Okay, so for those of you guys who haven't read the 'When they first met' prompt you may not get the whole Dorothy reference. I encourage you to go read it, just so you can see how that unfolds and why he's calling her Dorothy and she's calling him the Wizard.
Prompt: “You found me, after all this time?” / “Of course, I never stopped looking.” Gabriella stared at Gregory. It had been a year and a half since they had last seen each other. A year and a half since she had told him to leave, told him that she had decided to stay true to their decision to go their separate ways. Now, here he was, standing in front of her, staring at her. “Hey Dorothy,” Gregory said with a smile. He couldn’t believe it was real. Gabriella had wanted her space, and he had given it to her. She had wanted to wait, to decide if this was what she really wanted, and he had let her. He had let her go, given her what she had wanted, but he had never stopped loving her. He still checked up on her, often going through Nadine to get information. He had to know if she was okay, and how she was doing. “I thought Dorothy was supposed to find the wizard, not the other way around,” Gabriella smiled. “The wizard got impatient,” Gregory said. Being promoted to the wizard had to be a good sign. At least, he hoped it was a good sign. “After all this time,” Gabriella said, “You found me.” Her heart leapt. She hadn’t realized how much she had missed him, how much she still loved him, until that moment. Him standing right in front of her suddenly made it all real. All those feelings that she had thought she was over, came rushing back to the surface, telling her that she had never really been over him, she had just buried them deep enough not to think about them. “Of course,” Gregory said, “I never stopped looking for you.” He had looked for her in every girl he had dated, in every person he had talked to and walked by. He had looked for her everywhere he went. “I love you,” Gregory continued, placing his forehead against hers, “And that’s not going to change. If you’re still not ready, then fine, I’ll wait. We won’t rush into anything, but I want to be a part of your life. I’m not leaving. Not this time.” He had allowed her to push him away and it had been the biggest mistake of his life. He wasn’t going to do that again. “Good,” Gabriella smiled, “Because I don’t want you to.” She threw her arms around him and kissed him softly. Dorothy had finally found the Wizard.
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Sometimes people are meant to come into your life, but not stay in your life. Sometimes people you thought you wouldn't be able to live without, people you thought would always be there, people who helped you through difficult times and you thought would be there to continue that aren't. While it may be soul crushing at the time and you may be wondering how you are going to survive, you will. You'll find a way through it. You will find a way to stand on your own two feet. You've got this.
Prompt: “Things could’ve been so different, you know.” / “I know, but this is what we chose and we should stick with it.” Gregory stared at Gabriella. He simply couldn’t take his eyes off of her. She had gotten her life together after everything that had happened. She seemed to be thriving, in fact. Gregory felt a bittersweet pang in his chest. He loved that she had made it, that she had accomplished so much, but it hit him like a ton of bricks that he hadn’t been a part of that, that he hadn’t been able to be there for her to help support her through it all. He hurried to her side as soon as he could, “Dorothy,” he called out. Gabriella knew exactly who that was. Only one person called her Dorothy, “Scarecrow,” she turned and gave him a small, uncertain smile. Gregory held out his hand, silently asking her to walk with him, talk with him. Gabriella accepted. “Things could’ve been so different, you know,” Gregory said after they had been talking about their lives for a while. “I know,” Gabriella confirmed with a nod. There were a myriad of ways things could have been different, “But this is what he chose,” she stopped walking so that she could get a better look at him, hoping that her next words would resonate with him, “And we should stick with it.” Gregory heard her words loud and clear. The decision had been made. They had decided to go their separate ways, get on with their own lives, and she had. She had put the past so far behind her she couldn’t even see it from her rearview mirror. And he was a part of her past, left to choke on her dust. Prompt: She leaned against the porcelain sink and steadied herself. "One more time." She could do this. One. More. Time.
Gabriella fingered the fabric of the dress for a little bit, thinking of what her choices were. The material was dark and silky, matching her complexion perfectly. With a sly smile, she got to her feet and tried on the dress. It slunk to just below her knees and it swished whenever she walked. She swished into the bathroom Gabriella gripped the rim of the porcelain sink and tried to steady her hands. She took some deep breaths, trying to calm herself down. She could do this. She had to do this. She placed her hand on her stomach where her child was growing, not enough to be visible, but there. Gabriella couldn’t let her child be raised in a place like this. “One last time,” she whispered to herself. She could handle this. She could get through this One. Last. Time. and swept her chocolate brown hair into a messy bun that left just enough wisps to frame her face. She slipped on the shoes that Dr. Matthews had brought with the dress. She desperately wished they were flats. It would be so much harder to do what she had planned if she had to contend with five inch heels as well. Prompt: “How did you know I would be here?” / “Your hair may have changed, but I figured your routine hadn’t.”
Gabriella curled her legs up under her chin as she watched the sunset from the edge of the lake. Even though the day was growing late, there were still plenty of lake goers who were refusing to leave the beautiful sight until they could no longer see in front of their faces. Gabriella used to hate the packed lake. She would go out of her way to find the most secluded spot she could find. Now, however, with everything she had been through, she found she didn’t mind the people screaming and shouting as they revelled in the water activities. She enjoyed the sight and sound of people. After being alone so long, and hearing nothing but her own thoughts, people were a welcome addition. “Penny for your thoughts?” Devon asked, taking a seat next to Gabriella. “How did you know I would be here?” Gabriella glanced over at Devon. “Your hair may have changed,” Devon said, commenting on the long pixie cut with the purple tips haircut that she was now sporting. Dr. Matthews had liked her hair long. He had liked to run his fingers through it when they were together, or grab it and use it as a kind of leash to drag her somewhere when she had angered him. Chopping it all off had never felt so freeing, that she went a little crazy and had decided that if she was going to change her hairstyle, she might as well change the color as well. She wanted to be as different a person from the woman that Dr. Matthews had been obsessed with, as possible. “But I figured your routine hadn’t,” Devon continued. Devon was the only person who knew about her spot at the lake. He knew how it calmed her. Of course he would know that she would come out here today of all days. If there was ever a day that she came to the lake, it would be today. “Want to talk about it?” Devon continued as Gabriella sat quietly beside him. Gabriella shook her head as she placed it on Devon’s shoulder. There was nothing to talk about. Gregory was gone. He had gone back to his fiancee. Their time together was over, and now it was time to move on. Yesterday you got the inside scoop of how Gabriella and Gregory met. Pretty intense huh? They have a very interesting story together to be sure. When they first met Gabriella had to take care of Gregory and keep him alive, and then, later in the story, they switch places and Gabriella is the one who needs to be taken care of. That's where today's prompt comes in.
Prompt: Doesn’t it bother you that you nearly killed her? It was Gregory’s turn to sit by Gabriella’s bedside, hoping for the best. He clung to her hand, trying to pour some of his life force into her and get her to open her eyes. Dr. Matthews stood in the doorway, watching the two of them. “Doesn’t it bother you that you nearly killed her?” Gregory asked, not turning around, but feeling Dr. Matthews’ presence. “She did that to herself,” Dr. Matthews said stonily. It did bother him that Gabriella had nearly died, that he had nearly lost her, but if she had only played by the rules, if she had only listened to him, she would have been fine. He took good care of her. All he wanted was for her to be with him, for them to be a family. She could have a good life, if she stopped fighting it. All she had to do was stop going after guys like Gregory. All she had to do was open her eyes and see what was right in front of her. He was right there, and she was too stubborn and blind to see it. “Her actions were because of what you did,” Gregory turned and got to his feet. Gabriella had nearly died and Dr. Matthews had the audacity to say that his hands were clean of any wrongdoing. Gregory’s blood began to boil. “If she would have listened to me she would have been just fine!” Dr. Matthews shouted, “She had a good life here!” Gregory reached for Dr. Matthews, grabbing him around his neck and squeezing with everything he had. Dr. Matthews pulled out his gun and pointed it at Gregory. “Don’t make me shoot you again,” Dr. Matthews gasped. “I don’t care,” Gregory’s eyes burned holes into Dr. Matthews. Desperate to get air without having to shoot anybody, Dr. Matthews moved the gun toward Gabriella. “Let go, or I’ll shoot her.” “You wouldn’t,” Gregory said, easing his grip around Dr. Matthews’ throat. Dr. Matthews cocked the gun, his finger began inching toward the trigger. Gregory’s eyes went wide and he released his hold. “Touch me again,” Dr. Matthews warned, “And she’ll pay the price.” He stormed out, locking the door behind him. Oh the meet cute....the thing of romance novels and movies. It's that cute initial meeting between the love interests of the story. It's adorable, and it's a romantic's dream....or at least a person who has watched too many romance movies or read too many romance novels' dream. They want that meet cute, they want to be swept off their feet. They want a cute story that they can tell people when people ask how they met.
Well....this is Gabriella and Gregory's 'Meet Cute'....or more like their Meet Not So Cute..... Prompt: The first time they met Gregory stared dumbstruck at the figure who had burst into his car. She was a total mess. Her brown hair, once put up in some kind of bun, was now coming undone in strange places, making it look like she had a nest in her hair. Her once beautiful evening dress was torn to shreds and thick with dirt and other debris she had collected on the run. It looked like she had barely escaped a tornado. “Go,” she ordered again. Shaking his head to clear it, he began to once more drive down the winding road. “You look like you just escaped from a tornado. Who are you? Dorothy?” “And that makes you, what? The scarecrow?” “I was thinking more like the Wizard.” Before Gabriella was able to make a response there was a loud bang and the car swerved out of control. “What was that?” Gabriella queried as Gregory maneuvered the car to the shoulder of the road. “Flat tire,” he said simply with a shrug of his shoulders as he shut off the car and pocketed the keys. While Gabriella waited in the car, Gregory went around the trunk to get the spare tire. He had just popped open the trunk when something hard collided with his skull cutting off consciousness. As Gregory’s body tumbled forward, Dr. Matthews shoved him into the trunk, grabbed the keys and slammed down the trunk. He jerked open the passenger side door and pulled Gabriella out of the car. “What have you done to him?” Gabriella screamed, trying to swat at Dr. Matthews with her free hand. “Don’t worry. I’ll take care of him,” Dr. Matthews said, cocking his gun. Dragging Gabriella with him, Dr. Matthews walked back toward the trunk and opened it before pulling out his gun and aiming it at Gregory. “No,” Gabriella cried, jerking herself in between Dr. Matthews and the car. Jerking her wrist out of Dr. Matthews grip, Gabriella turned her back on Dr. Matthews she helped a hurting, but coming to Gregory out of the trunk, making sure to keep herself between the two men. “Run,” she whispered to Gregory as she steadied him, “Now.” With her pushing him to a start, Gregory began to run down the mountainside. A gunshot rang through the still night air. Gregory’s body turned around to face the sound as another shot echoed the first one. Gabriella’s heart stopped beating as Gregory collapsed to the ground. A loud, shrill scream escaped from her lips as Gregory crumpled to the ground. He had only tried to help her and now because of her this man could very well die. It would all be her fault. What is your favorite Meet Cute? How would you choose to meet 'the one' if you had the choice? I think I'd like to meet him at a dance, where I probably step on his toes, or accidentally hit him in the face because I'm so uncoordinated....Or I'm really into the friends to lovers clique. I love the whole idea of being friends with this guy, neither of us thinking it's anything more, and then kind of realizing that we love each other. I took a little liberty on this prompt and changed the touch to hurt, it flowed with the story better that way. Hope you don't mind.
It's another Gabriella prompt :). I've been on a roll with her. She's really coming out lately, so I'm just going to enjoy the ride she is taking me on. Prompt: You can break my soul, take away my life, beat me, hurt me, kill me, but please don’t touch him. Gabriella hurried to Geoffrey’s side, throwing herself on top of him so Michael couldn’t get a good shot of him. With the rain pouring down on them, Gabriella pled with Michael. “Please don’t do this,” her wet hair was plastered to her face, making her look much like a drowned rat. “Move out of the way,” Michael said. His voice was cold and emotionless. He didn’t care about Gabriella’s pain. Geoffrey was a threat, and always would be. It was hard enough keeping the fact that he had kidnapped Gabriella a secret, he was already in hot water with the police. He couldn’t add another hostage to the mix. That would boil him alive. No, it was much easier to kill the boy and make people think it was an accident, or a burglary gone wrong or something that didn’t include him. “No,” Gabriella shook her head. Geoffrey was in this position because of her, because she had gotten in his car. She hadn’t given him a choice. She had told him to drive and he did, and now he was injured and moments away from death, all because of her. She wasn’t going to let Michael kill Geoffrey. Not while she had life left in her body. “Move out of the way,” Michael said. Gabriella had never seen him so angry before. Even in the darkness of the night, with the rain pouring down his face, she could see the change of color to his face as it became red with anger. Gabriella began to shake, not knowing if the cold rain or the fear was the primary reason for her lack of control. “Please,” Gabriella continued to beg, “You can break my soul. Take away my life. Beat me. Hurt me. Kill me,” she rose to her feet to walk over to Michael, making sure that she kept in the way of the gun, “But please,” slowly, she reached out and touched Michael’s free hand, “Please, don’t hurt him.” I'm sorry, I seem to be getting later and later each day, and there really is no excuse for it. Still, I'm sorry, and it's always better late than never, right? :). So here is today's prompt.
Prompt: She darted between the cars, cursing herself for being so stupid. She should have been paying more attention with where she was going, but she had just wanted to get away from there as quickly as possible. She hadn’t even realized that she had run herself into a busy street until she heard the sounds of car horns blaring at her and people shouting at her from out their windows to get out of the street. The sudden noise and near death experience had jerked her out of her reverie and back into reality. She darted between the cars that were in various degrees of stopping, cursing herself for being so stupid and absentminded. She could have gotten herself killed with her actions. Maybe that was what this person, this ‘Fish’ character wanted in the first place. Maybe he wanted to freak her out so badly that she ended up killing herself. The question was, why did he want her dead so badly? Why would he want to have her find her way into an accidental death? “Are you alright?” Dr. Andrews called out from his window on the other side of the street. “Dr. Andrews?” Gabriella asked, relief flooding her body. Dr. Andrews stepped out of his car and went around to where she was standing. “You look like you’ve just greeted death. Are you alright? What happened?” Dr. Andrews asked, reaching out to give her a comforting hug. “Yeah, I’m fine,” Gabriella said shakily, “I was probably just being foolish is all. I think I had one too many drinks or something and I wasn’t watching where I was going and ended up in a busy street and nearly got myself killed.” She didn’t want anyone worrying about her, especially not her boss. She didn’t want anyone to think that she was going crazy. Or worse. The target of some serial killer or psycho. She didn’t know what this ‘Fish’s’ game was, and until she figured it out, she didn’t want anyone to know. It was easier to just take the blame alcohol than it was to explain that she had thought someone was chasing her and hadn’t been paying attention to where she was going because she was trying to see if the man was still following her. “Maybe you next time you shouldn’t drink so much,” Dr. Andrews said, “Or at the very least, keep yourself away from the streets when you do so.” “I will definitely do that,” Gabriella forced a smile as if it was all some kind of joke. “Would you like a ride home?” Dr. Andrews reached for the door handle. Gabriella didn’t really, but after a moment of thinking about the man who was chasing her and all the dark streets she would have to go down in order to get to her apartment, she felt she would much rather take the chance in Dr. Andrews’ car than to have to find her own way home. Wow, this is the second day this week, I think in a row, that I've done a Gabriella story. She's quite the character and has been on my mind recently. I started her story in 2014, but with life changes her story got pushed to the back burner before I finished it. I admit, I haven't really thought about her and her story much lately, but since she has started coming through more and more, and with very little else to do with the quarantine going on, maybe I'll finally finish her story. Prompt: For the first time in a long time, I have no path to follow. No course to set out. When I find out what to do next, I hope you’d be a part of it.
Gabriella blinked in the sunlight. She was free. She was actually, finally free. Matthews was dead. He wouldn’t be coming after her any longer. “How are you feeling?” Geoffrey asked, coming over to her. “I’m not sure,” Gabriella admitted. She had been trapped for so long, been told what to do, and done it, with no choice, for so long, she wasn’t sure what to do now. She could do anything she wanted, and she didn’t know what that was. She did know that she didn’t want to go back to work. She couldn’t. Not after everything that had happened. “I know that feeling,” Geoffrey nodded. He used to be so driven, so focused on everything. He had a course set, a plan. It had all been laid out for him, and now, suddenly, all of that was gone. “For the first time in a long time, I have no path to follow,” Geoffrey continued, “No course set out.” The thought scared him. He always had a plan. “Exactly,” Gabriella smiled. He did understand, to some extent. More than anyone else would or could. She had thought being kidnapped would be the scariest thing she had to deal with, but being free was so much scarier than anything she had dealt with inside of that room. “I don’t know what to do. I know I can’t go back,” she shuddered at the thought, “But I don’t know where to go from here. I don’t know what to do if I’m not there. I don’t even know who I am any more.” She didn’t cry. She had used all her tears months ago, all that was left was dry despair. “I couldn’t agree more,” Geoffrey smiled, wrapping his arm around her shoulders, “But, when I find out what to do next,” he looked at Gabriella who was looking at him, “I hope you’ll be a part of it.” Gabriella broke eye contact with Geoffrey. She couldn’t make that promise. She couldn’t allow him to make that promise. She didn’t want him making promises that he couldn’t keep, or wouldn’t want to keep. She didn’t want him to wake up one day and realize that his feelings for her had been because of a trauma bond, and feel as if he couldn’t back out because he had gotten in too deep. “I can’t make any promises,” Gabriella said softly. Geoffrey nodded, and kept his arm around her shoulders, and kissed the top of her head. He would give her her time and space to figure it out, but he wasn’t going to go anywhere. He would be waiting for her, whenever she was ready. Prompt: Take this quiz and use your answer to write a scene or create a character.
https://www.buzzfeed.com/farrahpenn/this-20-question-quiz-will-reveal-your-personality The answer I got was: Observant- People often describe you as “quiet” and “shy”, but your inner monologue is anything but. You take great pleasure in watching and listening to the world around you, which at the end of the day allows you to live in the here and now. Basically, if “people watching” was an Olympic sport, you’d go home with the gold. It seems fairly accurate, so I’m not going to fight against it :p. This made me think of a scene with Katrina....she's an oracle who helps Hunter and his friends. Katrina and Hunter sauntered through the woods. Katrina had made herself the height of Hunter so she wasn’t looming over him as she discussed her visions with him. As she walked, she remained in silence. The only sound was the sound of the leaves rustling under foot as they walked. While impatient to hear what Katrina had witnessed while reading the stars, he knew better than to try and hurry a magical being, especially an oracle. They were not ones to be rushed. He needed to allow her answers to come at her own pace, and in her own way. “I have consulted the stars,” Katrina finally spoke as they headed deeper into the woods. Hunter remained silent, allowing Katrina to come at it from her own direction and at her own time. “It will not be an easy fight,” she continued, slow and unhurried. In her mind was burned the pictures of war. Of death and destruction. Of pain and suffering. There was so much pain. So little happiness. It was enough to make her wish she had never been able to see the future. It made her wish she could give her gift back. Hunter nodded his head. He had expected as much, given the people they were at war with, “The outcome?” he asked, hesitantly, not wanting to rush her, but needing an answer. It mattered little to him if he lived or died during the battle, if he died before or after the war. He had to know that his people at least had a fighting chance. He had to know that he wasn’t just about to lead thousands of soldiers into a slaughter, causing all their orphanages to burst at the seams as their parents fell in a battle they weren’t going to win. “There will be many difficult decisions that will have to be made. Ones that will cause suffering for years to come. Are you willing to pay the price?” “Of course,” Hunter said, with a certainty he wasn’t sure was felt by the rest of the group, or even himself, “But are you? Will you join us?” Visions of what was to come flashed through Katrina’s head, “Be careful what you promise,” she warned, “There are things that are much worse than death.” |
Skye BallantyneI am very excited to welcome you to my blog! Hope you enjoy! Categories |