Good morning one and all and welcome to the Wednesday Briefs! Your source for fun flash fiction! This week's prompt was: "I thought I knew you, but..." and the alternate prompts were: Use: daft, punk, rooster, or "The first time we kissed..." or use: Danube, power, kiss, or "High as a kite, he..." or write a sex scene, but without removing any clothes!
As you may recall from the last episode of Trapped in Time, we left our heroes in a pretty pickle, what with Doll too frighened to cross the flimsy bridge, followed by the appearance of the t-rex. See what's happening there, then go visit the other Wednesday Briefers, whose links follow my story! Enjoy!
Trapped in Time #17
I am seeing my life play out before my very eyes, but my
time on this earth has been so short that it would not even make a decent one reel film. I
quickly cross myself and begin to pray. “Our father who art in heaven, hallowed
be thy—”
The monster roads and I jump, my foot sliding too close to
the edge. Luckily Vittorio has quick reflexes, and he keeps me from a horribly
rapid descent into the water far below.
“Can he reach us, do you think?”
“I’m not sure, but I’d rather not find out. We’d be better
off on the other side,” Vittorio replies, urging me toward the bridge. “Please,
love, we need to move.” I do not resist quite so adamantly as I did before,
although I am far from confident about what I am doing.
“Hurry!” Charlie yells across the bridge, echoed by Myron.
I try to bolster my failing courage by whistling. But my
rendition of The Beautiful Blue Danube sounds more like something one might
hear from a hurdy gurdy so I give up any pretense of bravery and take a step
onto the fragile bridge, under my own power, at least while I may.
“You are doing good, Doll,” Vittorio praises me, leaning in
for a quick kiss.
I can’t help but remember the first time we kissed. It was
one of those moments, just like in the movies. Eyes meet, and you find yourself
holding your breath because there is nowhere for it to go as your heart has suddenly take all of the room
in your chest. And your move toward each other without thinking about it, as
your lips meet for the first time.
I knew then that I loved Vittorio, and always would.
As I’ve been reminiscing, apparently Vittorio has been
inching me across the bridge. I sincerely pray the creature does not follow us.
This flimsy structure will barely hold our weight, much less his. Daring a
glance behind us, I see that the large dinosaur has halted at the edge of the
cliff, bellowing at us, probably in anger at seeing his dinner escape his
clutches.
“Don’t look back, look ahead, love,” Vittorio cautions me. I
heed his words and slowly work my way across the bridge. He is right behind me,
encouraging me, but the bridge, it is so fragile, and it shakes so much… I am
convinced that it will collapse long before we reach the other side.
We’re half way across now, although it feels as though the
bridge is sagging even more greatly than it was before, which is too much for
my taste. Suddenly the cry of the great beast. From anger to a challenge.
Vittorio and I both turn our heads to see what is going on.
Another large animal has come upon the scene. It is shorter, with a large bony ridge on its
head, and three horns. And it is undoubtedly angry.
“Triceratops,” Vittorio says, awe in his voice. “Doll, this
is amazing. No one has ever seen such a creature before. Not alive anyway. Just
in fossil form.”
I’m not sure if I’m more honored or scared, but the
triceratops has accomplished one thing. It’s diverted the attention of the tyrannosaurus
from us.
“Keep moving, you’re doing fine,” Vittorio encourages me. I
glance at my injured hand, which is red and swollen. I really do need to get to
the other side, don’t I? I take a deep breath and plunge ahead, refusing to
look down, or anywhere but the other side. Vittorio keeps one hand on me at all
times, calming me, so that within a reasonable period of time we have reached
the far side and I fall onto the blessed ground with relief.
Vittorio is right there, his arm about me, murmuring sweet
words. He pulls me into his lap, and we turn our attention to what is happening
with the two gargantuan creatures. The shorter dinosaur charges the larger,
using his horns to tear chunks of flesh from the predator. The tyrannosaurus responds
by snapping at whatever he can reach, ripping and rending the triceratop’s
body. It’s a horrific sight, but we cannot seem to look away.
Charlie seems particularly upset, and Mary is agitated as
well, jumping up and down and screeching. I’m not sure which animal she is
rooting for, if either.
It seems that his unease is merited, for the two creatures,
locked in mortal combat, pay no attention to their own personal safety and roll
off the cliff, plunging into the water below, bouncing on the rock walls along
the way.
It is not a pretty sight.
Charlie leads our somber little group to a nearby cave, and
this is where we decide to spend the night. While Vittorio and I bring out food
for the evening meal, Charlie busies
himself in looking for a particular plant, which he mixes with something else,
and then applies to my hand, wrapping a leaf about it. At first it feels odd,
and has a strange texture, but soon I find that the heat in my hand is
lessening, and so is the pain. I lean against Vittorio, and Charlie sits beside
Myron, with Mary on Myron’s lap.
“Do you think we can have a fire?”I ask hopefully, but
Vittorio shakes his head. “Not tonight,” he says. “Too dangerous. Besides, I’m
not sure how we would light one.”
He has a point.
“Come, I shall keep you warm.” He wraps his arms around me,
as we press together closely. “You were
very brave today,” he whispers into my ear, and I melt at his words and his
touch. “Maybe tomorrow, we shall see what else Myron can do with that wand, si?”
I think for a moment, before I respond, “Si.”
I hope we won’t live to regret that idea.
to be continued
Now go check out the other Wednesday Briefers:
Michael Mandrake m/m
Until next time, take care!
♥ Julie
