I've always had a love/hate relationship with drabbles- it's both interesting and challenging to try and pack a lot of something into exactly 100 words, but it's also a little bit of a bummer because there's always so much more that needs to be said. I put together six drabbles for this project, but I'm very much open to expanding these if you guys are interested in seeing any of them go further. Just say the word. :)
*These drabbles are also not in any way related to each other, nor are they in any kind of particular order.
Enjoy!
Cousins.
Maddie leaned over the guitar in her lap and stared at the notepad in front of her. Lyrics were scrawled in every direction on the paper; some sideways, some diagonal, and many with dark, heavy lines scribbled through them.
She reached for the fountain pen on the table and effortlessly scratched out another line, quickly replacing it with another line beneath it.
She made a mental note to buy some pencils as she looked up from the sheet.
"So we definitely want to change that part?"
"Yeah," Scarlett answered. "I think it sounds better this way."
Maddie smiled.
"Me too."
"I Read the Paper."
Stacy sat the mug down softly on her kitchen bar top, slowly steeping the green tea bag and resting her feet limply on Sue's back as he and his bone got comfortable underneath her.
Yawning, she unrolled the fresh newspaper. Her heart skipped at the sight of Rayna's photo on the front page alongside Deacon's mangled SUV—QUEEN OF COUNTRY IN CRITICAL CONDITION; GUITARIST ARRESTED FOR DUI IN CRASH.
Hot tears sprang to her eyes as she lamented for a split second that she couldn't help him.
He made his bed.
Pull yourself together.
Take a breath.
Turn the page.
"Can You Sing?"
"…but don't you ever say you're done with music."
"You too, okay?"
She nodded slowly, tears filling up her eyes as she fought ever fiber to not collapse in his arms.
She needed to feel his lips on her temple; she needed to breathe in the scent of his soap. She needed to feel his busted hand caressing her back as she wailed and kicked and cursed everything and everyone around her.
He was the only one in the world who got her, yet he was a million miles away. She had made sure of it.
"You need to go."
Bargain.
Rayna paced the floor of the tiny tiled bathroom.
Her oversized sweat pants drug the ground and her massive t-shirt swallowed her whole, leaving nothing but two skinny sticks for arms.
Just as she caught a glimpse of her gaunt, nauseous face in the mirror, she also found herself bargaining. She begged; pleaded.
It can't happen this way.
I'll go to church. I'll feed the homeless. I'll REALLY finally let him go.
She hadn't bartered like this since her mother's accident—it didn't work then.
She looked down at the stick in front of her.
Positive.
It hadn't worked now.
Royalty.
"…and the CMA for Best New Artist of the Year goes to…"
She sighed hard. She was country royalty—when they could get a glimpse into her young life, the press had dubbed her the "Princess of Country," so she wondered how her first trip to the CMAs wasn't until now at 19. She'd been raised by the six crystal awards sitting in her mother's living room.
She'd finally made it, though. She was here, between her parents, grabbing each of their hands and squeezing hard.
She wanted this so badly her stomach lurched. She held her breath.
"Maddie Jade."
Epiphany.
She tossed the throw blanket onto the floor and stood up, turning the TV off as she did so.
He remained on the couch, watching her perfectly tangled hair cascade over the wrinkles in her t-shirt. His boxers didn't fit her, but she insisted on wearing them.
She turned to face him. There wasn't an ounce of makeup on her skin and his heart still nearly stopped at the sight of her.
"You coming, babe?"
She'd never looked more beautiful; more stunning to him than she did right then. He had to have her.
Forever.
"You wanna get married, Ray?"