#Friday Flash – Two Book Prompt

Well, this is my first attempt. Earlier this week I got an excellent writing prompt over at the fabulous Ms. Stull’s blog.

For this week’s prompt grab the first and last book on your bookshelf. Turn to page 45 in the first book and write down the second sentence – this will be the beginning of your story. Then turn to page 70 in the second book and write down the tenth sentence – this will be your ending. Now, let the imagination flow and concoct a story to connect these two snippets.

Here’s what I came up with. Comments and criticism are always appreciated!

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His shoulders wilted. Passed over again. It was difficult to understand the unbearable unfairness of it all. Jacob heaved a sigh and kicked at a pebble on the waiting field.

Above him, the speakers droned on. Candidates were called out last name first. Excited yells rose up out of the crowd and died down each time a new name was read. Since they were read in alphabetical order, many were already filing out of the large octagonal area that the held the assembly. The speaker had already gotten to the “T’s”. Jacob knew he’d been passed over, but he stuck around to see who was left.

Being chosen was a great honor; one Jacob had never had the privilege to feel. Those that were chosen were held in the highest regard. The whole village treated them as heroes. That was a feeling Jacob wanted to have. He’d been passed over for so long and so many years he was beginning to think the rest of the village thought him useless. That wouldn’t do. He’d have to prove to them one way or another that he was vital – important – that he could take part and moreover, that he could come back from it. He could be one of the few that survived.

Every night when the sun set behind a dark horizon, they came. No one was quite sure where they had come from or what had caused them to change so much. In fact, no one remembered much of anything before they started changing. All anyone knew was that you stayed inside your village after dark, and if you were smart you sent out an Honor Guard so that they didn’t get restless and try to come inside the walls. The first thing that you noticed was the sound – a great moaning shuffle, as though the wind had gotten extra feisty. Next came their stench, a rotting sweetness, like berries that had been left too long in the sun, smelling at once appealing and vile. By that point the Honor Guard would be outside the gate. Inside the village, all the windows would be drawn closed. People would be holding their breaths, clutching their children tight. Somewhere on the outskirts a dog barked. The sound was cut off by a yelp, then a canine screech and the squelchy sound of the feeding.

Jacob was sure that this time he was going to make it. He’d practiced daily and made sure that the older guardsmen saw how fine his form was. He paced back and forth in front of the gate as the dark sun set casting long gold shadows across the fence. Any moment now the Honor Guards would be on the way down, all of them wearing bright red tunics, all of them carrying heavy axes and spears.

At first he’d planned on stopping them, trying to barter or beg to trade places. Eventually he’d come to a better plan, one that would be sure to make him stand out. It was a little dangerous, sure, but it was worth it. All he’d ever wanted was this, the chance to be one of the privileged few who kept the community safe. He turned his eyes up to the sky, then moved into his hiding place.

Once the last rays of red and violet sunk into the dark land beyond, the gate was cranked wide. The Honor Guard marched out two by two. When the last line of guardsmen stomped out the gaping opening, Jacob snuck through, dressed all in dark clothes.

Communities had different sized Honor Guards depending on their size. Jacob’s village was large enough to need eight. Eight people a night were sacrificed to the wild things that lived outside the walls. Eight people a night ensured that the hundreds inside could sleep without fear that they too would be taken. Jacob had always wondered why the Guards didn’t last very long. If someone survived one night, it was unlikely they would survive too. That was one of the reasons the community took such good care of the survivors.

The Guard spread out around the gate, which clinked closed with a final sounding thtunk. Jacob slipped away from the others, moved out into the ring of ruins that surrounded his village. Most of the villages were in ruins, places that looked like they had once been grand. Jacob’s village was larger than most because it was situated on a large inland lake that provided freshwater and an important barrier against the things. He watched his feet, taking careful, quiet steps until he got to a point where he could see the guards and the gate. He was in the ruins of a storefront that had a large glass window in the front. Bypassing this, he headed up a broken stairway into a second floor that was exposed to the elements. As soon as he poked his head up, he heard it.

The low moan keened across the darkness. Trees and shrubs grew up between cracked bits of cement and asphalt. Their dry, shuffling feet trampled over it all. Jacob crouched down and twisted around, trying to figure out where they were coming from. The sweet smell of decay flooded his nostrils. It smelled like they were everywhere. He looked out, down and across what had been a busy street. He could see the gate and the eight Honor Guards on the opposite side, but he still couldn’t see where the things were coming from. The guards stayed calm, although how, Jacob would never know. He craned his neck and finally out of the corner of his eye – he saw them coming.

He had no idea there would be so many. They were streaming out of the ruins, out of every decrepit building and wasted structure. Their flesh hung in dry hanks from bones that were brown with age. They were upon the guards in no time. The battle was brilliant, valiant, each guard hacking at dried bodies with practiced ease. It didn’t matter in the end. There were simply too many of them. The guards never had a chance. Jacob wondered if any of them did. He watched the last man fall, screaming as he was torn limb from ligament by the crouching horde. Jacob couldn’t move. He wondered how he was going to get back inside. The gates weren’t going to be opened until tomorrow, when the next Honor Guard was sacrificed. Time was passing, and the disturbance was dying down.