March Writing Prompts

March 13, 2023

Prompt: Write a story that begins with the sound of thunder.

A bright, quick flash of light was followed quickly by the rumbling of their motorhome. It had been months since they were home and it now looked like there may still be months ahead. The storms had taken the coast by force and were merciful to no one.

THE END DAYS ARE HERE! Shouted each and every single radio station that was still up and running.

"Are they ever going to give that up?" Beau sighed, "I mean, the last thing I'm thinking about right now is a fairy god who clearly hates every person he created if he keeps putting them through this shit."

The smack that Marlene laid into his shoulder rivaled the thunder in sound. "Don't you talk about Him like that! You know better."

All Beau could do was groan. He knew better than to say stuff like that about God around her, but he couldn't help it. The two didn't grow up in similar households, Beau's being much more tragic whereas Marlene's was pristine in most areas. Her parents had always told her to thank God and look to Him when things went wrong.

Beau often got the short end of the stick in life and Marlene was his saving grace, not God. 

"I'm sorry, hun. I just don't get it. We haven't moved an inch down the interstate in weeks. The kids can't call. We don't even know where they are! How could a wonderful, powerful, all-loving God do something like this to us?" he begged. It didn't make sense to him. If it was true that he'd call all his true followers home in the end days, why was she still here?

Her hands rest on her face as she rubbed her eyes with the tips of her fingers. Living in a motorhome and not being able to leave for such a long period of time had done a number on their relationship. The things Beau said on this trip made Marlene wonder how they could possibly ever go back to normal when they returned home.

Behind her eyelids danced a kaleidoscope of colors from the pressure she'd put into them. "I don't know. There is always a plan though. He always has a plan and I just trust that. Why can't you let me trust that?"

A familiar sigh left his mouth. This conversation had happened too many times and he knew the toll it was taking on their relationship. Never would he have thought before that God would be the man that could take his wife from him.

"I do trust you. I'm just scared and I didn't get the comfort of growing up in that like you did," he started. "I've never felt that love and warmth you talk about. I've never seen the things you see. It's like we walk two different lives in two different worlds. Don't you see that?"

Inside her mouth, the flesh of her cheeks had gone raw from chewing. She'd tried over and over again to bite her tongue with the things he said. Marlene thought hard, but each thought was disrupted when her body lit up like a candle in the middle of the night.

"Beau?" She called out nervously, "What is going on?"

Her image stunned him into a statue. His wife sat in front of him lit up like a lightbulb. There was nothing on earth he'd ever seen like this. It was gradual but quick. How did he not notice it happening?

His hand shot forward to hold hers. It was a mist of air, "Oh shit." He stuttered. There was nothing there for him to grab. "What's going on? Are you okay? Do you feel alright?"

As he continued trying to get a hold of her hand, he watched her back straighten and her breathing steady. The anxiety was falling off her in loads. His hand fell back to his lap as he stared in awe of her.

"I feel... incredible. There isn't an ache in my body, Beau," she grinned, eyes traveling all over her body. All the blemishes had faded away now too. She was a picture-perfect version of herself.

Before he could ask another question, he watched as her head looked up as though she was listening to something. Her nod confirmed just what he had worried about in that moment.

"He's calling us home," Marlene placated. Her eyes watched over Beau as she noticed that his body was not going through the same transformation as hers did, but no sadness entered her spirits. All she could do was try her best to console him as he noticed himself, "I love you, hun. I always have and I always will."

Beau was looking over his own hands, praying in that moment that God would take him too. This life wouldn't make sense without Marlene and he was sure his kids would go with her. What was he supposed to do without them? Live here on earth for eternity? Was everything they'd ever said true? How could a God look at someone like Beau and damn him to this world without the only people he'd ever loved? 

When he looked up, pulling himself from his thoughts, all that sat in front of him was an empty seat. Her ethereal body had dissipated and flown to heaven to be with the rest of them. Now, all that was left was Beau.

His eyes burned as he stared at the cushion that still had an indent of her behind pushed into it. The last place her earthly body touched, the last piece he had of her presence. Tears burst through like a floodgate bombed down. He was alone, more alone than he'd ever been.

Fists slamming into the floor of the motorhome, he nearly cracked the tiles. The amount of emotions he felt at that moment was overwhelming. He'd been damned to earth, lost his family, and left alone in a natural disaster, but still, he couldn't help but also feel an ounce of guilt. Marlene deserved that ticket to heaven more than anyone he'd ever met.

Beau laid his forehead down on his fists that finally gave the floor tiles a rest. "I'm sorry," he whispered, to who he wasn't sure, "I'm sorry." His soul had shattered and he was left with nothing but his memories.

Until he felt a surge push through his being. The pain numbed, the tears dried, his muscles relaxed. In seconds, Beau was up on his feet again looking at each section of his body. 

It was lit like a Christmas tree.

The booming voice finally called down to him from above, "Come on home, Son."