~Epiphany~ 

He had lied. 

For the past two weeks, I had been thinking he was right, that everything was beginning to crumble. I had been seeing the invisible; distance growing when everything was the same as it had been. I saw meanings in words that weren't there. I began tearing up at the sound of our favorite song. I thought it was all over. But it wasn't.

He had been manipulating me. Been altering my thoughts, with news I had been dreading to hear ever since the first day. 

Fake news. 

The ship we had worked so hard to build was still afloat. But there were so many holes. So many holes from him, and his words, and his whispers in the halls, and his glances across the room. But it was still being held together. 

I still had a chance to save it. But, I had to throw him overboard.

This is yesterday's, I'm still working on today's. I'm really enjoying seeing what you folks write, it's all really talented stuff.

14) Sunrise
“Come on, Amaliya,” Semion poked his older sister, practically buzzing with excitement. “Comeoncomeoncomeoncomeoncomeon!”
Amaliya groaned and rolled on to her stomach, attempting to shield herself from the bursts of 9-year-old energy radiating off of Semion. It was still dark outside. “It’s too early for this,” she muttered.
Semion groaned in exaggerated disappointment. “But that’s the whole point!”
The girl said nothing, only digging her face deeper into her pillow.
“Come on, Amaliya,” Semion pouted. “You promised!” This last outburst was said in such a whiny tone that Amaliya had to chuckle.
“Okay, fine, I’m coming, I’m coming.”
Groaning, she pulled herself out of bed amidst eager tugs on her arm and exclamations of, “Come on, we’re going to miss it!”
Semion darted into the hallway and into the next room, stopping only to haphazardly put his shoes on. Amaliya shuffled after him, eyes still bleary in the darkness.
They clambered out onto the fire escape and climbed up the stairs onto the roof, Amaliya complaining that it was too early for such intense exercise, and spread out the blanket and cooler they had put there the night before.
They sat down just as the sun peeked over the horizon. Even Amaliya couldn’t resist gasping as the sky was filled with streaks of glowing fire, painter’s reds and oranges of every shade. Grinning and finally awake, she pulled two cupcakes from the cooler and handed one to her brother.
They did a kind of cupcake “cheers” before he took a large bite from his.
“Happy birthday, Semion,” Amaliya said.
“Never change,” she added under her breath.

15) Epiphany

I step out into the cool, rustling night.

There are many sounds;

the calm, self-possessed who-whooing of owls,

the stirring of the masses of green leaves,

and the never-ending chirp of crickets.

Overhead are the stars and moon.

I'm glad to be out here; I never could

Be content to go to sleep on a night like this.

I go down the path through the woods,

acutely aware of the night.

I take a breath of cool, soft, soothing air.

Realization comes to me, as quietly and surely as the wind.

I'm well again.

The long days of tiredness, of unhappiness, are over - 

My long Covid is vanished, defeated, gone!

and life can be lived once again.

I'm well.

16) Nemesis

"No, no, my son." The king settled himself comfortably on his throne. "How could we possibly make things easier for the poor? It simply isn't done. I'm sure you have the best of intentions, of course, but I don't think I could do it. How would the economy manage if we paid higher wages?"

"But Father, I don't care about the economy!" the prince burst out desperately. "I don't care if every person in the kingdom is dirt-poor tomorrow! I just want everyone to be happy!"

But King Aldair just smiled. Prince Taliesin (who was apt to lose his temper) stormed out of the throne room.

His father just wouldn't listen! He didn't even care! And maybe, Taliesin thought despondently, his father was right. After all, Aldair had had years of experience, and was probably quite wise. He was the king of a land called Cairlen.

"Taliesin? What's the matter?" asked his sister, coming in.

"Father's still not listening."

"Well, never mind. You have a lot of power yourself - you're the prince. Never mind if Father approves. Just - do what you can."

She was right, Taliesin thought. He smiled gratefully. "Thank you."

A few days later, Aldair called his son into the throne room.

"Taliesin, what's this I hear of you making the manufacturer "Fit for a King" pay its workers better? I really can't allow this, you know. It's all very well for you to feel noble and inspired, but when it comes to doing radical things like that, I-"

Taliesin interrupted.

"Father, listen. Please listen to me for a change. Do you know what it's like to be worked off your feet day in and day out? Just for the sake of a millionaire? No? Then please let me do whatever I think best."

Taliesin had never felt prouder. He had taken a stand for the first time. He had done what he believed to be right. And he was going to go on doing it.

@Hunter: I liked the Sunset piece of writing! The brother-sister relationship is well portrayed, and Semion's energy and eagerness are very realistic. The sunset description is nice too!

17) Friend
Harper’s Exquisite Familiars was in a grandiose building that matched the absolute mouthful that was its name, which is to say it was long and hard to define. Its large dome made it feel bigger than it actually was. And it was very big. (They did rent out the basement, though. After all, the mortgage on a place like this is expensive, but what can you do? It was filled with the squawks and squeaks and meows of a hundred animals thrown together in one building.
Jade looked around in wonder, watching all of these pets as they looked back at her. The 14-year-old’s eyes went wide at the display. They saw common creatures, like rats that scratched at the bars of their cages as if testing the walls, and cats that serenely watched everyone else with the aloofness that only a cat can pull off. They saw exotic specimens, like a majestic tiger in the corner, or a crow that was in a hanging cage far past Jade’s reach.
Jade, however, had eyes only for one animal, the one she had been saving for weeks to get. They made a beeline to the back of the shop, where she found a large tank full of writhing snakes hanging out in whatever part of the habitat suited her best. They turned and gestured at the assistant, a smile lighting up their face.
“That one,” they said, with undeniable surety.
“That one?” The assistant said. “But- but that’s just a simple corn snake! Don’t you- I mean- I just would have expected-” And it was true. Jade’s half-green hair and nose ring conveyed a sense of drama that most would have associated with more flashy familiar than a simple garden snake, and not even a rare morph, at that.
But Jade was certain. “I want that one.”
The assistant shrugged. “Alright, good choice.” She lifted the snake gently out of the tank and handed it to Jade, who took it with a kind of reverence.
“Nexu,” they whispered.
“I’m sorry?” said the assistant, confused.
“Her name is Nexu. And we’re going to be great friends.”

And this, folks, is why I can't give pep talks.

18) Lantern
Here is what you need to do: On a few short evenings, there is a Nearing. The Solstice. The Equinox. All Hallow’s Eve. There are more, but those are some of the closest. You need to enter the Wretched Woods. The Woods of the Last. The Wandering Forest. Whatever you wish to call it.
Your natural instinct will be to attempt to successfully traverse it. Don’t. The Woods cannot be traversed. Attempt any semblance of navigation and you will be spit out right where you entered, or worse, become so turned around that you will never be able to exit again.
Instead, wander. Your only hope of finding a destination is to not have one at all. Become aimless. Throw away all maps and compasses, and you may be able to find North.
Eventually, you will begin to hear whispers. See glimpses of Neverfire. Attempt to ignore it. It will be hard, but that is why you have been chosen.
You will see a lantern out of the corners of your eyes, but every time you attempt to confront it, it will disappear. Wait. It will solidify moment to moment, though it may take hours. Follow it. See where it leads.
That is as far as anyone else has gotten in their documented journey.
It will be unsettling. Perplexing. Difficult. Do not despair. Remember, you were selected because we believed you were one of the few who had a chance at getting any further. Keep your wits about you, Magling, and you just might survive.

I guess this is more of a sea-shanty turned anthem turned elegy, but in my head it is slow and mournful and kind of choral and could be used as a melody I guess?

20) Lullaby
The seas have stormed for thirty days.
Her voice was quiet, but steady.
We told them it would be okay.
There is a slight tremble.
So patiently my love awaits.
Her song is interrupted by a gasp as she tries and fails to sit up.
So I must return ‘fore morning.
Her voice is shaking now, there is no denying it.
They set off thirty nights ago
Her song mourns all the dreams and promises that lay broken on this battlefield.
I promised I would greet them home.
She struggles to sit up one more time.
A fool is she who breaks sea oaths.
Her eyes close as she sings the last line.
I’ll know her grasp come morning.
She dies with the anthem of the rebellion on her lips, and the cause dies with her.

This one is pretty meh but I wanted to get something out.

21) Silhouette
We cast shadows in the same ways we cast spells.
We cast them unknowingly.
We cast them as a game.
We make them dance and create pretty pictures on the walls.
We trap ourselves inside their aura,
Tell ourselves they mean something,
Even when it’s just another illusion.
We take the light and we filter it,
Darkening it until it has shriveled to black,
Distorting it until everything is black and white.

21) Silhouette

The waving branches of the orange tree were silhouetted against the dark, starry sky. Wafts of fragrance came down from them with every little gust of wind, filling Mariana's lungs with the immortal scent of orange blossoms.

This was the orange tree that Mariana had played under as a child, had fallen in love under as a girl, and rocked her child to sleep under as a woman. She had journeyed many years and visited many places since she had last seen it, but now she was back, in the old stately courtyard of her family home in Spain. For her, the black silhouettes of the branches, in the peace of the night, meant that she was home. At last.

I actually really don't like this, and might come back to edit later, but I have decided that the point of writober isn't to write something perfect, but to write something, anything, and try to see the potential of every prompt and practice, and if it doesn't turn out quite what you wanted, then clearly the practice was warranted.

On that same note, I would love feedback on any of my writing in terms of how I could have done better.

22) Blossoming
If you were a flower, the way you opened your eyes and cried as a baby would have been the way you broke through the ground.
And the way you took your first steps would have been the way you began to grow, stretching toward the sky.
And the way you began to touch all the people around you, giving them gifts and bringing them joy, would have been the way you spread your roots and anchored your place forever in this world.
And the way you grew and grew and are still growing until you were almost my height (you were always aggravated that we couldn’t quite match) would have been the way you grew into a bud, petals folded around yourself as you realized the protection you might need.
And now I can’t help but watch as you blossom into a shining flower as you realize all of the things that you have to offer and all of the ways in which you fit into this world perfectly.
And I can’t help but think of the way you defied the odds and grew from a small seedling, an embryo, to a beautiful bud full of color and vibrancy.
And I can’t help but hope that someday we can blossom together.

This one is short, but I thought it was alright.

23) Train
Once there was a little girl.
And once there was a gift.
And the girl shouted with unbridled joy at acquiring what was inside: a small, simple toy train set.
It was not remarkably fancy. It had just enough machinery that it would move around on the tracks on its own, and the rest of it was made of a lightweight wood. It had been handpainted in solid colors, with doors drawn on and simple but painstaking letters across the side reading “The Northern Belle.”
The girl’s innocent grin conveyed what she did not yet have the words to say. For her, it was elegant. For her, it was amazing.
She took out the tracks that came with it and placed them on the living room floor, twisting them around the couch and through her father’s legs. Then, she placed the train on the tracks and turned it on.
The girl gasped in delight at the way the train began to move.
For her, it was perfect.