Hospital Stay

Here's more of the Election Day story, Parts 4 & 5 just for you. :)
I was playing with the idea of "off-screen conflict," which you might see hints of in Alice's interactions with Tammy, but I didn't delve into it enough, I think. 
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A second had contained too much. A second had lasted longer than any hour before it.

Four hours was an eternity.

Philip was in surgery for four hours. The nurse explained that one of his ribs had splintered, piercing his bladder and threatening to do the same to other essential organs. It wasn’t his only injury, but it was the one they were treating immediately, because it was the most life-threatening. At the end of the interminable four-hour wait, Philip was drugged to his eyeballs to keep him asleep, and wouldn’t have known if a freight train had gone through his hospital room, let alone his wife.

Wedding Accident

Here's Parts 2 & 3 of the story I started last week, titled "Election Day." There are more parts after this one. I hope you enjoy them. :) 

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The ceremony was a quiet affair. Alice’s parents came, and one of Philip’s brothers. A couple cousins from both sides loitered in the background, waiting until food would be served. There were still hints of sadness in the way Philip smiled at her, and when he said “I do,” it was with such conviction that it brought tears to Alice’s eyes. In sickness and in health, in summer and in winter, in wealth and in poverty, forevermore as long as she will have me, until death do us part, and beyond, by God’s grace. The ring was cool on her finger, but his lips were warm as he bent to obey the preacher’s suggestion to kiss the bride.

Election Day

There's a lot more to this story, and I'll post the next section next week. We promises, Precious. Yes, we promises. Gollum.

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“Alice, I have some… bad news.” The man had the haggard look of one who hasn’t been able to sleep well for a long time. Too many meetings, too much stress and strain - and Alice was willing to bet that he hadn’t been eating at nights when they were apart, either. He had put far too much into this campaign.

Gently, she touched his hand, wishing there was something more she could do to comfort him. “I know. We lost the election. But it’ll be alright, Philip. It’s not the end of the world.” She gave him a smile, but felt it fade a little when he looked away, ashamed expression on his face.

Fur Princess

 There were two ideas behind this one - the first was the idea of a woman who loved fur and the feeling of it. The second was the idea of a man changed by war. 

This is what came out.

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There was something about the feeling of fur that was comforting. She ran her fingers through it, watching the coarser outer coat separate from the shorter, slick undercoat. Each hair was dazzlingly defined in the sunlight. It was just a sliver, peeking through the heavy curtains at them. Beside her, Kamon breathed heavily, deep in an exhausted sleep, as he had been since he returned from the night’s meetings. Today, at least, he would be allowed to sleep in. Nicole smiled to herself. She had ensured it would be so. A princess has leverage.

"I am not your Mother."

“I am not your mother.”

The tone of her words was confusing to Anne. Regret and relief mixed together like they could never really be separate. Coffee and cream, like she used to say. Anne shifted in her seat, listening to the angry shouting outside, the mob that drove them into hiding, that was out for their blood. When she said nothing, the woman who had pretended to be her mother spoke again, and the girl had a feeling that she didn’t like the silence.

“Edith Noone died when you were a baby. My name is Karen Miller. I took Edith’s place because the Organization needed someone to look after you until you were old enough to go into training.”