Short Stories

Week 2

Prompt
Write a passage in which there is a foreground and background narrative, both of which have their own conflict. Think of the way you might use a symbolic thing or image to draw out that layered resonance between the foreground and background narratives.

***

People in line are tapping their feet and swaying to the music spilling from inside. We shuffle forward, two people at a time. My three best friends talk excitedly, their deep voices working to simultaneously ground me to this moment but send my anxiety into a spin. Our ID's go in. We smile at the camera. Stamps are pressed to the inside of our wrists, designating us as a legal age to drink. We shuffle inside.

Inside the air is thick with sweat, booze, and smoke. I stamp down a surge of fear. Not tonight. Smiling at my friends we walk to the bar, sticky with spilt drinks, we lean on it, yelling at one another to be heard over the DJ.

My eyes skip around the room, taking in the drunk people, the drunk men. Tonight is different. I tell myself. Have fun for once. I mentally take note of the exits; one directly behind me, another behind and to the far end of the wall. Both lead to the courtyard, a manoeuvre through tables to the gate and I'd be free. Not tonight. Make him think he didn't break you.

We struggle past strangers to a table. The birthday boy informs us of the location of the rest of the party members. He is on the other side of this wall, in the courtyard. Breathe. I sit as far as possible from the wall, the boys I arrived with taking up seats next to and around me, their presence giving me strength and safety. He can't do anything here, you're safe.

My drinks go down smoothly, slowly my hands begin to stop shaking and I feel safe enough to go to the bar alone. They're watching me.

"He is telling everyone you'll come crawling back." The voice is familiar, the sentence shooting my heart from my chest with the intensity of its beats. Breathe. You're safe. No more crying. No more pain.

"He's wrong." My voice is steady, a smile tweaking the edges of my lips. Tonight, I begin to heal. "I'm never going back."