Photo: Robert Almonte on Unsplash
The night is not as I’d expected it to be.
The sirens are silent. The windows dark. The very air seems still.
It had been a close call. Too close, almost.
I glance at Malachi. He returns a tremulous shrug.
“Will we be alright?” I ask. I didn’t mean to say it out loud, but the words could not stay in. The sound — although barely above a whisper — boomerangs in my chest.
“We might be,” he mouths.
At least I think he does. I cannot hear much above my heartbeat thundering in my ears. Everything inside me feels tight. I don’t remember being so unnerved. Not since. You know. The other time.
“Will they return?” Fear dries my mouth.
“Who knows.”
We reach the corner and separate. The night breaths as I hurry home and we go in different directions down the imperturbable street.
For the dVerse prosery challenge
Prosery prompt: “We go in different directions down the imperturbable street” (from the poem “An Aspect of Love, Alive in the Ice and Fire” by Gwendolyn Brooks)
Beautifully staged. Very evocative. 💕
Adele Ryan McDowell, Ph.D.
AdeleRyanMcDowell.com Adeleandthepenguin.com MakingPeacewithSuicide.com Channeledgrace.com
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Thank you, Adele!
It’s been an ‘evocative’ couple of day here …
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I like how your built up the suspense.
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Thank you, Frank! 🙂
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Wow, love this. So much can be read into it. Feels like an excerpt from a thriller
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Thank you, Crispina! So glad it resonated … and … yeah, it can be all kinds of things …
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🙂
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Excellent, Na’ama. Very scary. I feel like it’s part of a horror story, and I’m getting ready to jump. “The other time.” Gulp! And you just know there will be more.
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Thank you, Merril! Yeah … If it felt creepy, then it delivered the mood I’d sensed from the prompt …
Yeah, there are often “the other time” in what makes us scared, aren’t there? For if it is the first time something is happening, we may not know what it is that is happening … or what will happen … until it is done … Oy.
More? ???? 😉
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More–because I think this is the middle of the story.
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ah … that … well … darn 144 word limit, eh? 😉
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😀
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🙂
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This was a great thriller, Na’ama! I love how you had me holding my breath and all worried for them… Why do I feel they would have been safer together?
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Yeah, I think you are right and they would be safer together … I think they stayed together till they had to separate. And yet, I wish they hadn’t …
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Darn that line we had to use anyway 😉
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EXACTLY! 😉
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😀
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😉
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This is engrossing, and made me feel like I entered the middle of a conversation.
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I’m so glad. This is fab feedback to get! Thank you for reading and commenting!
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My pleasure!
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