Two creatures, unformed but for their hands with tiny, needling claws, find one another at the dismal dawn of a new day. They pick at one another. The first pries open the eyelids of the other. "I want to be seen," a thought like a phosphorescent current through its amoeba-spine. "I want to be seen by you."
Eyes open, the second creature beholds the shape of the first: a writhing knot of sinew and vein, throbbing red and pale yellow and undulating. He beholds the dying purple sun, the vast landscape of ruin, how there is nothing left. He feels hopelessness like a film over everything.
A sudden pain reaches the matting of nerve cells under his skin. Sharp and unbearable, the pain is like ice where all that exists is warm.
The first creature reaches deep into the blue iris of the second with her pointed claw. Red and wet, his blood travels the length of her finger and pools in the bend of her appendage. She remembers the sensation from before she was born. She remembers something slippery and pink and close in the dark. "See me," she glows.
He moves for the first time, a full bodied squirm, instead of the minute tapping he's been absentmindedly sending into the void. From the moment of his origin, he's been clicking and tapping with his nails. Now he oozes and sputters and grasps at the other creature. She is tough in places, but mostly she is yielding. She is so yielding and pure, his remaining eye burns and he cries. He opens his mouth and fits pieces of her inside.
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This week, Trifecta challenged us to write a love story in 33 - 333 words. The catch was that we weren't allowed to use any form of the following words:
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PS. Don't forget to enter my giveaway from Mamalode.
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I love your writing. Was this inspired by the letter from your husband that you put up here the other day? I love how they wound each other with their mutual desire, even as each needs the other to keep going forward.
ReplyDeletezowie, that's brilliant and completely unexpected. Fantastic, Amanda.
ReplyDeleteI absolutely adore your word choices and phrasing. Your ideas always come out of left field for me, and I love that. So creative. You are one of my favorite finds on the Internet!
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for linking up this weekend. Remember, this weekend’s entries are being judged by the Trifecta community so make sure you visit the site to register your vote! Hope you can join us for Monday’s prompt!
ReplyDeletejesterqueen, thank you. :) You know, it sure wasn't. I wasn't thinking about my husband's letter at all! I guess we're both just weird freaks. haha.
ReplyDeleteYikes – this is repulsive! And fucking amazing. You’ll hate this compliment, but this is sort of Burroughs-esque. It’s grotesque and inhuman and ungodly, but it’s so vivid that you can feel it moving around in your guts, and it’s somehow strangely, unsettlingly relatable. This is a bizarre painting worked out of dripping entrails; the kind of thing that’ll stick in your brain for days and days – which is to say, Superb writing.
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