attackfish (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
attackfish) wrote2011-03-25 08:43 pm
attackfish) wrote2011-03-25 08:43 pm
Entry tags:
650 word drabble: Pigs Fly
Written for the ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
atlaland team contest, for the "Worth a Thousand Words" challenge. I had to pick a piece of fanart and write a fic using it as my prompt. The art I picked can be found here.
Summary: The hero returns.
Pigs Fly
She ground her toes into the stone slabs outside the family house. The rocks bent and buckled under her feet and her hands clenched as she bent them smooth again and sealed the cracks. She could hear (feel, see) feet pounding the floor just beyond the door, running to open it for her. She yanked the doors apart so hard they banged into the walls to either side.
“Hold my hand.”
“But-”
Her father held up his hand and cut her off. “That was the deal. If you want to stay outside, you have to hold my hand.”
She gritted her teeth and put her hand in his.
“I just want to keep you safe, Toph.”
Toph put her other hand on the footbridge railing and felt the water parting around the stepping stones below, and wondered what it would be like to jump across them.
The servant rushed forward, then stopped, mouth hanging open as she took in the sight of Toph in her muddy traveling clothes. Toph forced a grin, put her hands on her hips, and kept moving. She didn’t even realize where she was going until she stood in front of the door to her mother’s sunroom.
There was a bronze plaque bolted to the wall next to the door, with the family crest in deep inset relief. Her mom’s arms wrapped around her and picked her up so that she could run her fingers over the picture and feel the hard lines in the cool metal and wonder what it looked like.
She rested her hand on the wall and pushed her hair and the dust out of her face. The plaster wall vibrated with her breaths and the figure in the bronze showed up in her mind’s eye. There were words next to it, cut into the metal in sharp, straight lines, but she didn’t know what they said. No one ever told her.
The door slid open under her hand and the crept in. For a moment, she swore she could feel the silk swinging around her legs and the silk wrapped around her feet.
“They’re just slippers, Toph!”
“Yeah? So if they aren’t a big deal, why are you making me wear them?”
“Why do you have to make everything into a fight?”
She swallowed and sat down in the sunlight. The marble was slick under her, and flecks of the the mud dried on her clothes drifted down onto it. She didn’t know what she was doing there. She wanted to run to her room and fling herself down onto her bed, and forget all about talking to her parents ever again.
The moments ticked by. A line of sweat dribbled down her neck. Outside the door, her mother’s slippers hissed against the floor, and the servants drew the door open. Toph let her head come up like she was looking at her mother’s face.
Her mother ran forward and dragged her up into her arms. “Toph!”
“Of course it doesn’t change the way I feel about you, Toph. It’s made me realize something.”
Hope rose up in her chest as she turned to her father. “It has?”
“Yes,” he began. “I’ve let you have far too much freedom. From now on, you will be cared for and guarded twenty-four hours a day.”
Her hands clenched into fists and her brain wouldn’t let her hear those words. “But dad!”
Her mother looked down at her pityingly. “We are doing this for your own good, Toph.”
Her mother pressed her tight against her chest, and Toph inhaled the scent of her hair oil. “We were so worried!”
Toph wanted to cry. She wanted to run. She... couldn’t stay, and she was so stupid to come.
“We were so scared that you were going to die- Everybody says you’re a hero now. Oh Toph.”
Toph let the words in and shrugged. “I’m okay.”
atlaland team contest, for the "Worth a Thousand Words" challenge. I had to pick a piece of fanart and write a fic using it as my prompt. The art I picked can be found here.Summary: The hero returns.
Pigs Fly
She ground her toes into the stone slabs outside the family house. The rocks bent and buckled under her feet and her hands clenched as she bent them smooth again and sealed the cracks. She could hear (feel, see) feet pounding the floor just beyond the door, running to open it for her. She yanked the doors apart so hard they banged into the walls to either side.
“Hold my hand.”
“But-”
Her father held up his hand and cut her off. “That was the deal. If you want to stay outside, you have to hold my hand.”
She gritted her teeth and put her hand in his.
“I just want to keep you safe, Toph.”
Toph put her other hand on the footbridge railing and felt the water parting around the stepping stones below, and wondered what it would be like to jump across them.
The servant rushed forward, then stopped, mouth hanging open as she took in the sight of Toph in her muddy traveling clothes. Toph forced a grin, put her hands on her hips, and kept moving. She didn’t even realize where she was going until she stood in front of the door to her mother’s sunroom.
There was a bronze plaque bolted to the wall next to the door, with the family crest in deep inset relief. Her mom’s arms wrapped around her and picked her up so that she could run her fingers over the picture and feel the hard lines in the cool metal and wonder what it looked like.
She rested her hand on the wall and pushed her hair and the dust out of her face. The plaster wall vibrated with her breaths and the figure in the bronze showed up in her mind’s eye. There were words next to it, cut into the metal in sharp, straight lines, but she didn’t know what they said. No one ever told her.
The door slid open under her hand and the crept in. For a moment, she swore she could feel the silk swinging around her legs and the silk wrapped around her feet.
“They’re just slippers, Toph!”
“Yeah? So if they aren’t a big deal, why are you making me wear them?”
“Why do you have to make everything into a fight?”
She swallowed and sat down in the sunlight. The marble was slick under her, and flecks of the the mud dried on her clothes drifted down onto it. She didn’t know what she was doing there. She wanted to run to her room and fling herself down onto her bed, and forget all about talking to her parents ever again.
The moments ticked by. A line of sweat dribbled down her neck. Outside the door, her mother’s slippers hissed against the floor, and the servants drew the door open. Toph let her head come up like she was looking at her mother’s face.
Her mother ran forward and dragged her up into her arms. “Toph!”
“Of course it doesn’t change the way I feel about you, Toph. It’s made me realize something.”
Hope rose up in her chest as she turned to her father. “It has?”
“Yes,” he began. “I’ve let you have far too much freedom. From now on, you will be cared for and guarded twenty-four hours a day.”
Her hands clenched into fists and her brain wouldn’t let her hear those words. “But dad!”
Her mother looked down at her pityingly. “We are doing this for your own good, Toph.”
Her mother pressed her tight against her chest, and Toph inhaled the scent of her hair oil. “We were so worried!”
Toph wanted to cry. She wanted to run. She... couldn’t stay, and she was so stupid to come.
“We were so scared that you were going to die- Everybody says you’re a hero now. Oh Toph.”
Toph let the words in and shrugged. “I’m okay.”