#editorsNeedWriters

[sistertalez]

We Were On A Break!

-

No frick fracking way.

No it can't be him.

Oh shit, did he see me?

I duck behind this elderly couple but I think he saw me.

Fuuuuuu. Nnoooo. It's not him.

It's been centuries! Hell, centuries since I last saw him. Is he coming this way? Oh fudge cakes he is. I thought he was dead like all the other mortal humans.

I’ll just pretend to be looking at…condoms? Oh lord. And on a second note, what is this elderly couple doing looking at condoms?

No, no focus. He's coming this way, ok just act normal.

“Excuse me, but is your name Orinda?” he asks.

“It..um it is my middle name. From one of my ancestors.”

Yes, play it off. You could be a descendent, yeah you look like the girl he used to date.

He then lifts up my left arm and kisses the birthmark that looks like an ink splat.

“Nicholas!” I screech, pulling away from him.

“I knew it was you,” he laughs. The elderly couple slowly moves away from us, giving us suspicious eyes.

“You were always terrible at lying.”

“Ok, ok it's me, but how are YOU still HERE?” I whisper.

“That's what I want to know too. I thought you died.”

“Shhhhhh,” I cover his mouth because he is being too loud.

“This is not the place to talk about such things.”

He pulls my hand away from his mouth, “Corona is still real in these streets,” he says.

True. I pull him out of the store and into the parking lot.

“So how are you still alive after 300 years?” he asks, following me to my car.

“I’ll tell if you tell,” he smiles, walking a bit close.

I huff then tell him to meet me at the Starbucks.

I get a dragon fruit lemonade and he gets a black coffee with two sugars. We sit in the corner away from any nosy people.

“You first,” I whisper as I sip my drink. He laughs then does that thing where he taps his finger on the table.

“My parents are…different. Well, my mother is.”

“Who’s your mother?”

“She’s a goddess and my father is half nymph and human.”

“So both of your parents are immortal?”

“Yeeeaaahhh. Your turn.”

I let out a breath and looked him straight in the eyes. “I’m cursed.”

“What?”

“I’m cursed.”

“By who?”

“This witch who had it out for my father.”

“How is being immortal a curse?”

“Well, my father was very wealthy. He was married but had an affair with my mother who was obviously a slave but we are not going to get into that.”

“Move on to the curse part.”

“You need backstory. So, his wife tried to kill me.”

“Wait, what?”

“Mhm, but the witch saved me and told my father what she tried to do. He told her I wasn't worth anything and that my death would mean nothing to him. So, to punish him and his family, she cursed them to lose everything and die slow, painful deaths. All of their generations will suffer. She also made sure that their family lasted generations with every offspring having at least two children.”

“Where do you come into this?”

“With every death in their family, I live longer. With every illness they contract, I become immune to that illness. Their financial troubles benefit me financially. The curse put so much strain on the witch that she died casting it.”

“So their curse is your blessing…”

“Basically.”

“Do you keep track of the family?”

“Yeah, some have been successful only to lose everything.”

“That's one hell of a curse.”

“Yup,” we both drink. It was silent for a moment, kinda awkward.

“Have you thought about our last talk?”

“What last talk?”

“I asked you to marry me and you said you had to think about it.”

“Oh umm, we broke up.”

“What?”

“Well, you went away and I thought I heard you married someone else.”

“No, I went to check on my property in Venice and got caught up in the politics of the court. I wrote you letters.”

“I traveled for a while after that and my house burned down so the letters were lost.” I shrug my shoulders.

“Well?”

“Well what?”

“Will you marry me?”

“No, we broke up.”

“We did not.”

“Yes, we did. We had an argument that night and you left.”

“I went on a trip to Venice. I was coming back.”

“You slept with Georgina!”

“I was sleep and drunk and she was just on top of me.”

“Oh, so she just jumped on your dick.”

“Probably.”

“Really Nicholas, this is why I said I would think about the marriage.”

“I didn't think that was the reason you said that.”

“Well, how would you have felt if you caught me with Henry.”

“Henry was an asshole so I would know you did that out of spite.”

“Well, I’m not marrying you and we are not together.”

“Technically, we still are because we didn't end it.”

“Technically, we aren't because you thought I was dead.”

“You thought I was dead too.”

“We're not together, Nick.”

“Well, let’s start over. Hi, I’m Nicholas and I would love to take you to dinner.”

“Hi, I’m Orinda and no,” he laughs.

“You look good, Rin.”

“Thank you,” I blush, “You're a bit tanner now. You really are tall, dark and handsome now.”

He laughs, “I was living the pampered life back then.”

“And now?”

“Still pampered but I love camping.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, fishing, hiking, all of that. And you?”

“I’m still working behind the scenes. Influencing greatness.”

“Like who?”

“Almost every actor and musician all over the world. I have the largest investments in each entertainment company.”

“Wow, you’re rich rich.”

I laugh.

We talk for hours. Catching up after all these years takes time. We move our conversation to a restaurant, then to my house. We talk all night like we used to. I’ve missed him, I didn't know how much I missed him.

“No children?” I asked.

“Three but they all died over time. Their descendants are doing well. You?”

“You knew about my triplets with my ex husband at that point in time. After them, only four more. Some of my children’s lines have ended but two are still good.”

We just stare at each other. No awkward silence, just enjoying each other's presence. Peaceful.

-

Vote for who wrote it using the link below. Khadijah? or Carmela?

We'll tell you after both prompt fills have been posted. Until then, enjoy!

-

Prompt: “We had a really bad break-up three hundred years ago, but neither of us realized the other was immortal until we met today while shopping for groceries” AU

from: @dailyau, @yellowmagicalgirl

[sistertalez]

It's Been 300 Years

-

"Excuse me…Could you grab that jar for me? It's juuust out of my reach."

"Sure thing."

"Thank you."

"You're very welcome."

She's not sure how she could've missed it, but she did. Too absorbed in checking an item off her list, planning the rest of the grocery shopping, and thinking of other things that needed to be done that day.

She missed it.

The series of looks that passed over the man's face as he watched the back of her head moving further away from him. Surprise, recognition, doubt, confusion, doubt, disappointment, anger. She missed all of it as she peacefully continued her grocery shopping.

Well, almost peacefully.

As she walked away, this itch developed in her mind. The kind that develops when you're forgetting something. She knew her list was complete because her system for it was perfect. The itch persisted and she continued shopping.

A few minutes later, something was dropped into her basket. A perfectly harmless item from a perfectly harmless shelf in this perfectly harmless grocery store. As she registered exactly what had appeared in her buggy, her face heated with fury at the same time her brain attempted to reassure her that this was next to impossible. That her fury had been riled by some poor, innocent shopper who had no idea what this item would incite. Slowly, as her brain nobly waged war with her temper, she began to raise her eyes from her list to see who had introduced the offensive item to a day that was going perfectly well.

"Now, now, don't cause a scene in front of all these good people," equal parts drawl and venom reached her ears.

"Why are you here?"

"I couldn't just go home. Just end all this by handing you a jar from a shelf."

"You could have. I'd have preferred it."

"You're not surprised? You don't have questions?"

"Surprise is not my primary emotion at the moment."

"Oh, I can see that," he smirks, but it vanishes before she can see it because he's not a complete idiot. Maybe a glutton for punishment. As much as he tried to talk himself into just going home, he chose this. And this was more painful than he expected.

"Just go away. I don't want to talk to you. Which shouldn't surprise you. Why are you here?"

She was trying to take deep, calming breaths, but her face still felt very warm and she was breathing too fast.

"Well, getting groceries, I suppose. What else would I be doing?"

"Terrorizing an innocent woman at the grocery store who was just minding her business."

"You look more capable of causing terror. Your face is still the color of a tomato, by the way."

"I can think of a quick fix for it. I thought you were dead."

"I thought the same of you. Imagine my surprise when your lovely voice asked me for help."

"I don't want to imagine anything about you."

He had forgotten how much she could hurt him. He had forgotten how enraptured he'd get when he talked to her. Even now, he can feel it underneath all the complicated emotions swirling on the surface. If she were nicer to him, he's not sure he'd reject her. He tries to tell himself the only option is to reject her. He tries to remind himself of everything that was wrong with her. Tried to just have this conversation without stirring up memories and emotions he had buried deep. So deep they'd never resurface again, he might have been mistaken.

The fury dissipated enough that she realized they were sitting on a park bench near the grocery store. She probably started walking in an attempt to escape. Her fury dialed back up a little when she realized she probably let him help her load her groceries into her car. She needed some time alone. She needed to think. She needed him to stop talking to her.

"I really wasn't sure what you'd do when you saw me."

"I could've been ignoring you. Avoiding this."

"Oh, no. No, ma'am. I saw your laser eyes."

"My what?" She knew exactly what he meant, but hoped he believed she had forgotten about this phrase he's created.

"When you're so focused, you miss things. Like the person helping you get a jar. Or someone waving at you as you walk by. Laser eyes. Woman on a mission."

"And what? You hoped I'd be excited to see you? Not likely."

"I had to talk to you."

"Why?"

"We were going to get married."

"Well, we didn't."

“Yeah. Would’ve been interesting.”

“I guess.”

“You guess?” He scoffed in reply, “Getting married is a pretty significant decision.”

“Maybe I just wanted some entertainment. Long term.”

“Oh please, you and I both know how easy it is to entertain a mortal without getting married. Then, when the time comes, you split amicably.”

“I’m surprised any of your splits could be described that way.”

“So I get all the blame? Very mature of you, sweetheart.”

“You were so ready to start a new life somewhere without me. Why should I try to stop you when I could help jump start you in that direction?”

“Interesting recollection you have.”

“Interesting to find out you had another secret you were keeping all to yourself like some sort of comfort object.”

“You don’t have any secrets? We’re immortal. Secrets are how we stay alive.”

“I don’t care.”

“Why shut down now? We’re starting to get somewhere for once.”

“I’m going home. I don’t want to see you. Don’t follow me to my car.”

He didn’t follow her to her car, but he did watch to make sure she drove away safely. Maybe he’d call her in a few days, he knew she’d have the same number.

-

Remember to vote which of us you think wrote each prompt fill!

_

Prompt: “We had a really bad break-up three hundred years ago, but neither of us realized the other was immortal until we met today while shopping for groceries” AU

from: @dailyau, @yellowmagicalgirl

[sistertalez]

Hellow!

Welcome to our space : )

Carmela here. My sister is Khadijah.

We've decided to publish our writing in the great wide somewhere. K actually writes in her free time and gets her ideas down. I have ideas and rarely get them down anywhere (hopefully that's changing soon).

Mostly, I'm the editor and she's the writer. We both also create visual art from time to time. (I have #tooManyHobbies)

We are currently polishing the first story that we'll be publishing. Between chapter releases, we'll be exercising our writing muscles by responding to writing prompts we find in this great wide somewhere.

We will each write a prompt response and we'll keep the author a secret until the end. See if you can guess who it is before we tell you at the end of that post!

I think that's all for now. K has a personal tumblr @erisamelj-blog

See you soon!