It’s FF time again, yay! But I’m late as usual.Anyway without further ado, here’s my 12th time writing FF, a lovely weekly challenge run by our sweet hostess Rochelle 🙂
I watch the party from the shadows. Darkness is my only refuge.
Over the clink of champagne glasses, my ears catch the strumming of his guitar. There he is, my father. My brother, the perfect son, sits next to him, enjoying the festivities.
Why did you do it, Dad? Were you so ashamed of me? The tears fall fast on my scarred cheeks as I watch him  laugh.
The smell of gasoline and burning flesh are still fresh in my memory.
Last winter will repeat itself, but this time…. I’ll light the fire.
Hi! Dear God, it’s been ages since I wrote FF, and I’m rather ashamed of myself for missing out and going off the grid like that, but when exams call, one has few options but to yield. Bleh! I think exams are mankind’s worst invention. To all those people who were sweet enough to leave me comments on my last two FF posts, I’m really sorry I couldn’t return the favour.
So anyhoo, here’s my 11th time writing FF a fun 100 word writing challenge hosted by our very own Rochelle, and the picture prompt this week was
This is my submission to the SpeakEasy  writing challenge #157
NO REST FOR THE HOLY
Winter seemed reluctant to release its hold. Snowflakes drifted down, waving merrily at God as he glared balefully out of the window. He sighed and turned away. How all his devotees would laugh if they saw him now- Creator of the universe, sitting bundled up in blankets and shivering! Those foolish younglings of the Weather Department! When would they learn to do their jobs? Today, he decided, he’d go over to the office himself and pay the boys a visit.
Much of God’s irritation had waned by the time he reached the gold and silver doors of the Weather Department, but it came back with a vengeance when he stepped inside and found the place in complete disarray. Pizza boxes and crumpled coffee cups littered the switchboards. Ethan and Nicholas were ogling at the sexy secretary Lilith’s rear as she picked up bits of paper from the floor. Meanwhile Patrick, the regulator, was snoring away to glory with his nose pressed against the Snow dial. No wonder it was so cold!
“What the hell is going on here?” God burst out angrily. Lilith turned and smiled seductively at him. “Oh, don’t mention my home so frequently, Father.” She purred. “You know how I miss it.”
“Wicked wench!”God exclaimed. “You miss your home so much, don’t you? Be gone then, you’re fired!”
“You senile old man!” Lilith hissed and slunk away.
“As for you two!” Ethan and Nicholas shrunk into their chairs at God’s fury. “Iniquity is NOT permitted in the holy abode of the Lord!” The ground shook slightly. Ah, how he loved that effect! The acoustics of this office were better than the old one- he’d have to thank Michael for that. However, he certainly did not thank anyone for what happened next. The vibrations from his voice woke up Patrick, who in his startled half-conscious condition flailed his fat arms about, pushing random levers and knobs. Outside, thunder rumbled in the face of scorching sunlight, and hailstones mingled with rain.
Clearly unused to doing anything other than leering at Lilith, the other two employees lost their heads. “What do we do? What do we do?’ They cried helplessly.
If no one can handle this situation I must! God thought, and charged forward, only to slip on a puddle of stale coffee and hit his head hard against the control panel.
Many hassles and hellfires later, God sat in his chambers holding an icepack to his head.
“See, Father that is why I tell you to leave all the administration to me.” Michael, his eldest son, was admonishing him.
“I have left it all to you, and that’s why the quality of staff is declining day by day.” God grumbled.
Michael snorted impatiently. “How often must I explain, Father? The budgetary demands of this fiscal year require cost cutting, and since Lucifer won’t give up his fondness for video games, Gabriel won’t control his sweet tooth, and you must have new robes to wear every week, I saw no other way but to hire cheap labour so we may all survive in peace.”
God opened his mouth to make a comment, but nothing came out. Instead, he said, “I want to see Lucifer immediately.”
“Hold on, I’ll Whatsapp him.” Michael tapped busily away at his iPhone. “He’s on his way.”
God’s favourite son Lucifer shuffled in after a while. His eyes were glued to the game he was playing, shoulders jerking left and right as he operated the controls. God eyed Lucifer’s jeans with displeasure, they were hanging off his hips and God despised that. Teenage had ruined Lightborn.
“Lucifer.”
The shaggy haired teenager paid no attention.
“Lucifer!” God threw his icepack at his son.
“Damn!” Lucifer cursed. “Look what you did, Dad! I just got injured fatally!”
“Who has injured you?” cried God, alarmed. “I will maim them!”
Lucifer rolled his eyes. “In the game, Dad. Anyway, you wanted to see me?”
“Yes.” God turned and switched on the plasma TV. Headlines and news reports filled the screen. “Lucifer, can you tell me why the human babies are being born with horns and tails, and in some cases, wearing…” God tried to come up with a word suitable to describe the stiff pink skirts he had seen on the infants.
“Tutus.” Lucifer supplied sheepishly, and shrugged. “I just thought it’d be funny.”
God save me! Thought God, and then remembered. Oh wait, that’s me!
God sighed tiredly. There was no rest for the holy…
You must include the following sentence as the FIRST line in your submission: “Winter seemed reluctant to release its hold.”
You must also include a reference to the media prompt.
The speakeasy is for submissions written specifically for the grid. Please don’t submit an entry if you intend to showcase it to another blog link-up. Such posts are deleted without notice.
Please don’t post long explanations before your post. We want your writing to be the star of the show. If you need to clarify anything, feel free to do so at the end.
This is my submission to the Speakeasy #155 writing challenge.
THE REAL AARON
Without a word, she dropped to the ground.
“So? Did you find him?” Detective Inspector Richmond asked for the thousandth time that afternoon.
“We’ve got him surrounded on the western boundary.” Agent Sarah Madison answered. She had been scouting the forest from atop the tall oak tree for hours. Richmond had wanted to launch helicopters, but Sarah was sure she could do better, and she had.
“Good job, Sarah!”Richmond smiled as they entered  FBI headquarters. “Consider yourself promoted!”
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Sarah smiled back. She had been working hard for seven years to move up in the ranks, and now she would, thanks to this case. The Alison Kimberly murder had sent shockwaves throughout the university she had been a student of. Alison had been popular and beautiful, president of her sorority, and girlfriend to computer and science genius Aaron Hudson. She’d had rivals, but no one who hated her enough to poison her soda with cyanide.
The case had been about to close when Sarah, still suspicious, stepped in and asked to re-investigate. “I’m giving you this case because I trust you. If this is all for nothing or you mess up, you will lose your job.” Richmond had warned her.
Months of lurking around in the university, thorough questioning and a lot of puzzling, Sarah found all evidence pointing towards Aaron, Alison’s boyfriend. Still, it had been circumstantial, and Aaron would have been safe, had he not tried to flee when the FBI knocked at his door.
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Sarah took a deep breath. If she could crack the suspect, she would win the case and her promotion.
 “Why did you do it, Aaron?”
He smiled insolently. “We both know why, Agent, so quit wasting your time.”
“You will not speak to me like that!” Sarah snapped.
“ I’d rather not, Agent. My proposal for the coffee date still stands though.”
“Just answer the damn question!” Sarah was beginning to lose her cool now.
“Oh, feisty, aren’t you, Agent? Okay, I’ll tell you why I murdered Alison. Betrayal.” Aaron’s gaze locked with hers. His eyes were the colour of a thunderstorm, with full lashes. Attractive eyes, almost feminine, just like the rest of him.
Sarah was startled out of her errant thoughts as Aaron continued. “I liked Alison. I really did. I had been nominated for the international computer Olympiad, to be held in Greece. Everything was fine until I found that Alison had called in a lot of favours to replace my name with hers all because she really wanted to visit Greece. She pretended that she didn’t have any idea how she, with her zero knowledge about computers, was chosen as state representative!”
“So you killed her?” Sarah exclaimed. “For such a little thing?”
“Oh it wasn’t a little thing, Agent. Betrayal kills. I think you know what I mean.” He smirked.
“What rubbish!” Sarah sputtered. “I would never kill anyone!”
“Oh but you did,” said Aaron smoothly. “Agent Bradford’s death was no accident. He took the entire credit for a case you had solved alone, and stole your promotion, so you killed him.”
“You didn’t want to marry him, accepting his proposal was a mistake. You like women.”
Sarah felt defeated. “How do you know all this?”
“Intelligence, and professional hacking, Agent. The Bureau’s files should be guarded better.”
Sarah managed to say,”I’ll be back tomorrow.”
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Despite everything Aaron had said about her, Sarah slept peacefully that night.
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She was woken up in the early morning by her phone ringing insistently.
Groggily, she answered. “Hello?”
“The suspect’s escaped.”
Six months later, Aaron Hudson had still not been found. Every database  denied the existence of any such identity.
“I’m sorry, Sarah.” Detective Inspector Richmond said sadly. “You’re fired.”
Sarah trudged away to her office to clear it. She had lost her job and her reputation and all she had left was the memory of the most beautiful eyes she had ever seen. She sighed and opened a drawer. Placed in it was a piece of paper. She gasped.
Agent Madison,
 If you ever stop denying the chemistry between us, I leave with you an address where you can find me. Report this to the feds and you’ll never hear from me again.
Of magic and more 