RABBIT IN THE MOON // writing dump

[hesitantexcitement]

So yeah, this is my writing dump.  I'm going to be posting random things just to jog my muse and maybe flesh out characters more.  You can track if you want, I guess.  Don't know if it'll be super interesting.

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[hesitantexcitement]

reserve for index

[crows]

Whips

[hesitantexcitement]

A light flickered overhead.  Piping tangled around the ceiling, the only surface not coated in cracking concrete.  The faded upholstery chair filled the vast empty space of the room, an end table and a gramophone its only companions.  She hummed along to the distant melody, waving a cigarette in hand, eyes closed.
"Don't you know smoking's bad for you?"  My voice echoed.  She barely looked up.
"Mother, I had no idea you'd be stopping by.  What a surprise!  Especially since you've been dead for five years and absent for twelve."  Dark eyes turned to me.
"I came to ask about a favor."  Acrid smoke slipped from amber lips.  She pressed her hand to her face, leaning on the arm of the chair.
"It's for a girl, isn't it?"
"I- iii..."  My throat ran dry.  She leaned back and crossed her legs, a smirk on her painted face.
"It's always a girl with you."  She laughed.  "Tell me.    Are you in love with her too?  Is her name Jenny?  Is she a baker?  Does she have a tattoo that you love to trace at night while you lie in bed together?    You know her for maybe, what, two more months?    Then it'll be Francine down the street, who collects bottle caps and has a bird?"  My eyes drifted the floor.  A dark stain was slowly flecking away as the concrete chipped layer by layer.    My hands fiddled with the buttons on my jacket.  "Niles always thought you were the romantic.  I don't see it."  The last sentence came out sharp.  Her voice was honey, but it stung like vinegar.
"It's different this time."  I tried, voice breaking as I did.  Magnolia's brown eyes were bright and burning.  A smile quirked on those lips.  The gramophone stuttered to a stop, the last note dying as she took another puff of nicotine.  The only sound left was the buzzing of fluorescent lights.  My face blanched into a papery, pale color.  The taste of bile, on my tongue.  I gritted my teeth, tired of swimming in this lake of inadequacy and stupidity she always had me plunging into.  "Look, can you help me, or not?"


As my feet made fast steps toward the twisted metal stairs, she spoke, voice softer, more gentle.
"Do you remember when I was your girl?"  My body went rigid.  Hesitantly, I turned toward her.  Though, her words were gentle and her face placid, her fiery eyes betrayed her, dancing with anger and hatred.  Only subdued by tobacco.  The girl I knew was doe-eyed, with a bright smile and warm demeanor.  My Magnolia.  I didn't know who she was now.
"Yes."  The sound was for someone half my size.  I could picture her in a sundress, dancing in the wind on the beach.  Her laughter was contagious.  "You were a lot lighter then."  A frown formed on her face, turning it ugly.
"No, not lighter, Jace,"  She said.  "I was dumber.  But that's how you liked me, didn't you?"  The chair creaked as she got up and paced toward the window, cigarette still in hand.  "Though I imagine that's how you like your girls.  Head full of glitter and heart full of love."  She turned to me, brows furrowing for a second.  "Do you ever feel bad?  About us?  About all those girls you leave behind?  About what happens after?"  I moved to say something, but she was quick to respond to her own questions.  "No.  I don't think you do."  A tired sigh left her lips.  "For your favor, consider it done."  The next time she turned to me, her smile was back.  "Well Romeo, better head home!  Say hi to the missus for me, will ya?"  She playfully flicked her cigarette butt at me.

The air outside was cool, each breath visible in the air.  Heading down the icy street, drowning in night, I could hear the hum of the gramophone in the distance.

[hesitantexcitement]

hey crows!

[hesitantexcitement]

A Car Ride Away
tw; death mention

She lets the numbness sink in, make a home in her skin, burrowing deep down.  Her face is buried in a pillow that smells like laundry detergent and feels wet on her face.  Her window gives her a glimpse of the night sky.  The rain hasn't stopped, not for months.  The only sound in the room is the sporadic breathing of Sarah Liao.  Her hands clutch the pillow, her life jacket, the only thing seeming to hold her room, her life, together.  Her pink bedroom, dimly lit by a lamp on her dresser that she's had since she was eight.  The room has grown up with her, floral decals on one wall, her middle school diploma on the other.

...Ninety-eight percent chance of rain, today...

Knock, knock.  The sound is crisp against the white noise, piercing the veil of stillness in the room.  "Go away, Nana!"  Sarah moans, rolling off the bed and onto the carpeted floor.  The door creaks open before quickly closing.  Dark eyes peek over the bed.  Coast is clear.  She leans back into the bed frame, ignoring the way it groans under the weight.
"Thought you'd be more happy to see me."  A husky voice murmurs.  Piper Sullivan smiles back at her.  Her brown eyes go wide as Sarah dives to hug her.  Piper's copper arms find their way around her.
"It's really hard.  I- I can't-"  Sarah begins, voice watery.  Leaning back, she paws at her cheeks.  "I'm glad you're her."
"What are best friends?"  Piper laughs warmly.  She brushes a braid out of her face.  "Look, you're going to get through this.  You're the strongest person I know."  She gives Sarah a playful nudge.  Sarah frowns. 
"I don't know how.  I don't know what to do, Piper."
"Yes you can!  Come on, man!  I know you got this.  There's gotta be a positive to all of this."  Piper was never one to take things seriously, she was always the one going through life loud and fast.    Sarah was not like that.  Sure she bleached her hair the day before junior year began, but she could still remember the burning in her cheeks as her nana glared at her.  She was always more cautious, more practical.  Piper had always been too much of an idealist.

...Severe thunderstorm warning in the area...

"Not everything has a positive.  Sometimes things are just bad.  Sometimes the universe just does things for no other reason than to be cruel."  She pulls her legs to her chest.  The next words come out in a whisper.  "I wish it was me.  Sometimes.  Not all the time, just sometimes."
"I wish it was you too."  Her friend quips, goofy grin on her face.
"How can you say that?  You can't understand how I feel right now."  Her hands ball up into fists.  Her face is red.  "You're not around!"
"I-"  Piper begins to open her mouth but Sarah cuts her short.
"We were supposed to be in this together!  We were supposed to go to concerts and movies and parties!  Graduations!  Weddings!  You were supposed to be my friend!  And now you're just up and gone!"  Now the tears are back, glistening in her eyes.  Slumped shoulders, weak knees.  Sarah looks shattered.  Piper's never seen her like this.  Not when her fish died in sixth grade.  Not when she got an F on her math test freshman year.  Not when Peter Thomas dumped her two months ago for Shelly Richards.  The pain on her face stings.  "And now you're just saying I should get over it, or something?  Well look, Piper, not all of us can wake up with a smile after someone we love dies."  Her voice echoes through the room, loud and ragged.  "Can't I just be sad?  Everyone's telling that I'll feel better eventually.  That it won't hurt anymore.  But maybe I want to hurt, maybe I don't want to feel better."
"Sarah, you have every right to feel sad.  To mourn.  Grief."  She cups her hands around Sarah's face.  "I know it's hard, but if you focus so much on the bad parts, you won't remember the good parts.  The parts I want to you to remember."

...Steer clear of the i-88...

Sarah stares out the bedroom window, looking down at the street below.  The rain hasn't stopped, not for months.  The room feels empty now without Piper's laughter.  She was always a loyal friend.  Always ready to come to her aid.  To cheer her up.  She was always just a car ride away.