Imagine: A Writing Contest {Closed}

《 When they'd Gone Astray 》

A Short Story Written by Minnies_Mace

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I sprinted for my life, Bee following suit. 

She was quite quick on her feet, but I was more agile and was able to lose them by hopping logs and squeezing between trees. Me being as small as I was, I was surprised I'd been able to outrun her. 

My root beer hair fluttered behind me until I finally came to a stop. 

"Good game" 

"You too" Bee gasped, nearly out of breath. 

We knew it was forbidden for us to see one another. After all, Bee had been born a girl, and I, a boy. Although we were both trans and it should've been perfectly legal, nobody had accepted us. Not after the war. And so we spend our days running through the rubble of what had once been a magical city filled with hopes, dreams, nymphs, faeries, goblins, dragons, perytons, jackalopes, kelpies, and more. 

Each and every creature had lived in harmony. The only reason the war had started in the first place was the corrupt government, who didn't even obey their own laws. It, as expected, led to rebellion. Now it's every man for himself, and every man actively against another for any and every reason they could conjure up in their head. With this, I've sworn to never be like them. I will keep Bee safe. She's mine. Nobody will touch her if I can help it. They've seen too much pain already. 

After pulling myself from my train of thoughts, I glanced around, quickly growing worried. 

"Bee?" 

"BOO!" She screamed. 

I jumped, startled. 

"I thought I'd lost you!" I scolded.

"Oh- I'm sorry I didn't mean to make you worry!" she yelped. 

I felt a pang of regret. I shouldn't yell. I leaned in and hugged her tight before planting a small kiss on their cheek. She giggled and I knew it'd be alright.

Soon after we decided to raid a local gas station, and the torn up roads and sidewalks we saw on the way were littered with corpses of the once-magical beings that would no longer be there to help us. The war had ended not long ago, and so occasionally we'd been able to hit up a new place. We stepped foot inside and grabbed what we'd wanted. I got my usual; a small bag of Cheetos and an iced tea. Bee ran to the cooler and grabbed a pink energy drink and some taquitos. They'd only recently taken a liking to those drinks, although I suspect it's only because of the textured cans and pretty colours. 

"You realize those taquitos are probably bad by now Love, it may be best to grab something else to go with it" I advised. 

"Okay. Wait... what did you call me?" 

"Love?" Bee seemed to smile at this. 

I love her smile. She was insecure about it, but it means their happiness, which is all I need. As we exited the small building I saw a light in the distance. 

"Run" I ordered. 

"What? But.. WAIT! COME BACK" they yelled after me. 

"PICK UP THE PACE BEE LET'S GO". I ran, glancing behind me every so often to make sure they kept up. 

It was during one of these moments of checking up on them that I was caught. Thankfully she'd fallen behind. 

"BEE RUN! I'LL SEE YOU SOON! STAY SAFE". 

It was all I could manage to gasp out before my speech was rudely interrupted by a patch of duct tape. I hoped they'd not be coming after me, though I knew they would eventually. As I was dragged through the helicopter doors, I took solemn comfort in knowing Bee was safe, at least for the time being. 

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Sunny here, did you like that story? I did. If you think it was the best out of all the other stories, pm me and vote for "When they'd Done Astray".