15 Stories for 15 Days: Day Nine

The 15 for 15 contest is held about once every nine months or so. The way it works is that every day at 8:30 WDC time, a picture prompt is posted. You have 24 hours to post your story that the prompt inspires. Here is the interesting part: You only have 15 minutes to write your story. You can think about it all day but once you start writing, 15 minutes is what you get.

ID: 994771   (Rated: 18+) 15 for 15 Contest   Do you have 15 minutes? Come in and join this contest! by Leger~PackerBacker (222)

The contest is limited to 50 competitors. Each day, there are 5 winners. First place will get 1004 points, second place will get 1003 points etc. The person with the most total points at the end of the 15 day contest is the winner.

The prompt for this story is the following picture:

My Entry

He closed his eyes, took a few deep breaths and left the world of wakefulness behind.

Now, mounted on his huge black steed, Sir Nathan led his troops along the wall marking the boundary between his kingdom and the siege demons. The demons had been there as far back as Nathan’s memories could reach.

Not that he spent a lot of time with memories; they seemed evasive, almost painful to pursue. It was so much easier to just accept that he was on a horse. As for the demons, for now were at bay.

Nathan knew the princess awaited him back at the castle. He was certain she was beautiful…but he could not recall her face. In fact, he could not recall the castle, although it was only just over the hill.

His men trooped along behind him, faithfully. They admired him for his courage and physical prowess. They knew it was him, not the wall that kept the siege demons at bay. He knew his men would die for him and yet, whenever he would turn to look back, they would be gone.

So long as he never looked back, they never left.

Gazing out over the wall, he could see the demons. They, of all things in this world, were clearly visible. He could see them so clearly, that even their souls were open books. He could see how they wanted to pull him from his horse. They wanted to see him crawling on the ground. Some wanted to steal his voice while others hungered for the puppet strings that controlled his very being.

They wanted to harm him for no other reason than it would please them do so.

But Sir Nathan was not afraid. Riding high on his steed, shielded by the wall and with his men at his back he was beyond their ability to inflict any harm.

Here, he could safely, almost remember how grand his life was.

“Doctor, do you think we should cut back on the medication. He is on the verge of slipping into a coma again.”

“No nurse, look at his face. I don’t know where his mind is now, but it’s far better than the crippled body lying on that bed.”

15 Stories for 15 Days: Day Eight

The 15 for 15 contest is held about once every nine months or so. The way it works is that every day at 8:30 WDC time, a picture prompt is posted. You have 24 hours to post your story that the prompt inspires. Here is the interesting part: You only have 15 minutes to write your story. You can think about it all day but once you start writing, 15 minutes is what you get.

ID: 994771   (Rated: 18+) 15 for 15 Contest   Do you have 15 minutes? Come in and join this contest! by Leger~PackerBacker (222)

The contest is limited to 50 competitors. Each day, there are 5 winners. First place will get 1004 points, second place will get 1003 points etc. The person with the most total points at the end of the 15 day contest is the winner.

The prompt for this story is the following picture:

My Entry

Almost no one was hanging around for the Big Freeze.

No big surprise really. After all, there were so many more interesting ways to die.

In the early days, when we first found out about the sun’s problems, people scrambled for answers. Maybe we could live underground. Maybe we could fly off in spaceships. Maybe the math was wrong.

The math wasn’t wrong. There would be no escape save one.

“Opting Out” became a major industry.

There were so many ways to it: fun ways, scary ways and slow painful ways for the mal-adjusted amongst us.

I ran my own business.

The Big Drop is what I called it.

People were signing up weeks in advance. I could barely stay up with demand.

Here is how it worked. I set you up in a parasail and push you off the edge. Depending on the winds, you could fly around for hours. However, once you dropped below five hundred feet, the sail collapse. A few seconds later, it was all over.

People loved this idea.

Now the lines are much thinner than before. It’s not that the business has lost its charm. It’s just that there are no more customers.

This morning, I got up late. The line was empty. I spent a few minutes with my coffee, watching the sun, what was left of it. I tried to remember what it was like; when the sun hung large in the sky, heating up the world.

Anyway, my coffee is done and I think I am as well.

Putting the gear on myself was harder than I thought.

Making that final leap…that was easy.