Writing Prompt: Ariel in the Truckstop

30 Day Creative Writing Challenge, Day 1 Prompt: Take your least favorite character you've ever created.  Put them in a situation that would drive them mad.

Donn's Big Truck Pavilion was a seedy, little truck stop on the outskirts of Warrenton, Virginia.  The little building with it's peeling, slate blue siding sat directly off highway 29.  It's spacious parking lot housed at least a dozen trucks, gleaming in the hot summer sun.  Ariel pulled her pristine, white Kia into a spot near the front between a beat-up early 90s Ford pick-up truck and a gleaming Harley Davidson motorcycle.  Her patent leather white pumps delicately crunched across loose gravel as she trekked across the asphalt, deftly dodging abandoned cigarette butts that little the ground.  She pulled the metal handle of the door, her nose scrunching up with disgust as she noticed it was sticky, to enter the dimly lit building.

Her heels clacked against the grubby tile--seriously, did these people not know what a mop was--as she headed toward the little counter covered in cracked, clear acrylic.  She shuddered, taking shallow breaths of air tainted by the acrid smell of cigarette smoke as she approached the waitress.  The woman--Helen, said her name tag--was probably in her early 50s, was adorning in the most awful pink dress that reminded Ariel very much of the color of fresh vomit.  Her graying hair was pulled on top of her head in the laziest attempt of a bun she had ever seen to show off the tanned leathery face and squinty brown eyes.  Helen smiled brightly, weathered mouth opening up and showing no less than three missing teeth.

"Howdy there, stranger.  Welcome to Donn's.  You look lost.  What can I do you for?" The woman said, leaning against the counter and reaching toward a filthy, black plastic ashtray to snuff the Pall Mall she had been smoking.

"I hope not, ma'am," Ariel said, raising her voice to be heard above the roar of obnoxious truckers.  "I'm looking for Leif Macklemore, would you happen to know where he is?"

The waitress raked her eyes over the petite blonde, a knowing smirk taking over the overly-polite smile on her face.  Apparently happy with what she saw--which thoroughly freaked Ariel out, that was for sure--she leaned back and shouted over her shoulder, "Leif, you have a visitor!  And might I say, mighty fine choice in lady friends," she added with a suggestive wink.

Ariel just shuddered and brushed imaginary dirt off her white pencil skirt, hoping to get this over with and never have to set foot in the monstrosity again.

Sex Games

The music raged around the small bedroom, the bass shaking the walls.  Matthias sat with his back pressed against the wall, legs extended on the bed, his hands resting in his lap.  Rosalyn pranced around the bedroom, dancing wildly to the music.  Her four inch stiletto mock Mary Janes clicked on the hardwood of the floor.  She wore thigh high black stockings, a dark, pleated school-girl skirt, and a jet black polo.  Her ginger hair was pulled into tight, high pigtails for added effect.  It was all apart of the game, her Daddy liked school girls, and she was more than happy to oblige.
She danced around the small bedroom, her hips swaying provocatively to the beat.  He had ordered her to dance for him, and she delighted in performing every demand perfectly.  Failure to do so resulted in punishment, which she also secretly delighted in, but tonight was about his pleasure, not hers.  After a particularly low dip, Rosalyn twisted and swayed her hips slowly coming upward and saw his characteristic half smirk.  She had to turn her head to avoid him seeing the satisfied smile that graced her lips.  He cleared his throat, drawing her gaze to his.
His sky blue eyes were dark with desire, and he flicked his fingers, gesturing her to his side.  She sauntered over to the bed, making sure to add an extra sexy swing to her hips.  Climbing onto the big four poster they had just acquired to fit their little family, she crawled across the sheets just slowly enough to push his patience.  So maybe she did want her Daddy a little testy tonight.  So what, she was his little brat after all.
Finally reaching his side, she swung a leg over him to straddle his lap, just like he liked it.  His hands immediately gripped her hips and pulled her flush against his chest.  She placed her hands on his shoulders for support as he angled her forward so he could nibbled on her earlobes.
"That was very naughty, darling, making Daddy wait like that," he whispered into her ear.
"I'm sorry, Sir," she replied.
"I bet you are," he responded before turning his head and capturing her lips with his own.  After too short of a time he pulled back and graced her with a sacchrine smile.  "You do know, of course, that I am going to have to punish you for that?"
"Of course.  Daddy punishes his little girl because he loves her so, right, Daddy?"  She responded.
"That's right.  And Daddy loves his little girl very much," he replied, looking her directly in the eyes so she knew how serious he was.
"I love you, too, Daddy,"  she replied before eagerly awaiting her punishment.
It was, after all, what good little girls did.

A voice screaming from within
Begging just to feel again
Can't find who I am without you near me
I'd give anything to live
Cause without you I don't exist
Your the only one who saves me from myself
I abandoned this love and laid it to rest
And now I'm one of the forgotten

I'm not, I'm not myself
Feel like I'm someone else
Fallen and faceless
So hollow, hollow inside
A part of me is dead
Need you to live again
Can you replace this
I'm hollow, hollow and faceless

Shadows growing in my mind
Ones I just can't leave behind
I'm not strong enough to pay this ransom
One more monster crawled inside
But I swear I saw it die
Can you save me from the nothing I've become
I abandoned this love and laid it to rest
And now I'm one of the forgotten

I'm not, I'm not myself
Feel like I'm someone else
Fallen and faceless
So hollow, hollow inside
A part of me is dead
Need you to live again
Can you replace this
I'm hollow, hollow and faceless

I'm faceless
I'm hollow and faceless

We are the faceless
We are the nameless
We are the hopeless
Until we have faces

I'm not, I'm not myself
Feel like I'm someone else
Fallen and faceless
So hollow, hollow inside
A part of me is dead
Need you to live again
Can you replace this
I'm hollow, hollow and faceless

Faceless

Red - "Faceless"

Clinging to this desperation, exasperation, desperately searching for a way out of this situation.  Sugary sweet goodness following the day's cruelty and too harsh pulls.  It's hot and cold, on again, off again, and there's no sense to this reality.  I want to run, I want to stay, I want to find a way.

5/1/2015 - Jealous?

Matthias watched her from his spot across the cafe.  It wasn't creepy, not like he was stalking her.  His new girlfriend, Cheri, enjoyed the spot and he had no clue Rosalyn was going to be there.  Sure, it would have been more polite to acknowledge her, or at least alert her to his presence.  But she always seemed to get uncomfortable around him, and to be honest, he enjoyed watching her when she was relaxed and herself, so he refrained.  He congratulated himself for his decision, because she seemed to be enjoying herself with her friends, so he turned his attention back to his own friends and Cheri.

Of course, he couldn't let his friends notice that he was watching her.  None of them knew what they were to each other.  For all the knew, they were just friends, and barely even that.  If they noticed his actions, they would start asking questions he wasn't prepared to answer.  So he leaned in and whispered something in Cheri's ear.  She was his distraction, and if he wanted the technique to work, he would have to pay more attention to the distraction than that which he was trying to distract himself.

It only worked for a few moments, however, because he noticed a new figure approaching Rosalyn's table.  His attention snapped back to the other side of the room, his curiosity piqued.  The newcomer was a man, maybe a little younger than himself, and not altogether unattractive.  Not Rosalyn's type, he was sure, though truth be told he was the only one she ever really wanted and he knew that despite his unwillingness to act upon that information.  He plopped down next to Rosalyn as if he had all the right in the world to be there.  She said something to him that made him laugh, and then he laid his head upon her shoulder.

Matthias' eyes narrowed, and his brow furrowed.  His mouth set in a thin line as his jaw set.  Suddenly he was tense, and angry, and no longer enjoying himself.  He didn't understand what was going on.  How dare she let someone be that casual, that comfortable with her?  When she offered the stranger a fond smile, he just about lost it.  He shifted uncomfortably in his seat, looking away for a moment before looking back.  It was like a train wreck, he no longer wanted to watch, but he just couldn't seem to rip his gaze away.

His friends noticed his behavior, and turned to look where he was looking.  Seeing Rosalyn with the stranger, they chuckled and looked back at him.  But their amusement made him almost murderous.  He tried to squelch the feeling.  He didn't want to give anything away.  But he failed.

"Woah, Matthias, what's wrong, man?  You almost look like you're jealous," one of his friends said.

He laughed then, although he heard how bitter it was, and wasn't sure his friends didn't too.  "Jealous?  Of what?  I don't care who Rosalyn whores herself out to.  That's Leif's problem."

"You know she has a crush on you, right?"  The friend asked.

His mind traveled back in time.

"A crush?" She giggled.  "Oh yeah, totally.  If by crush you mean that I am completely and totally in love with you and no one else can ever compare to the way you make me feel.  Yup, totally a crush."

"I had heard something like that," he said.

"You love me?" He whispered, disbelievingly.

"Yes, you silly boy.  I love you."

"Then you are mine, and no one else's.  Got it?  I mean, I know that Leif has claims to you, but only by technicalities.  You are mine.  And you will always be mine.  No matter what happens in the future, just remember that."

"I'm yours."

Prompt for 4/29/2015

Your protagonist sees a shooting star.  What does he or she wish for?

She watches the sky dispassionately.  The emptiness consumes her like flames licking at dry wood.  She is burning up with it.  She never thought that she could burn from emptiness and apathy.  She always thought that passion or anger could burn, and emptiness was nothing.  But she's burning with her emptiness and drowning in her sadness.  It's an interesting paradox to be sure.  Out of the corner of her eye she notices a shooting star blaze across the night sky.  She closes her eyes, and takes a deep breath, thinking about another light nestled in a beautiful bed of blue.  The ache in her heart starts back up, and she squashes it before it has the chance to overwhelm her.

"I wish..." she whispers but pauses, unsure of what to wish.

Does she wish that she could go back in time?  Save those she loves who have died?  Or at the very least, get more time with them or at least the chance to say goodbye?  Change how things ended up and find her true happiness?  Does she wish for the courage to do what she needs to do?  Or the strength to do what she knows she has to do?

"I wish I didn't feel anything at all," she says definitively.

The Wolf and the Moon.

Mkay, so this isn't exactly a writing prompt, but more of an idea dump.  I've had this idea to write a fairy tale like short story about the wolf being in love with the moon, and that's why he howls at it every night.  So, this is the synopsis, idea if you will, of what I plan to write.


Once upon a time, a long, long time ago, there was a beautiful young woman.  She was different from the rest of the women in her village.  The other girls had rich, olive skin, ebony hair and chocolate eyes.  This girl, however, had pale white skin, with hair even lighter than her complexion, and eyes the color of the early morning sky.  The sun, while treasured by the other villagers, burned her almost instantly.  She had to stay inside while the rest of her peers worked and played the day away.  One day, a handsome king from far, far away came to the village looking for a woman.  The king collected concubines like treasures, each more rare and unique than the last.  The girl's father took her to meet the king, never thinking that the man would want his defunct daughter.  The king delighted in the young girl though, and had to have her as his own.  As the village prepared for the wedding, the young girl spent more and more time with the king's servants.  She found love with one of them, and they planned to run away together.  One fateful night, the king caught his servant and his betrothed in an embrace.  In his rage, he decided to punish the two.  However, he deceived the lovers into believing that they were receiving his blessing.  It turns out, the king was really a demigod, and was granting them eternal life.  However, instead of allowing them eternal life together, he cursed them both.  The servant he transformed into a four legged beast, and he called him 'wolf.'  The girl, he encapsulated her in a circular prison and sent to her live among the stars.  He took care to make sure she would never come into contact with the sun, however, and so she became the moon.  Now, every night, the wolf howls to the moon, the love he will never touch.

Day 11

She is nothing
A wasted space, a waste of time,
A stain on your conscience
She is a mistake
She means nothing
Her wants and needs are of no consequence
Her feelings meaningless
Her desires: silly little dreams
She drowns herself in apathy
Hides behind a well crafted mask
To keep you from some seeing the self loathing
Because she knows she is nothing
She is nothing to you
She is nothing to herself
She is nothing to the world
And she can't bring herself to care
She is ugly
No matter how she strives to be beautiful
Too many flaws
She'll never be good enough
She lives and breathes for the little boy
The only one who matters
And who makes her feel anything at all
He is enough, he'll always be enough
She'd never forgive herself if he grew up to be like her.