#talyawrites

This is my submission for @flashfictionfridayofficial‘s prompt Alien Sunsets. 

I wrote the original version of this on Feb. 13, 2019, and I have updated and changed it a little.

Opportunity’s fan whirred as she swept her gaze across the alien terrain. Mars. She had called it home for these last 15 years. No longer truly alien as it was all she had ever really known, and so long she would barely remember anything about the place called Earth. 

She knew her creators lived there - the ones that had designed her, and had crafted her with care. The ones she called her family, but only after they had explained in depth what a family meant. She hadn’t understood at first. Humans could be so silly, sometimes. But as she sent them updates on what she had found, and when they had cheered and congratulated her from 54.6 million kilometers away, she thought perhaps she understood. How she missed the humans that she never got to meet. 

A light blinked in Opportunity’s retinal scanner. A warning. Her battery - 15%. Would the humans’ rescue mission make it time?

“We’re coming, Oppy.” Opportunity’s memory drive repeated, and the rover’s fan whirred in recognition of the human Stephen’s voice. 

31. Comfort

“It’ll be okay.” Truce patted Aaron’s neck from his place on the human’s shoulder. 

Aaron gave another sob and Truce clung to the ends of his hair in an attempt to steady himself. 

“There, there.” Truce tried, rubbing his hand up and down Aaron’s neck. 

Aaron’s hand came up to cup the borrower gently, and Truce knew it was in thanks. His human friend was not so good with words, but chose actions over speech. 

And thank goodness for that, Truce thought as he began to hum softly, or their friendship would never have made it past the language barrier.

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Words: 100

Awwwww <3

I realized I never really wrote g/t friendships, only the tense parts of discovery or mistrust. I decided for the last prompt that some nice g/t kindness was much needed - even though drama is sometimes much more fun to write! 

That is it for the Gt Prompt List of 2018! I’m not quite sure what I’m going to do next, but this was a fun ride! Thank you to everyone who was there with me for it! I’m sorry it took me a year to complete them! 

And once again,

Thank you for reading!

29. Night

Markus tiptoed across the kitchen counter towards the sink. His goal was the cold box - he hoped there were some slivers of ham left in the top drawer. 

His brother’s fever was so high. Markus had spent the day mopping Westle’s head with a cold cloth, hoping to keep his temperature down. It had depleted their water supply, so Markus left his brother when the house was asleep. 

Maybe if Markus brought meat home, Westle would keep some of it down. 

Markus swung up onto the cold box handle.

“What are you?” 

Markus shrieked as a hand clamped around him.

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Words: 100

Whoops.

Thanks for reading!

So, I have been lurking here on Tumblr and watching other people’s Writerblr’s, and I have decided that it’s time I introduced myself! 

Hi! I’m Talya Wrehn, and I write Fantasy and Sci-Fi. I’m 20 (almost 21. ohmyword, two weeks.) and I am in college for Chemical Engineering - which is odd, considering I love storytelling more than anything else. It’s my backup, my day job, so I can write on the side. 

Worldbuilding is my favorite part of writing - so, needless to say, I have many worlds and many magic systems. Have I written them down or explored them properly? Eh... not so much. I have finished a few short stories and drabbles, and finishing those felt good. But I have a High Fantasy novel in the works. It doesn’t have a proper title, but its working name is Darkness Reborn.

Darkness Reborn was my NaNoWriMo project of 2019 and I won with it, writing over 50k. They were terrible, horrible words that barely scratched the surface of the world and the plot and the story that I wish to convey. 

I want to rework all of it, the plot, the culture, the character interactions. I found new inspiration in the way to tell a story that spans Ages, and I think I am going to begin to pull and knit those threads. 

I’m introducing Darkness Reborn here so I can keep myself accountable. Please! Ask me how it’s going! Ask me what I’m struggling with, who my characters are, and anything else you want! My ask box will always be open!

I will do a proper introduction of my novel in a separate post, I think. It could get quite lengthy. 

Thank you so much for all of your words of wisdom and the support you have all unknowingly given me. I am pumped to finish the first draft of the biggest project I have ever taken on!

Thank you!

24. Animals

Humans - they were animals.

Markus paced back and forth in his cage as he watched the bean - James. Wrappers littered the table and clothes mimicked them on the floor. How did the human live? 

James lived a life of luxury, Markus decided. No stockpiles of food, no worries of capture or starvation. He had never noticed it when he borrowed, but since James had captured him Markus was forced to see it all up close. It disgusted him, how lazy this human was. 

Markus used to envy them and their access to everything. 

But now, now he wasn’t so sure. 

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Words: 100

An interesting take. I was reading through a friend’s gt piece the other day and they mentioned stockpiles for when humans weren’t in the house. It made me think - and at the end of it, I realized that some borrowers would despise the humans for the apparent luxuries that are sometimes squandered. 

Thanks for reading!

30. Beach

A small gurgle made Gillian open her closed hand. On her palm rested the pretty seashell she had picked up, just a few hundred feet behind her, on her slow amble along the private beach. 

It was white with peach splotches dotting its surface. Gillian brought her hand closer to her face, peering closer. The shell rocked in her hand. Gillian froze, breath caught in her chest. 

The shell moved again. 

It wasn’t her doing, there was something inside the shell. 

Was it a water snail? She prodded the shell. 

A tiny, slimy creature slid out from within.

A mermaid?

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Words: 100

That mermaid would by tiny. And probably really close to death. I hope Gillian had the heart to put her back in the ocean…

Thanks for reading!

This is my piece based on @flashfictionfridayofficial’s prompt:

Whispering Fire

Words: 640

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Edana dragged the blade against the soft side of her forearm. It glinted as it moved - the full moon’s light bouncing off the white metal. She winced as scarlet drops quickly beaded along the cut and joined. A line of blood. Edana slid the blade back into its place against her thigh as red ran down her arm and dripped onto the stone floor.

Next to her, sat the vial - just as it had been for the past fortnight. Edana should have hidden it, should have tucked it away in a drawer, at least. But something always stopped her when she tried. Maybe it was the knowledge of what it could do to her - for her. Maybe it was the threat of getting caught. Maybe she liked the adrenaline that ran through her veins every time she entered her room and saw it.