Monument – Part 1
“Navia found her match, but he’s not Narni. He didn’t understand, and he rejected her. So she’s building her monument right now mama,” he blurted out. Her hands trembled as she thought about the implications of this. Never before had one of their people found their match beyond their own kind.
For generations, the Narni alone understood the sacred bond between mated pairs. When they found their match, a sensation would bloom in their midsection, a warmth that spread like roots, binding them together. Through this connection, they shared emotions—joy, sorrow, fear— the echo of each other’s hearts. As the bond matured, it transcended mere feeling. Thoughts would begin to pass between them, whispered across the ether of their souls, until they became as one mind in two bodies.
And now, the thought of Navia forging a bond with a native—someone not of their kind—brought a flood of uncertainty. If the bond could extend beyond the Narni, what did that mean for their traditions, their rituals? What did it mean for their future?
Heart of Depth
Mara woke with her cheek squished against the earth, gritty sand clinging to her skin. She bolted upright, heart pounding in her ears, her wide eyes struggling to make sense of her surroundings. “It’s okay,” a familiar voice soothed, soft and gentle like the breeze. “Sister, it’s me.” Mara turned, feeling the sand shift beneath […]
Exit Point
It was a gust of wind teasing her curtains that woke her. She sat up in bed grinding the sleep from her eyes before peeling back the light blanket and unsticking her nightgown from her sweating body. The wind felt nice, if only barely just cooler, and it brought in the scent of the day’s freshly cut hay from the farm which was even nicer.
She placed both hands beneath the window and heaved it open to let more of it inside, then stuck her head out to better see the stars that were especially vivid tonight, set against a midnight sky with no moon. Nights like this were her favorite. She could see the cold pinpricks of light even more clearer.
Still not close enough, she thought, hitching up her nightdress and stepping onto the windowsill. Grasping the trellis that clung to the side of the house, she shoved a foot between the boards. Have the holes gotten smaller? She wondered, or am I just getting too big to do this?
She glanced upwards at the lip of the roof as she ascended, mindful of the prickly roses that had crept further upward since spring. She managed to propel herself up and over, scraping her palms along the rough shingles in the process. She lay there panting for a moment, panting with effort, gazing up at the sky above.
Ground Rules
“Wait,” she murmured, her finger gently pressing against his chest, halting him in his tracks. He paused, eyes gleaming with a mix of curiosity and desire, as she let the silence stretch, savoring the control she held in this moment.
“You,” she began, her voice a velvet whisper as her finger traced a slow, deliberate path down his midsection, “and I need to establish some ground rules.” The heat between them was palpable as she slid her finger just beneath the waistband of his pants, a teasing promise of what was to come.
He remained still, his breath hitching, but his eyes never left hers. “Ground rules?” he echoed, his voice low, tinged with anticipation.
“Yes,” she continued, stepping closer, her body nearly brushing against his. “We’re both coming from places of loss, and neither of us was looking for this. But here we are, drawn together by something we can’t ignore. So we need to be clear—about what we expect, what we need.”
His gaze darkened, understanding the seriousness behind her words. “And these ground rules,” he asked, his hand lifting to tuck a stray strand of hair behind her ear, “what are they?”
She caught his hand, holding it between them as if sealing a pact. “First,” she said, her voice soft but firm, “I will leave if I ever feel disrespected. I am to be treated like the sacred being that I am, with gentleness and care. ‘Gentle’—that’s our safe word. If I say it, you stop, no questions.”
“Understood,” he replied quietly, his fingers tightening around hers, a silent vow forming between them.
The weight of silence
She jolted awake, her phone’s shrill ring piercing through the fog of sleep. Her hand flailed across the nightstand, nearly knocking over the half-empty glass of water before grasping her glasses. Squinting at the screen, the bright light blinding her still-tired eyes, she noticed the time. 8 am. Shit. Only a few hours of sleep. […]
Blackberry
“Let’s see what you’ve got to wear,” she said, pulling open a drawer and rifling through the contents. “Aha!” With a triumphant smile, she pulled out a long-sleeved shirt and slipped it over my head. I fumbled to get my arms through the sleeves, my mind puzzled over why we were dressing like this in […]
Mastery
“How did you get so good at that?” the little boy asked as he studied the movements of my hand across the paper. I gripped a charcoal loosely, attempting to allow the feelings to flow through me and onto the paper. For a moment, I didn’t speak, the faint scritch of the charcoal the only […]