“Dammit,” he swore.

“Seth,” she said, “leave it alone.”

“I want to look at you. This isn’t something to talk about in the dark.”

“We are in the dark, though. All of us.”

He frowned. She had to stare to be sure.

“You can see me just fine here,” she said. “Say what you have to say.”

“I have nothing to say.”

“Oh, come off it,” she snapped. “Out with it!”

But instead of talking, he turned around stalked up the stairs.

“Hey!” she called. “I’m not done with you.”

“Well, I’m done with you! Have been for a while.”

“You pansy,” she cried, “you bloody wuss. Man up and talk to me!”

He turned and glared at her. “Did you really just say that?”

“Yeah,” she dared, “yeah, I did. And I meant it. You men, you’re all just –”

“What?” he said, “Just what? Go on!”

“Scared of women! Deep down, you’re all scared because you don’t believe in your own bravado! You’ll never admit it, but I can see right through you.”

He switched the light on as he moved into the next room. As she followed him, he pulled out what she had been looking for.

“Oh, Seth…”

–

Tale for Trifecta

Shit. Where had that come from?

—

Tale for Trifecta

There was no going out tonight. Not here, not ever again… I couldn’t even take my writing. I left my dress hanging out over the balcony, and my notebook there on my bed.

I felt a tug from my heart as I left my bedroom for the last time. We could take nothing with us. It was too poisonous, the radiation already exceeding the Ukraine.

I was just a teenager. I didn’t want any of this. Leaving everything I knew and loved. My mama held me in her arms. Within hours, the streets would be empty.

Time to leave… Chernobyl.

—

For Friday Fictioneers.

And among them, was Seth.

She couldn’t ignore it anymore, the evil he had become, even if Dylan continued to deny it.

She still loved her brother, after all, and couldn’t bear to admit him to be the corrupt being. She would speak against the crowd, just like any politicians family ever had, denying claims, true or false, that people charged him with.

No, he was not elitist.

No, my brother cares about the consumer.

No, Seth is a bit upright, but he’s not cold.

No, Seth did not cause hundreds of the lower classes to lose their homes. He is not involved in buying out the government, covering up his company’s losses or scamming his way out of his taxes.

Seth has more integrity than that. Seth isn’t what he appears to be.

But his was the only appearances that were true. Andrea knew it… he was cruel and unapologetic. Who knew if he had already crossed that line? He’d never admit it if he had.

She had to find out for herself. She looked between Dylan and her own father. She couldn’t let them know… However she felt about Seth, she had to do this, even if it meant possibly putting herself in danger. She felt too much for him to just let this go.

Tonight…

She wandered through the big house, while her father slept in her room, while they slept.

As she entered one room, the door creaked. Slowly, slowly, she listened to the sound, careful not to wake anyone up, as she snuck into the room.

His office. Papers, files, photos… What else?

She picked something up. Her eyes went wide as she went through it. What…? How did he get this?

He had her adoption papers.

No.

–

Tale for Trifecta.

This piece is actually for a longer piece I’m writing. So thanks for the extra push, Trifecta.

Recently, within the last two months, I’ve started eating healthily and exercising. I now go to the gym and I have a personal trainer named Jess. I often do boxing exercises when I work out with Jess; I find it motivates me, I enjoy it, and I’ve always carried a store of anger with me that it lets me express.

Exercise also helps me in my writing, if for no other reason than my characters live active, dangerous lives, and working my body helps me put myself in theirs.

But I’ve also begun thinking recently that, although many writers don’t do a whole lot of exercise — indeed, for a while in my own writing, I’ve used the fact that I’m a writer as an excuse why I didn’t have to exercise — the two activities aren’t so different.

Both require discipline of sorts. Both are beneficial; one to the mind, and the other to the body. I’ve even begun to think that the two things together are important to the whole, that a person needs both to be a satisfied or balanced person.

Balance, I’ve thought for a while now, is important in anyone. Not extremes, which makes you biased and closed-minded, but a medium between them.

Of course, I believe that bias is inevitable in any person. No matter who you are, I believe there’s always something to overcome. But the point is, in the case of brain vs. brawn, of athletes versus writers, there need not even be a contest.

If books are soul food, then exercise is just as important for movement. That feeling in your muscles… is life speaking to you. And that’s just as important as the words you use to describe it.

Each kill was revenge for his family. They were lost last century… drowned.

Forever young.

–

Tales from Trifecta

“What the hell is that?”

“It’s a motorbike.”

“No,” scoffed Jeremy. “That’s a hunk of metal.”

“Isn’t this gang about rebellion? Well, I’m just fighting the system here. I made this with my own hands. I think it looks cool. I’m proud of it.”

“What about all those sharp edges? Rebellion’s one thing, but you show up at the club on that thing, you’re gonna be the village idiot.”

“Oh, yeah? Just you watch me! They’re gonna love it!”

He really wished he hadn’t. It was one of the stupidest things he ever did on that bike. There was a riot…

–

Flash fiction for Friday Fictioneers

“What?” she said.

“Just now. The free parking, the clear weather, and then you just talked your way out of a speeding ticket. Seriously, how did you do that?”

“Charm?”

–

Tales from Trifecta.

I woke to the worst disaster in history.

My heart jolted as my eyes opened to the inside of a tent.

“I think she’s awake,” said someone just outside. Dad? He poked his head in, smiling. “You awake? It’s almost one.”

“You dragged me camping?”

“A storm hit early this morning. You wouldn’t wake up, so we had to carry you. The cyclone destroyed half the coast; we had to move inland.”

“Where are we?”

“Come out and see.”

I poked my head outside. Fields all around; there was a horse behind a rabbit proof fence.

“Great.”

–

Flash fiction for Friday Fictioneers.

This was an important zoo; and there was much documentation on display at the visitors’ capsule. Andromeda housed it; but humans, the one species testing their barriers, could never know that they were being kept captive in this spacial zoo. It was for their own good.

They sent probes far into space, exploring their world, discovering Andromeda. They were the most fascinating creatures, the smartest of their kind, but they were not ready for the outside world.

“They will never find us,” a mentor of the latest apprentice zookeeper taught him. “Their technology is far too basic, and they are just beginning to explore space. They’ll never reach our capabilities, but they are capable creatures.

“Eons ago, we discovered life. We documented the ages as the dinosaurs evolved into birds, and we watched the mammals rise… but we knew that we could not interact with them. We have to be responsible and let them live out their lives on their own. If we were to interfere, their lives could be drastically altered.”

“Why can’t we just study the animals?” asked a student.

His mentor smiled. “We have never interfered with any of their lives. Know this; even though they have the capability and proclivity to destroy their own planet, every animal is different. They’re fighting to save themselves.  The planet is getting warmer by the decade. But even if the humans die off, there will be other animals to take their place. Hopefully, none as destructive, though.”

“Hmm,” the student seemed worried. “I hope they pull through.”

“Yes,” the mentor agreed. “That is the hope of all zookeepers who keep the guards. But even if they do, there is a long road ahead of them to understanding the world around them. If one day, they do evolve to our level, I’d happily greet them.”

—

Prompt taken from Trifecta.