Monday Flash Fics: Forever Young

Forever Young

This place…

I’m not sure how long I’ve been here. Time has lost its meaning since I discovered this sanctuary, forced my way in, and secured the place, making sure no one would be able to follow me.

Mind you, this is not a bad place. I have a roof over my head, clean water to drink, and the vegetation gives me both a soft place to sleep and fruit to eat. I’m neither warm nor cold. All of these are positives, things I yearned for and never thought I might find, so why is my stomach knotted up with anxiety? Why am I sure the apparent peace surrounding me is a sham, a ploy to give me a false sense of security?

“Hello!” I shout out the word, breaking the silence. The same silence that comforted me when it first enveloped me. Before I fell asleep, when the light disappeared, I had been sure I was safe here. As soon as I opened my eyes I knew that was no longer true. I have no idea why my perception changed, can’t put my finger on the disparity between then and now, but something is different.

Soft giggling pulls me out of my thoughts. The laughter is high pitched and happy. Then I hear soft footfalls but I can’t pinpoint where the sound is coming from until I look up at the ridge running parallel with the lowest window. There! What’s that?

I look on in wonder as what appears to be a youngster skips along the narrow, shelf-like feature. He or she, I can’t tell from here, squeals louder with every hop, skip and jump. I can’t watch, for reasons I don’t understand I’m terrified to discover I’m not alone after all.

I push my back against the large rock, making myself as small as possible before closing my eyes, hoping that if I can’t see my visitor I’ll be invisible too. The giggling changes, becomes louder and turns menacing. Memories assault me.

I’m running, fleeing something I can’t see but hear all too well. My pursuers are getting closer, I can hear their feet hitting the ground and without turning my head to look, I know they’re almost upon me. I need to find refuge. I don’t want to die. I…”

“You can hide but you can’t stay hidden.”

The voice singing the words is beautiful, mesmerizing, urging me to reveal myself so that I can admire its owner. Then it’s joined by a second voice, a third, a multitude of timbres combining until they reach a breathtaking cresendo.

“Peek-a-boo.”

The word is spoken so close to my ear I can feel the speaker’s breath caress my cheek. Instinct takes over and I open my eyes. I’m surrounded by a group of youngsters, all grinning at me, their eyes hard and accusing.

As soon as they pull the black hood over my head and tie my hands behind my back I remember. There’s nothing wrong with them…it’s me. I turned twenty-one last night.

As they pull me up and lead me away my mind clears from the fog it has been shrouded in for longer than I care to recall. I failed… I grew up. There’s no room for adults in this world. I never wondered where they went. I guess I’m about to find out now.

****

554 words

More flashes based on this evocative image can be found in the Monday Flash Fics Group on Facebook. Enjoy!

Monday Flash Fics - Three is ...

 
 

 Three is…

Cory concentrated on the steaming coffee in his cup while listening to the increasingly heated discussion between Jasper and Aaron. He’d known it wouldn’t last. From the start he’d feared that it was too good to be true. Aaron’s suggestion had made so much sense at the time, it had felt right, the three of them fitted together perfectly, and now, here Cory was —listening to his worst fears being realised.

“Oh come on Aaron.” Jasper voice was getting heated as he gathered steam. “Just listen to me for fuck sake. I’ve done this before. I know what I’m talking about.”

Jasper snorted. “The fact that you have done it before is enough reason not to pay any attention to what you say. Remember how that ended? Remember what a mess you were?”

Cory had to stop himself from flinching at Jasper’s harsh words, and they weren’t even aimed at him. He did remember…all too well. Aaron had been a mess, devastated. It had taken weeks and long nights of talking, cuddling, and, eventually, love making to calm him down and restore his belief in himself.

“One…” Aaron sounded as if he had a hard time keeping a reign on his temper. “That’s not fair. And two, maybe I learned something from everything that went wrong then. Maybe we can use my past mistakes to our advantage.”

Silence settled around the table but the mood didn’t lighten. Cory didn’t need to look up to know that Jasper’s face would be scrunched up while he searched for further arguments to convince Aaron. He also had no doubt that Aaron would be staring at Jasper, wordlessly urging him to see reason. I know them so well. I don’t want to lose them.

Part of Cory wanted to tell them they should just forget about it. Obviously this wasn’t going to work. Maybe it had been a stupid idea from the start. There were reasons why most people tried to avoid scenarios like the one they’d embraced so optimistically. But he said nothing. Past experience told him Jasper and Cory had to be allowed to slog this one out between them.

“You know it makes sense.” The pleading note in Aaron’s voice was harder to bear than his earlier suppressed anger had been. “We’re good together. I don’t want to give up on us.” He stared at the table for a few moments. “I don’t think you want that either.”

Jasper sighed and Cory knew that the battle was over.

“You bastard.” Jasper growled the words yet managed to sound affectionate. “I love the two of  you. Of course I don’t want to give up. We’ll try it your way. I’ll take care of finance and IT, you look after customer service and PR, and pretty boy over there can be our face and voice in the world at large.”

Pretty boy, also known a Cory, relaxed and grinned. “You two are so hot when you argue.”

As he followed Jasper and Aaron back to the bedroom they’d vacated only an hour earlier, Cory pondered that he never would have guessed that the three of them starting a business together might turn out to be harder than being part of a triad had ever been.

****

542 words

It's been too long since I last did a Monday Flash Fic and I'm delighted I managed to write a new story this week. I do hope  you enjoyed it. As always there should be more stories based on the same image in the Monday Flash Fics Facebook group. Click on the link to find and enjoy them.