I really enjoyed the Round 2 prompt for Smut Marathon – not least because it built in a genuinely interesting way on a Round 1 prompt about which I’d felt rather more ambivalent. The brief was clear and challenging:
Write a flash fiction story using one of the entries from the first round.
After sifting through the list of Round 1 metaphors, two stood out: Witness, by Chase Morgan; and Libido, by Nero J. Black. I immediately saw stories for each of them, and even within the 100-word limit I felt like those stories could wander off in a number of different directions once I started them.
In the end, the Witness prompt won the day. I published entry #49 on this list, and was pretty happy with how it turned out. Micro-fiction isn’t where my strengths lie, but I felt like I’d used my 100 words to tell a story, at least.
However, the Libido prompt continued to nag at me. It was such an evocative metaphor, and while I hadn’t quite managed to frame my response to it in time for the submission deadline, I felt like I still wanted to tug that thread some more, just to see what came out.
Here then is my second, unofficial entry for Smut Marathon Round 2. The fact I couldn’t leave it unwritten says a lot about how good a job Marie did with this particular brief…
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Lighthouse*
Mary propped the bouquet against Sam’s headstone and stepped back, her hand reaching automatically for Gabe’s. When they first met, 18 months after Sam’s funeral, her libido was a ghost ship, its crew lost at sea long ago. 40 years of marriage to her college sweetheart – her only love – meant his death didn’t just cast her adrift, it left her feeling like she’d never find land again.
Gabe was her lighthouse. He’d drawn her towards him slowly, patiently, then broken her into a thousand pieces. From the wreckage, he’d shaped something new and unexpected: desire. For life. For him.
They walked out of the cemetery in silence. Mary didn’t look back.
*We were meant to use a two-word title for our stories in this round. I’m bending the rules a bit with my second attempt…
3 replies on “Lighthouse (a Smut Marathon postscript)”
I too enjoyed Round Two, it was a fun challenge. I toyed with using Libido also, it’s a good line. Lighthouse is a nice story, but I think that Model Boyfriend is more interesting, EA. Congrats on your high score in, both rounds.
I really enjoyed this round too. I think it inspired a lot of excellent work from people including yourself. I actually hope you weave the piece you did enter into the competition into a longer piece as I feel like there is a story there waiting to be fleshed out.
This second piece though, it is beautiful and poignant and I REALLY like it
Mollyx
I really like the second piece too and feel there is so much more to that story, than only that. It would be lovely to read all of it 🙂
Rebel xox