Prompt 34-Souvenir

Write about a souvenir you have bought or received.

A bright blast of concentrated energy hit the stone column and exploded on contact as Todd Price ducked behind it. “Shit,” he muttered as he checked the reserves of his own gun. He was almost out of juice. There was enough for three, maybe four solid return shots, fewer if he charged them to make them lethal.

“That is not yours, Terran. Give it over before you come to harm.” The imperial soldier sneered. There was no secondary robotic voice to accompany the words. This one had learned the language.

Todd laughed in spite of himself. And after all the trouble he had gone through to learn theirs. “Sure it is,” he replied in the tongue of the galactic elites. He fingered the chain at his neck. “I found it, I keep it. That’s how things work down here on the ground.”

Another blast scorched the wall next to him, showering him with bits of plaster and concrete before he ducked and rolled to the next column. “Rebellious Terran garbage! You dare tarnish the Empress’s beautiful language with your filthy tongue?!” Two more blasts filled the courtyard with more dust. He had responded in the galactic tongue as well, but his accent was far more provincial. “I shall remove it when I have captured you!”

Todd smirked. He doubted that. This idiot had given him just the right amount of cover during his little temper tantrum. Todd had taken advantage of it and circled around behind him. He charged his shot and held his breath.

“Come out you rat!” the soldier howled in rage, blasting the center column completely to dust.

Todd spun around the column and released the trigger. “If you insist.”

The man started to spin around to face him, but the blast caught him full in the back, sending him straight across the mossy courtyard into the wall he had torched. He hit it with a sickening crunch. Todd grimaced. Fae was not going to be pleased with that.

He walked over to the soldier and did his best to extricate him from the wall. It was not an easy task. The force of the blast had embedded him into a man-shaped crater.

Once he’d freed the body, he moved it to the center of the courtyard. He took a small knife from a hidden pocket on his hip and set to removing the soldier’s ID tag from his communicator. Todd had no use for the tech, but he was slowly gathering a collection of ID tags. Souvenirs, from fights survived.

Four years had passed since the Galactic Empire invaded the Earth. Todd fought down anger as he recalled the date to his mind and what it meant for his brother’s stolen life. He should have been teaching Jack how to drive this year.

Instead he was hunting the soldiers on the ground for the rebels. He was grateful for the shelter they had provided him, but he was beginning to think they were using him. He was sure he had more than sufficiently repaid them. Fae had promised him that Jack was still alive, that she would do everything in her power to help Todd save him.

Todd folded the soldier’s arms over his chest. He had no spare cloth, but the moss near the base of the pillars was loose enough he could pull it up in a sheet. He placed it over the man’s eternally startled face.

He stood and glared at the bright blue sky. One way or another, he would get his brother back. The trouble with agreeing to Fae’s help was, she was one of them. And the question that ate away at him, just how much power could a banished princess wield?

Notes: Yeah so this story carried over for a second day. Todd is alive! And he’s killing aliens! For other aliens? How did he survive? Why did he disappear? I still don’t know! But I am fascinated with this all of a sudden. Curse these new characters popping up and demanding their stories be told.

Souvenirs are a great starting point! We’re drawn to them. They remind us of happier times, prettier places. We bring pieces home to share with friends and family. How can you incorporate these into your stories? What sorts of souvenirs do you like? Do you like receiving them from friends or family who have been away? Write these things down!

Friday’s prompt: What is the biggest trigger for stress in your life?

Hahahaha, these prompts? 9pm rolls around and I’m still thinking about what to write. Nah, this isn’t the biggest stressor. Hmm, what to write tomorrow? It’s always a surprise! I’ll see you then!