Drabble(ish) Things by Lonny

Lady of Narnia

Lady of Narnia

Active member
I am not an awesome writer but sometimes I like to write things just for fun, and this is one of those things. :) Right now I'm working my way through the 100 Themes Challenge, and thought I would like to share it with you guys, as a way to keep myself motivated.

Each piece (except for the first, which is the longest) will be kept to a max of 100 words, and revolves around the theme in its title. The 100 themes will follow the lives of my two characters from the time that they meet as young children through adulthood.
I'm also thinking about doing a little illustration to go along with each theme, but we'll see.
Comments and feedback are not necessary but are welcome :)


Introductions

It was a bright day in early April when they first met; and it was the kind of day that embodied everything that spring ought to be. The tallest tree in the yard, with big spreading branches, was Tabitha’s favorite place to be. With a picture book under her arm, she left her shoes in the grass and started to climb. Just as she reached the first branch she saw him, sitting on her favorite branch.
“Hello,” he grinned, revealing a missing front tooth.
He was short, freckled, and had sandy colored hair that might have been curly if it was longer.
“Who are you?” Tabitha demanded, clutching the branch to keep from falling. She had never seen anyone except herself in this tree before.
The boy surveyed her very seriously for a moment, before breaking out into the same grin again. “Ralph. Who are you?”
Grunting and struggling to keep her foothold on the rough bark, Tabitha answered, “Tabby.” Her picture book slipped out from under her arm and landed with a plop in the grass. She groaned in frustration.
“It wouldn’t be so hard if you kept moving,” Ralph said, adopting a look of severe wisdom that looked very comical on his young face.
“I know that!” Tabitha snapped, her foot slipping again. “Would you move? You’re –“ but she didn’t finish the sentence because right at that moment she lost her grip and followed her book in a two foot drop to the ground below.
Now looking genuinely serious, Ralph scrambled down out of the tree after her. “Are you alright?” he called.
“Yes,” she answered slowly. “I’m fine. Let’s stay on the ground though.”
A few minutes later the two were huddled together at the base of the tree with their heads bent low over the picture book, and there they stayed until their mothers came to find them.
 
Complicated

Bunny ears, bunny ears, playing by a tree. Criss-crossed the tree, jumped into the hole, popped out the other side; beautiful and bold. Repeat. Over and over and over again. The chant was beginning to drive her crazy. It didn’t help that right beside her Ralph was sitting, similarly engaged with his shoelaces; only he was busy repeating a completely different rhyme. Tabitha sighed and stared at the tangled up mess in her hands.
“Bunny ears, Bunny ears…”
“…around the bottom, I’ve got the scoop…”
She groaned and dropped her head into her hands. “It’s impossible!”
“What’s wrong?"
Clueless.
 
The shoe-tying chant is cute. But Tabitha must have tough-soled feet! I can still climb trees at age sixty-two, but I have _never_ climbed one with my feet hare. :eek:
 
When I was a kid I used to have friends that would climb trees barefoot (it was the only way they would do it). Tabby would've been in good company!
 
When I was little I used to climb bare foot a lot because it was easier to grip the tree that way. I wore sandals a lot back then and they never did give you a lot of traction.
Here's theme number 3.


Making History

The small tattered shoebox of photographs sat open on the kitchen table. There were all sorts of pictures inside, some very old, and some relatively new. As they had looked through them all, Ralph had solemnly explained to Tabitha that the shoebox had been in his family for generations, and it held photos of family members and close friends. Each picture had names and dates written on the back, and the box itself had survived numerous moves, one fire, and two floods.
Holding up his new disposable camera, he pointed it at Tabitha and said, “This one’s for the box.”
 
So the old camera still works, eh? I'm old enough to know that emulsion film gives richer colors than digital photography. Quality versus quantity.
 
Rivalry

Up and down. Up and down. And up and down again.
“I’m swinging so high; my feet just touched that tree!”
The wind whipped Tabitha’s hair into her face as she turned her head to look at Ralph. “I’m swinging so high, the swing almost flipped upside down!”
“No way. That never happens. Can you touch that branch with your foot?”
“Just watch me.” As the swing moved upwards again, she stretched out her leg as far as she could. The branch quivered. “I touched it!”
“Oh. Well, I bet I could jump farther than you!”
Tabitha laughed. “You’re on!”


I meant to post number 5 along with this one, but I'm having a bit of a creative block at the moment. 5 is giving me a bit of trouble.
 
When I was a boy, although we never openly SAID we were trying to swing up above the swingset with our heads downward, I think the thought was in all of our minds. :rolleyes:
 
When I was little, I was always afraid that the swing would flip upside down if I went to high.. It never happened though, and I think my brother was a little disappointed that it never happened to him, either. :rolleyes:

Here's 5 and 6. I'm on a roll now!


Unbreakable

“It’s reinforced glass; don’t worry, we can’t break it.”
In retrospect, those words were the proverbial “famous last words”. They shouldn’t have been throwing a baseball around so close to the house anyways, especially after Ralph’s father had just replaced the window panes. He hadn’t meant to throw it out of her reach, but an eight year old can only reach so far.
The crash startled them both so much that all they could do for a full minute was stand stock still and stare at each other.
“Oh poop…” Ralph muttered.
It goes without saying that he was grounded.

Obsession

“You’re obsessed!”
“I can stop reading whenever I want to. Right after I finish this chapter.”
“Whatever, Tabby.”
“I’m not any more obsessed than you.” She nodded absently towards the Gameboy Advance Ralph was hunched over.
“That’s like, the fifth time you’ve read that book.”
“And that’s the twelfth time you’ve played through that game.” A short pause, then Tabitha asked, “Caught all the Pokémon yet?”
“Nope. Aslan killed the witch yet?”
“Nope.”
Another pause.
“See you tomorrow?”
“Sure.”
Since their focus was elsewhere, it was an awkward business leaving the room; they succeeded in bumping into each other. Twice.
 
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Glad to have your approval :)

#7

Eternity
Tabitha heaved a sigh. “Are we there yet?”
Up in the front seat of the car, Tabitha’s mother laughed. “No honey. We’re not any closer to your grandparents’ house than we were ten minutes ago.”
Tabitha turned back to the window and rested her chin on one hand. Why did her grandparents have to live so far away anyways? They went to visit so often that they might as well move closer. Honestly, it was just rude of them to live a three hour car ride away.
Oh well. The visit would be worth it.
“How about now?”
“No, dear.”
 
8 and 9

Gateway
This was it; the moment she had been waiting for all week long. The magical glass doors slid open slowly, and beyond them, Tabitha could see the rows and rows of bookshelves, just waiting to be disturbed. A wealth of stories and information just sitting there. It was like a whole world had been stuffed into one building.
Actually, it sort of had been.
Clutching her stack of due books close in excitement, she headed for the library book drop. Ralph rushed past her, a flurry of messy hair and flapping pages.
“I’ll be there first!” he called.
“NO RUNNING!”


Death
Sometimes, you just don’t know what to say. What do you say when everything helpful has already been said? There comes a point when words only cause more pain, and that was last thing he wanted to do. What if he said the wrong thing? What if she expected him to say something really profound or something? He didn’t know anything about what this sort of thing felt like.
Ralph slipped into the chair beside her. “You okay?”
Tabitha nodded, wiping some tears away. “Grandma is with Jesus now.” She sniffled, and leaned against him heavily. That was all she needed.
 
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