Welcome
to the Wednesday Briefers flash group. The short stories have a maximum of a
1000 word count plus links at the bottom to the other flashers. The prompts for
this week are:
"When you wish upon a star"
or use:
champagne, icon, boulevard
or use spring in some way (doesn't have to be the
season)
or use a nonsense song - such as Mairzy Doats
or "Are you crazy? You could have..."
or use a photograph in some way
or "tripping the light fantastic."
All
That He Desires #12
Anslee
snorted. Jules was nothing if not blunt. “Facts are facts. Let’s return to the
living area and I’ll try to tell you what I remember.” Anslee settled himself
on the couch, flipping his long, dark hair out of the way. “This is… Now, I
have no idea how accurate any of my memories are, you must understand that.”
Jules
followed Anslee back to the living area, making a point of sitting on the other
couch. “What do you mean?”
“I’ve
existed for a very, very long time, Jules. As time has passed, my memory has—shall
we say—lessened. There are holes in what I remember too.” Anslee shook his
head. “As if there are lapses or gaps. I have no idea why, though.”
Jules
blew out a breath. Of course there was. Why did he think this was going to be
easy? Nothing else had been, so far. “Has your kind ever thought to write down
your history? I mean, isn’t that what intelligent beings do? You’ve certainly
made a point to tell me how superior you guys are.”
Anslee
snorted. “Very funny. The áimear doesn’t
exactly mingle, Jules. We tend to go our separate ways.”
“Probably
can’t stand each other’s arrogance.” Jules waved a hand as Anslee started to
speak. “Never mind. So, you avoid each other like the plague. Got it. Tell me
what you remember.”
Anslee
frowned as his thoughts turned inward. “There was a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet.
Upon her head was a crown of twelve stars. Also, there was a great red dragon,
with seven heads and ten horns, and on his heads seven diadems. His tail swept
down a third of the stars of the sky. The dragon
stood before the woman who was about to give birth, so that when she bore her
child he might devour it.”
Jules’ eyes widened, his face paling. Oh damn, that
sounded familiar. Chill bumps broke out over his body. Surely… surely it wasn’t
what he was thinking? “Ah, Anslee—”
“Wait, let me finish before you ask questions. A war swept
across the skies. There was a warrior, one so magnificent it hurt to look at
him. I can’t remember his name now. He and others of his kind fought against
the dragon. And the dragon and his warriors fought back.”
“Dear God.”
“I remember the sounds of battle—the screams all around me, the smell of betrayal, the
clash of metal against metal. Somehow I knew I made a mistake, but it was too late. Blood turned the skies red. I believed the dragon
was defeated, and there was no longer any place for their kind. From what I can
remember, the great dragon was thrown down, and his warriors were
thrown down with him.”
“Jesus Christ.”
“Everything turned black; there was no sound, only silence. There was nothing—I was nothing. I have no idea how much time passed. Then there was a ripping pain, unlike anything I have
ever felt since. The next thing I
remember was the sun on my face and the soft grass under me. That was the
beginning, I think, of my kind—of the áimear.”
“Holy shit.” Jules stood, his hands trembling. “I’ll be
right back.”
“Wait,
where are you going?” Anslee shifted on the couch, one hand raised.
“I’m
not—” Jules shook his head, eyes still bulging as he stared at Anslee. “I’m not
going to run, if that’s what you’re worried about. Oh no, if what I think is
correct, there really isn’t point in my running from you anymore.”
Jules
raised an eyebrow. “There never has been, but you refused to see that. It would’ve
been much easier if you’d just submitted to me from the beginning. I’ve done
nothing but try to give you what you desired.”
Jules
stopped and turned back to Anslee, a shocked look covering his face. “What I
desired? You think I desired for my life to be turned upside down? Control
taken from me? Are you crazy? You…
you could… you have been—oh, never mind. If you thought I wanted any of this,
then you really don’t know humans. At the very least, you don’t know me.”
Anslee
scrubbed his hands over his face. “Jules…”
Jules
bit his lip. It was the first sign of—annoyance, maybe?—he’d seen from Anslee.
Interesting. Maybe the trip down memory lane had affected Anslee more than he
showed. “Look, we’ll deal with your treatment of me later. Right now there’s
something I want to show you, so sit tight.”
“Sit
tight,” Anslee muttered as Jules rushed from the room. “Like I’m going
anywhere.”
“Ha!
Found it,” Jules shouted from the back of the apartment. “Wasn’t sure where I’d
left this thing.” Jules hurried back to the living area and sat down next to
Anslee. “I want to show you something, and I want you to just give me a chance
to say this, okay?”
“What
are you doing that with tired old tripe? I must admit I’m surprised, Jules,
considering the teachings in that book. Doesn’t it preach against
homosexuality?”
“Depends
on who’s doing the interpreting of what’s written in here. And that subject
isn’t one I want to get off on right now.” Jules flipped to the back of the
book he held. “This… this is what I wanted to show you.”
Both
Anslee’s eyebrows rose as Jules placed the book on his lap. The chapter heading
was clearly marked The Book of Revelation. “You want to show me something from the Bible?
Why, Jules?”
Jules chewed his bottom lip.
“I… I think you’re a Fallen Angel.”
TBC
~Before anyone quotes scripture
to me, lol, I know the fallen angles fell to hell, not earth. I’ll show my
twist on that next week. J Yes, I’m twisting things
again, lol.
Make sure to check out the
other briefers:
