Morning all, I hope you had a fantastic weekend. My attempt to plant carrot seed has been momentarily thwarted by voles. They turned the back bed into a pockmarked surface and would no doubt destroy anything planted out there. But don’t worry, steps are being taken. This year there will be carrots. If everything else complies after the voles are dealt with. There is no real certainty in gardening. But I will still attempt carrots. For now, I’m going with a writing prompt. I am back on track with my schedule as I did a Saturday catch up so Let’s get going on the Monday Prompt.
This one was an odd one for me. It feels almost like I came into the middle of the story and need to start with the betrayal. Or at least figure out what it was so I can figure out the path he takes to deal with it. As with most of the fifteen minute prompts, the details are lacking as I try to get the idea down. I might have to think about this one a bit. It’ a bit different for me but could be fun to write.
Monday, April 12th: He abandoned his former beliefs.
He abandoned his former beliefs. The betrayal was too much for him to bear. He stepped away from everything he one believed in. It was such a harsh severing that he felt adrift. All that once tethered him to a place, a group, an identity was swept away.
He couldn’t go back.
He thought about it. He thought about finding another group with similar beliefs instead of rejoining the old one, just for a place to belong. Every time he tried that ache of the betrayal would start. He would find himself looking at the new group and wondering how long it would take before they would betray him too.
In the end he stayed away.
Still the feelings of being cut off, isolated, remained and try as he could, he wasn’t able to shake the need to belong somewhere. He began looking around, paying attention to more than the narrow strip of the world where he was accustomed to walking. He found it a much varied place than he expected.
Always he was told others were not to be trusted, were not to be believed. They were not like us and therefore held no value. Now, still reeling from the betrayal of those he trusted, he cautiously approached the others.
They were alien at first and some, if he was honest, were like those about whom he was repeatedly warned. Those he learned to identify quickly and avoid, as he avoided those he grew up with. They were however, in the minority. As he looked around he found many people were simply people. Some good, some bad, some he shared little in common with. To his surprise he found many like him, those who had been betrayed in one form or another by that which they held dear. He found it surprising that they too came from many walks of life.
The betrayers, it seemed, were everywhere.
It was something he thought about in the night. He lay down to sleep, ignoring a life time of pre-bed ritual and feeling the habits twitching within him and making him feel as though he had forgotten something vital. He thought about the betrayal of both himself and the others he was coming to know.
While the closeness with others was filling a gap, he found the gnawing of the emptiness where his beliefs once lay remaining. For the most part it was a quiet emptiness. He could ignore it as he went throughout his day. It was only at night when there were no distractions, that the emptiness troubled him.
Ten til Midnight 