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Literature Text
prologue
Staring at the ceiling as you trundle by, you think to yourself what a pity it is to have to leave the world at the peak of your life. There is so much left to do, so much left to see, to experience.
You want to curse that reckless, cowardly P-plater.
Then you hear buzzing noises, but your vision is hazy, and you can't match shifting shadow to muffled voice.
You do have a general idea of what's happening around you though. You feel someone brush your cheek, and you can recognise his warm touch immediately. The hand is soon gone, as you are wheeled away (much to your discontent).
Bright lights shine painfully above you, and you can't keep your heavy lids opened anymore...
- childhood innocence
Spots of pink begin to colour your normally pallid cheeks. Your tiny fingers tighten around the dirty straps of your school-bag, and your head is bent so low all you can see is the cracked pavement beneath you.
You think back to what you told the boy from the local high school. "I got lost on the way home." You feel like climbing into a hole and burying yourself in it.
"You keeping up alright?"
You're not quick enough to transform your pout into a smile, and Eric laughs. A good, friendly, warm-hearted laugh.
"Getting lost" starts to become a habit.
- limits
You shut your eyes and clamp your hands onto your ears. Your parents are at it again. Exasperated, you push aside your work and bury your head into your arms.
After a while, you open your bedroom door and peer down the corridor (and the noise level gets considerably louder). Sighing, you gather your work into your shoulder-bag and quietly sneak out the back door.
You walk down the road and stop hesitantly outside the house on the corner.
This is pathetic.
You approach the door cautiously, and press the doorbell. Butterflies spring into life in your stomach, and you promptly turn around and walk back down the driveway, cursing yourself.
"Melinda?" You stop dead at the sound of his voice.
"Umm, never mind me..." you mutter. What was going through your head?
You tense as you hear footsteps on the gravel, and unconsciously scrunch your delicate hands into fists.
"I..." he trails off. "I could hear."
Like a million-tonne weight has been lifted off your chest, you free yourself up and the bottled emotion flows out unrestrictedly, uncontrollably, as tears spill from your eyes. He places a reassuring arm around you. You stay like that for a moment.
That's when you realise who the most important person in your life is.
- bright lights
The orchestral music finishes on a final, powerful chord. You break out of your stance and walk down the centre of the stage first to take a bow, adrenaline pumping through your veins. A new sense of overwhelming pride, achievement, and glee rushes through you.
You never expected a standing ovation. But there they are, all grins and tears and a blur of hands (especially him).
And even your mother can be seen hanging around the entrance.
- sweetest valentine
You check your reflection in the restroom mirror, unable to suppress the grin. You're about to open the door and return to the table, but then your heart races and you find yourself back in front of the mirror, your beautiful reflection giggling at you.
"Okay, I'm ready now." You take a deep breath, and walk slowly out to your table, where Eric is waiting. The clicking of your heels on the floor alerts him, and he smiles as you take your seat.
"Hey."
He's got you captivated...
The fragrant flowers and dim light and the gentle background music – not to mention his charismatic smile – are enough to intoxicate you.
But this giddiness is... a nice feeling.
- gone
The silence after the slamming of the front door seems so heavy. You take a cautious look at your paralysed father staring at the door. He seems so frail, so weak. So close to breaking. Frowning, you pull him into a comforting hug.
Frankly, you saw this coming. The tension had to break somehow, gradually or abruptly. Oddly enough, you don't feel too badly affected by your mother's leaving – you'd grown used to the state of things at home. It's just that...
Life feels a little emptier.
- timeless
A sliver of colour snakes into the night sky, and bursts into hundreds of dazzling sparks. Before you can even make an awed interjection, your boyfriend pulls you towards him and draws you in to a deep kiss. (Taste the champagne; smell the cologne; feel the warmth.) Suddenly you become deaf to all the cheering and whip-cracks of exploding colour; there's only him, here and now.
You don't want this moment to ever end.
- white lace
Walking down the aisle, arm in arm with the most important person of your life. You're feeling safe and protected, uplifted and elated. Picture perfect moments to remember forever.
Life will be good.
Eric smiles at you, bringing you closer. You blush gently.
Life will be good.
- second chances
The doorbell rings. You jolt awake from your nap, and you quickly check to make sure your precious daughter hasn't been wakened. Thankfully, she remains peacefully asleep in her tiny cot. As you finally open the front door, you notice a person hurriedly leaving.
She looks familiar.
After a beat, you call out to her. "Mother?"
She freezes. Slowly she turns around, and makes eye contact with you. In the ensuing pause, a billion questions pop into your head, but without asking anything, you rush forward and embrace her tightly.
She's gotten her life back on track and picked up the courage to find you again, and that's all that matters.
- life will be good
"Remember this restaurant?" your husband asks.
"Of course," you reply absentmindedly, while hoping your child isn't causing any trouble for her grandmother.
Your mind wanders, as you both silently settle down at a table. You automatically reach for the menu, when Eric gently returns your hand to the middle of the table. He then winks at something behind him, and suddenly, a troupe of musicians appears and plays a lovely melody. Eric stands up and moves to the side with the musicians and begins to sing a song you well remember.
When he's done, he kneels on one knee and clasps his hands around yours. "Happy Anniversary! To our happy future."
"Oh, Eric, this is beautiful!" you whisper breathlessly.
"No, you are..."
epilogue
Darkness.
You're floating gently. Each breath you take is like the mellow scent of sweet innocence is wafting through your nose. You don't want to move.
Ahead, a distant light twinkles, beckoning you forth. You're torn between fighting to reach that light, that sign of life, or to just let yourself stay forever at ease...
The light seems to diminish, and the darkness closes in further... You feel a twinge of regret, but can you really find strength within to struggle?
It's so peaceful now...
Staring at the ceiling as you trundle by, you think to yourself what a pity it is to have to leave the world at the peak of your life. There is so much left to do, so much left to see, to experience.
You want to curse that reckless, cowardly P-plater.
Then you hear buzzing noises, but your vision is hazy, and you can't match shifting shadow to muffled voice.
You do have a general idea of what's happening around you though. You feel someone brush your cheek, and you can recognise his warm touch immediately. The hand is soon gone, as you are wheeled away (much to your discontent).
Bright lights shine painfully above you, and you can't keep your heavy lids opened anymore...
- childhood innocence
Spots of pink begin to colour your normally pallid cheeks. Your tiny fingers tighten around the dirty straps of your school-bag, and your head is bent so low all you can see is the cracked pavement beneath you.
You think back to what you told the boy from the local high school. "I got lost on the way home." You feel like climbing into a hole and burying yourself in it.
"You keeping up alright?"
You're not quick enough to transform your pout into a smile, and Eric laughs. A good, friendly, warm-hearted laugh.
"Getting lost" starts to become a habit.
- limits
You shut your eyes and clamp your hands onto your ears. Your parents are at it again. Exasperated, you push aside your work and bury your head into your arms.
After a while, you open your bedroom door and peer down the corridor (and the noise level gets considerably louder). Sighing, you gather your work into your shoulder-bag and quietly sneak out the back door.
You walk down the road and stop hesitantly outside the house on the corner.
This is pathetic.
You approach the door cautiously, and press the doorbell. Butterflies spring into life in your stomach, and you promptly turn around and walk back down the driveway, cursing yourself.
"Melinda?" You stop dead at the sound of his voice.
"Umm, never mind me..." you mutter. What was going through your head?
You tense as you hear footsteps on the gravel, and unconsciously scrunch your delicate hands into fists.
"I..." he trails off. "I could hear."
Like a million-tonne weight has been lifted off your chest, you free yourself up and the bottled emotion flows out unrestrictedly, uncontrollably, as tears spill from your eyes. He places a reassuring arm around you. You stay like that for a moment.
That's when you realise who the most important person in your life is.
- bright lights
The orchestral music finishes on a final, powerful chord. You break out of your stance and walk down the centre of the stage first to take a bow, adrenaline pumping through your veins. A new sense of overwhelming pride, achievement, and glee rushes through you.
You never expected a standing ovation. But there they are, all grins and tears and a blur of hands (especially him).
And even your mother can be seen hanging around the entrance.
- sweetest valentine
You check your reflection in the restroom mirror, unable to suppress the grin. You're about to open the door and return to the table, but then your heart races and you find yourself back in front of the mirror, your beautiful reflection giggling at you.
"Okay, I'm ready now." You take a deep breath, and walk slowly out to your table, where Eric is waiting. The clicking of your heels on the floor alerts him, and he smiles as you take your seat.
"Hey."
He's got you captivated...
The fragrant flowers and dim light and the gentle background music – not to mention his charismatic smile – are enough to intoxicate you.
But this giddiness is... a nice feeling.
- gone
The silence after the slamming of the front door seems so heavy. You take a cautious look at your paralysed father staring at the door. He seems so frail, so weak. So close to breaking. Frowning, you pull him into a comforting hug.
Frankly, you saw this coming. The tension had to break somehow, gradually or abruptly. Oddly enough, you don't feel too badly affected by your mother's leaving – you'd grown used to the state of things at home. It's just that...
Life feels a little emptier.
- timeless
A sliver of colour snakes into the night sky, and bursts into hundreds of dazzling sparks. Before you can even make an awed interjection, your boyfriend pulls you towards him and draws you in to a deep kiss. (Taste the champagne; smell the cologne; feel the warmth.) Suddenly you become deaf to all the cheering and whip-cracks of exploding colour; there's only him, here and now.
You don't want this moment to ever end.
- white lace
Walking down the aisle, arm in arm with the most important person of your life. You're feeling safe and protected, uplifted and elated. Picture perfect moments to remember forever.
Life will be good.
Eric smiles at you, bringing you closer. You blush gently.
Life will be good.
- second chances
The doorbell rings. You jolt awake from your nap, and you quickly check to make sure your precious daughter hasn't been wakened. Thankfully, she remains peacefully asleep in her tiny cot. As you finally open the front door, you notice a person hurriedly leaving.
She looks familiar.
After a beat, you call out to her. "Mother?"
She freezes. Slowly she turns around, and makes eye contact with you. In the ensuing pause, a billion questions pop into your head, but without asking anything, you rush forward and embrace her tightly.
She's gotten her life back on track and picked up the courage to find you again, and that's all that matters.
- life will be good
"Remember this restaurant?" your husband asks.
"Of course," you reply absentmindedly, while hoping your child isn't causing any trouble for her grandmother.
Your mind wanders, as you both silently settle down at a table. You automatically reach for the menu, when Eric gently returns your hand to the middle of the table. He then winks at something behind him, and suddenly, a troupe of musicians appears and plays a lovely melody. Eric stands up and moves to the side with the musicians and begins to sing a song you well remember.
When he's done, he kneels on one knee and clasps his hands around yours. "Happy Anniversary! To our happy future."
"Oh, Eric, this is beautiful!" you whisper breathlessly.
"No, you are..."
epilogue
Darkness.
You're floating gently. Each breath you take is like the mellow scent of sweet innocence is wafting through your nose. You don't want to move.
Ahead, a distant light twinkles, beckoning you forth. You're torn between fighting to reach that light, that sign of life, or to just let yourself stay forever at ease...
The light seems to diminish, and the darkness closes in further... You feel a twinge of regret, but can you really find strength within to struggle?
It's so peaceful now...
#alwaysmotivated
Week 20 - Official - Unthemed
Full title: Learn to Savour; Learn to Let Go
Grr, re-submit. XD
Can't quite remember what I had written in here but yeahh. Categories are dodgy.
And I'm hitting that Critique button just 'cause I can
Stimulus quote: In the end, it doesn't matter how many breaths you took, but how many moments took your breath away.
Isn't it such a pretty quote
Pretty pleased with my mark, though there is a tiny twinge of disappointment, haha.
Week 20 - Official - Unthemed
Full title: Learn to Savour; Learn to Let Go
Grr, re-submit. XD
Can't quite remember what I had written in here but yeahh. Categories are dodgy.
And I'm hitting that Critique button just 'cause I can
Stimulus quote: In the end, it doesn't matter how many breaths you took, but how many moments took your breath away.
Isn't it such a pretty quote
Pretty pleased with my mark, though there is a tiny twinge of disappointment, haha.
© 2010 - 2024 xEmoMuffinx
Comments3
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I have to agree: that's a beautiful quote.
I enjoyed this a lot. There were a lot of moments where I was expecting the protagonist's life to fall to pieces (that's what happens when the only things we read are depressing bits of literature
), but I was glad that this was, for lack of a better word, happy. Even though I know that Melinda died, I wasn't overtly sad, because her life, despite having points of sadness, also had moments of euphoria.
The second person framework was effective, and I liked how the story was sequenced into various parts, kind of like chapters. Initially, I was expecting the characters to remain unnamed - just 'him' and 'you' - but the fact that it became 'Eric' and 'Melinda' worked well. I like that their romance didn't become barbed.
In future, I guess my advice would be to try avoiding clichés, like the bit where you mentioned "butterflies". I loe your attention to detail, and your proof-reading is most thorough. I enjoyed this a lot!
I enjoyed this a lot. There were a lot of moments where I was expecting the protagonist's life to fall to pieces (that's what happens when the only things we read are depressing bits of literature
), but I was glad that this was, for lack of a better word, happy. Even though I know that Melinda died, I wasn't overtly sad, because her life, despite having points of sadness, also had moments of euphoria.The second person framework was effective, and I liked how the story was sequenced into various parts, kind of like chapters. Initially, I was expecting the characters to remain unnamed - just 'him' and 'you' - but the fact that it became 'Eric' and 'Melinda' worked well.
I like that their romance didn't become barbed.In future, I guess my advice would be to try avoiding clichés, like the bit where you mentioned "butterflies". I loe your attention to detail, and your proof-reading is most thorough. I enjoyed this a lot!