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woodchuckhills · 1 year

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Short Story 2

Lilly couldn't sleep tonight after she first woke up from her nightmare. She had been turning and twisting in her bed for perhaps an hour before the bed got too hot and uncomfortable for her to lay on it and pretend that she was being lulled into a deep sleep. She sat up straight on her bed and left out a heavy sigh. Well, it was something between a sigh and groan. Lilly pushed her long dark, straight hair out of her face and knew exactly why she couldn't sleep, and she kept reminding herself that it was nothing more than a stupid, dumb feeling inside of her. But no matter how hard she tried; feelings don't stay bottled up inside Lillian Gracetown for long.

Lilly looked around her small room. It had a small but pretty table for her to work on, the twin bed she was sitting on, a shelf for her clothes and a cupboard for her books.

She had been sharing an apartment with a friend of hers, Nick. He was good company alright. Excellent company, if Lilly was going to be completely honest with herself. He laughed at the right moments, knew when to annoy her, when to give Lilly her space and how to make her day with just a few words, spoken or left hanging in the air.

Lillian put her hands in her head, she tugged and pulled her hair, bit her lip and slapped her cheek a few times. Her head fell on her hand, and she marvelled at the fact she an extremely social and bubbly extrovert; who acted impulsively and liked blowing bubbles in her drinks even at the ripe age of 27 was falling for Nick Stephen; who was a tall, dark-haired, athletic, to some extent mean and sly, charming, elegant, glasses-wearing man of 26.

Lillian knew she was thinking of him because of the extravagant way she had described him in her head while comparing her and him. Lilly cried out in frustration, she wanted to talk to Nick about Nick, right now. He was kind of her counsellor too and that relationship went both ways. Lillian used to get anxious about her future and Nick got depressed from his past. Right now, more than anything, Lilly needed a hug. She was in a dilemma and felt anxious because of the feelings bottled up inside her and because of that horrible nightmare she saw an hour ago, of which she remembered every single horrific detail. Lillian shuddered as she involuntarily recollected the nightmare.

She made up her mind and slowly set her foot on the ground. Lilly shivered as her bare skin touched the cold floor, but she continued on her way to her room's door. Lilly bit her lip again and turned the knob of the room of her door. It opened into a small hallway that led to the different room of that apartment. There was a room on Lilly's left, it was the first room you encountered, after going through the big living room of course. On the opposite wall, were two doors that led to the kitchen and the small garden prepared by her and Nick.

Lilly closed the door of her room and slowly made her way to Nick's bedroom. She opened the door and crept inside the room, his room was slightly bigger and a bit more organised than Lilly's. Nick got the bigger room even though he came in later, only because Lilly preferred cosy places. Nick's bed looked neat, tidy, soft and warm, ironically.

Lilly crept into Nick's bed and covered herself with his white blankets and blue quilts. She felt guilty of her actions and knew that this was what would classify as trespassing, but she could not help feeling much more relaxed and at ease once she was under the blanket. Maybe it was the soft mattress and soothing cool of the blanket, or maybe it was the pillow, but Lillian tried her best to convince herself that it wasn't because maybe the bed smelled of Nick. Lilly made a mental note to leave a cooked breakfast and a clean bedroom for Nick in the morning and certainly before Nick returned from his business trip at 10 am tomorrow. She inhaled the faint body spray that Nick liked to dump on himself when going out for parties, banquets or other events. Lilly hid a small smile as she buried her face in the pillows and slumbered in the dark.

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Nick was breathing heavily as he climbed up the stairs to his apartment. He was exhausted from his business trip. His job never required him to travel, however this time he had temporarily been given the position of senior manager instead. His flight was supposed to be a connected one and he was supposed to bid the client and the party goodbye before the plane took off for his destination. However, things hadn't gone according to plan, their flight had been cancelled due to heavy rain or something similar. The party was happy to lounge in the expensive hotel suite for another day however Nick had a meeting day after tomorrow for which his boss wanted him a day before.

Nick was on the fourth floor, the damn lift wasn't working, and he had to take the stairs, his shirt stank of him, his sweat and mud and rain. As an artist he could appreciate and find bliss in little things like the smell of the earth after rain, however, right now he needed a shower. No matter how much the smell of rain pulled him into nostalgia, Nick needed a hot bath and a good sleep, 'and perhaps' the small voice in his mind said as he turned the key into the keyhole of his shared apartment, 'perhaps just a sight of Lillian.' He flustered up at the thought and blush spread all over his already red from exhaustion face. He stepped inside their apartment and locked the door before taking off his shoes and socks and keeping them on the shoe rack. That woman was a work of art, she knew exactly how to give people a memorable evening. No matter how much Nick tried making Lillian blush with his compliments and one-liners, she always had a snarky comment up her sleeves. And sometimes she might just as well go ahead and throw mangoes and bananas at him.

Nick pushed open the door to his room and it creaked. He cursed himself silently before turning around and slowly closing the door noiselessly and taking of his shoes and socks, trying not to wake up Lillian. Nick opened his bedroom door and stepped inside quietly. Nick heard someone move, his blood froze. Nick waited and listened for a few more minutes. He heard a soft breathing. Someone was definitely in his room; the question was who. Nick turned back slowly and saw a figure on his bed. It looked like a woman wearing pink floral print pyjamas. Nick covered the distance between himself and his bed in one stride. Nick looked down at the figure sleeping on his bed and came to realize that it was Lillian. What was she doing? That's obvious, Nick thought to himself, she's sleeping. He rephrased his query and asked himself a much more important question, why was she here? Nick crouched and came to level with Lillian's sleeping form. She was facing the other side, her back was towards him.

Nick felt like he should wake her up but hesitated at first. There's no other way around it, Nick chided himself, take a deep breath and wake her up. Nick stopped after the first step, he stank of himself, and other nasty things and he was covered in grime, mud and dust. He decided to take a shower and get in some better clothes before waking Lillian up. Of course, he would wake her up, just maybe not now.

Nick slowly turned himself, so he was facing his bed side drawer that doubled up as a nightstand. He got himself a grey t-shirt before getting up and making way for the one bathroom in all of their apartment. Nick closed his bedroom door and on his way to the bathroom, passed a small glance in Lillian's room. The sheets were crumpled, and half of the quilt was dangling off the bed in a dangerous position. Nick closed the door and moved to the bathroom.

He took off his cloth one by one and tossed them into the washing machine that was on the other side of the bathroom. Nick turned on the shower and felt the warm water on his skin. Nick bit his lip to supress a small smile. Bless that girl, she forgot to turn off the geyser. As the water fell on his head and dripped down to his shoulders, Nick thought. It was often he took a step back reflected, but when he did, he knew his life was in a mess. Nick started-

A) I have a meeting tomorrow 10 am sharp.

B) I don't have the material for the meeting.

C) It's just my boss.

D) I'm gonna call in sick tomorrow. It's Saturday anyways, he's taking up my holidays.

E) There's a woman, namely my friend, in my f***ing bed.

Nick cleaned himself thoroughly making the grime and dirt fade away slowly. Nick thought of the various reasons Lillian could be sleeping there. Maybe she was sleepwalking? Maybe she mixed up his room with his? Maybe she came into his room to do something and fainted when she saw his...something? The more Nick thought about it, the more outlandish his thoughts became and the farther he was from a satisfactory conclusion. Nick turned off the water and wrapped himself in a towel and dried himself. He turned to his clothes and realised that he had no t-shirt. The only piece of clothing he had gotten was his grey minion pyjama. Nick swore under his breath and put it on. He noiselessly opened the bathroom door, stepped out, switched off the lights of the bathroom and turned around to close the door softly. He sighed and banged his head on the door in slight frustration. Nick felt the water from his hair drip down the door, and a soft tap on his shoulder. He turned around wearing an expression of mild shock, only to face a very sleepy Lillian.

"H-Hey," Nick stuttered, "I didn't mean to wake you up," he said softly, taking a step closer to Lillian.

"Really? Because your mud-pie smell was far from subtle," Lillian said rubbing her eyes and giving Nick a small smile.

Nick breathed a small laugh, "You should get back to sleep," he told her, gently caressing her arm.

Lillian took a small step and boy was she so close! Nick could feel his heart racing and his ears reddening even though she was just looking at him. Nick felt really exposed which his half naked form had nothing to do with.

Lillian pressed a piece of fabric on to him. Nick looked down to see that it was one of his t-shirts. She backed away and was leaning on the wall when she said in a very small voice, "I didn't know you were coming back so early."

"Yeah," Nick shrugged, "They ran out of free room service."

Lillian started with a chuckle and ended up doubling in a laugh. Her hair was messed up and she was in the baggiest pair of night clothes she had, but in the dim bathroom light, her face was lightened up so perfectly. Nick's eyes flitted to Lillian's lips once and then he shook his head, joining her in the laugh.

Once the laughter died down, Lillian flashed Nick a smile and let out a small sigh. "Alright, then. You go and sleep and maybe I'll make us breakfast tomorrow." She gave him a last smile before turning to go to her room. Nick watched as Lillian opened her door and got inside her. Nick bit his lip and fiddled with his t-shirt.

It's now or never, Nick looked up at Lillian's door once again. But what if she doesn't feel the same. He was in the middle of his thought process when the door he was staring at opened again. Lillian's head popped out of it, "Hey, Nicky." Nick grinned at the nickname. "I think you did see me in there," she waved a hand towards his room, "I'm sorry if I made you feel uncomfortable or anything..." Her voice trailed off.

Nick realised she was waiting for his answer. "Oh, yeah," he cleared his throat, "Yeah, no problem. It's fine actually, you don't have to be sorry or anything. It's- it's fine."

Lillian smiled and was going to go back to her room once again.

"Hey Lillian?"

"Yeah?" she whipped her hair around.

"Why-why were you sleeping my bed in the first place?"

"Oh," Nick watched Lilly turn very red. He found it surprisingly cute. "Well, umm... I-I was just-uh-I messed up the rooms." Lillian said sheepishly.

Nick knew that it was a lie, a very bad one to be honest, but he chose to give her an understanding smile and mutter, "okay," instead of a smirk before moving towards his room. He paused on the door frame, his heart beating a little too quick. Lillian was almost about to go into her room when he called out, "Lilly?"

"Yeah," She poked out her head again.

"If you ever, want to mess up the rooms again, could you please do it while I'm in the house?"

Nick's heart was going to explode right now, Lillian's expression was unreadable, and he grew tenser by the moment.

"Never mind," Nick finally muttered to himself half a second later. He left his bedroom door open and kept his towel on the chair near his desk. Nick got under his covers and closed his eyes, regretting the fact that he even tried. He knew he would've messed it up, he knew Lillian didn't like him back. But then, why would she ever fall asleep in my room? Nick groaned in frustration and buried his head in his pillow which, ironically, smelt like Lillian.

He heard the footsteps, that's probably Lillian going back to her room; The sound of door hinges in motion, that's her opening her bedroom door; Footsteps again, why did it feel as if Lilly is in my room? A soft arm wrapped around Nick's torso. Nick turned back so quick, he almost smacked the person behind him, it was Lillian.

"Whoa, easy tiger," Lillian said breathily.

"Lillian, what are you doing here?" He was bewildered and his eyes which were earlier filled with exhaustion were now open with curiosity.

Lillian scooted closer to him until she was just a breath apart from his face, "I messed up the rooms again," she said softly.

#I messed up the rooms #fluff #creative writing #fiction #shortstory #dumb fluff

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woodchuckhills · 1 year

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Short Story 1

The war is one you haven't seen but one that I know.

William wiped his hands on the nearest gunny bag and took off his vest and cartridge belt. The ship they were escaping in was originally a cargo for tobacco, a cargo that would've disgusted Anna the moment she would've set her eyes upon it. William wanted to chuckle at the fond memory but couldn't find out the effort to smile, this evening's aerial bombings had taken out all the energy from him and had wiped the smiles of his fellow soldiers. William leaned on the tobacco gunny bags and passed a glance at the only friendly face he had known the entire journey, more like during the entire escapade. Every soldier in the below deck was exhausted and terrified. "Alright there, Willy?" a thin almost frail sniper with a mop of unruly black hair and a boyish grin asked.

William nodded, "Just a bit exhausted, Oscar." He added with a small smile to his companion for the last five days. William was trying to close his eyes for a nap.

"Don't close your eyes private," a muscly blond with somewhat of a beard and moustache warned.

"End it already Lewis with the private," a red-haired man tending to the cut on his hands said, "You are as bad as the Corporal high moustache out there, crikey."

The gents laughed. All except of William, the evenings efforts had really worn him out. All he wanted now was to go home and meet his beloved Anna, his mother and probably his father.

"Men!" a soldier whom Private William believed to be drunk although it astounded him how the man could have time for pleasure during such times, said with enthusiasm as he stood up.

"Aw, James sit back down." the same red-haired man said, "You are horribly drunk from the sea water." Everyone laughed, this time even William spared a small smile.

The man insisted on finishing what he had to say, "I believe a toast is in order for Private William."

"Well said James," Oscar encouraged, "Well then gents, raise your thermoses or cups to Private William. His bravery, chivalry and courage should be noted. To Private Williams for risking his lives to save countless others."

There was a murmur of "Private William" from everyone in the below deck. William smiled at everyone and acknowledged the toast. William didn't feel much better, but you can't resist feeling just a little bit better just after you have been praised. William re-adjusted himself and sat up. He looked around the room and found the person he was looking for. It was Private Adam. He was an ardent believer of the church. He hadn't been called, but he hadn't volunteered exactly either, the story was something Adam never wanted to discuss, and no one pressurised him too as well. He had black hair, always nice and kept, William had no idea Adam kept it that way before and after combats. William always kept an eye out for Adam because the private was nothing more than a child. You could always find Adam talking to himself, whimpering during attacks when he isn't shooting and/or praying. He hardly talked to everyone. "Adam," William called out. Adam looked up from his small notebook, "What do you think all of us should do? It could be the last days of our lives. What goes by lord?"

Adam sat up and looked William in the eye. William knew Adam wasn't a bad kid, he was just... not himself after the war. Adam hesitated before saying, "Someone light that lamp, we need to see each other's faces." Someone obliged and lit up the lamp. It already had oil and a small logo from one of their ally countries, that was one of the few discoveries that told the soldiers that this boat's boatman was right now away to tend to his needs. William was thankful for the light. How they would be able to co-ordinate their movements in this dingy below deck, if the enemy ever came was a question that had been running in William's head for quite a long time.

Adam bit his lip, "If we die now, we die with-"

"With honour! We die with honour men!" James responded a bit too enthusiastically. William's suspicion was confirmed, James was drunk. The blond named Lewis shut up James and motioned Adam to continue. "If we die now, we die without knowing each other. I believe since we have seen each other's worst during the war, each of us owe the other our best version."

William sighed, he knew what Adam was asking for, the problem was how many would agree. Everyone's eyebrows were raised, nobody was going to volunteer the information. Oscar inhaled and started speaking, "I don't know my dad, my mother told me that he was a respectable figure and didn't want third class like us on him. She was a waitress and then she became a dance teacher. I wanted to perform for the world. My mother always used to tell me that I had to dance soulfully. One time I gave this performance with our local group, I broke out of the choreography and danced the way I wanted to. At the end, people they're their roses at me. That satisfied my mum."

"Got a lady back home? Apart from your mum." Lewis asked. There was a ripple of chuckles from the room.

"Nay" Oscar said, "I had one. Her name was Kate. She was quite the lady. She was married off before I could kiss her goodbye. Her dad didn't like me much."

"That's the same everywhere bruv." a man still wearing his M1 battalion helmet said." My father didn't want me to go to university. He would've liked me to work with him, in his hotel, as a manager. He hated my girl. She was studying science, you see."

"Would he have accepted her, if she wasn't studying science?" a man with scars crowding his cheeks said.

"No, she was too quick for him to catch her word."

"My lady-"

"Stop lying James, we know you don't have a lady." Oscar mocked.

"No, I do!" James insisted, "It is my sister's friend's step- brother's cousin. Her name is Jenny."

"I'll swear," Lewis said, "I lost trace after your sister." There were a few laughs. The privates in the room were perhaps feeling a bit better. William looked at Adam, the boy was clever.

"What about you Lewis?" William asked the blonde who had warned William against sleeping.

"No, I didn't lose trace after James's sister." Everyone laughed.

"Here's something about me." Adam said, "My father traded me when I was a kid, my mother bought me back and ran away with me from home."

"Well then Adam," Lewis said with a smile, "That makes two of us. Except that my mum smashed my dad first and then ran away." William chuckled, Lewis took out a small note from his pocket, it looked like a letter. He sighed and looked up at everyone, "She died of course, because of the polio and everything. But after she was gone I had very good friends. Jessica and Richard. You know, they got married and I was supposed to be the best man. Jessica went to the church in the morning to see that everyone was perfect and as Richard liked it. Everything was supposed to be perfect and then suddenly it wasn't anymore. She wasn't anymore"

"Oh no," William murmured. He knew exactly why Lewis was sighing. The bomb at Catville was dropped at 8:01. The impact was devastating and around 300 people lost their lives. William ran his hands through his hair. He looked at Lewis. Someone patted Lewis on the back and Lewis sniffed a little. William suddenly felt an urge to talk about Anna. He remembered the ways Anna would stroke his hair when he had been wronged, how she would ask him if he was alright, and William would just press her closer to himself. "I'll go next." There was a quick hustle to hear what the hero of the day had to say. "My lady, gentlemen," He said with a pause "was quite an extraordinary one. She was the only one."

"Well," Oscar grinned, "No shame Willy. Look on the bright side, there'll be ladies swooning over you once we get home.You'll have much more than one."

"You don't understand." William breathed heavily, "She wanted to own a bakery. I wanted to be an artist. We thought it was a perfect plan, she'd spend the day baking and I'd spend the day drawing her graceful figure as she tackled the customers." Everyone was listening intently, "Brianna and I would spend days under an apple tree near this lake and just the day before I was deported to the front, Anna told me to come back soon so that once I was home and there was a fair at town, I could win her the bears in those games with the rifles. That was three months from now. And when I was getting on that ship, I gave her this small necklace. It was this pendant made from wood. She didn't know it yet but there was a ring in it. If I ever forgot why I need to come home, I just remembered that I had to come back to her to break that wood and give her that ring."

William's mouth was suddenly dry, he couldn't find any more words. William needed to go back home now. He couldn't wait to see Anna and take her into his arms, cry with her, laugh with her and propose to her. He couldn't wait to cycle down their town's lanes and feel the warm sun on his forehead. Oscar patted William and William sighed with desperation.

Adam sighed "Been there-"

Something dropped from the upper decks. William stood up, so did many other soldiers. He took the lamp in his hand and tried looking at what had fallen.

A few seconds later the grenade exploded.

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Thousand miles away from where this happened Brianna Miller was writing all about her day on a piece of paper. She had promised the love of her life that she would write about each of her day away from him so that when he came back from the war, he could be filled in the days of her life he missed. Brianna smiled when she wrote, 'Each day passes, and I miss you even more. I need you to come home Will, our daughter is growing.' She toyed with her pendant. It was in the shape of a rose. She thought that it was cruel that William left her with his name, promising her that it would be hers someday but taking so long to come back home. Brianna would spend her nights remembering William and wishing he would come back. There were even days she would break down and pray to Christ to send William back. She signed the paper with 'Yours Truly, Anna.' Brianna sighed and put the pen down. She collected her latest document and carefully kept it in her drawer on top of the paper that stated yesterday's date.

"Brittany" Brianna called out; her sister came out of the kitchen.

"What?" Brittany asked, her hands were covered in flour, "Is it the baby? Do you feel something? Should I call in Dr. Kent? Do you want to-"

"God! Brittany! I am fine! I just wanted to ask if Dr. Kent would be paying us a visit today."

Her sister breathed a sigh of relief, "Not today, no. He said he'd come on Wednesday. You don't feel sick, do you?"

"No, no I'm fine." Brianna laughed, "I wanted to take a trip to the library. Would be a shame if Dr. Kent comes here and I'm over there."

Brittany smiled, pecked her sister on the cheek and went back to the kitchen.

Brianna let out a small sigh as the doorbell rang. "I'll get it!" she let Brittany know.

It had to be either the milkman or a telegram. The postman never came on Sundays. Brianna prayed it wasn't the latter as she went to open the door.

#short stories #fiction #creative #creative writing #only the innocents ever die in the war #first attempt #wattapad level shit

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