100 Words a Day 336

The soldier ducked as I swung. My sword slipped from my bloody, sweaty hands and sailed into the swirling melee. My opponent smiled, his teeth a sharp white against the earthen grime and blood that covered us all. Eager to press his advantage, the man rushed me, ax raised to deliver a crushing blow to my skull and spill my brains. I met the rough haft of his ax with crossed forearms. He thrust his spike-plated knee at my groin, but I bumped it away with my own knee, and then proceeded to shatter his ankle with my heavy boot.

100 Words a Day 335

The soft breeze announced her coming, carrying the myriad of strange scents that hung around her into my chamber. She entered without announcement, as was her right.

I turned away from the map I had been studying in time to see her arms, sinuous and smooth like two snakes, stretch towards me eagerly. I felt her flesh, cool and sensuous, encircle my neck. She gently pulled me towards her enticing smile.

I wrapped her up in my own arms and embraced her greedily. It wasn’t until I tasted the serpent’s poison on her lips that I realized what was happening.

100 Words a Day 334

“There was an audible crack as my ax entered his skull. I hardly noticed the jarring that occurs when your blade enters a man’s skull, having split so many skulls and, at the time, being fortunate enough to be possessed of an ax of exceptional quality. Unfortunately, my ax became lodged in the man’s head. I delivered a thrust kick to his companion with my heavy boot before planting it on the dying man’s chest. I freed it with a grunt, receiving a spattering of brains for my trouble, and turned my attention to the man’s companion who was recovering.”

100 Words a Day 333

Turning away from Joaniffer, who lay naked in his bed, under the silk sheets, disheveled from that morning’s romp, Preston put his hands on the alabaster rail of the balcony and took in the sparkling ocean view. The blue water sparkled in the morning light and the air was crisp. He inhaled deeply, smiling as the cool, salty air filled his lungs. When he couldn’t take any more air in, he exhaled loudly, feeling his muscles relax. The sun warmed his body where it wasn’t covered by his robe and he said to himself:

“Man, it’s good to be rich.”

100 Words a Day 332

They sat on the couch. He took comfort in her silent presence. She put a comforting arm around his shoulder; he reached up and took her hand.

“You know, when I was her age, she once told me she didn’t know what was wrong with me. I was twenty three and living at home and I should have a job. I was in school full time at least.”

He swallowed before continuing, “I’m happy she’s realized that things don’t always turn out the way you think they will, but I wish it hadn’t taken this to teach it to her.”

100 Words a Day 331

The two adolescents fumbled on each other in the dark. She, because she had never undone a belt from the front, and he because he had never even seen a bra strap. After a few false starts, they managed to undress each other with trembling hands and red faces, blessedly hidden by the darkness.

The pair was a frantic tangle of limbs when the boy began searching for his pants pocket. Finding it, he extracted the smooth wrapper and began struggling to open it. Eventually, the girl took the wrapper from his sweaty hands and tried to open it herself.

100 Words a Day 330

People often describe the dance floor as a sea of bodies. It would have to be the choppiest sea ever. As Sara looked down from the balcony, she thought the people undulated far too much to be compared to the sea. They were more like a writhing pit of snakes, intercoiling with each other in a frenzied search for the warmth of another body.

Once in a while, a mouse, innocent and wide-eyed, would wander onto the dance floor and be immediately swarmed by the serpentine mass of flesh. If they were lucky, they escaped with a few bite marks.