Long overdue drabble post.
As a few of you know, I wrote my first drabble for a contest community (iyissekiwa ) sometime last month and I'm still rather honored to have placed second. That said, here's my winning entry and the lovely banner I earned:
For Rin, dying was not unlike the poor village life she’d lived since her mother and father had gone before.
The fear that came when she would forage for her meals, hoping against hope that none of the village men would hear her shuffling in the night.
…harsh, guttural snarls; snapping jaws at her heels…
The pain of lashing fists when all her careful treading had been for naught and she’d been found among the rice paddies.
…the wolves strike, teeth glinting in the half-moon…
The cold and the dark of winter nights when even the relative shelter of her downtrodden hut cannot shut out the wind.
...for Rin, the world beyond is darkness, chilling, infinite in its reach…
But then there is a light in that darkness as behind her eyelids a healing blade swings down; she reaches for it, and the moment she holds on tight, Rin draws the first breath of a second life.
They are curious golden eyes which peer down at her, marveling at the subtle miracle of her daintily flushed cheeks.
His eyes.
Rin does not speak yet, only stares. She can feel the warmth of his hand on her tiny shoulder as he sets her upon her feet. Wordlessly, he stands and continues down the silent path.
She feels a tug at her feet and heeds it blindly.
Underneath the half-moon, her savior seems to shine - a light that reaches out to her in the inky blackness and tells her to follow.
Forever.
For Rin, dying was not unlike the poor village life she’d lived since her mother and father had gone before.
The fear that came when she would forage for her meals, hoping against hope that none of the village men would hear her shuffling in the night.
…harsh, guttural snarls; snapping jaws at her heels…
The pain of lashing fists when all her careful treading had been for naught and she’d been found among the rice paddies.
…the wolves strike, teeth glinting in the half-moon…
The cold and the dark of winter nights when even the relative shelter of her downtrodden hut cannot shut out the wind.
...for Rin, the world beyond is darkness, chilling, infinite in its reach…
But then there is a light in that darkness as behind her eyelids a healing blade swings down; she reaches for it, and the moment she holds on tight, Rin draws the first breath of a second life.
They are curious golden eyes which peer down at her, marveling at the subtle miracle of her daintily flushed cheeks.
His eyes.
Rin does not speak yet, only stares. She can feel the warmth of his hand on her tiny shoulder as he sets her upon her feet. Wordlessly, he stands and continues down the silent path.
She feels a tug at her feet and heeds it blindly.
Underneath the half-moon, her savior seems to shine - a light that reaches out to her in the inky blackness and tells her to follow.
Forever.