Hi there again Blog Reader! Today I'm trying my hand at entering a writing competition. You may recall from "The Bear Room" I like to write for contests which I invariably never end up entering. Well, this time I have written the below short story for the Creative Writing Ink's writing prompt competition. The site can be found at this link, and the picture they have selected as the prompt is below. Wish me luck. The Queens BirthdayJola smiled at her twin brother Haram when he said they should go into the city to see the birthday procession. From being young, the royal family had fascinated them both; everything from the majesty of their carriages to the crowns they wore, covering their heads whenever they were in public.
“Mother will be angry if we leave the farm unattended while they are at the market,” she said, hoping Haram would come up with one of his brilliant plans and convince her to go. As the older twin, by roughly three minutes, she took it upon herself to be the sensible one of the pair. “But sister, it is not only the Queen’s birthday today but ours too; we can count it as our present to each other, and to her. Besides, we will be back before our parents, I only want to see the parade, and it only happens every ten years. Please don’t make me miss it.” The look in his eyes melted her heart, but she was confident he would find a way to sneak off if she did not go with him, and heaven knows what kind of trouble he would get up to on his own. “Fine, we will go and see it. But we must be back before mother and father, or we will both be in trouble.” They made themselves busy with the few farm errands too essential to put off until later and set off for the city. It was only an hour’s walk, faster if you had a cart or horse, but those were with their parents at the market on the other side of the city. The city itself sat in the centre of a large natural dome, hidden from view until you came over the crest of the rise and looked down at its fabulous splendour. They said the walls were over a hundred feet tall and no army had ever managed to breach them. It had been generations since the last war when the current queen assumed power in their lands. Old men and women sometimes recited the stories their grandparents had told them as children, although Jola didn’t believe half of them. The gate fee was usually a single Toc unless you were selling goods at the market, in which case the crown imposed a levy on each item sold, depending on its value. Their family didn’t pay it; local farmers with food for sale didn’t need to, but there was a limit on the price they could charge for their goods. Today, however, in honour of the celebrations, there would be no fees, and they walked through the south gate and past the large guards, dressed in their finest gold armour, without them even stirring. Once inside, they could see the decorations adorning the building; flags and banners seemed to be hung from every available pole and window, and many of the citizens were dressed in finery the likes Jola had never seen before. Everyone she saw was smiling and enjoying the festivities of the day. Haram’s smile generally made her happy but seeing him beam at the sights, sounds and smells of today elated her. Jola was sure if his smile were much bigger; the top of his head may come off. They walked past the hundreds of people making their way to the parade route and intrepid stallholders attempting to sell their wares to the masses. She watched as a man bought a small flag from one of the vendors and passed it up to his son, sat on his shoulders. She turned to point it out to Haram, but he had disappeared into the crowd. Good, she thought, it would give her time to run a quick errand. Ducking through the crowd, she found what she was looking for; on one of the stalls they had walked past, was a single red hat her brother would love. Keeping an eye out for him, she purchased it with the few coins she had managed to save and walked back to the spot where she last saw him. Jola waited a few minutes for him to return, scanning the crowd and smiling while keeping the present behind her back to keep the surprise. A few more minutes passed, and she started to panic, but then caught sight of him walking towards her. “Happy birthday Sister,” he said, producing a sugared sweet bun from behind his back. “Happy birthday Brother” she replied proffering her gift. His face lit up even more at the sight of the hat, and he immediately placed it on his head at a roguish angle. It suited him even more than she hoped. The sweet bun was delicious. She offered Haram a bite, but he had never been interested in sweet food, besides, he seemed a little preoccupied. “Follow me,” he said grabbing her hand once she had licked the last of the sugar from her lips. They ducked and weaved through the crowd of merry parade goers until they came up to the back of the palace. It was a grand building, marble towers and high glass windows surrounded by its tall wall. The parade was set to start from there, circle the city and then return later, all with the royal family, headed by the Queen, waving and throwing gifts to the crowd. “There is a walled garden down this alleyway where you can see into the palace.” He said as they ducked between two buildings. “Keep a lookout while I go up and have a look. Then I will keep a lookout for you go.” Jola opened her mouth to object, but he was already a couple of steps up the wall. She wasn’t surprised; climbing trees was one of her brother's favourite pastimes. “I can see her. She’s not even wearing the crown! I bet I’m the first person to.” Haram had gone quiet. Jola assumed he was awestruck by the realisation he would be the only person to have seen the face of a member of the royal family in generations. Feeling the excitement build within her Jola decided to abandon her post and started to climb the thick vines coating the wall to see the view for herself, but the quiet conversation of two people walking towards them made her stop. They were probably guardsmen this close to the palace. “Haram! Get down!” she shouted as her brother refused to move. His eyes were transfixed on something over the wall. She climbed a few steps and pulled at his ankle. It was strangely cold and shocked her to the touch. Her foot slipped from the tangle of the vines, and she fell from the wall, landing hard on her feet and wincing at the pain shooting up her leg from her ankle. She sighed in relief as Haram started to move, but the breath caught in her throat as she realised he was falling backwards. She tried to dash forwards to catch him, but a sharp pain in her ankle slowed her movement. She watched as he hit the ground and fractured into hundreds of pieces. A piercing shriek came from deep within her soul as she watched in agonising disbelief at the crumbling shards of stone which had once been her brother, further crumbled to sand and then finally to dust which stirred in the light breeze. She backed up against the wall in horror and began to sob as the joyous red hat floated to the ground in front of her. She started crying uncontrollably until the guards she had heard before came upon her and dragged her away from the few remaining motes.
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Craig BoldyBorn in South Yorkshire, he lives there with his wife and Labrador. Working a normal 9-5 while filling his nights with writing. Categories
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November 2018
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