Short Stories + Contest Entries

Chained Gates

Another random short story! Please sit back and enjoy :)

She lies there, mocking us all. Jailed in and confined, yet still as water. It has taken me all I've got to meet her, even if her eyes are shut, being with her more than an honor. The fearful numbness in my body halts, and the door behind me locks.

"Enjoy your time. If she doesn't kill you first." A grumble from the other side announces.

Great encouragement, comrade!

The room is just like others have described it, a circular grey cloud, with layers of locked gates and bars. A cell it may seem, except you're the one caged in. Fresh metal stings my nose hairs, and I cautiously make my first step towards the first gate, towards her. 

Some of the stories told have been quite bizarre. One man claimed he almost suffocated to death, another spoke of being thrown across the room, and one even said they managed to unlock one of the locks, to then being ripped from her clearance.

The path to her heart is no game. She doesn't come cheap. She is not cheap. This woman is a person, there is no cost.

One man I know named Bonard, who's filthy rich, gave her piles of money, and seduced her with his sick thoughts and pervertedness. When he held the chilling bars, she electrocuted him, and sent him on his way.

Bonard never went back. Then again, why would you when her decision already made? If you weren't who she was looking for, then you were out. Simple as that.

Other wealthy men grant her food, fancy clothes, and offers of a house and a wonderful life, but she dismisses them just the same. 

I've had to prove myself worthy to be here like the rest, but money does not come easy for me. I'm no prince, no duke's son. I'm just a man, and that is all I have to offer. These years have past, and not one of the men who've come to visit have met her standards, and yet it leaves her helpless, I assume. Men travelling far, to then leave the both disappointed in the end. The men wish she loved them, and she wishes they were her other half. If only all men knew money can't buy happiness.

My eyes rest on her lifeless body, and the concern for the woman injects into my blood. The image I've heard from others don't begin to compare how radiant her beauty glows. Most don't earn the privilege to see her up close. Many aren't given the chance. From my naked vision, her grace is far more than any being I've ever seen in all my life. Looking at her lengthy, ink hair, and pastel skin covered in a consuming lilac dress sprouting around her body brings my yearning to an acceleration.

My left leg moves, and I freeze waiting for a dash of lightning or a magical force field to scorn me away like the rest.

Nothing but silence.

Do I say something to her?

"H-hello, ma'am." The hairs on my neck stand, and I bit my lip.

"My name is Enoch. The people who have come before call you Hadraniel because of how well you guard your heart."

I boldly step again, lighter this time.

"But I praise you for not being easy to win, though you are no prize. This is the only way to be sure it's the truest love. "

I stop my speech for a moment, paranoia sneaking in the air. The courage in me prevails, wanting to know if there's a real connection. The tales about this lady enchante me with wonder and affection. Her vicious and wildness, the determination to find her heart's desire leaves me in ovation. The swirling vigorous colors of her alone sink in me, and itch for the answer, an answer we both want to know. Am I her match?