Summer-Themed Prompt Contest
Prompt: “If I’d known this would be our last summer, I would’ve done things differently.” Created by Lydia Jane.
If I had known this would be our last summer, I would’ve done things differently.
Like not falling in love.
“You’re awfully quiet.” Liam leaned over the table and licked my strawberry ice cream. It seemed fitting. I’d eaten strawberry ice cream when we met; might as well eat it on our last day. “What’s going on in that red head of yours?”
Seagulls squawked above us. “I’m thinking I may have to kill you.”
Liam smirked. “What for?”
“Ice cream theft. It’s a major crime.”
He guided my cone to his mouth. “I’d love to see you try.”
I raised my eyebrows. “You may just get your wish.”
Because I knew who he was: Ezekiel Cromwell, teenage American spy.
And he didn’t know who I was: Katarina Romanov, teenage Russian spy.
Nor did he know I had a gun pointed at his gut.
I recaptured his cone, but before I could, he captured my sticky lips with his.
Drat. I needed to kill him, not kiss him.
“Put a bullet in his gut or I’ll put one in yours.” My boss’s words echoed in my head as I deepened the kiss… and pulled the trigger.
Prompt 2
Prompt: “The heat hung thick, just begging for someone to do something stupid.” Created by Lydia Jane.
Day 15.
Darwin’s dimples, it’s real!
We exited the cave system this evening. The sight that greeted us was wilder than the legends that led us here. The Golden River is as they described–a mind-boggling phenomena in itself–but the trees flanking it! Our jaws hung like monkeys from branches as we beheld the trees tall as mountains.
Glowing cracks run like veins along iron bark. The leaves shine bright red like perpetual fire. The professor theorizes that the roots draw from deep wells of magma to feed the trees. A ridiculous notion, but it would explain the heat.
The heat!
We’ve yet to set foot in the forest, and already the heat stifles not just the air but our minds. Like travelers led astray by desert mirages, so I find my companions pointing out objects that aren’t there. Ridiculous hallucinations.
James seems to be hearing voices telling him jokes. He cackles and watches the distant river like a madman. Kelly is overcome by a sudden obsession to reach and climb the trees.
The heat not only hangs thick in the air, it begs for someone to do something stupid. I fear one of us may soon succumb.
~ Dr. S. Linn
Prompt 3
Prompt: “A bottle bobbed in the water, just out of reach, with a piece of paper tucked inside.” Created by Lydia Jane.
Turns out, a pretty prom dress and majestic updo do not a princess make.
She threw her heels into the waves just below the rock she was perched on. Good riddance. Sighing, she pulled the pins out of her hair, each one meeting the same fate as her heels.
This was for James, whose eyes slid past her; this was for Peter, who would rather drink punch than dance; this was for Matt, who ground her little hopes into dust.
The breeze swept back her bangs, cooling her forehead. Behind her, the dim sounds of the prom seemed so out of place here with the sea and the stars.
A small splash caught her attention. A bottle bobbed in the water, just out of reach, a small slip of paper tucked inside.
She hesitated for a moment, staring down at her dress. Then she shrugged. It wasn’t like she was going to wear it again anyway.
The water came up to her knees before she caught the glass bottle. Without bothering to go back to the rock, she wrenched it open.
Wait, what if this wasn’t hers to open?
She looked around the scene. No one appeared; they were all busy enjoying their prom. Well, first come, first serve.
She fished the paper out of the bottle and read it with the faint glare of the prom lights. “‘I think you’re beautiful.'”
She snorted. “Right.” She definitely picked up someone else’s bottle.
A faint sparkle came from the paper, and the words changed. “‘Don’t laugh, you are, and if I had been at prom, I would have asked for every dance.'”
Tears threatened to fall. She looked into the starlit sea and whispered, “Thank you.”
