It was like this before every time. She stood naked in the cramped bathroom, having cleansed herself, feeling the tiles beneath her feet, cool and smooth. She would never stand here again. Not after tonight.
"I am empty. I am a formless void." She repeated the words like a mantra. "I am untouchable. I will succeed." She allowed her mind to wander to the face on which she focused, hardening her eyes, burning out pity, desire, kindness. They would not see her coming.
When the time seemed right, she took the mask from the basin where she had washed it and held it to her face, as she had done every other time. With the touch of it to her skin, she felt the blood take hold. She felt the killer wake. She was ready.
I watched as Simone sluiced water over her skin, washing away the body paint, exposing tan flesh to my approving eye. "Good crowd tonight?" I asked, sitting on the toilet. There was nowhere else to be, really; the apartment was crowded with friends and acquaintances.
"I think I pulled a muscle," she said, grimacing as she kneaded her thigh. "Damn. Do we have to go out there?"
"Just for a bit," I said, secretly sympathizing, the porcelain, cool and smooth, warming beneath me. “It's your big night."
She climbed, dripping, from the tub and sat, despite my protests, in my lap, covering me with water. "Stay in here with me. They can wait."
When she stood and bent over the sink, warm flesh beckoning, and put on the mask from her act, I couldn't refuse.
She was naked and waiting, holding the mask to her face, when he entered the room. When she turned to look at him, he could see the fear in her eyes, though the mask, cool and smooth, hid all else.
He regretted for a moment that there was no hole for her mouth; the idea of fellatio between masked lips suddenly struck him, made his cock jump. But there was no time for that. With a snap of his fingers, she rushed to present herself on the bed, ass in the air, waiting for him.
His own mask was foggy with his breath, and he almost pulled it off and threw it from him, bargain be damned. But he resisted. He wanted this too much. Her father was watching, and the instructions were quite specific.
Three takes on masks. I wish the assignment had been about 100 words longer for the latter two, because I think they would have been less of a tease that way. I actually wrote about twice as much for the last one, but had to cut it brutally.
I might, repeat might, try my hand at something a bit longer on the blog if I have nothing much else to do here. I don't really want to get too far into fiction; others do that far better than I, and I didn't start blogging to do it. But occasionally I really wish I could go a bit longer with these. Who knows?
I have nothing much to say about any of these, shockingly. I think the first one is the clearest and fits the most easily into the space limitations, which probably means it's the worst one since I didn't really have to work at it much. The second isn't pointed; it's just a moment in time. And the third is my twisted little mind.
Sorry; I'm a bit swamped this week, brain-wise, so while I may be able to write them, I can't talk about them much. You should head over to Flash Fiction Friday and see what other stories have been told, because that's part of the beauty of the whole thing; you don't have to just read mine. The others are just as good if not better, and we're a fun group in that we seem to manage to take on the picture and phrase from a wide variety of angles, rather than all coming at it from exactly the same direction. Even when there are thematic similarities, it's still different and great and so forth. Seriously, if you're not going to write one yourself, go see the others if you haven't already.
15 comments:
Story #1 seems a bit chilling and certainly is mysterious. She is a killer right? She has killed before. Why will she never "stand her again"?
Very interesting take on the photo.
#2 I would love to see that story take off if you decided to write more. Something a little longer but not too long...LOL. It's hard for me to commit to long stories.
-H
Three stories? How do you find the inspiration? They are all excellent.
the first one gave me chills...the second, amused...the third...ah, the third...that one?
titillated.
i'd *love* to read more of that one!
nilla
Those were all amazing! Love how you can see such different things in the same image.
The twist at the end of the third one caught me right in the cunt. Disturbingly hot :)
xx Dee
All very much tease type stories because they left me with a need more for closure feeling.
The third was my favorite.
The delightful Lexi smorgasbord we've come to expect. :-)
Three nice takes. I especially love #3. The scene is set beautifully, but there are still so many open questions. I want to know more!
Happy FFF!
@HEDONE: I don't pretend to have in-depth knowledge of how killers operate ;) but if she's an assassin, she probably has to cut ties with whatever disguise it was she assumed to get close to her target. Assassins seem pretty nomadic. I understand your desire for short fiction; I can't commit to longer things most days either.
@Red: Sometimes the inspiration comes, sometimes it doesn't. I've talked on others about where my mind is when I'm writing, but the truth is that I just don't know. But glad you enjoyed them, wherever they came from ;)
@nilla: I think I must have done something right, because you seem to have had all the reactions I could ask for ;) I don't know that I'd write more of the third one, since I don't like to revisit topics, but if I did revisit, it'd be that one.
@Dee: Thanks hun :) Disturbingly hot is a review I will take with pleasure ;)
@pocket rockettz: In 135 words, often all I can do is tease. It's usually only long enough to have a moment in time. Maybe if I get into writing something a bit longer, I'll tease less.
@Max: More and more, I'm tempted to write a bit more of #3. We'll see what happens with that. Glad I could live up to expectations ;)
Interesting takes on the pic, as always.
I liked the three of them, but the second one... ah... I liked everything about this one. The way you put one of them seated on the toilet, Simone sitting on her lap... It makes me want to be there, to live that scene. The intimacy between them is so comforting, sweet and warm.
"Stay in here with me. They can wait." *sigh*
@R: Thank you so much for waking me up; I was seeing the protagonist in the second one as a man, but it shouldn't be, really. I'm much happier now, and I think I may like that one more because of it. Again, thanks! Apparently my subconscious was writing something better than I thought it was ;)
Ohh! I'm scared of her in the first story. LOL!
I liked the scene in the bathroom in the second story.
You mentioned a "twisted little mind"? LOL! Well, I love it. Enjoyed the last story, too. Ohhh! The father watching, a struck bargin? I want to know more. ;-)
@TemptingSweets: Twisted, that's me ;) Glad you liked them.
Late reading them, but your offerings were delightful. As others have said, Chills, thrills and titillation...
Good job!
The first one was my favorite. that sense of distance, of otherness within ourselves, the detachment. That, for me, is the power of the mask.
@wordwytch: What, you mean you had better things to do than read FFF entries? What's wrong with you? ;) No such thing as late around here.
@Advizor: I'd blame the first one on watching too many serial killers on TV, but I don't want serial killers on TV. Maybe that's why I wake up sometimes covered in blood with body parts clutched in my teeth... ;)
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