What is something you deserve but do not currently have?
Todd stumbled along the narrow rocky path, bracing himself against the stone wall of the ravine. His right arm dangled uselessly between him and the wall. He risked a glance up the trail behind him. The smoke from the wrecked transport still billowed black against the late afternoon sky. How much time did he have before they caught up to him?
Carefully, he pressed onward and downward. His whole body ached in ways he didn’t know it could. He had been in rough patches before, had broken bones and borne dangerous cuts and burns, but these pains were all new.
The low hum of a Mosari patrol drone buzzed near the edge of the plateau above. Todd swallowed a curse and shuffled further down the treacherous path. There was a small outcropping in the wall just ahead. If he could just duck under it…
He didn’t dare look up as he slid under the shallow cover. He held his breath as the hum grew louder, closer. It paused just above the ledge. His heart pounded in his ears. He prayed his legs would hold him steady and that his feet wouldn’t send any loose stones down into the ravine.
Slowly, he reached for the blaster he had stolen off the Mosari soldier he’d killed in his mad dash to get Tar to safety. Destroying the drone would alert the rest of the soldiers that he was still alive, but it would buy him more time to make his escape, if it came to that.
After what felt like an eternity, the humming moved off towards the smoke. Todd didn’t let out his breath until he couldn’t hear it anymore.
It took a surprising amount of effort not to slide his back down the wall and squat on the edge. The adrenaline would only last so long, and he had been through enough today. He deserved a rest, but he had to keep moving. Stopping would mean death at the hands of Ral’s soldiers, and he couldn’t die before he saw Jack again.
Notes: Back to back Price Bros? It happens. There were a lot of different ways to go with this one. So many that I actually struggled to come up with a solid idea for this prompt. We can feel we deserve things both tangible and intangible. Maybe We think we deserve a dessert or a medal. Or we deserve a break or a vacation. (Spoiler alert, that’s what I think I deserve; a vacation.) Respect was another thought I had, but I couldn’t decide on a character to portray that.
So I fell back on the easy “deserves a break” trope we often sympathize with characters in fiction who have been put through hell. Todd’s really been through a lot and is probably my most deserving character in regards to having a rest, but there’s still much more of his tale I have yet to unfold. He doesn’t even know the hells I have planned for him. *evil author cackle*
Well that’s another prompt done for the week. Hump day! Let’s finish the week strong! See you tomorrow!
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Closet Full of Notebooks 