The States

Prompted

1) A crumpled dollar bill, a perfectly tuned violin, a shop window

Timothy rests his violin against his shoulder, lifting the bow to the strings.

When the first sharp, crisp notes shatter into the world, people stop walking to listen.

They stop to look at the boy sitting on the sidewalk in front of a thrift store window, playing classical music his eyes closed.

When Timothy opens his eyes at the end of the song, his violin case has been half-filled with crumpled dollar bills and loose change.

2) Tiles, clacking of high heels, herbal tea

Elizabeth's heels click sharply on the tile floors of the Federal Bureau of Investigation as she walks to her office.

She slumps into her desk chair with a sigh, reaching for the thermos of herbal tea left on her desk.

She takes a sip, sits up straight, and goes back to her case files.

3) Pamphlets, an old door, a blue hat

Charlie hands out Save the Earth! pamphlets in the middle of Portland, nose red from the cold.

She pulls her blue toboggan down a little further.

When a clock chimes four, Charlie sticks her pamphlets in a pocket of her backpack and heads home.

She unlocks her door, shoves it a little to get it open- it's an old door, and it sticks in the winter.

4) Marigolds, triplets, a mischievous twinkle in a bright eye

Mexican marigolds bloom around the three children that lay sprawled in the grass.

When Calypso sits up, her eyes sparkle with mischief as she looks at her brothers.

"Still have those fireworks?"

5) Nail polish, silver rings, boots made for jumping in puddles

They are fresh from a concert, and Sam thinks Brooke has lost her goddamned mind.

The combat boots Brooke wears are a waterproof military-issue. That doesn't mean she should be jumping into puddles.

Brooke turns, black hair plastered to her face by the rain, clothes damp. Brooke's nail polish is chipped on the hand she holds out to Sam. Streetlights glint off the rings on her fingers.

Sam shrugs, and steps off the pavement.

6) Roots, a haunting love song, a stolen kiss

Addison sings the words to a love song on the radio as she cooks, Caleb's arms wrapped tight around her waist and his face buried in her shoulder.

She slices the roots of the parsnips off, neatly dicing them up.

She stops when Caleb grabs her wrist.

Notices how close she was to cutting herself.

Caleb kisses her cheek. "Careful, cher."

7) Fireworks, the lake after dark, shoelaces

It's the Fourth of July, and Cordelia and Michael have declared a temporary truce to watch the fireworks exploding in the night sky above Lake Erie.

(And yes, perhaps Cass and Indy had guilt-tripped them so that they could have one day where Cordelia and Michael didn't fight.)

Perhaps it works a little too well, because a few beers into the night, Cordelia is leaning her head against Michael's shoulder and Michael is wrapping an arm around her shoulders.

(Cass and Indy laugh when they both fall asleep on the beach blanket. Laugh, and then preceded to knot their shoelaces together into a convoluted mess.)

8) French pastries, a blue suit, a record player

Evangeline cooks when she's stressed.

So after the train wreck of a meeting when the mess that was her current economy was picked apart, she busies herself making croissants and macarons.

She doesn't even care that she's getting flour all over her smart navy-blue pants suit.

Evangeline just sings along with Louis Armstrong as his songs play on her old record player and cooks.

9) Cinnamon, a welcome sign, a well worn leather jacket

Nathaniel has a sweet tooth that's almost unparalleled.

Really, most of siblings could never picture him working in a bakery.

But he does. He clocks in, trades his beat-up aviator jacket for a white apron.

He loves the smell of cinnamon and sugar and freshly-baked pastries.

He loves the welcome sign on the door and the chime of the bell when someone walks in.

10) Interlocked hands, snow angels, a deck of cards

As the youngest of states, Lani and Sasha are also allies.

They walked into middle school with interlocked hands. They made snow angels together. They tag-teamed Nicky in UNO until it was certain one or the other would win.

They are allies and they are friends.

AUTHORS NOTES

•Written for a writing prompt challenge thing.

•#7 was written for my fellow MI/OH shipper ; )

•And for my fellow California fan: An excerpt from California-centric chapter:

Lora cradles baby Utah in her arms and Cal almost screams at the frustration of it- that her mother should ignore her and hold Utah.

Texas scowls, until he catches her eyes.

Guess she's still mad about those rebellions. He mouths.

Cal laughs.

————Can't promise it'll be done anytime soon, but I'm working on it.