A/N: These are just a few mini fics I've written as a challenge for myself. They're limited to 100 words and based on one-word prompts that serve as their titles. Most of them are unrelated to each other or any other stories. I'll probably add more as I write more sets!
confessor
'a life well lived' is what the headlines will say; 'a bastard and a cheat' is what the employees, those still alive, will say; what She will say he can only guess.
(whatever it is, he deserves it.)
no light shines from Her face, foreign, cold, and still before him; Her morning is yet to come.
seconds pass unannounced. the new technology—new? it's been decades, but strange as it seemed, until recently he'd always preferred a more traditional piece—remains silent.
as does She.
"sweetheart" a feeble croak fills empty air. She doesn't stir. "i gotta tell you something."
—
tenacity
If there is one trait the test subject has, it is tenacity.
It never appeared in the early mental health screens, but as soon as the subject is placed in a desperate situation, a nearly pathological will to survive surfaces, propelling the underdog through trials that once brought veterans and astronauts to their knees.
When faced with a clearly impossible task, the subject reacts with an impressively advanced form of denial, attempting and failing the task repeatedly despite resulting and escalating punishments.
In the end, they judge the man an utter moron rather than brave.
(They can work with this.)
—
owlishly
On a good day the room is a frenzied tangle of bare feet and sticky hands, thick-smeared fingerpaint dripping from all the wrong surfaces, air split by tearful shrieks and a raucous, manic sort of laughter. Wide eyes—so striking, that one'll break hearts someday—observe critically from a safe distance, concealed with their owner beneath the crafts table where few think to venture after snack. There is peace enough here for her to think, to plan her escape from this awful place and its puzzles and tests.
Today, after her nap, she will run.
She smiles, already tasting freedom.