“Truly Terrified”

Author’s Note: This is a Take Ten to Write story and has not been proofread for errors. If I feel inspired or if there’s interest in the story, I’ll post a revised, edited, and extended version at a later date. Happy reading!

“I’m sorry,” she whispers. “You were never supposed to find out this way.”

I scoff. “It seems to me like I was never supposed to find out at all.” In an instant, my confusion turns to rage. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

She meets my eyes with characteristic harsh defiance. “I don’t have to explain myself to you.”

“Um, yes, you do. You’ve kept this a secret from me for what, three years now? And you think that ‘I’m sorry’ will cut it? Oh, no, you’re giving me the full explanation. Right now.”

Her glare intensifies to the point that ninety-nine percent of me wants to run away with my tail tucked between my legs before yelling to ask her forgiveness from a safe distance away. But that one percent holds me steady. That one percent makes me lift my chin and narrow my eyes at her. I’m also pretty sure that one percent literally freezes my body to prevent me from running away, but hey, whatever works, right?

Finally, she sighs. “Okay,” she murmurs, dropping her head. “You’re right; you do deserve an explanation. I’m just…” She takes a deep breath before whispering, “I’m… scared… I think. I’m scared that you’ll hate me because of this.” Slowly, she looks up at me again and I can see that it’s true; she’s truly terrified.

Never, in all my years of knowing her, have I ever seen her scared. In fact, I’ve pretty much convinced myself by this point that she just isn’t scared of anything. But seeing her like this, I know that that’s not true. She’s scared. Terrified, really. But why?

Final Comments: Another non-high fantasy piece! I found it a bit difficult to figure out exactly where I wanted the story to go even though I knew what my characters’ personalities were going to be. Strangely, in my actual novel, I’m currently working on trying to insert more personality into my characters!

Overall Rating: 🤐