Thank you everyone for all the follows and supports! I am so glad to have slowly gained returning readers to the stories and posts I have been doing since last year November. Can you believe it has almost been one year since I started posting?! Between the word prompts, story writing competitions, and my ongoing stories and shorts, I have been feeling more and more confidence in what I’ve been sharing and it’s all thanks to you guys! As a thank you, here is a short writing prompt I have written up.
Hope you enjoy and check out Whispering Death (part 8) now released!
[WP] You can read subtitles in real life, which is pretty handy for translation, in bars and when dealing with people who mumble a lot. One day suddenly you read a subtitle that just says: {Boss Music Starts Playing}
Duke hardly had to listen to the conversation to keep up. After getting his talent to read subtitles, most people believed he was nonchalant about everything. At first, he found it irritating since he missed most social cues or body language. However, as time went on he had adapted to reading the bracket events. It also came in handy when he wanted to see what was happening around him. Eavesdropping had become significantly easier. If he was bored with the current conversation, he could read others around him like switching a channel on a tv.
He wasn’t one for gossip or drama at all, it just was a mild form of entertainment. This particular day was one of those days as he sat with his good friend Stew. Stew was an old faithful, reliable friend. He was also very plain and predictable. It made for an easy friendship. There were no complicated texts, undiluted situations, or foreshadowing. Just simple and easy conversation. Stew was also one to enjoy people watching alongside Duke. He was the perfect sidekick while they sat at the cafe, enjoying their brew. Duke followed a few strands of a current breakup unfolding in front of him when he took a deep breath in.
“You know Stew, I’m gonna bounce. Catch you later.”
{Happy grunt.} “Yeah mate, see you around.”
Duke stood up and left. It was nice knowing his friend was so chill. At least he would enjoy the sudden scene of the breakup unfolding, which was mostly the reason why Duke left. Screaming and crying women were not his thing. Even with his ability to read subtitles, he still couldn’t understand women. There were so many hidden meanings and contexts he didn’t know. At least he was considered a good listener though, even if he didn’t really understand everything all the time. Heading towards a park, Duke chugged the rest of his coffee before tossing it in the trash. It was a perfect day for a casual jaunt through the peaceful pathways surrounded by grass, bushes, and trees. Although subtitles still popped up around him with the sound effects, it wasn’t a huge bother.
{Chirping birds. Wind rustled leaves. A distant dog barks.}
Duke took in a deep breath of the air, pausing to look out towards come college kids tossing a freebie. Everything seemed calm when suddenly the subtitle popped in front of him. It was startling as the small hum of a dark melody began to play out of nowhere.
{Boss music starts playing}
Frozen, Duke stood with wide eyes. “What.”
Cautiously, he turned to look behind him. The feeling of a cold breeze began to swirl around him as he spotted a shrouded being several feet from him. “No… It can’t be…”
He was unarmed, with no weapons to battle the beast before him. How could he be caught so off guard. With a stern yet seductive tone, the shrouded figure stepped forth out of the shade of the tree to reveal themselves.
“Hello, Duke. It’s been a while.”
The sun reflected off the strands of her golden hair while she stepped out. Her deep blue ocean eyes were fierce as they locked onto his. With an unamused frown, she crossed her arms once out into the dazzling sun. She was magnificent to behold despite that they were at odds. Subtitles appeared beneath her name, ones he didn’t need to read to know what they said.
{Ex Girlfriend: Melissa Normen.}
Oh no, Duke thought while grinding his teeth. The one who left me for a d-bag in university. My first love.
“What do you want Melissa?”
{Exaggerated gasp, she feigned being hurt} “Is that a way to greet an old friend?”
“Ex, not an old friend. We haven’t spoken since you dumped me at a freshmen party.”
{Fake surprise} “Really has it been that long? I don’t remember dumping you.”
“You were making out with Tony Snider, the leader of the biggest frat houses on campus. Right in front of me.”
{Painful realization} “Ah. Right. Look, I’m sorry about that. I made a huge mistake and was being so naive back then.”
Melissa stepped forward, closing the gap between them. Duke swallowed hard, he was taking critical damage at her look of regret plastered across her face. No! He had to stay strong! This was a boss battle for crying out loud!
{Sincere commiseration} “I feel like there was a reason why we ran into each other here. Do you think we could go for coffee sometime? Maybe try again where we left off?”
Duke was at his limit. She was beautiful and he had never gotten over her. Was she really telling the truth? Yeah, sure she was feeling sorry for what she did but was it enough to go through all the pain again? He was never good at saying no to people in the first place since he was never sure what was the right thing to say. Sure he could read subtitles, but it wasn’t like they ever offered a selection of words to say either. With a heavy sigh, he nodded.
“Yeah, sure. Why not. I know a good place we can go to.”
{DEFEATED: KO}
“Oh really! That’s amazing!” She linked her arm around his, pressing close to his body. “Lead on!”
Man, I am a huge sucker, Duke thought. Well, at least he could go back to join Stew and see what ended up happening during the breakup.
{Tragic death music starts playing}
Turnip Patch 