Derek stared at the grave in front of him, someone had brought his wife flowers recently.

It would probably have been his mother-in-law, she had absolutely destroyed when Beatrice had died.

His wife had suffered a long, drawn out illness. One that the doctors, no matter how much they tried, could not heal, until she finally lost her battle.

He decided against kneeling, the message he had for his wife could be said standing up, “You know Bea, I never thought that I’d be free of you.”

As soon as he spoke, the wind picked up and a Beatrice’s voice came from behind him, “And you never will.”

Viola did her best to not to scowl.

All around her, people dance, sang and talk in merriment at the formal induction of her brother, James as Crown Prince and Heir of their father’s kingdom.

It was a bitter cup to drink from.

It was a slap in the face, a constant reminder that her father did not think her worthy to follow in his steps. That she would never sit on the throne, even if she was the older of the two.

She stared at her plate, she could not go to her room and weep, so she did the next best thing, eat and drink.

Lydia did not hear the door open, nor the footsteps approaching, she only woke up when she felt a hand on her forehead.

It wasn’t until a hissed, ‘Shit, fever’s really high,’ that she realize that it was Juliet, her roommate.

The moment Lydia opened her eyes well, she regretted it and closed them again, “What?”

“Lydia,” Juliet’s voice was soft, softer than she could remember ever hearing it, “we need to get you to a doctor, now.”

The rolling of her stomach made her want to throw up, but Lydia knew that Juliet was right, “Okay, help me?”

“Sure thing, hon, come one, let’s go.”

The phone call came in the middle of the night, waking my wife and I.

“Hello father,” the voice on the phone said, “it’s me, Annie. I should be going home soon, I’m making my way back to you, all these years I have missed you.”

The receiver nearly fell out of my grasp and I felt myself shake like a leaf, I looked at my wife with big eyes and said, “It’s Annie, she’s coming home.”

My wife turned pale and gasped, when I spoke again, I could hear the trembling in my own voice, “Okay, Annie, come home.”

After hanging up, my wife clutched at me and she felt cold; I was sure that I was trembling, Annie couldn’t be coming home, after all, we killed her ten years ago.

“The body of of a man was found in the woods, authorities say that it was badly decomposed and dismembered, no identification has been made so far.”

My husband turned the television off with a deep sigh, “Well, there’s another one.”

“Indeed,” I said before I took a sip of my coffee. “And this one is yours too.”

My husband glared at me, but nodded with an air of defeat, he didn’t seem happy to know that another of his victims had been found, “Current score, four of mine, two of yours.”

I smiled; at this rate, I would be winning our bet, “Seems like I’m winning.”

I stood frozen in front of my daughter’s closet. Then, I gathered my wits, closed the door and said, “There is nothing there, baby.”

I walked to her bed and picked my daughter in my arms, rocked her for a bit.

“But daddy, there is, I heard it,” she sobbed against my shoulder.

I turned the lights off and did my best to be as silent as I could as I walked towards the door. I knew that was the only way to escape that thing and get out of the house.

Legend always said, that the witch who managed to catch a rainbow would be granted immortality.

It had been Marina’s goal since she was a child to catch one, to be the one whose name would be remembered, someone who made a legend of herself.

And so, she had tried. Over and over she had chased after rainbows since she was old enough to understand what immortality would mean. Old enough to know that it would be the only way to get what she wanted.

But as she stared at the rainbow in her hand, watching quite enthralled as the colors stained her hands, she realized that no one had told her what happened after she had caught it.

Alexander stared at the child his weeping wife had just presented him.

It was a newborn babe, very pretty one at that, but definitely, not his. How could the child be his, when he had just returned after a year of war?

At once, he understood what this meant.

His poor wife looked terrified, and he could not blame her – he knew of men who killed their wives for this, but he would not harm her, it wasn’t her fault.

Instead, he kissed her forehead and took his sword and shield, Zeus was going to die.

Luella stared at the flames.

It really was the only thing she could do, even if they surrounded her, she didn’t feel the burn. But she hated the fact that she would be naked at the end of this none sense.

She sighed, this was a mess of Johan’s making, that harebrained idea of burning her in the woods without witnesses, ah fanaticism, what a joy.

When she saw his wide eyes, she said, “Haven’t you heard? Witches don’t burn.”

Vincent didn’t knew what to do.

Magic had been forbidden by his late grandfather, and his father had cracked down those who still practiced it in secret. Magic was outlawed and punished by death should anyone be caught using it.

It was something that didn’t make sense, but then again, his grandfather had been a bitter old man who wanted to be right all the time.

The rumor was, that his grandfather had been rejected by a witch, which had soured him on both love and magic.

And now here he was, unsure what to do, after all, how he was going to explain his sudden ability to talk to animals?

Eleanor looked as ‘the boss’ walked to his office with cup of coffee and sighed.

It was wrong. So very, very wrong not to say anything.

How could they notspeak up, knowing that something had killed their boss and took their place, even if the thing wore the boss’s skin?

She had tried to say something once, but her co-workers shushed her and told her to mind her own business, that the boss had simply changed for the better.

But she knew what that meant, they were silent because they liked ‘the thing’, because whatever it was that had taken over, was much kinder and nicer than their original boss had been.

Once upon a time, Philip would have cared what his mother would say.

But that day had passed, how could he leave behind the two babies that he held in his arms?

No, he was many things, but he refused to abandon his children. And that is the only thing that waited for him should he take his mother’s throne.

The babies mother, his love, had passed during childbirth and his grief was palpable, but he would not crumble, his children needed him.

So, he made the decision: goodbye crown, goodbye kingdom and hello fatherhood.

They took their coffee and thanked the barista.

And as they were walking out, about to take a sip of their latte, they noticed something written in their cup besides their name.

It read, ‘You’re beautiful.’

They froze, and after a moment they began to smile, they turned towards the barista, who was attending another customer.

They didn’t have time right now, they had an appointment, but they could always return later and slip their number to the barista.

With a plan in mind, they walked out.

Victoria stared at Melissa as if she had grown a second head. “You do realize,” she said slowly, “that your parents hate me, don’t you?”

Melissa rolled her eyes and snorted, “I know that. I am aware they think you’re responsible for everything all the way back to the original sin, but, please?”

“I hate you so much,” Victoria responded, closing her eyes, knowing that what she was going to do was madness. “But then again, I am your friend, and I would get to have fun to mess with your parents, count me in.”

writing prompt n°9

An American soldier is stationed near Nazi Germany, but faces a dilemma when he begins to fall in love with a young woman who comes from a family in the upper rankings of the Nazi party. He has two choices: leave her and continue fighting the war, or persuade her to abandon the Nazis.