Hello everyone! I've got a small one-shot for you all! Yay! And when I mean short, I mean short. It's only 600 words and I'm going to explain why.
In English a few weeks ago, my class got given a short story assignment. This particular type of short story has a lot of rules: no abstract nouns; 3rd person POV; no characterisation; no back story; 3 paragraphs; parataxis; polyptoton; specific structure (A-B-A); mostly concrete nouns and simple adjectives… I'm sure you get the idea. But most importantly was that it had to be around 600 words, but mine is exactly 600 words because I'm gifted XD.
I bet you can all guess who the inspirations were *cough cough OTP cough cough* but I had a lot of fun writing it. This is the first thing I've ever written that has included death and other adult-y things, so I hope it's not crap and that you'll all enjoy.
I was pretty happy receiving 80% and the top mark in my class, but my teacher told me that I need to describe the surroundings more. I hope it's as good as she marked it and that you'll all enjoy reading it!
Signing off and still not believing my teacher allowed me to write this sort of stuff,
Jasmine xoxo
The cemetery was dark and cold. The trees twisted over the grave, causing the atmosphere to become eerie. The flowers planted in the ground withered before her. The young woman froze as she stared at the grave in front of her. She couldn't move or speak. Her eyes were wide and her feet were planted into the mud. Slowly, her tears began to fall and they created a small puddle in the mud below her. He was gone, and there was nothing she could do about it. She would never be able to live the same way again. A salty tear glistened as it hit her bracelet, the same bracelet he gave to her before he left. Closing her eyes and squeezing the tears out, she collapsed onto her knees and the mud flew everywhere, only reminding her of what she once had, and what she'll never have again.
The woman gulped down her shot of vodka and exhaled deeply, allowing the alcohol to redeem her from the day she had had. When her eyes refocused, she saw the line of the bar was as long as a line for an ice cream truck parked at a playground on a hot, summer's day. Girls in short, tight dresses dragged their friends out onto the dance floor, while they still held their shots and glasses and bottles of all kinds of alcohol. Glass was shattered along the bar table and heavy metal music rattled everyone's ears at the highest volume. Through the crowd, the woman saw a man walking towards her, a man that had been familiar to her for over ten years. Her eyes shone and she smiled causing her cheekbones to rise. He took her hand and guided her through the crowd to the lounge. They both say themselves on a comfortable couch and the man pressed his lips to her cheeks causing her blush. He embraced her in a hug and they both watched the crowd dance and drink and party. His arms felt warm against hers and the couch was hot underneath her and the atmosphere grew warmer every minute. As the night grew darker, people entered and left the bar, drunk and sober. They eventually left, too, feeling a bit tipsy. The night was busy and the birds' chirps were demanding and the people along the streets were hectic. They both knew that tomorrow would begin with headaches and vomiting and massive hangovers, but they wanted to live for the night. And so they did.
She held her head in her hands. Her clothes were soaked and the dirt was damp and her shoes were wet from her tears. The woman looked up from her hands to see her bracelet. Her eyebrows furrowed and the lines creased on her forehead. She grabbed the bracelet and furiously threw it away. Her cries became more violent. Her screams were blood-curdling. She dug her nails into her legs, forcing them to stay until she saw red, and nothing but red. Her legs were cold and a cool breeze blew through her blazer and an even colder breeze bounced off of her legs. She pulled out an object from her pencil skirt pocket and held it to her head. The woman knew this wasn't the answer, but she had to do it; in a way, she had no choice. She closed her eyes and silently said goodbye to her friends and her family and her colleagues, she braced herself and pulled the trigger. She no longer had anything to live for, but she had one thing to die for: Him.