Flash Fiction Challenge #5 via LitStack

Thank you to Tee Tate at LitStack for posting this Flash Fiction Challenge. We were charged with writing 500 words or fewer on the following picture. Enjoy.

Waiting 

A solitary chill steals up my spine as I look spitefully at the pond. Fate had dealt me yet another staggering blow. The Oracle told of a handsome prince to unlock me from my wretched curse of youth ever since my knight in shining armor stranded me at the altar. Left me sitting there in a pool of unspent love. Left me crying until I’d filled the pond with sorrow. 

Another prince had fallen for me. Handsome. Dashing. I sensed his broad shoulders beneath the gleaming armor. He appeared between the hedges, hair unrestrained. Wild. He looked into my eyes across the courtyard. He knew. Heat recognized heat. He saw that I was trapped. A woman in the form of a girl. Waiting for spring, to blossom. Waiting for the kiss to loose me from my chains.

But he was stupid like the rest. I warned him to take it slow. Warned him of the stairs. But his gaze would not budge from my eyes, as the curse had been set. He stumbled on the stairs and fell to his unguarded demise. I could not save him. And his shining armor betrayed him.

So here I sit, still waiting for my prince charming. Still waiting.

First Campaigner Challenge- 4th Platform Building Campaign

The time has come for my First Campaigner Challenge, woot!!! The Challenge is:

Write a short story/flash fiction story in 200 words or less, excluding the title. It can be in any format, including a poem. Begin the story with the words, “Shadows crept across the wall”. These five words will be included in the word count. 

If you want to give yourself an added challenge (optional), do one or more of these:

• end the story with the words: "everything faded." (also included in the word count)

• include the word "orange" in the story

• write in the same genre you normally write

• make your story 200 words exactly!

So, here's my entry...

Shadows crept across the wall of the bathhouse. Steam whispered stories of heroes past. Of sandals and swordfights. Of battles waged and lives lost. Doubt crept in. The warrior I was to face had ended the careers of gladiators far greater than me. His record was pristine. It had to be, for a single blemish meant death. No standing gladiator had any losses. Losers were escorted to Hades on a one-way chariot ride.

I leaned my head back against the marble cradle, allowing the steam to open my pores. But the shadows continued to creep. They slid up my sides, encircling my neck, strangling me. Goosebumps rose on my arms. I couldn’t breathe. Horrific images flashed into my mind. And then everything faded.