TheInkWell Fiction Challenge

Week 10 of TheInkWell Fiction Challenge Summer 2020

Photo by amirali mirhashemian on Unsplash

Series Title: Our Thirteen Sonatas

Week 1: A Star Burns Bright as It Collides
Week 2: Ghost of the Past
Week 3: A Sorry Tale of Woe
Week 4: To Thine Own Self
Week 5: A Day at a Time
Week 6: A Day Is Saved
Week 7: The Threads That Bind
Week 8: The First Step
Week 9: The Last Drop

Gasping for breath, I opened my eyes to the infinite darkness that surrounded me. I wasn’t sure whether I was standing upright or floating in this bare nothingness as I stared blankly ahead, trying to remember the sole purpose of why I was here...

Just as I was willing to surrender into this endless void, the flapping sound of wings brought me out of my dark mood, the call of a bird that followed—eerie in this desolation— tingled something in memories. I reached my hand out towards where I thought the sound came from, shocked to see that my hand was merely a faint image—I was neither here nor anywhere.

Before I could feel a sense of lost, a red string appeared in front of me, loosely binding around my pinky finger as it seemingly pulled me closer towards the call of the bird. I almost missed it with its dark wings, its snow-white body the only indication it was there in front of me—She had a name.. I thought as I almost had it at the tip of my tongue—before the bird disappeared, replaced with a faint image of a woman in a labcoat. She looked back at me with warm eyes as I faintly heard the words that followed, “I’d rather have these small moments between us than a thousand lifetimes without you, Ethan.”

I felt my heart clench at those words but found myself at a loss for words as her image changed again, this time to a dark-haired woman who looked back at me with a bright smile, “Adé saves the day!”

I couldn’t help the smile on my lips as I began to remember the memories from that lifetime, but I quickly frowned as I saw her image turn into her younger self, her once bright smile wiped off her face as it was replaced with that of anguish, “Hisashi.. you promised..”

Feeling the need to hold her close to me, my near-transparent fingers only brushed passed fiery strands of hair as another face of a woman, with her same set of eyes, looked back at me sadly. I heard the booming words in my head before I felt the phantom pain that rushed through me, “Burn the seductress!”

I shook my head away from those grim memories, glancing back only to see the back of a young man, looking dejected as he walked away and suddenly I was that young girl, forced into a marriage of convenience as my thoughts of that time whispered themselves back to me, if only I had the courage to fight for our destiny..

Plagued by the sudden onslaught of memories from several lifetimes all at once, I tightly closed my eyes and willed myself to calm down. The distant sound of approaching rain seemingly washing away my sorrows, as I breathed in the familiar earthy scent that came with it. I felt the ghost of my past come closer to me—the one soul that followed me in this never-ending journey— “Victor!!!”

I didn’t feel the expected pain that I readied myself to as that final memory clicked into place but I opened my eyes then, noticing the once red string that had wrapped itself around my pinky finger now had a golden sheen to it—in fact, I was surrounded by millions of golden threads, all seemingly touching but never quite entangling.

Gaping in wonder at my surroundings, it was only then that I took notice of the young girl who managed all these threads, her nimble fingers belying her seemingly young age. Clotho, the Spinner, she who spins the “thread” of human fate.. A gentle voice seemed to have whispered in my mind helpfully before the deathly sound of snipping broke through my reverie, I slowly turned my head to watch a cloaked figure snip across a once golden thread that instantly turned gray as it withered away— Atropos. The gentle voice in my head whispered with such finality that didn’t leave any room for further explanation, but what really caught me off guard was how that gentle voice seemed to have whispered closer to me.

Looking up, I then focused on a beautiful woman who looked to be at the peak of her prime, I watched as her full lips opened in an introduction, Lachesis. And the way she carefully handled the many threads that surrounded her spoke of who she was— the Allotter— The moment I stared up into her eyes, something clicked into place, those warm eyes.. Same yet so different…

She smiled at me as a possible truth started to sink into me, taking this time to fully speak, “It seems a daughter of The Fates has laid claim on you but it looks like only Eris follows..” She looked troubled then as she glanced down and gently held two golden threads, looking as if they were eternally entwined with each other, and I felt my heart skip a beat as she finally asked me, “You seek the end to this string of tragedies but are you willing to take on the vessel of Discord?”