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narrans · 1 year

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57). "I'm not letting you leave."

for the writing prompts. enjoy november's writing!

PROMPT

57). "I'm not letting you leave."

It was a perfect night to stay in and do absolutely nothing. Flurries of snow were drifting from the sky, starting to stick to the rapidly freezing ground and form beautiful patterns of ice on the blades of grass and windowpanes of the Lowe household.

Marissa couldn’t remember the last time she had a night off from work; or, rather, the last time she had given herself a night off from work. She was a freelance writer, specializing in astrology. She fancied herself a professional astrologer, but writing was a better guaranteed income than having her own personal blog on the matter.

Cup of coffee by the window along with a mountain of blankets and a forensic based crime novel she was dying to read, Marissa had everything in place for her perfect night in. The dark brown liquid swirled, ribbons of steam dancing on the surface as Marissa settled into her chair.

It had been a long time since it had snowed in autumn like this, and she wasn’t going to miss this first snowfall. Besides, her astrological chart said that there would be unexpected things happening his night, and she was ready to embrace them by taking a calm night to herself. If something was going to happen, she didn’t want to interrupt her work schedule to do it.

Fingers curled around her Pisces styled mug, she inhaled the fragrance of her coffee and stared out at her back yard. For nearly an hour, she watched the flurrying snow as it drifted peacefully through the sky and onto the patches of grass in her yard.

Marissa moved onto her book, but had barely cracked the spine when she saw the motion sensor by the back of the fence line trip, sending a blinding light across the lawn. Instantly, she felt a spurt of guilt fill her chest. Here she was enjoying her evening and she completely forgot to put out a cup of food for the local stray cat that she insisted to herself “wasn’t hers.”

“Hang on, Kitty,” she muttered as she wrestled the blankets off of her and shuffled off to the pantry for the cat food cup. Wrapping a blanket over her shoulders, she braced herself for the blistering cold and threw open the door.

Her breath turned into a poofy white cloud in front of her lips and nose as she exhaled and scurried across the porch to the plastic bowl, which was quickly filling with snow.

“Kitty!” she called as she tipped the bowl of snow out and replaced the frozen flakes with kibble. “Here Kitty! Dinner’s out!” Marissa stared out at the fence line, but saw no feline companion trudging its way through the yard to the straw filled box next to the food dish.

Weird, Marissa thought. Usually one call was enough to summon the cat to her side.

“Kitty!” Marissa called again. Still, no response. Now meow. No snow crunch under its soft, black-tipped paws. What did catch her ear, however, was a low moan. Marissa stopped dead in her tracks back to her warm couch, not daring to breathe, as she strained her ears to hear it again.

A knot seized her insides. What was that sound? Was the cat hurt? Was something else out there hurt? It didn’t sound like a feline noise, but it did sound distressed.

Naturally, she walked out into the yard and followed the noise all the way to the fence line when it stopped.

Am I hearing things? I’m sure I heard something over here, wondered Marissa. She held her breath and, hearing nothing again, turned to leave when she heard it again. It was a low, agonizing moan coming from the base of the fence by her garden.

Marissa, driven by curiosity, crouched by the beams of wood near some upturned flowerpots where the sound was the loudest.

Then, to her astonishment, she saw the source of the sound.

Two pets were crouched in the flowerpot huddled against the back away from the wind. Their wide eyes stared back at her in wild panic like that of cornered, helpless animals.

Marissa had always been curious about these human-like biological constructions society fawned over so much, but had rarely interacted directly with one herself on a regular basis. She had friends who had pets when she was growing up, but they were usually unsociable and hiding in their sleep spot in their cages when she was over.

Taking her childhood experiences and straining to remember how to handle these hand-sized humanoid creatures, she snapped a few times and made kissy sounds like how she did for Kitty.

“Come on. It’s okay. I’m not gonna hurt you,” she said gently as she began reaching her hand through the opening of the flowerpot.

“Stay back!” the one spat, obviously male by the sound of it. Marissa couldn’t see either of them well, but she did know the one who spoke swung something at her outstretched fingers.

“No, no. Shhh… it’s okay. Come here now. That’s a good boy,” coaxed Marissa as she reached in slower this time. The one stepped back to take a swing, obviously guarding the other, when Marissa heard a low moan come from the other, who she now knew to be female. The more violent one was obviously torn between acting in self-defense or helping the other, ultimately choosing to help.

“Shhh… Tsu… it’s okay. Breathe,” he coaxed. “Remember. Low tones.”

Low tones? What on earth… wondered Marissa. She squinted at the two pets inside and, with her eyes adjusting slightly, saw the one was hunkered over, stomach protruding in a round, pregnant belly.

“Oh… oh you poor babies. Your owners left you outside in this weather? And in this condition? Shameful,” said Marissa, more to herself than to anyone in particular. The male pet, however, heard and snapped as the female continued to moan.

“Don’t talk about us like we were some common mutt off of the street, woman,” he snarled. Marissa felt taken aback. She didn’t expect a pet to be so unfriendly.

Maybe it’s just stressed, she thought.

Now faced with a dilemma, Marissa had to debate on her next action. She could leave the two pets alone while they were distressed in the quickly declining weather or she could try to bring them inside and risk personal injury while securing their survival.

She made her decision.

The one was hurt and needed help. So, moving slowly, she instead picked up the flowerpot the two of them were in as carefully as she could and tilted it upright so they wouldn’t fall out. She was instantly met with two sharp shouts of surprise as the pets’ footing was shifted beneath them.

“Woah! Stop! What are you doing? Just leave us alo-…” The male was cut short by the female’s voice.

“George! Help me… please…” she whimpered.

Marissa, now in better light, saw the pale, narrow features of the blonde haired, blue-eyed male scowl at her before tending to the female beside him, crouching and letting her clutch the color out of his hand.

She stepped quickly back across the yard and slipped into her home. The warmth was sweltering after being in the cold for such a brief time, but Marissa knew it would pass soon.

Marissa looked down into the flowerpot, which was now filled with her warm kitchen lighting. The two pets, in a word, looked rough. Obviously exhausted and hungry, they stayed huddled together at the bottom of the flowerpot, the male clearly trying to shield the female with his thin frame.

“Aww… you two are so cute,” Marissa cooed. “Come on. Let’s get you out of there. Marissa, once again, reached carefully into the flowerpot, now able to see the object the male, called George, was only a twig. With one fluid motion, she plucked him out of the pot and held him pinched between her thumb and index finger. The female cried in panic as Marissa held George. He squirmed and thrashed, trying desperately to pry Marissa’s fingers off of his body.

“Shh… it’s okay. I know you’re scared. I’m just moving you to a better spot, okay? That’s a good boy,” Marissa cooed gently, trying to calm him down. All the while, she wondered why he was so uneasy. She was just moving him to a cleaner container.

Shouldn’t he be used to being handled? Didn’t pets get obedience training? What had him so on edge? Was it because of the female? Were they mates? Did they even allow that sort of thing? He was probably distraught because he felt a sense of duty to protect her, right?

She pulled out a clear plastic Tupperware piece and placed him inside. Now that they were separated, she could see the female was in worse condition than she thought before.

The female pet slumped against the edge of the flowerpot and howled in pain as she clutched her stomach, her flowing dark hair hiding her features.

“Yikes… that’s not good,” muttered Marissa. “You know… I’m playing this safe. To the vet it is. I’ll be right back.”

She barely made it two steps away, however, when she heard to two pets talking.

“George! Please! Don’t let her take me. I-I-I I can’t do this without you,” the female, Tsu, sobbed.

“Hang on! I’m getting out of here. Just breathe, Tsu!”

Marissa wasn’t sure what made her pause and really listen to the two pets as Tsu howled again through a set of what Marissa guessed were contractions and George walked her through it. Marissa felt wave after wave of confliction overwhelming her, mostly by the way the two of them sounded and acted so… human….

Marissa walked back to the two containers to see that George had managed to slip ou of the hard plastic container Marissa placed him in and was now pressing himself against the flowerpot, trying to figure out how to get back to Tsu.

The moment he spotted Marissa, however, he physically shrunk back but stayed close to the flowerpot. In a valiant spark of bravery, he then stepped forward and between Marissa and the flowerpot, standing between them. His chest heaved in breath after breath, but his resolve was obvious.

“Please,” he shouted. “Listen to me.” George looked like he was on the verge of passing out.

“Hey, buddy, I… I’m sorry, but I need to take her,” said Marissa as she towered over him. Seeing the fear in his eyes, Marissa wondered if changing position would help. She crouched so she was now at eye-level with George, a gesture which obviously surprised him.

“I’m not letting you leave!” challenged George.

“She needs a vet,” argued Marissa gently, now talking to the five-and-a-half-inch pet.

“I know what to do. I’ve been studying for months and that monster we were with was a vet. Just leave it to me. Please,” pleaded George. “I can even direct you. Just… don’t take her from me… please… don’t take us to a vet…”

Marissa’s heart clenched as she stared into the pale blue eyes of the small man. Slowly, she nodded.

“Okay. Tell me what to do.”

Under George’s instruction, Marissa ran her kitchen sink full of warm water and lowered both pets into the bath. She then retrieved fresh washcloths, scissors, a paper clip, and a few other odds and ends as the two of them breathed through each contraction.

Tsu’s screams got louder until, at long last, another set of cries filled the air – the small cries of a newborn infant.

“It’s a girl!” Tsu sobbed as she clutched the child to her chest. “Our baby girl!”

Marissa couldn’t stop herself from wiping away a few tears of her own. The three of them floated together in the warm water of her sink until George reluctantly broke the barrier and began asking for the objected he had Marissa obtain.

Eventually, after more tearful sobs, Tsu let Marissa pick her and the new baby up into her palm and place them in the washcloths she had placed on a heating pad by the sink. George was next and frantically scrambled into Marissa’s hands to join Tsu and the baby. They huddled together under the washcloth wordlessly as Marissa tidied up her sink.

For the next hour, they kept themselves hidden away until resurfacing. The baby and woman, Tsu, were laying down, curled together in a cradling huddle. George, on the other hand, stayed awake and upright despite obviously on the verge of falling asleep with every blink of his eyes.

Marissa noticed, and cautiously began to address him.

“You’re tired. Why don’t you sleep?” suggested Marissa. The pet shook the sleep from his eyes in an instant and looked up at her, instinctively shifting to block Tsu and the child from her view. In response, he merely nodded once.

“I won’t sleep. I… can’t sleep…. You’ll separate us if I do,” said the male pet.

“George, is it?” asked Marissa. “It’s okay. I’m not going to hurt you. I won’t separate you.”

At this statement, he scoffed.

“That’s rich,” he muttered. “Forgive me if I don’t believe you.”

“I won’t though,” argued Marissa. “I… want to help.”

“Help? You could help by leaving us alone, but that’s a pipe dream at this point. You found us. You’ll try and find our so-called owner to return us, interfering with my family. But what could I expect? You’re human. Interfering is what you do,” spat George. He stared up bitterly at Marissa, but his intense glare died down after a few moments as his eyes drooped with sleep again.

“Was your… owner… cruel? Did he hurt you?” asked Marissa.

“Yes,” muttered George. “And it’s owners. Plural. She was kept by one and I was kept by another. They put us together because we are supposed to be compatible and make for good breeding. We fell in love and… now…”

George’s jaw clenched as he looked down at Tsu and the new child.

“Now this child – our child – is promised to some company because we’re supposed to produce intelligent offspring,” shuddered George. “Our child… our baby… she’s supposed to be taken away to start conditioning immediately. We’re supposed to supply the next generation of pets. Sickening…”

Marissa was absolutely mortified.

“What? But… couldn’t they just… I don’t know… engineer them?” asked Marissa. “I always thought pets were created, not bred.”

At this, George laughed sorrowfully.

“Poor, uneducated public. You don’t know the half of what really happens to us pets, do you?” he asked, looking up into Marissa’s eyes. “Do you know the cost per ‘pet’ the artificially manufacture versus the cost of hiring a good breeding line? The difference is astronomical, and that’s not including conditioning. Do you even know how we were constructed in the first place? I doubt it. It’s not something you find on the internet.”

“I… had not idea…”

“Of course not! You’re not meant to. If you knew a fraction of what was going on – what was really going on – you’d have nightmares for the rest of your life. I know we do. Instead, humans ignore the obvious, distracting themselves with playing dress-up with us and using us to inflate your sense of superiority,” spat George.

Marissa felt sick to her stomach and choked back the bile rising in her throat. She suddenly realized what she had actually come across in her back yard.

“You two were running away? Escaping to try and start a new life with your baby?” asked Marissa. George nodded and brushed away a few strands of hair away from Tsu’s face. There was a loving tenderness Marissa hadn’t seen as he gazed at his sleeping companion.

“We wanted a life worth living,” he said softly. “Is that so wrong? To want to live as the sentient, small humans we are?”

Marissa felt tears gathering in the corners of her eyes. These two pets… no… these two people just wanted to live their lives. More importantly, they wanted to be free – and that was exactly what she was going to help them do.

“So, it’s settled then,” she said. “Astraea. That’s what you should name your baby.” George winced and glared up at her.

“Nothing is settled without our permission. And we are her parents. We will be naming her. I’m not letting another human decide…”

“It’s just a suggestion,” interrupted Marissa. “Astraea is a mythological Greek goddess of the stars and justice, and that’s what we will be doing from now on – all of us.”

George looked at her curiously, but was still bristled and defensive.

“Us?”

“Yes, us,” replied Marissa. “You’ve only known an unjust world, but you two and myself are going to change that. You are welcome to stay here in my home for as long as you want. I won’t stop you from leaving or from living your lives while you’re here. I have a spare bedroom we can convert or, if you want, we can find something a little more suitable for your size and we can keep that somewhere you won’t be bothered. Sound fair?”

George stared suspiciously at Marissa.

“And what do you want in exchange?” he asked. “The right to name our daughter? Do you want her for yourself?” Marissa didn’t like the accusatory tone, but didn’t blame him for keeping himself guarded.

“Information. If we are going to change how things are, you have to tell me everything that you’ve gone through. I’m a writer… well… astrologer by trade… but I think this story will definitely sell. At the very least, it’ll turn some heads and get some attention,” Marissa encouraged.

George thought about it for a moment before looking back up at her.

“And if I choose to be uncooperative and not provide this information?” he asked.

“Then nothing. You can still stay here for as long as you want – you and your whole family. I just thought you might want to tell your side of the story,” stated Marissa.

George thought silently for a time, looking pensively from Marissa to Tsu and the baby.

“We’ll need to discuss it,” he said sharply. “But it is a tempting offer. Thank you. I didn’t catch your name.”

“Marissa Lowe. It’s nice to meet you George,” Marissa reached forward with a single finger and shook George’s hand, which he extended after shying away from her approaching hand and evaluating Marissa’s intentions.

“Astraea, you say? It does have quite a regal tone,” George muttered as he leaned back and rested his weight onto his elbow, curling his body around Tsu and the baby. “Please… prove your one of the decent ones.”

Giving into the exhaustion plaguing his body, Marissa watched George slip into sleep, protectively wrapped around his family.

Well… what an interesting night. I guess something interesting did happen, thought Marissa. She began combing through her house for different things that the new forged family of three could use as clothes, bedding, and lodgings until they had a suitable home to live in.

What an interesting night this was… and what an interesting story this would make for her readers.

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narrans · 1 year

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A Tall and Small Collection | S2.31 | Mailroom Promises

The family had just arrived back home after their day at the park. Cloud watching had been a smashing success, but they were all ready to go home and put Mayzie down for a quick afternoon nap by the end of it.

There were no other people nearby when they came into the main lobby, though a couple of kids who were on a playdate came bursting into the elevator and rode up a few floors before running off toward their friend’s apartment. The keys jingled their familiar tune as Ashlynn slipped them into the lock and entered the living room. The warm sun’s light reflected off of the glass from distant buildings, casting an illuminous golden glow in Ashlynn’s home as she made her way up to her apartment.

The Borrower brothers, Mayzie especially, had collected various things while they were out. Shiny pebbles and stones, acorn fragments and their tops which Mayzie found to be a very amusing party hat, and flowers which Ashlynn promised she would help press so they could paste them onto Mayzie’s bedroom wall when the time came.

“When will we get to go back?” asked Rey as he piled up some of the stone fragments he collected into a fort like structure.

“Someday soon I hope. We’ll have to pick another overcast day during the afternoon when other people won’t be around,” said Ashlynn as she carefully placed the flowers into a few pieces of parchment paper and pressed them into one of her thickest books followed by a few clamps she had in her supply drawer.

“Well, let’s make it soon. I want to build a proper fort and build one of those evil catapults you showed me in that book,” said Rey as he stacked the stones precariously.

“You mean medieval? Sure. We can do that,” said Ashlynn. Soren laid Mayzie down onto the blanket fort she had attempted to climb earlier that morning.

“You plan on creating a castle?” asked Soren as he made sure Mayzie was tucked in properly before facing his brothers.

“Well, yeah,” said Rey. “I mean, wouldn’t it be great to build our own castle? We’d have a fortress with all sorts of defenses. Fireplaces and stoves like in ye olde days.”

“Okay, okay,” chuckled Soren as he stepped up and ruffled his youngest brother’s hair. “We’ll see what happens. If you want to make more than a fire pit, you’ll need loads more rocks than what you have now.”

Ashlynn grinned as she listened to the brothers. Rey began talking about all of his grand plans and went over to his notepad and began showing Soren his grand plans and schematics that he’d drawn up. He talked about how to make a drawbridge and how they could use gears from old devices to make things move and turn.

What an imagination and drive he has thought Ashlynn. She glanced over at the door before seeing the time on her phone. She remembered the mail had run already but that she didn’t grab it on the way up since she had the Borrower family with her.

“Well, while you all finish making plans for your fortress, I’m going to go grab the mail really quick,” said Ashlynn. The brothers nodded, Rey not missing a beat in his explanation for what he wanted to create for them, and Ashlynn stood and made her way back out of the apartment.

The elevator ride was uneventful, but Ashlynn’s mind was preoccupied with how to make Rey’s dream real. Was there a lighter material than stones that they could use to build this fort? Obviously, they could just make the outside look like stone, but Rey sounded like he wanted close to authentic.

She’d need to think about it, but something else immediately jarred her out of her train of thought when she went into the mailroom.

Sam.

The young boy was standing in front of his mailbox with the key. Undoubtedly he was fetching the letters and bills as part of his chores, but the timing was fortuitous.

No one else was there.

They were there on their own.

Ashlynn didn’t want to scare the boy, but she wanted to make sure he knew she was aware of their shared secret about the Borrower community living in the building with them. Sam knew her, so this should be relatively easy, right?

Heart suddenly in her throat, Ashlynn stepped up to her mailbox and used her constricting throat as an excuse to clear it with a polite cough. Sam immediately looked over at her and smiled.

“Oh, hello Miss Ashlynn,” he said, eyes twinkling with youthful enthusiasm. “How are you today?”

“I’m doing well,” said Ashlynn. “Picking up your mail?”

“Yep! It’s the last thing I have on my list of things to do before I get to hang out with… erm… well, one of my friends is going to play some games virtually and I’m joining them online,” said Sam. Ashlynn felt a bit uneasy. Why did he hesitate? Why did he change what he was going to say? She decided to press a little.

“Oh? That’s nice. What friend are you going to meet up with online?” asked Ashlynn, carefully pressing her luck. She turned the lock on her mailbox and glanced over at Sam, who was now fishing out his mail quickly.

“Um… well… he’s not from here,” said Sam.

“Oh? Homeschooled? Meet him online?” asked Ashlynn. Sam squirmed.

“Um… yeah,” said Sam. His body posture changed significantly as he continued to avoid Ashlynn’s gaze. Ashlynn knew how to play this, but she knew she needed to still be careful.

“Sam, I know your parents are very careful and that you’re careful, but meeting someone online is dangerous. People aren’t always what they seem like,” said Ashlynn gently. Sam immediately looked up defiantly.

“I didn’t meet him online. He’s a real person. We just…” Sam stopped himself and looked away quickly again. “We just don’t get to… see each other… often… and… um… I need to…”

“Is his name Hero?” asked Ashlynn quietly, eyes fixed on Sam’s body. His body language immediately gave away his surprise that Ashlynn knew the name. His frame went rigid and his eyes widened. It was obvious the young boy was trying to get a measure of Ashlynn too.

“Um….” Sam stammered. Both of them looked around to see if anyone else was around them.

Then, Ashlynn, not wanting to intimidate the young boy, knelt and maintained eye-contact with him, smiling reassuringly.

“Sam, I know,” she said softly. Sam stared at Ashlynn suspiciously.

“Know? Know about what? I don’t know what you’re talking about. I… I need to…” Sam stammered as he tried to avoid Ashlynn’s eyes.

“Sam, you don’t have to keep their secret from me. I know about Hero,” said Ashlynn quietly. With suspicious eyes, he stared at Ashlynn and evaluated her smile until, after several long seconds, the contagious smile spread across his face too.

“You know Hero?” he asked. “Then… then… what color are his eyes?” Sam asked. Ashlynn chuckled to herself. Sam had devised a little test of his own. Clever boy.

“Green. Bright green,” replied Ashlynn. Instantly, the tenseness in Sam’s body dissipated and the smile spread wider across his face.

“Woah,” the boy breathed. “You really do know. But… how?”

“I’ve known for a long time,” said Ashlynn, her voice just above a whisper. “I know we’re not supposed to talk about it, but I wanted to thank you for keeping their secret. It’s very important that we always keep this a secret, okay?”

“Of course!” reassured Sam. “I’d never tell anyone. I’m just… I didn’t think anyone else knew.”

“And it needs to stay that way. Not everyone is as kind and thoughtful as you,” said Ashlynn.

“I’d never hurt…”

“I know you wouldn’t,” interrupted Ashlynn. “But others might, and that’s why we need to make sure we keep them a secret. Okay?” Sam nodded, grin spreading across his face so wide it nearly reached from ear to ear.

“Promise! Cross my heart!”

They shared a smile and then both of them headed for the elevator. Sam acted like he wanted to ask questions all of the way up the elevator, but the same group of kids came back into the lift and rode it up with them. Instead, Ashlynn promised that she and Sam would talk soon as she exited the elevator, Sam giving her a little wave as the doors slid closed behind her.

Ashlynn walked back to her apartment and paused just outside of the door. She hoped that she hadn’t overstepped any boundaries and that Sam would indeed keep his word. All the same, that little exchange told her that he could easily slip up if he was pressed too hard by someone else who knew about the Borrowers.

Silently, she prayed that day would never come.

She slid the key into the lock and clicked it open, sure to knock properly so the others would know she was home. Crossing the threshold, she was instantly greeted with smiles from all of her small companions, pushing aside her uneasy feelings for another time and another place.

For now, the most pressing matter on their minds was what they should do for dinner and what movie they were going to watch after game night.

~~~~~^*^*^*^*^~~~~~

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