STORY STARTER
Submitted by Celaid Degante
Leaving
Write about a character leaving something, or someone, they love.
Watermelon
We went home that day, I was writing in my Journal while Polane was cooking. My handwriting needed some work, as I wrote the date my 8 in 2080 looked more like a 3. My journal was very personal to me. It’s my personal feelings and adventures in the past and our past lives. When the hammerhead sharks were still alive, seafood tasted delicious, scuba diving was still possible without dying.
My work was interrupted when I heard Polane cough, it was ragged and strong, but it didn’t stop, he kept coughing. I grew worried and flew out of my chair and stalked towards the kitchen. A half-eaten slice of watermelon lay on the counter while he looked like he was coughing his lungs out.
My heart crumbled, Polane was dying. Not that I did not suspect he was falling ill, he had been having high fevers and struggling to find his energy for a while, but I did not suspect death of all things. He was leaning over to the table, choking on my name. “J-Ja-Jane—“ he stumbled over his words.
I quickly rushed over to him and took a bite of his watermelon, he was too slow to stop me, and I made sure to grab a big bite. He looked horrified, while I was smiling at him first, how odd.
“I cannot go on without you,” I spoke, my voice a little raspy, my throat was starting to burn now. “It’s either you and me or nothing.”
Clearly, my words shook him. He looked bewildered for a moment before his lips curled into a smile. He grabbed my hands and intertwined them together. I led him to the nearby couch, sitting side by side. He gave me a small peck on my cheek, I kissed him back.
I never felt more alive my whole life, I felt like a princess in a Disney movie. Particularly, Beauty and the Beast, Cinderella, and Rapunzel. I was over the moon.