. ‘You’ll have a blast!’ They said. I think I’d be having more fun blasting music in my room and watching the fireworks from my roof like every year. But no. This year we’re going to be all romantic and gooey and watch the fireworks over the lake from this really obscure, hipster cliff that no one’s ever heard of.
Alternating voices of Callie and Cameron echo over my head. Claire is still clinging to me and I can tell she can feel my bad mood. I kiss the top of her head to let her know I’m alright. She knows I’m not one for words and I tend to be the quiet one. Her grip on me tightens so I just hold her back. Without her I doubt I’d be alive, but I’d also not be in this situation with bugs and tree branches. Have to take the good with the bad I guess. We continue walking again. I let go of Claire and she goes back to just holding my hand. Suddenly I feel pain in my wrist as Claire plunges downward.
Sharp pains throb in my wrist as I stagger to find where she fell. She let go of my hand and I heard her fall. There’s little light except from the moon and I can barely see a thing. I’m already pretty blind and the fact I’m not wearing my glasses doesn’t help. “Claire?!” I call and I hear the sound of feet stopping. I hear a grumble from my right. With my uninjured hand I take the glasses from my pocket and shove them on my face. I’d lied about wearing my contacts so I wouldn’t have to wear these dorky things.
Mysterious shapes meet my eyes as I look around at my surroundings. My mind is stuck on the dark outlines of the trees before another groan draws me back to the situation at hand. I look around myself in a circle and soon find the girl I’m looking for. She’s lying in the dirt holding her ankle and trying not to cry. That’s why she didn’t answer me. She looks at me with wet eyes and no lips because she’s biting them to keep the tears away. I begin to walk towards her but trip myself.
‘Clouded vision once again, good job sport’ I tell myself. I scramble looking for the glasses. I hear a whimper and then the frames slide into place. Claire. Claire found them and put them on my face. I take one look at her and know she’s badly injured but toughing through it. I look behind me and see the others. Four other couples all looking worried. I sigh before speaking, “I’ll take her back, you guys go on.” Cameron nods and gets everyone to go forward.
Petite and light are two words to describe my little ballerina girl. Claire is a dancer and I know that an injured ankle means more to her than most. I carefully pick her up so she’s cradled against me. Her arm slung over my neck ends in a clenched fist. “It’s okay baby, you can cry if you want. They’re gone now.” I whisper soothingly. Now it’s time to find my way back.
Explanitorial posts mark the path of the hiking trail. During the day families can read about trees or birds, the posts have information on the varied flora and fauna of this forest. Right now they are the only things telling me I’m on the right way. Claire trembles against me, tears escaping her eyes but she stays silent. I try to walk carefully and not bounce her legs that are carefully draped over my arm. I hate nature. I am never again doing this hike ever.
“Stop.” Claire whimpers and I obey her command. She looks me in the eyes and I just stare back down at her. “I didn’t actually hurt anything.”
She wiggles out of my arms and drops to the ground landing perfectly fine on her feet. She smiles up at me. Her acting was very good and I’m not sure whether to feel relived or angry. It’s not the first time she’s done this. During prom she had faked getting sick so we could go home early. I hadn’t told her but I hated it there. On a double date with Callie and Cameron she got a bloody nose and had to be taken home. That was right after C-squared’s big fight and the date was awkward.
“…Called you out.” She says quietly. I didn’t catch the first part so I give her a confused look. “You hate it here, I figured it out.” She smiles and takes me hand. “Let’s go home, we have a roof waiting for us.” I smile and kiss her.
“I love you, Claire.” I whisper to her as we reach the parking lot.
“I love you too, Mr. Readable.”