I should have felt my hands, still bound to the chair, or the ball gag, still stuffed securely in my mouth. My lucky pair of socks.Īs I came to, the first thing I felt was that stone in my pocket. It’s small–only about the size of a silver dollar–and I remain convinced it somehow helps. Since then, more days than not, I carry the stone in my pocket.
The superstitious side of me attributed my good fortune to the stone, which I decided must have granted my wishes that day on my walk. Everything came out just as I’d hoped it would. Within days I knew the outcome of the issues I’d been fretting over. When I got home, I set the stone on my dresser. I thought about what I wanted to have happen, how I wanted the turbulence in my life to settle, and made those quiet, secret wishes we all make but pretend we don’t. I picked it up and, without realizing I was doing it, began to rub my thumb against it as I walked and thought. And yet, it was on my street, less than half a mile from my house, nowhere near a beach of any kind. It looked like the kind of stone that should be on a beach somewhere, having been worn smooth by the constant churning of water. While I was walking, I found this small, round stone on the street near the curb. All the stars would have to align, that kind of thing. I knew what I wanted to have happen, but I felt like it was a long shot. A couple of years ago I was out on a walk, thinking about life and some big decisions I had coming up. It’s a little thing–something I’ve never even told anyone about for fear of embarrassment.
Luck Would Have It: Pick a common lucky item, good (horse shoe, penny on heads, rabbit’s foot) or bad (black cat, monkey’s paw, cracked mirror), and give it an uncommon story. (Also, since it’s what Stoker did when writing Dracula, it makes me feel just a little bit–a teeny, tiny bit–like I’m following in the footsteps of one of the greats.) That makes each piece feel totally different to me, and allows me to capitalize on the knowledge, experience and ignorance of different characters. While I’m talking about the series, another thing I’ve enjoyed about writing it is that the point of view changes with each installment. She’s a helpful girl when she wants to be.) (It helped that Vye was definitely by my side today.
(Feel free to let me know in the comments if it feels forced or if it works for you.) And yet, I loved writing it…because I had to be creative and work to make it fit.
This prompt was, I assure you, the easiest one to weave into the fabric of this series available this week, and it was no easy thing to fit it in.
The prompt this week (from the 500 Club) is a perfect example of how unpredictable the development of this series can be, even for me. (Start at the bottom and read them in the order they were posted.)
First, a disclaimer: If you haven’t read the other stories in this series, click here to read them before getting into this week’s flash fiction.