Sarah

a/n: another magazine submission a couple of months ago, and told I didn’t make the cut about a month ago. the opening scene came to me half as a dream / half as i was waking up. no theme, word count of 2.5k. warning: some brief descriptions of violent crime. enjoy!

 

‘Chef! There’s – ’
A hand silences the young man. ‘What did I say about interrupting me when I’m doing paperwork?’ Julian says, not looking up from where he’s scribbling on the page.
‘B-But, Chef, they – ’ the poor boy splutters.
‘Perhaps the police can be an exception to your ‘no interruptions’ rule, Chef Swazorki,’ a petite lady and a burly man appear at the door beside the boy.
Julian looks up, pen dropping when he sees them. ‘Carol, Officer Pembleton,’ he murmurs, eyes wide.
Carol offers a tight, grim smile.

writing exercise #5

date written: 26 february 2017

describe an emotion without using the word: anxiety

She’s the titter of noise you hear just behind your head, making you turn around, eyes wide – trying to take in everything around you, find whatever is amiss. She’s the shadow you see in the corner of your eye that makes your fingers twitch, hands shaking at the possibilities of enemies, the ghost that snatches your voice away as you try to call out to ask, “Who’s there?”

She’s the cold trickle in your chest as your perpetual what ifs whisper to remind you of their existence, quietly snickering as they see you shrink away in realisation that they’re right. She’s the one holding the cloth that muffles Reason, the one holding the sign labelling Logic as a fraud and a lunatic, the worried face saying that she’s only trying to look out for you.

She’s the one who introduces you to Fear, voice sickly sweet and falsely comforting, and then shows you that Fear controls the reality in front of you, and you’re just here for their entertainment.

nowhere bar

date written: 1 September 2016

a/n: found this piece as a note on my phone, but can’t quite remember what the inspiration for this was. I think it might have been the name of a bar I saw – whether it was actually called Nowhere Bar or something similar, I can’t remember. Oh well~

 

“A bar when you have nowhere to be!” the neon lights flash above the door. Inside, the bartender wipes down the counter of all the spills and sloshes of drinks of the bar that’s crowded.

Some of the crowd come for the music, some for the drinks, some just because the location is convenient. But some really do take the tagline to heart. And those are his favourite kind of customers.

“Got ditched by my friends,” is an answer he’s heard a few times. “Don’t have class till noon tomorrow,” is also another common answer.

She’s the first person to give him something new. It’s a weeknight but it’s still busy. She’s got dark eyes that twinkle of mischief in the pink hue of the lights.

“What brings you here?” He asks as he mixes her drink – a vodka and Coke – a drink to get drunk quickly.

She flashes a grin and her white teeth glow a little in the lights. “Thought this was the place to go if you have nowhere to be,” she says and he smiles. His favourite type of customer.

“So you don’t have anywhere you’re supposed to be?” he asks. She shakes her head, short brown hair flipping against her cheeks and forehead.

“Nowhere to be, and nowhere to go. Just hover in a space of nowhere, so I come to the Nowhere Bar,” she grins again as she finishes. He’s handing her the drink and she hands over the money. He punches it into the cashier and gives her the change.

“Nowhere to go?” he asks. It’s an unusual answer.

“Nowhere to go,” she echoes, a smirk on her lips that he can only describe as satisfied, but everything contradicts that.

“You need a place to stay?” he asks, “There’s housing places if you need – ”

“I’m not homeless,” she laughs, but she’s not offended. He’s confused. “I’m saying I don’t have a direction to head towards, so I just drift.”

“Oh,” words fail him. She smiles and it doesn’t reach her eyes. They don’t twinkle in the lights – they look sad. He wants to say something else but he’s not sure what he can say.

“Nowhere to be, nowhere to go, so come to the Nowhere Bar,” she singsongs as she picks up her cup with slender fingers and dances away through the crowd.

Sometimes during the night he sees her, dancing between people, her hair plastered to her face and her clothing sticking to her. Sometimes she’s with someone, a guy, a group of girls, but often she’s just alone, dancing to the music on the dance floor by herself.

And he thinks that there’s an incredible amount of loneliness to that.

It’s quiet enough now that he can just turn to his coworker, whisper a few words and then slip out from behind the bar.

He’s by her side within a few seconds. She sees him and stumbles a little as a hand reaches for him.

“Hey,” she grins brightly but her gaze is unfocused. He doesn’t think it’s the alcohol, or any other substance. Just a dazed look of someone whose head isn’t in reality.

“You have nowhere to be, and nowhere to go,” he says, “but where to you want to be?”

She grins, leans against him, lips nearly brushing the shell of his ear as she whispers: “Nowhere.”

blue cancer

date written: ~22/23 February 2016

a/n: this is a  piece of writing that I submitted and was recently told I didn’t make the shortlist – the competition was for science fiction with the theme of medicine, health and illness, with a word limit of 3k.

It’s not my favourite piece of writing that I’ve done, but it had some ideas that I may consider revisiting at some point. Because of the word limit, I didn’t explore/explain a lot of my fictional universe that I wanted to; I considered writing the version I wanted to write (no word limit, explain the universe better), but I won’t make any promises because I’m terrible at following through with these kind of things =P

without further ado, here you go! hope you like it =]

octopus head

date written: ~20 june 2016

a/n: this was an entry for a student magazine. there was no theme, but i was given the prompt of ‘octopus’, since it was the magazine’s mascot. I was shortlisted, but was recently told I didn’t make the cut for publication. but that means I can share it =]

unfathomable force

date written: 19/20 july 2016

a/n: written in response to the death of a girl i never knew, but whose death affected me anyway

love is an unfathomable force. there’s a reason it’s the centre of books, songs, sculptures, paintings, dances, photographs – anything that can express human emotion will often have love as it’s centre piece.
love comes in all sorts of forms – romantic love between two (sometimes more) people, family love between siblings, between parent and child, love between friends and many others that escape my mind right now.
and love transcends every barrier – it can last a human forever, and maybe more. it can stretch across far distances, where one sleeps when the other is waking. and it transcends death. even when one passes, their hearts stopping slowly or suddenly, that love does not disappear, and it does not fade.

writing exercise #4

date written: 27 april 2016

describe an emotion without using the word: guilt

A sinking feeling in your chest where you feel like you’re drowning, even if your mind is hauling you back up by the thinnest of strings, trying to insist everything is fine, that there’s nothing wrong. Even if it’s an illusion, you can’t rid yourself of the feeling of the water in your mouth, filling your lungs. It’s a hollow feeling, like ice-cream scooped from its tub, but the tub is your ribcage, and the ice-cream is your heart, and perhaps your sanity too. Where you stumble through the day while your mind chants “If not for me, if not for me…”

 

writing exercise #3

date written: 6 January 2016

describe an emotion without using the word: bitter

It’s the burning in your chest when you’re hurt and everyone ignores it as if it doesn’t exist. It’s the reason you clench your fists when nostalgia is smothered with regret and a dash of anger. It’s the tint over your eyes when you watch something you desire go to another person, flaunted right in front of you, like unattainable temptation. It’s the nauseating taste in your mouth when you watch someone else take credit for your effort, showering them with praise they don’t deserve while you’re forgotten in the corner.

writing exercise #2

date written: 5 January 2016

describe an emotion without using the word: loneliness

He’s the friend that sits beside you with a chilling smile, arm slipping around your shoulders as he whispers reminders about how there’s no one else around you. The one who turns you away from anyone who tries to peer over to check if you’re okay. He’s the friend with the cold touch who always reminds you that he’s here for you, through thick and thin, always and forever. He’s the friend who pokes at all your open wounds and makes your empty chest feel even more hollow. He’s the friend who hovers behind you when you think he’s gone and you’re okay and there’s others by your side. He’s the friend who covers your eyes when darkness comes and tries to welcome you to dreamless sleep. He’s the friend who never leaves, but never lets anyone else come close.

writing exercise #1

date written: 30 December 2015

“describe the colour red without using the word red” [x]

A friend prompted me to do the colour blue, and this is what I wrote on my phone in a few minutes:

 

It’s the colour of the sky as the sun crosses its realm, starting the counter on your time together. It’s the colour of the sea as it tosses and turns as you watch it from the window together, heartbeats in time with each other. It’s the colour of her eyes as she smiles at you first thing in the morning, across the kitchen table, warm fluffy pancakes between you. It’s the colour of the sundress she wears as you walk down that quiet suburban path, hand in hand. It’s the colour of your shoes, standing outside her front gate as you wave to her goodnight and wish for morning to come faster so you can see her again.

 

I enjoyed the challenge and am going to do more things like this as exercises for writing.