Excavating the Archives: The Legacy Of A Missed Opportunity

This is the first instalment of a three-part drabble serial…

She knew she had done the wrong thing, said the wrong words, but it was too late now.  Such an opportunity would never come her way again.  It was gone.  She had missed her chance.

Her mistake lingered, tormenting her, driving her to return to the woods day after day.  In the dark of the forest, she screamed at the top of her voice.

‘I’m sorry!  Please forgive me!’

She wanted to explain but there was no one there to listen or care.

She was alone now.  The Spirits of the Forest were silent.  The Fae had departed.

You can read part two here.


This was originally posted on this site in September 2015. You can find that post here.

The Legacy of a Missed Opportunity – part 3

the pink forest1To read Part One, click here, or to read Part Two, here.

She looked up to find a small ethereal being standing before her.

‘You’re very sad, aren’t you?’  She nodded.  ‘They are too, only they’re not supposed to let you know.’

‘If you see them, will you please tell them how sorry I am?’

The creature thought for a moment, then held out it’s hand.  ‘I can do better than that.  Come on.’

‘Where are we going?’

It turned to face her, smiling.  ‘I’ll take you to them.  Then you can say sorry yourself.’

‘How can that be?’ she exclaimed.

‘I am a wish-granter, and your wish has been granted.’

The Legacy of a Missed Opportunity – Part Two (a drabble)

the pink forest1

To read Part One click here.

She searched high and low, but when Woodland Spirits didn’t want to be found, they remained invisible.  Her friends had gone and it was all her fault.

Exhausted, she collapsed onto the ground, sobbing uncontrollably.  She didn’t know how to make things right; how to stop this mistake from haunting her.  How could she make it better when she didn’t know what to do?

Tears coursed down her face, falling into the leaf litter.

But magic has its own ways.

‘Crying won’t help, you know,’ a small voice whispered, startling her.

The forest was not as empty as she feared…

To read Part Three click here.

The Legacy of a Missed Opportunity – Part One (a drabble)

the pink forest1

She knew she had done the wrong thing, said the wrong words, but it was too late now.  Such an opportunity would never come her way again.  It was gone.  She had missed her chance.

Her mistake lingered, tormenting her, driving her to return to the woods day after day.  In the dark of the forest, she screamed at the top of her voice.

‘I’m sorry!  Please forgive me!’

She wanted to explain but there was no one there to listen or care.

She was alone now.  The Spirits of the Forest were silent.  The Fae had departed.

To read Part Two click here.

For Halloween…A Few Very Short Stories from the Archives

The Hanging Tree

Every night at midnight, the hanging tree creaked as if a very large weight attached to a rope had just been dropped from one it’s thick, sturdy branches.  Then a shadow would descend.  Legend said anyone touched by it would be found hanging from the tree when the sun rose.


Darkness

The darkness covered everything like a dense blanket.  It was suffocating.  Disorienting.

I could hear noises in the distance.  The sound of pursuit.

Panic spurred me on, but I lost my way.  I had strayed into the Deathwoods.  No one survived the ancient woodlands alone.  My fate was sealed.


Spirit Talk

The upturned glass moved around the board, unbidden, as it began to spell something out.

Until this point it had only been a game.

The lights flickered.

Someone screamed.

Still the glass moved.

The air went cold.

I shivered as I realised what had been spelt out.

My name.


The Abbey Ruins

The full moon cast an eerie glow over the abbey ruins, lighting up the yellow stone work in shades of pale gold.

Through the empty doorway a shadow moved, indistinct, but with purpose, an unfulfilled mission, centuries old, repeated each night, over and over, on a quest for peace.


Gifted

They weaved in and out of his perception, as they had always done.  But he had struggled and fought to control it, ignore it.  Them.

He didn’t want to see the dead, nor hear them.  He didn’t need them.

But they had other ideas.  They needed him.  They always would.

Spirit Talk

The upturned glass moved around the board, unbidden, as it began to spell something out.

Until this point it had only been a game.

The lights flickered.

Someone screamed.

Still the glass moved.

The air went cold.

I shivered as I realised what had been spelt out.

My name.

Gifted

They weaved in and out of his perception, as they had always done.  But he had struggled and fought to control it, ignore it.  Them.

He didn’t want to see the dead, nor hear them.  He didn’t need them.

But they had other ideas.  They needed him.  They always would.