She held the letter in her hand.
How did he know?
She looked around her; at a room that seemed to belong to someone else. Objects collected by another her, in another time, crowded each surface. Meant to bring comfort, but instead bringing only a sense of disconnection.
She must put it to one side, forget, pretend the letter had never arrived. Let this day pass as it was meant to.
He shouldn’t be here.
She stood and walked to the window. Below her the city spread out; beautiful, uniform, fierce. She knew that today was pivotal, a moment of potential, of possibility; that action now would bring change.
She reread the letter. Memories, long held within, resurfaced, threatening to drown her.
I must be strong.
She looked out over the city again, crowds were gathering. Expectation hung heavy in the air. She could not fail them.
But, the letter! How could she leave, knowing that he had returned? That she wasn’t alone; that she was leaving something behind after all?
It is too late.
The city needed this, without her they would not survive the coming storm. Her surrender, her sacrifice, would blunt the rage.
It was her duty. She walked to door and nodded to the attendants. The letter dropped to the floor.
It is time.
You can find this weeks #ThePrompt linky here. I do hope this week’s prompt inspired you; I look forward to reading your posts.
Love this story Sara, especially the description of the room bringing a sense of disconnection and the description of the city. It left me wanting to know more – who was the ‘he’ referred to in the letter, how was she sacrificing herself. My imagination painted a picture of a Roman or Greek arena and a human sacrifice but perhaps I have been watching too many episodes of Atlantis!
I need to know more!
I’m intrigued. Excellent writing, beautifully descriptive. X
Love it, it makes me wonder about all the other pieces that fit with this to make the story. Fab writing as ever xx
Wow, I want to know more! Where is she, what is the coming storm? What does the letter say? What does she do next, what is her sacrifice? Love it! xxx #ThePrompt
Intriguing! A queen in captivity, perhaps? I like how you leave the interpretation of this piece to the reader. But I would love to know your thoughts behind it x
Intriguing! So many questions from this piece. Beautifully written as ever X
Ooh, very mysterious. I’m conjuring up some kind of fantasy, futuristic, dystopian-type story here. A lovely little teasing piece, leaving us all wondering! Thanks for linking up with #FridayFiction
Please tell me you’re writing more. The contents of the letter and the recipient is intriguing to me. Thank you for sharing!
As everyone else says – I want to know more! I’m imagining a queen during some sort of rebellion. Is it based on a historical scene or purely imaginary? Wonderfully written. xx
Marvelous piece of writing lovely. I’m desperate to know what that letter says xx
Beautiful writing. I wanted to keep reading! Time for what? Time for what?!
Very intriguing! the conflict within her comes across really well here and it left me asking lots of questions at the end of it. I wish it were longer!
Are you writing a book, you should. I need to know what happens next!!!!! x
Brilliant little piece. I felt like I was right there but at the same time am left with as many questions as I had answers! Finally got round to writing my post – it’s not quite what I’d thought I’d be writing but I like it :) xx
I’d love to hear more of this. You’ve done a great job of pulling us in straight away!
Mysterious indeed! Who was he? What was she about to do? I need to know more….would make a great novel opener!
Utterly brilliant. This is the kind of book that I would read and would love to know more. Thank you so much for continuing to link up with Prose for Thought :) xx
What does it say?! Write more please! x