CW: To the core. (1/2)

Fiona took a big breath in. She had been wanting to get to the beach for a while now, but there was always something else to do. Plus, George was not the biggest fan of going anywhere these days, so they mostly stayed in. But, for Fiona’s birthday, they had finally made it to the beach. With no clouds in sight, it was shaping up to be a beautiful day. They had to get up before 8AM, but getting to the beach before the crowds was definitely worth it.

Fiona spread the blanket neatly on the sand and placed the beach bag in the middle to secure it. As she pulled out the sunscreen, George took off his shirt. He did like to swim.

‘Woah!’ Fiona exclaimed and grabbed George’s arm. ‘Where’d you get that?’

George had at least two cuts on his body at all times – it was either the dog or the hedges, or … something – but this one seemed deeper. More vicious.

“It’s going to leave a scar,” she said, waiting for the answer to her question.

But George did not reply. Instead, he pulled his arm away and began to walk toward the water.

No matter how annoyed with George Fiona was at times, she still cared about him. “Wait, put on some sunscreen!” she called out to him, but he only waved his hand.

‘Don’t need it,’ the gesture meant and off he went into the ocean.

She had not been at the beach for more than 10 minutes and she was already getting frustrated. A part of her wanted to grab the bag and the blanket and leave, but another part of her needed the blue-green color of the ocean and the hypnotizing sound of waves coming ashore to soothe her. So, she took another deep breath to center herself and pulled out a book. It was one of those that she hid when George would come around – a Harlequin with loads of nicely sculpted, naked abs.

A smile crept onto Fiona’s face.

***

Due to personal circumstances, I was unable to finish this story on time for this post/ BBprompt challenge. I apologize if you feel cheated for just having a few lines to read, but I figured we could turn it into a bit of a collaboration. While I do know where this tale is going (I have the idea, I am just unable to flush out the details and write it all down at the moment), I am curious to see what YOU think happened next. So – if you are up for it – share the rest of the story with me in the comments. It can be a single line summarizing it all, or a couple, or a paragraph or two. It is up to you. While I will be busy in the coming days, I would love to be able to come here for a moment every now and then and see the story unfold through your eyes.

***

“Write a story inspired by the word ‘scar.'”
– prompt used for this CW piece.
[Source: BlogBattle]

***

P.S. As always, you are more than welcome to use this prompt to inspire your post. If you decide to write something, be sure to pingback to this post so that I can get an alert and check out your piece. (A post on how to do pingbacks can be found here.) If pingbacks are not your thing, feel free to simply leave a link to your piece in the comment section below. The more, the merrier!

Stay golden,

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***

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50 thoughts on “CW: To the core. (1/2)”

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  2. What happened next?….. When she pulled out the book a piece of paper fell out of the book. The smile on her face disappeared, replaced by what George would tease her for being a thinking face. While the book had the typical Harlequin cover, it was not Harlequin cover. Someone had done a swap job. A mystery, she loved mysteries.

    ~B

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  3. Well, I think… Fiona is responsible for the scar. She turns into a different person at night, attacking George in his sleep with a knife, trying to shape his abs into a six pack. She uses sleeping tablets so George is unaware of what’s happening, although he suspects. During the day she transforms back to the loving wife, but her desire to turn George into a muscle bound clod is making her more desperate and her endeavours with the knife are becoming more obvious…

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      1. Ah, it’s because you gave away two vital clues in this story. The first clue was in the prompt – the word scar, indicating an injury usually caused by a cut. The second clue was when Fiona was reading or perusing a book about naked sculpted abs. I just put two and two together to make six… a six pack! And knowing your penchant for clever twists and having just read an Agatha Christie novel, I just knew it was going to be Fiona who was responsible for those scars. I should have been a detective!

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  4. Goodness, I love that you left this story open for us to suggest possible ways to continue it. There are so many possibilities–but maybe I would suggest that Fiona hears George call out as she’s reading. She runs to find him splashing back to shore, shouting about a box buried in the seabed. Just as good at swimming as George, Fiona goes where directed and pulls it free. It has been ages since she has come across such an interesting discovery, and she becomes excited at the mystery of it. She opens the box and finds an intricate music box inside, with a Happy Birthday note just for her. George confesses that he made the music box himself and set up the whole stunt just for her. Something that would bring her running in pure excitement at his call. When he had secretly snuck off and put the box in place the day before, it turns out, he had cut himself on some barbed wire that had wound up in the water–something which he soon got rid of. Fiona remembers that he can quite romantic when he wants to be, and the two of them walk off together, with the Harlequin novel left forgotten on the beach.

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  5. Pingback: #BlogBattle Stories: Scar | BlogBattle

  7. An excellent beginning. I’m sorry you’re having troubles. I don’t think 2022 was the year we were looking for.
    I like the idea of physical manifestations of something that happens to George when he’s asleep. Maybe he travels to a different realm and fights the good fight/is a hero. Won’t Fiona be surprised when she discovers what she dreams of was with her but ignored (George leaves her in the end)?

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  8. A dark grey fin cuts the water, slicing the ocean in half. As it meanders, seeking, I imagine the cuts on George’s arm leaking pink into the salty water. I shake the thought and realize the villainous razor now steers right at George’s pathetic form. My book left flapping in the wind, I run to the wet sand screaming, screaming so loud I hurt my own ears. The deadly triangle slips below the surface. I pause my siren’s call. Did I dream the shark? Did I wish it there? George gives me a wave and I mechanically wave back. My wave becomes a beckoning, an urgent appeal to return to the shallows. I watch as he nods, his arms reaching out to stroke home. He nods again, his whole body bobbing below the deep green water. His hand thrashes once above the waves.

    A flock of gulls circle and dive out over the sea. The egg salad sandwiches have just the right about of relish and the tea is perfectly sweet. I brush the sand from the pages and return to Rachel and her struggle with Jason’s overt advances.

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  9. Maybe she is trying to “fix him” from self harm. Maybe the wounds she saw were healing and that’s why she smiled.

    But I obviously hope for a more twisted story where Fiona is a complete psychopath 😀

    On another note, could maybe do a CW on the topic of revenge (when you feel inspired)

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    1. That’s a different twist. How very gentle and kind (aside from the self-harm, of course).

      Fiona a psychopath? It seems like that’s the consensus!

      Revenge? Something that used to come very easy to me back in the day but something I gave up for the most part. It was like an addiction. I’ll keep it in mind for when I have a moment and wanna explore.

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  10. Dog or hedges….or the excuse used for hiding something different I wonder. His demeanour suggest hiding something perhaps… or he finds Fiona’s questions too intrusive and has started to avoid answering. Seems the general banter of closeness has turned into a bigger scar on their relationship here. Given you were unable to fully finish this time it’s a good starter Sam. Enough to create questions (false assumptions) on the interplay of these two people. It’s obvious there is a deep rift forming.

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  11. That challenge caught me completely off balance.
    Sorry that you’ve not been able to finish yourself, but congratulations for the clever challenge.
    ‘It was one of those that she hid when George would come around …’
    That has me thinking they are in a relationship of some sorts but also live separate lives, which is as far as I could go, because I am hopeless when it comes to writing any fiction that does not involve SF or Fantasy.
    Interesting to read all the suggestions.

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  13. Quite the interesting setup here – the fact George went into the water with a laceration did make me wonder if a shark would show up. And Fiona’s frustration shortly after getting to the beach made me wonder if she’d let Jaws have his meal. I’m also intrigued about the reason why George was not a fan of going anywhere ‘these days.’ Sounds like they had more fun together in the past…. And I still wonder how he got that laceration. Kudos for getting out something that tickles our imagination! I don’t really think Fiona will just sit back and watch George get eaten – your characters aren’t that passive. In fact, I’m not convinced she’s necessarily more dangerous than George … you do have a knack for twists and turns!

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