© Ayr/Gray
The Unicorn Challenge.
A magical new weekly writing opportunity from him – C. E. Ayr – and me.
The rules are
Maximum of 250 words.
Based on photo prompt.
That’s it.
Click here to read other stories from the prompt: 05/04/24
Here and Now
I am darkness.
I lure her in through the half-open door.
She is powerless to resist, fumbles this way and that.
Stumbles against ghosts rising from the past.
They are always there.
Lurking, they seize her by the throat.
She grabs at them.
They cling on – and on…
Now the mocking starts.
The cackling cacophony of fears for what might be.
‘What if…’ repeats in an angry loop.
She spins in ever decreasing circles.
Her breath rapid gasps now.
She drops to her knees.
But there is no one to pray to…
I am Light.
I dwell within her – always.
My ways are quiet.
The silence at the heart of noise.
I am breath.
Now, gradually, I grow slower, longer, steadier.
And she too calms.
In that calm, she hears children shouting one to the other, birds singing, cars passing.
She feels the wind in her hair and the sun on her face.
The taste of the sea on her lips.
She is at rest in me.
I am the here and now.
I am reality.
Tales from Glasgow 
Yowzah!
I read this as someone fighting – successfully – a panic attack.
Or maybe worse, a potential breakdown?
Love the power of the two voices, the depiction of the eternal struggle between good and bad, right and wrong, life and death.
Magnifique!
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Thank you, I’m blushing.
You’re spot on.
I’m not sure I intended the ‘eternal struggle’, but I’m glad that’s what came through.
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I felt that panic attack, too, and its spiral into terror and self-doubt. And the calming reach inside to locate the reality of worthy identity had to be there. And so glad it was!
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Thank you so much, Liz.
Reality is always there, but sometimes it gets drowned out.
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I see that the door is ajar and do I dare interpret your wonderful writing?
My first year of college English the teacher was always asking, “What is the author saying?”
And I would think to myself, “How the H do I know?” and sat there like a dummy.
So I think you might mean we have choices and must be careful not to be sucked in or suckered into making some bad ones.
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Aha, me too, Ladysighs.
‘Interpret this poem’ used to cause my brain to freeze, and me to try to become invisible.
The author, Amy Tan, once read the ‘Craig’s Notes’ for one of her books and thought, ‘Oh, is that what I meant?’
Thanks for your kind words.
I enjoy finding out what people make of my stories.
There are no wrong answers, just different understandings. (See Amy Tan above)
And I like what you say of this one.
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Amy Tan! I used to read a lot of her books …. over 20 years ago when I read a lot. Thanks! I feel comfortable responding to your posts. If something comes to mind.
There’s always a story behind the stories/songs/poems we write which is probably more interesting than what we post. lol
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The story behind the story – I like that.
And yes, there is a story behind the story… 😉🦄
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What we achieve inwardly will change outer reality.
Plutarch
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That Plutarch had a point!
Thanks Doug.
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“What if…’ repeats in an angry loop“
My favorite line/phrase/self-imposed-curse.
Like the others in their comments note, the dual voices take your entry from being something many can identify with and transforms it into something we can take/hold/use and benefit from (in our own worlds, subjective and otherwise)
geez not bad for a two hundred-fidy word photo prompt story, no?
(you and c have created an awfully cool corner in the ‘sphere)
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Thank you, kind Sir.
It is, of course, obvious, that it’s the people who participate in the Challenge who make it ‘an awfully cool corner’. Thanks for taking part.
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Wowza! That’s really, really good, Jenne.
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You had me at ‘Wowza’. Thank you so much, Chris.
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Just gorgeous. The two voices, pulling at us. Some people, I fear, never let themselves listen for the voice of ‘Light’, becoming convinced that the darkness is all there will ever be. The pace and rhythm of this, and the difference between the two parts, deliver the message of your words beautifully.
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Thank you, Margaret.
I had the story written, but I had the nasty suspicion that it was a bit ‘moralising’.
Anyway, I wakened up on Friday morning with the idea of speaking as the darkness and the light.
I’m happy it worked for you.
Stories take me quite a while to write! 😉
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Oh, me too. I’m never more nervous than when I’m attending some writing workshop or other and we get a prompt and a few minutes to write. I just freeze. Nothing comes. Your idea of dark and light is terrific. I didn’t feel it was moralising at all, so you certainly addressed that, but it’s good to be aware of such things, isn’t it.
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Nightmare! I attended a writing class where the tutor, from time to time, gave us 10 minutes to write, and, like you, immediate brain freeze. I suppose it’s just different approaches. I need time to think, and then change and – almost always – reduce the number of words!
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Lovely. Indeed.
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Thank you, Dawn.
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