Steven Paul Watson, Author

“I’m not going to apologize…”  It was the only time the southern came out in that one word, and she didn’t say it often.  She so rarely had a reason to apologize.  And this was one of those times she had nothing to be sorry for, it was all on him. 

“Come on talk to me…”  Her blue eyes pierced through him and all he could do was smile.  “It’s a simple question; what are you thinking?  I just want to know what is going on behind those eyes.”  Frustration was building in her voice; her smile was less evident and more serious now. 

Again he smiled even looked away from her for a moment before he brought his own eyes back to meet hers.  It was anything but a simple question, and she knew that.  He had let her in, past all the walls he thought he had built up to keep people out only to find others constructed. To keep people from knowing the person he truly was, because to let people in was to give people a way to hurt him. 

“You’re right,” he said, with his smirk of a smile as she looked away, instantly his hand found her chin raising her gaze back to his own.  “There is always something going on up here, I am never thinking about just one thing, at times it borders on a dozen or more things running circles around my head.”  He stepped in closer to her and smiled.  “I have never met anyone like you.  I never planned to feel this way, to let you in.  I even tried to find a way out, to not feel this way.  I am never going to say truer words to you.  I love you.  When we are apart, you are always there on my mind.  But when I am with you, looking at you, talking with you, you are the only thing on my mind.”

Five Sentence Fiction – Scarlet

                    

Her jeep sat in the same place it had when he left for work that morning;  he knew something was up as normally her days off are spent on the beach, the local café absorbed in her laptop writing, or at the bookstore seeking the latest mystery novel.  He walked through the door and straight into the kitchen where his eyes drifted to the stack of congratulatory cards; they were still arriving though the wedding was four months past.  When he made his way to the second floor he immediately saw the paint cans cluttering the end of the hallway outside their office; the room where they spent many hours, where one wall was covered in book shelves, another with trinkets and mementos of their past and dual desks centering the room.  Entering he was greeted by newly red walls, a woman with as much paint on her clothing as the walls, and his favorite thing in the world, her smile, “You like?”  He instantly noticed her eyes, the deepest of blue as they drifted off from him telling him all he needed to know, she hated it, he quickly replied the best way he knew how pulling her tightly into his arms and a simple kiss on the forehead.

For more Five Sentence Fiction swing by Lillie McFerrin’sblog!  (She is also a rockstar editor)

Visual Dare:  Gutted

“Patrick!”

A hood covered his head; cuffs bound his wrists and panic set in.  “Patrick!” Nathan yelled, trying to sound more confident.  He remembered the truck, nothing else.  The air smelled and it clung to his lungs with each breath.  Pushing his back up the wall, a step forward and the floor beneath him creaked. 

    

“Pat!”  

Unable to hide his fear, two quick steps forward and he tumbled to the floor shaking the hood free.  He saw his friend’s cold stare and immediately realized why Patrick had never answered.  An old woman’s cackle echoed throughout the decaying home…

(97 Words)

Check out all the other entries for this week’s Visual Dare!

A ballet of thunder and lighting lit up the night sky; the winds had picked up blowing a cold breeze across the lake. Sitting on the top of the picnic table with her feet resting on the seat, Naomi watched the glow from the tip of her latest last cigarette with a forced smile. She traced the cross tattoo on her wrist with the tip of chewed fingernail on her free hand. She could almost hear them now, the laughing, the mocking I told you so. All she really wanted was for someone to say those simple words: it’s going to be alright. 

A couple days she did not have to waste and another bill she could not afford to pay. Thousand miles from anyone she could ask for help even though she was sure if they were just a five minute walk away it would have been useless to even ask.

Naomi smiled as she dropped her head, locks of brown hair fluttered across her forehead as she watched a long line of ashes fall to the ground. “I like the tattoo.” She turned to see the young man and his eyes glued to the dragon head peeking out of her collar, she blushed knowing the young man would really be impressed with how large it stretched down from her neck, the whole of her back and around her side to her stomach. 

“Tell Roy to get the parts.” She gave the young man another glance, but only a moment before she again looked out over the lake and the clouds racing across the night sky. She forced a half smile as the young man gave her a sly smile and quickly retreated from her side. She could feel the tears begin to swell behind her eyes with a loud crack of thunder off in the distance.

With her free hand she pulled the necklace from her shirt and the small golden pendent; the last thing she had of her mothers. She knew it was worth more than enough to pay to have her car fixed and get her a long way from here. Further from the place she was running from. She held a tight grip on it in the palm of her hand, and whispered a silent prayer. No matter how bad things got, she knew her mother was there looking over her shoulder with or without the necklace. Naomi could hear her mother in her soft voice telling her exactly what she needed to hear, that everything was going to be alright.

Five Sentence Fiction – Composure

He had broken from a momentary hesitation when he pushed the button on the elevator, he felt his throat seize and was unsure if he would even be able to speak when the moment came.   Voices in his head screaming out at him with not a single one of the dozen in agreement with any other and all fed to the growing conflict in his stomach.  With each passing floor the beep of the elevator echoed in his head, the static growing louder and more confused.  The doors opened, his nervousness shown on his red face as he stepped out in time to avoid the rush of others quick to retreat.  Slowly he walked down the hall coming to the desired door, lifted his hand ready to knock as he took a long deep breath and smiled…

For more Five Sentence Fiction check out Lillie McFerrin’s blog!  🙂 🙂

Five Sentence Fiction – Pirates! – “The Dragon’s Lady”

As an experienced thief it was an easy task for her, slip aboard the anchored Dragon’s Moon, the sailors all drunken and whoring though the taverns and brothels and steal the map; everything else she could carry would be hers with no questions asked.  Swiftly Tessa Ann pulled her wet frame up to the edge, retrieved the dagger from her clinched teeth and cut through the grumbling guard’s voice, her free hand pulling him over the edge taking her place in the ice blue depth below with a smile brighter than the full moon above.  Immediately she sprinted across the ship, down the stairs to the minor obstacle of a locked door as she pulled a lock pick from her soaked hair.  Immediately she thrust through, taken by surprise to see the pirate captain there waiting, arms crossed against his chest and three men closer to her with swords so sharp she could feel her skin peel with only a glance.

“Welcome, Miss Willow it is good to finally make your acquaintance,” the Captain said with a rotted smile, “I have heard much of your skills and I have a proposition for you.”

For more Five Sentence Fiction check out Lillie McFerrin’s blog!

Five Sentence Fiction – Harvest

            June is over and I did participate in JuNoWriMo (NaNoWriMo in June) and I did it really the same way I did my first couple attempts at NaNo, by just winging it.  I went into the month undecided on what I wanted to write, even in the first week of the month I changed my project three times.  Around the 8^th I finally settled on what I wanted to write…

            Directly inspired by one of my past Five Sentence Fiction entries (Hunger), I wrote the first two chapters before I forced myself to sit down and write out some sort of overview, planned plot for the story.  I ended up just shy of the 50 k goal for the month but did get a very (very) rough draft done that I can return to later. 

            A sneak peak from the story:

            Darwin rose from the cold floor, straw stuck to his face from the smelting heat in the bowels of the ship, instantly he realized the shackles were gone from his wrists and ankles.  He knocked the bedding from his face as he stood; the clang of the opened cell door brought a smile to his face as he stepped through the entrance and out into open room.  “You are a lost soul; much blood lays in your future Gladiator.”  Darwinhad never heard her voice before, even though he had only seen her the once, he knew instantly it was her.  She stepped into the candle light of the cabin, her ghostly appearance even more apparent in the shadows and bleak darkness of his prison chamber.  “You will be the ruin of my mother’s house even though she sees you as a savior.” 

Her pale skin, solid white hair with matching slip of a dress, dark brown eyes were her most striking feature. “Whispers say you are a seer, tell me how am I the ruin of your house, I will do anything to make it untrue.”  

She was close enough to touch, Darwinreached his arm out and ran his hand down her soft cheek, eyes closed she leaned into the palm of his hand and smiled. “Our paths are one…she does not have my gift and I have kept this future to myself.  I have seen it many times over the years never did I know your face until two days past.”  She kissed the palm of his hand and he saw the wicked mischievous grin grace her thin lips. 

“Is this a dream?”

“It is what you want it to be.”

He ran his free hand through her silky straight white hair, “How is it you have seen me in your visions and not know my face.”

“Many times I have felt your hand over my mouth, the blade against my neck but never had I seen more than shadows.  Not until the day beneath the arena, when I touched you, I saw it clear.  Just as if it had been there all along staring down at me.  You are destined to take my life…”  She leaned into him, pushing the hand at her face away.

He placed his hand on the small of her back and pulled her even closer as he lowered his head to kiss her thin lips.  Her fingernails dug into his bare chest and the existing wounds from the arena forcing him to push her away before their lips met, still she smiled.  “When will this happen?”

“An enemy disguised as a friend will send you to me.  There will be no doubt when the time comes, it will be my blood you are asked to spill.”  She took a step back away from him and as suddenly as she had appeared she was now gone.  Darwinrushed to the door and out into the open air immediately met by the two guards with swords drawn and realized it was no dream.

Five Sentence Fiction – Faeries

Seven miles from the nearest home Simon had set up his camp, he traced the outline of his jaw in the crystal clear pool of water.  He had come this far down the Appalachian trail in hopes of finding an escape but there in the water he could see clearly the mark she left on his face and felt the one he could not see even more.  Simon heard the laugh, more of a giggle; it broke him from his reflection as he stood from his crouched position and heard the sound of the birds take fight, “even the birds are having a laugh at me.”

He turned to stoke the small dancing fire a hurt smile graced his chapped lips when the voice broke through the chattering wilderness, “The heart scars so easily,” he was stuck in a haze of confusion from the moment he saw her standing in the clearing with him.  Her body covered in a slip of a purple dress, hair a violent red with matching eyes and a mischievous grin but none of it was as spectacular as the fluttering transparent wings and it was then he looked to the trees around him, before he thought it was just fireflies but realized now they were something so much more.

For more Five Sentence Fiction check out Lillie McFerrin’s blog!

Forbidden Love:  London in the Skies

The airship London was a small vessel meant for transportation and minimal occupancy, it had been in her family for generations.  She could hear the hum of the steam engines, the smell of oil hung thick to the air and every breath was near intoxicating.  The floors a seasoned oak, stained with a storied past.  Paintings of times old hung to the walls keeping the secrets of all they had seen.  Aboard this airship was the one place she knew she was always in control and was fully herself.

Short brown hair hung to her shoulders with streaks of purple and red, the goggles with their lime green tint and bronzed casing stuck to her forehead as beads of sweat fled the rubber exterior. The black leather corset clung tightly; white laced long sleeve top exposed her cleavage for the shadows to stare.  Brown fitted pants with matching belt and gun holsters hung to her hips.  White laced ruffles floated around her wrists as she sharpened the surgical knife.

She turned away from the work station; it was the first sound the doctor had made in an hour.  A whimper, knowing all hope was lost.  She pulled the goggles down over her hazel eyes, with her purple eye liner.  She starred contently at the blade for a moment longer.  The second plea for mercy brought her to her feet, the sound of her heavy knee high black boots thundered across the room.  “I love you,” she whispered to his ear.

A sharp smile graced her thick red lips as she placed the tip of the sharp blade to his chest, their eyes met one last time.  Aboard her airship, Jaclyn Ripper was always in control and who she was meant to be.

Check out the other entries to the Forbidden Love blog hop, last day to enter.