Creative Writing Experiments (Week 2)

Microfiction

As we walked, winter continued to steal away the light and burn through our time. Occasionally a brisk wind walked with us. While the lake was romantic- with its still water, straining light and focused joggers, the walk back home wound through a private path known only to the locals and used most frequently by us. Secluded within a forest, the trees had paved the way and now patiently stood by. Between their branches, we could see glimpses of a grey and darkening sky above and, ahead of us, the path was lost under the horizon. I laughed and pressed myself closer to him. He staggered under my weight and ploughed us through a puddle of leaves. For a moment, a flurry of gold and copper rained around us.

If this was a movie, he would have moved in for the kiss.

 But the opportunity was missed. While I stopped to admire the dead, floating leaves, he spun me around, detangling himself from my grip and flashed that infamous smile. He leaned in, quite far considering our heights, and tickled my ear with his breath. It spiralled like smoke in the cold. Dragon’s breath we used to call it when we were younger. When we would pretend to roar steam out into the frozen air.

 “Race you”

His childish laugh lingered after he was gone, tearing down the path. Too far for me to ever catch up. I could only smile and shake my head. What else could I have expected? I continued the path alone but it felt a little darker. The end was close, marked by the flutter of blue and white between the leaves. The familiar remnant of police tape flapped in the wind, unable to untangle itself from the tree. I shivered and pulled my coat tighter, and followed the tapes directions back towards home. Without a hand to hold, my fingers wrapped around my phone for reassurance. The path was ours, but that didn’t mean it was safe. Not at night. I walked the rest of the track alone.