The Choice – The result of my second failed flash fiction challenge

If you’re going to fail, then fail hard and fast! That’s a bloody good piece of advice that I followed thoroughly for my fifth flash fiction challenge.

The challenge was to come up with a 1,000 word piece of fiction that had the following three things in it: a talisman, a comic book, and a forbidden tryst. The story had to be posted online by noon, January 30th, 2015.

I’ll tell you how I failed after you read the story. I want to see if you’ll notice by yourself first! Here it is. I give you … drum roll, please … The Choice.

 

The Choice

By Ada Ireland

 

“They’re called The Seven Realms,” Eva said, “and that’s where we all come from. We’re all immortals there.”

Christine looked at her grandmother and didn’t bother trying to hide her confused frown.

Eva was still so beautiful. So graceful. There was hardly any strength left in her old body though. The hospital bed seemed to swallow her, yet somehow she still managed not to look weak. It was her eyes that held a quiet power, a knowledge that seemed to transcend all human understanding.

Eva’s gaze travelled outside the hospital room and took in the beautiful view of the sun setting over the city and sending out its last rays of warmth and color. The day was coming to an end. Yet her eyes seemed to see something beyond that.

She looked at Christine again. “We’re born into this world to pay for our sins. To pay for a grave mistake. It’s our punishment. But then we die, and we can go back home.” She reached out and took Christine’s hands into her own. “I know it’s hard for you to understand, but it’s not hard for you to believe. You remember … just like I did.”

Eva looked at the little wooden box that was in her lap. “I want to show you something.” She took a deep breath and then opened the box. Her hand was shaking as she took out a worn out notebook, a wrinkled homemade comic book, a thick envelope with her granddaughter’s name handwritten on it, and a silver necklace with a quarter size heart-shaped ruby on it.

The pendant was an identical match to the one she’d been wearing for as long as Christine could remember. She handed it to Christine and motioned for her to put it on.

This time it was Christine’s hands that were shaking. As soon as she touched the pendant she felt a comforting warmth going through her body. The ruby flickered. Fiery golden sparkles mixed with brilliant red ones and made the precious stone seem to come to life. “What will happen if I put this on, Grandma?”

Eva caressed her hand. “Nothing will, sweetheart. Nothing that you’re not ready for. The pendant doesn’t have any magic by itself. It’s you who can choose to make it special or not.” She gave Christine an encouraging nod. “Put it on. I want to tell you a story that I think you will really like. It’s my last gift to you.”

Christine hesitated for several more seconds, then put the necklace on. Nothing moved and, at the same time, everything changed. It was like being almost blind and then putting on a pair of glasses that made you able to see everything again. She looked at her grandmother. Eva was still in her hospital bed, in her old, frail body. But that wasn’t all Christine saw anymore. She also saw a beautiful young woman, long blond tresses flowing down her back, mesmerizing blue eyes smiling with kindness. Her long white gown trimmed with silver and gold lace made Christine think of an ancient Greek goddess. She looked magnificent.

In an instant Christine understood that she was seeing two persons in one. Tears starting running down her face. All the pain she’d been feeling from watching her grandmother slowly getting worse these past few weeks. All the feelings of helplessness, fear, and loneliness that came from knowing that she was going to lose her soon. And now this … This gift. This revelation. This new understanding.

Something seemed to jolt her memory and she reached for the notebook her grandmother was holding. She flipped through it with unmasked impatience. She knew there was something in there that would help her understand more. She went through page after page of beautiful handwriting telling a story of another world, and of a love so strong that it almost seemed impossible. And there, on the last page, was what she was looking for: a picture of Eva’s other self lost in an timeless embrace with a young king.

Awe made Christine’s eyes sparkle. “This is your story, isn’t it? It’s you in here! You read this to me …” She paused and tried hard to remember.  Her speech was now rushed and excited. “I think I was … thirteen, maybe fourteen years old then.”

Eva nodded. “It was ten years ago. You were fourteen and you had just finished writing this.” She held up the wrinkled homemade comic book. An even bigger smile spread on her face. “That’s when I knew that you were starting to remember.”

Christine stammered. “This … this silly story I wrote? You still have it? It was a childish dream.” A faint blush showed her embarrassment. “None of my friends wanted to pretend to be fearless women warriors in a magical world where you could tame flying dragons and use them to conquer the skies.”

Her blush deepened. “They wanted to play with Barbies instead. I had to live by myself in my made up world. It was a lot of fun writing my dreams down. I thought if I made them into comic books instead of plain old fashioned books I would get my friends to stop laughing at me and think I was fun instead. Everyone liked comic books then.” She smirked. “Not my comic books though. No one was interested in that kind of dreams.”

Eva shook her head slowly. “They are not dreams,” she said. “ They are your story. They are the story of your immortal self and of your home. You were starting to remember things. That’s when I knew you were ready to hear about me.”

Relief and wonder washed over Christine’s face. “I’m not going to lose you, am I? I’m going to see you again. Death truly is not an end,” she said.

“No, it isn’t. It’s a farewell. We’re going to see each other again when you are ready for it.”

“Where are you going, grandma? Where is home? And who are you home? And why am I wearing this necklace? What kind of power can I make it have?”

Eva laughed softly. “I can’t tell you everything. You still have parts of your own story to remember. But I will tell you a little bit more.”

She took the notebook from Christine. “Read this story again when I’m gone. His name is Connor and he is my soul mate. Our love was a forbidden love though by the rules of our realm. That’s why we were both punished and send here to die.

When I was twenty-seven I remembered everything. That’s when I wrote this story. The following morning, I found my necklace on the notebook. It’s magic because it can take us home before we actually die. But we do have to remember. And we do have to choose to go home.

By the time I remembered I already had a family and two children I cherished. I had enough to make me want to stay here until my time was up. I chose to wait and I treasured every moment of it. But now I’m ready to go home. I’m ready to start living my other love story.”

Fresh tears appeared on Christine’s face. “I will miss you. I will miss your strength and your love.”

“I will miss you too, sweetheart. But not for long. Short or long, happy or not, our mortals lives always go by fast.”

She handed Christine the contents of her wooden box one by one. “The notebook will tell you parts of my story. The comic book will help you recall things you already know about yourself. The envelope has a letter I wrote for you. It’s a sort of a will. And the necklace is a way for you to come home as soon as you choose to.”

Eva closed her eyes. Her all life flashed before her in mere seconds. She looked at her granddaughter again. “You have to choose wisely, Christine. Don’t rush. Sometimes, the greatest gifts for our immortal selves come from our mortal lives if we are patient enough to wait for them. You are one of my gifts. We’ll carry the blood bond that we formed here on Earth, back to The Seven Realms.”

She reached for Christine and pulled her into a warm, comforting hug. “No matter where I go, you’ll always be part of me. You can choose to come back with me now, or you can choose to stay here and let yourself experience the joys this mortal life can bring.

For myself, I’m very glad I waited. I wouldn’t change any part of it. And whatever you choose, just remember: when you wake up in The Seven Realms, mine will be the first face you’ll see.”

 

P.S. Here are the many ways I failed.

• One. I didn’t make the deadline. I’m about 32 hours overdue.
• Two. I went almost 500 words over the 1,000 word limit we were given.
• Three. I didn’t use the word “talisman” and chose to use “pendant” instead. To me, they both can have magical powers, but “talisman” makes me think more of protection, which didn’t fit it with the role it served in my story.
• Four. I didn’t use “forbidden tryst” either, and chose “forbidden love” instead. I’ll save the “tryst” part for the day I’m going to expand on this story. Tryst is more specific. It can make your word count climb very fast. Love is more general and, I believe, a more powerful word.

Well, despite my many failures, I enjoyed writing this story very much. Never mind that I thought I would be writing romance. It turns out my mind can’t escape the pull of The Seven Realms.