Thursday Threads If They Stay, I stay

Innocence Lost

There are two types of people in the world.  Raiders. Survivors. If you don’t fit in either, you’re a Biter. This was Casey’s world now. Gone were the books, revision for exams. Now, she helped ration food and cook for the small community.

The camp was good. Crops grew. Biters were few. No Raiders for ten days now until throbbing engines could be heard in the distance. There wasn’t panic as everyone knew their role. As Casey ran to hide, counting the children in, her father came running up. He handed guns to Jack and AJ; boys  Casey’s age.

“We need you. You up for the job?” he asked. The boys nodded vigorously, itching for the opportunity to show they were now men, and get their hands on the guns.  

“What about me?” Casey asked.

“Go inside.”

“If they stay, I stay.”

“I don’t want you to see this Casey. I’ve got to protect you.”

Casey stood before her father, laying a hand on his rifle. “You can’t shield me from my responsibilities. This is my world now Dad. I gotta get used to it. I gotta start fighting for it. You’ve got to let me fight.”  She saw pain in his eyes as he loosened his grip on the rifle. “I’ll be fine, I promise.”

“I know,” he whispered as he watched his child run to the boundary, shedding her innocence with every step. “That’s what worries me.”

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written for Siobhan Muir's Thursday Threads over at The weird, the Wild and the Wicked

5 Sentence Fiction Lost

What it’s all about: Five Sentence Fiction is about packing a powerful punch in a tiny fist. Each week Lillie will post a one word inspiration, then anyone wishing to participate will write a five sentence story based on the prompt word. The word does not have to appear in your five sentences, just use it for direction.

This week: Lost

The fine, soft sand trickled through her brightly polished toes with every sweeping step towards nowhere but nowhere was better than going back.

For months Cindy had yearned for the freedom, the space and the time to just be.

Her dream was to become an actress and as she realised her dream, the paparazzi realised their money spinner as they waited with lenses poised like sinister probes waiting to prod and poke her inner desire- and the people behind them wishing they actually could.  

Scandalous lies followed Cindy everywhere and the art of acting was now lost amongst a turbulent sea of celebrity and gossip where she was slowly drowning amongst the suffocating sleaze.          

A light breeze blew and a newspaper fluttered by unnoticed, with a headline of ‘MISSING’ emblazoned across the top as a picture of Cindy in full celebrity mode of false smile, bleached teeth and cleavage filled the page; not seen for forty eight hours . .  .but they were the best forty eight hours of her life as she embraced the unknown with a real smile.     

I actually do like the world of celeb but I guess this is the other side we don't see until its too late. xxx