The sun appeared between the trees and reflected their beauty in the perfect stillness of the stream. This had always been Moira’s favourite spot. She loved the light here, no matter what shape it took. This place was as precious to her in the freshness of dawn as it was in the wildness of a storm. She came here when she had to get away from him.
This place reminded her of the girl she used to be. The girl who fell in love with the wrong boy, and allowed him to break her. She came here to let the wind dry her tears and the sun soothe the bruises.
The light today was unlike anything she’d ever seen: ethereal--delicate and indestructible at the same time. It burned behind her eyes in rhythm with the pounding of her head but she couldn't look away.
With one eye swollen shut and a cut in her lip, she lifted her face to the sun and allowed it to chase off the cold that was always there--the fear of him.
The scent of crushed grass beneath her feet was lovely. It smelled clean. Not like the liquor on Jack's breath.
She flinched at the vivid memories of her husband. His distorted features as he screamed Why do you always make me do this? His tear streaked face as he knelt at her feet and kissed her hand, whispering I’m sorry, honey. I’m so, so sorry. His brown eyes looking into hers as his hands gently cupped her cheeks right before he kissed her bruised lips.
But this was neither the time nor the place for those memories. The sunlight chased the chill from her aching bones. She smiled and the cut in her lip stung as it began to bleed again. The pain didn’t matter, though.
She walked along the stream, towards the rising sun and the riot of dawn colours that filled the lightening sky.
A hole caught her foot and she fell, twisting her ankle and driving needle-sharp pain through her already-pounding head. She was well versed in the art of disguising her injuries, though. Rising to her feet and ignoring her increasing dizziness, she barely limped. As she walked on through the beauty of the morning, her pain slowly faded.
The hint of a smile graced her lips at older memories. Memories of a different Jack. A thoughtful, romantic man with eyes that could melt her insides and make her clench her thighs together with nothing more than the prelude to a kiss. He owned her in that magical moment when the nearness of his lips burned on hers with more intensity than any true touch ever could.
He owned her in the years that followed. Years of fists, followed by tears of regret, followed by promises, which would inevitably result in more fists.
The world spun around her as she stumbled and fell a second time. Everything went black but when she opened her eyes, the pain had faded completely. When she rose again it was with all the grace she had once possessed. She never looked back to the broken body she left behind. A bruised face stared up into the sky with a smile on her cracked lips.
After years of fear and pain, his ownership had ended. She walked away from him towards the sunlight to find freedom--peace.
She felt lighter and lighter, as if the sunlight lifted her. When she raised a weightless arm, the sunlight shone through it, turning it a most beautiful shade of pink.
Unable to resist its call, she ran forward into the dawn.
This was my entry for @gmuxx's Art Prompt Contest #4.
I couldn't resist writing a story to my own photo, after all. ;-)
As always, huge Kudos to the amazing members of this online family we have, The Writer's Block, for all the faith, love, support and encouragement I find there every day. If you love the spoken word as much as we all do, you are most welcome to join our little house of madness and creativity.
Lastly, dear reader, thank you for joining me and Moira on this journey.
Hugs
Tiny
You finally posted it
I did. It needed some more work. ;-)
This is beautiful. Sad, but beautiful.
Thank you, Bex. Next story needs to not be sad again. ;-)
Very good piece of writing! Upvoted as it deserves ;)
Thank you for your kind comment. ;-)
This is such a well put together story with an extremely powerful message. Btw, I'm a curator with @ocd and would love to nominate your post.
This gem of a post was discovered by the OCD Team!
Reply to this comment if you accept, and are willing to let us share your gem of a post! By accepting this, you have a chance to receive extra rewards and one of your photos in this article may be used in our compilation post!
You can follow @ocd – learn more about the project and see other Gems! We strive for transparency.
Let me know if you have any questions regarding the project or nomination. Hope to hear from you soon!
If you would like your posts to be resteemed by @ocd to reach a bigger audience, use the tag #ocd-resteem. You can read about it here.
Oh my Goddess! Accept accept accept!!! Honoured to even be considered for curation. Thank you so much.
Wow. I did not see that coming. You could feel her so much and her thoughts and everything. It just seemed so real and it pulled you into her world. The ending made me tear up. Like honestly tear up. Wow. You certainly have a way with words to draw out emotions. It made me care about that character which is why I teared up.
Thank you so much! If it's any consolation, I made me cry too.
maybe a little :)
This is a nice piece of work to learn from...filled with different emotion described in words.
Feels like it over and over again
Thank you for your kind comment. As always, i aim to please.
Powerful imagery. Congrats on the @ocd mention as well. See you on the block :)
You bet!
@originalworks
The @OriginalWorks bot has determined this post by @tinypaleokitchen to be original material and upvoted it!
To call @OriginalWorks, simply reply to any post with @originalworks or !originalworks in your message!
To enter this post into the daily RESTEEM contest, upvote this comment! The user with the most upvotes on their @OriginalWorks comment will win!
For more information, Click Here!
Special thanks to @reggaemuffin for being a supporter! Vote him as a witness to help make Steemit a better place!
vote for me then i will vote for u
Yes... Uhm... No. I'd rather earn my upvotes the old fashioned way.
A comment that tells me you actually read my story and even remembered what was in it, would inspire me to check out your profile and see what you have to offer, and perhaps, if I like your content, spontaneously upvote you and engage in meaningful conversation. It might earn you a follower or at least interesting dialogue in your comments. This: "Vote for me and I will vote for you," tends to be counterproductive. At least, it is for me. But thank you for the offer.
CommentWealth trolls for trolls and spams the spammers... please be aware @anouares-sayid that consistent spam comments like yours might eventually result in flags, which hurt your reputation and earning potential. Begging for a follow, upvote, or resteem in another Steemian's comment thread is really bad form. Next time, try engaging with the author in a way that builds true community here on Steemit!