Welcome to fiarra drabbles!

I actually hadn't ever poked around in the lit forums and am happy to have found this little section. I've never participated in any theme list games, and I actually don't intend to start now.

So then what do I intend to do here?

Well... over on LiveJournal there is a community called 15minuteficlets. The object of the game is that you are given a word. A word that you are unaware of until that time. Once you know the word, you get 15 minutes to turn that word into a short story. The community is now defunct, but its archives remain. My goal is to evetually write a ficlet/drabble for each word ever posted.

I have a couple already written that I will post following this intro one. I will include the word I am basing my story off of as well.

Each entry will actually probably be slightly longer than what most people would consider a true drabble because of the length of time given, as opposed to a word limit. But they aren't long enough to count as a true story, so this seemed like the most appropriate place for them.

Comments are certainly welcome. I love hearing what people have to say about my writing.

Word #: ?
Word: Hold

He'd been hesitating for weeks, turning the situation over in his mind trying to make sense of the background emotions. He'd been friends with her for a while now, but lately it had been slightly different. She'd been too busy to really hang out with him, too wrapped up into her own world. But somehow... it seemed like she was slowly letting him in.

And now he was sitting in his room, waiting for her to call him. They'd made plans to hang out and watch some movies, but for some reason it made him nervous. A knock on the door interrupted his thoughts.
He smiled as the door opened slowly and she peeked around the corner, smiling.

'Hi!' She walked in, shutting the door behind her and sprawled onto the chair next to him. 'It's been a long day,' she announced.

Smiling simpathetically, he offered to let her pick something to watch. After several long moments of thought, he opened up the video and they sat to watch.

Partway through, he felt her shift on the chair next to him, leaning over to rest her head on his shoulder. Almost without thinking, he reached up to put his arm around her shoulders. But when she settled against him, he stopped himself from backing off like he'd intended.

When they were done, he reluctantly let her go so he could turn the lights back on. They sat in silence looking at each other for a while. He wasn't sure of what to say and part of him didn't want to break the comfortable silence that had enveloped the room.

After a few moments, with a small smile, she reached out to grab one of his hands. Sliding closer, she put it back around her shoulders and sighed against him. Looking down, he saw her content smile and something inside him straightened out.

Closing his eyes and leaning back in his chair, he wrapped his arms around her and held her in silence. If he hadn't been sure before, we was now. She'd let him into her world, and all that was left for him to do was hold her and keep her safe. He was content with that...

(I don't remember which word # in the archives this was. Maybe someday I will find it again)
Comments welcome!

I managed to locate the first ficlet I ever wrote. It was in April of 2004!

Word #: ?
Word: Deeper

She sat in front of the aquarium, watching as the brightly colored fish swam in circles. Through the water’s ripples she could see the other kids wavering in and out of focus.But mostly she watched the fish. They looked so pretty. She wished she could be there. When she let her eyes unfocus, she could almost pretend it was her in the water, swimming in circles under the gaze of the other kids. It came as a jolt when her teacher touched her shoulder to leave. And as they left, she cast one last desperate glance at the tank, hoping to hold on to that last vision of the fish swimming.
~~~~~~~~~~
She stood near the pool in her pink bathing suit, watching the ripples spread outward where the wind ghosted across the surface. It was chilly out and the area was deserted. Slowly, she walked to the pool edge and looked out across the water to the house, where inside her mother was watching soaps on TV and her father was sleeping. Clutched in her hand was a small plush dog. The only one she had ever had in her life. And with one last glance, she let herself drop in.

The water was cold, sending goosebumps to cover her arms and legs. With a final squeeze of the plushie, she ducked her head under, striking out for the pool bottom. Feet kicking desperately, she could feel her ears starting to complain of the pressure, lungs screaming for air. Any air.

The fish from the aquarium swam in circles in her mind. The filter hazed in and out of water-fogged eyes. She knew it. She was almost there. It would only take a while. A second.

She had nearly reached the bottom when she let out a gasp of desperation. And in her mind, the fish were there. Swimming. Always swimming.

They found her the next day. Little plush dog clutched in cold little hands...

[Comments welcome!]