Distraction from Distraction

This week's challenge was to write about vices. Given that I have so many, I'm surprised that this was harder for me to write about than some of the other prompts lately. But I like the idea that vices are really just coping strategies. And that vices are not just things, but people. 

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She didn’t know how it started. And after awhile she stopped caring. All she knew was that she needed it far more than she ever thought she would. 

Near the end of the day, her thoughts wandered eagerly towards the distraction, and gently, she prodded them back to the present. 

Until the dishes were dried and put away. And the floor was swept. 

Then she poured herself that first drink and did what she’d been waiting to do all day. 

Closed her eyes. Thought about his hands. His words. The broad muscles in his back. His smile. His smell.

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This week's 99 word prompt can be found over at Carrot Ranch Communications.

This Too Shall Pass

I used to hate change. I used to resist it and try to organize it and predict it. Now, on a good day, I welcome it, and on a not-so-good day, I shrug and welcome it anyway. Change doesn't give a shit about me and my plans. 

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The air had a hint of warmth underneath the cool breeze. Something was growing, somewhere. New life pushing itself up from beneath the cold, wet soil.

The tears had barely dried on her cheeks last night when she’d felt that same push from beneath her sadness. For a brief second, she’d understood that her heart would heal, that he wouldn’t always be the last thing she thought of before she went to sleep.

It wasn’t just hope, and it sure as hell wasn’t innocence. It was the certainty that everything changes. And the change she felt coming was welcome.

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Check out the 99 word prompt over at Carrot Ranch Communications, as well as the other contributions from the Rough Writers. 

Scorched

I grew up reading science fiction and I was familiar with dystopian story lines before I knew dystopian was a word. This week's flash 99 word prompt from Carrot Ranch reminded me of so many of the stories I read in my childhood about a ruined planet. Thanks, as always, to Charli Mills for the challenge. 

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She’d been sweating out here for hours. Turning over dirt. Moving it from one place to another. She accepted the canteen gratefully when it came her way, barely remembering the time she would have refused to drink from the same container as a stranger. 

“Thanks,” she said and wiped her hand across her mouth, likely just smearing the filth on her face into streaks. 

The young girl who worked beside her looked down, but she saw the smile that turned up the corners of her lips. 

Taking a chance, she leaned in. “Come see me later. I have news.”