Tell noone

“Tell noone”.

It was how the note ended. The most important instruction given. Her most compromising mission yet.

Ever since she began working as an undercover agent, Maggie was forced to surpass her limits many times. She found she had to repress natural instincts on many occasions; to act differently than she normally would; to think more about the impact of her actions.

But now, she was called to act in absolute secrecy and utmost confidentiality.

She would have to hide the truth from the people she loved to keep them safe. But that would mean lying to them. And she couldn’t stomach that.

She came to terms with the fact that she could simply say nothing at all, mainly by avoiding them for as long as the mission lasted. She invented numerous excuses to get out of seeing people so she wouldn’t have to respond to their inquiries.

It was difficult doing things without showcasing them. Because this is the world we live in now – if we don’t demonstrate our lives, it’s as if we don’t have one.

But she had to withdraw from it all, precisely to be able to safeguard life.

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Visions unknown

@gio_quasirosso

He was haunted by his dreams at night. Or anytime he fell asleep really. He couldn’t find comfort in allowing himself to drift off. It scared him. Because of the visions that would appear. They weren’t just disturbing nightmares like he thought at first. They were truths, prophecies waiting to be fulfilled. And he was often helpless at preventing them because they occurred somewhere he knew nothing of, to people he could not even recognise. But the news always proved his dreams were more than that. And he was powerless against them.

When he met her, he was terrified.

He fell in love with her from the minute she laid eyes on him, and she smiled so brightly, probably because she realised that.

He kept falling deeper in love with her in every passing day. He wanting to give her the world, simply because she never asked for it. She was there, like a silent support pillar, despite knowing nothing of his torment.

But somehow, in her arms he could fall asleep; drift into a dreamless REM, and wake up without anguish, fear, abhor at what may occur during the day. She was his remedy, without knowing it; she was essential to him.

The day she was departing for a trip, he knew something was wrong. He could feel it pulsing in every minute pore of his body. There was something not right. He didn’t want to let her go. But she hugged him tightly, kissed him gently, and reassured him that everything was going to be fine. She had that positive vibe constantly glowing in her aura, and it made her sweeter, even more charming, and so difficult to resist. He wanted to believe her, even though his instinct reacted otherwise.

When she closed the door to the cab at the airport, he could feel his entire world shatter to pieces.

Dim footsteps

© Liz Young

“Come, follow me”, she said as soon as he approached.

She was dressed in black and it scared him. He didn’t know her very well, yet something about her intrigued him. He allowed himself to be lured by her; to be led into dark passageways and alleys he never knew existed.

He could only see worn-out heels decisively hitting the ground before him.

She led him into a cave-like entry that opened up into a beautiful back yard. She offered a drink.

How he ended up behind the wheel of a crashed car the next morning, is beyond his memory.

Also part of Friday Fictioneers

Monsoon

© Dale Rogerson

They were warned it was monsoon season. But they went anyway.

They were told it was worse than they thought it would be. But they ignored the cautions.

They believed it would be an ideal getaway regardless. A change from life itself. They saw it as an adventure; a once-in-a-lifetime journey.

They were exhorted to think again; because some things are more ideal in our heads. But they disregarded the heed.

They flew there in excitement, snubbing the alarm that was raised.

They lived it all in a single night.

And stayed together, even in the end of the world.

Also part of Friday Fictioneers

Also part of Your Daily Word Prompt

A getaway island

He had researched for months before he started planning everything.  In a deeply inter-connected world where anything and anyone can be traced in light-speed, it was literally very difficult to get lost. Especially when half of the world’s police organisations had you on their most-wanted list.

Henry lived a more or less normal life. As normal as one’s life can be, that is. He found it to be as boring as his name.

But then, on that last summer day, something inside of him snapped. He decided to do something completely out of character. Something precisely no one expected him to do.

He quit his job of 15 years without due notice, told his girlfriend he felt too constrained to commit to her, gave out most of his belongings to charity organisations, and then robbed a bank.

He had seen it done so many times in films, TV series, even on the news. It wasn’t that complicated after all.

The getting away part was the tricky aspect.

He had researched for an island to get lost to, for months before he had snapped. It came in handy now. But little did he know then, that even searching for an escape was the pretext and sign of something going wrong.

He had a storm building inside his head and once it expressed itself, it became a hurricane and a tsunami all in one.

The island of a king

There is a legend that a King was born on the little island.

It was an island without inhabitants. Found between glaciers, where a couple in love found refuge from their warring families who so hated each other they would not allow the youth to join. It was there that their young descendant came to life. In the heart of nature, with only his parents to witness his arrival.

It was there where he sought shelter from life’s pain, from the strife among his family’s relatives, from the bullying among his peers, from everything he thought he couldn’t handle. But it was also on that very island where his life changed. Where he found a papyrus only he could read and which sealed his fate.

It was on that very island that Arthur became King.

The undelivered parcel

©Jean L. Hays

She had left hastily that morning, having overslept after repeatedly snoozing the alarm.

She was washed, dressed and ready in less than ten minutes, when it usually takes her at least half an hour, something which shows that it’s not the procedure, but the desire in doing it that matters.

She grabbed her keys and ran out, starting off her day with too much anxiety already.

He had sent her a parcel over a week ago, filled with things that would remind her of him, of them, of her when she was with him.

But she would never receive it.

Also part of Friday Fictioneers

The window-cleaner mystery

©Rochelle Wisoff-Fields

She hadn’t called for a window-cleaner, that is why she found it odd that his van appeared early that morning.

By the time he managed to explain that his company was offering free services as advertising since they were new in the neighbourhood, it began to rain.

It seemed pointless to get the windows cleaned now.

So he offered instead to clean the gutters.

She stayed inside and watched the rain dampen the windows as he climbed up his ladder.

That was the last thing she remembered when they found her, bloodshed, on her living room floor the next day.

Also part of Friday Fictioneers

A white pause

©Dale Rogerson

They had been planning the event for months. It was something that had caused many hours of stress, conflict, intense disagreement, even tears. But it was also what made them happy, because it was going to mark the beginning of a bright future together. They believed it.

But very often, it doesn’t matter what plans you make.

Life happens regardless.

And things capsize abruptly.

That day it snowed heavily. Everything was so beautiful in white. Everything but her.

He cried a stream of tears because he remembered their first snow day together.

They were so in love then. So different.

Also part of Friday Fictioneers

Iced surprises

©Dale Rogerson

“Wake up!!”

She moaned, turning over the other side. He nudged her softly.

“Come on! We have a great day ahead!”

They had been driving all night to get there. They were so exhausted when they arrived, they fell asleep immediately.

He kissed her on the forehead and she sprung up. Ten minutes later, they were in the car driving again. But this time they marvelled at the view.

Nature was dressed in white. Everything seemed so calm, so majestic, so elegant.

He stopped at a wooden gazebo by the frozen lake.

He smiled shyly, trembling for what would follow…

Also part of Friday Fictioneers