Drabbles

[Nat Koskorov]

A friend introduced these to me to drabbles few days ago and I've been having a blast with them. I will post the list here because I think they're great for character development and insight. They are also fun to read.

*Drabbles are short stories less than 1000 words. Usually they're supposed to be exactly 100 words, but I'm lazy and don't want to count. They don't have to have a plot or anything. Just expressing things in a theme. And here are the themes!

1. abandon

2. allow

3. anticipation

4. armor

5. ash

6. band

7. bail

8. bargain

9. beauty

10. beckon

11. bend

12. bind

13. blue

14. books

15. boundaries

16. break

17. burn

18. buttons

19. calm

20. cage

21. captain

22. cards

23. catch

24. challenge

25. chances

26. chandelier

27. cliff

28. coat

29. cold

30. compel

31. crew

32. damned

33. dance

34. dare

35. death

36. decide

37. deep

38. delicate

39. deny

40. disguise

41. doubt

42. drawing

43. dream

44. drink

45. drug

46. duel

47. easy

48. eyes

49. faith

50. fail

51. fake

52. fall

53. feel

54. fight

55. fire

56. fly

57. found

58. free

59. game

60. gift

61. ghosts

62. gold

63. goodbye

64. glass

65. grave

66. green

67. guilt

68. gun

69. hands

70. haven

71. heat

72. help

73. hero

74. hunt

75. hurt

76. idea

77. Booty Bay

78. iron

79. irony

80. instinct

81. joke

82. journey

83. joy

84. jump

85. key

86. kohl

87. land

88. last

89. laugh

90. law

91. letters

92. liar

93. lips

94. lock

95. lookout

96. lost

97. luck

98. luff

99. map

100. maybe

101. mercy

102. money

103. morning

104. mourning

105. muse

106. music

107. necessary

108. Northern Lights

109. notice

110. omen

111. palm

112. philosophy

113. poetry

114. poison

115. portrait

116. price

117. prison

118. prize

119. question

120. quiet

121. ribbon

122. ring

123. rope

124. safe

125. sailor

126. saint

127. scar

128. sentinel

129. shore

130. silent

131. silk

132. siren

133. slave

134. snow

135. song

136. sound

137. spite

138. spontaneous

139. squall

140. steal

141. success

142. switch

143. sword

144. taste

145. tea

146. tempted

147. thread

148. tomorrow

149. trap

150. truth

151. turn

152. ultimatum

153. unintended

154. vice

155. wax

156. warm

157. whistling

158. window

159. wine

160. winter

161. wish

162. wreck

163. wrong

164. years

165. yes

[Nat Koskorov]

1. Abandon - Nat

"I am tired of this, God dammit! You can stay here and rot."

Nat's harsh words cut through the steady, gentle murmur maintained by the inhabitants of the opium den. She is covered in snow, shaking slightly from a mix of the cold and her anger, looming over her sister's prone and lounging form. Mizinovskaia takes a slow drag off of the pipe in hand, looking up at her older sister with that typical lazy, shit eating grin.

"It's coooold out, Natasha."

"Good. I hope you freeze when you walk home."

With that, she's marching outside to her Duesenberg again. The door is left open, allowing a snowy draft to blow inside, though it's quickly squelched by a tenant rushing to close it. Mizinovskaia collapses back against her mat, exhaling a cloud of smoke in a tired sigh.

2. Allow - Nat

The sun is rising now; it's not over the horizon yet, but the blackness of the sky is beginning to give way to the colors of morning light. Nat watches the sky only for a moment, not wanting her attention to wander too far from the matter at hand. She stands as part of a circle of other Moon Runners, encasing the handful of Antonelli scouts that hadn't been fortunate enough to die at their hands earlier in the evening. The vampires are bound with chains, their terrified eyes now plastered to the changing sky.

Nat watches their fear with a great deal of pleasure, unable to stop a crooked grin from stretching her lips. She jumps slightly when an Antonelli leaps up in a frenzied attempt to flee from the werewolves and the sunlight, but he is promptly shoved back by her bloodied hands.

"I can not allow you to do that."

A chorus of laughter rises from the werewolves as his skin begins to sear under the first rays of the sun.

3. Anticipation - Nat

The cold has long since cut deep into Natasha's bones, but she doesn't care. She sits atop the log that served as her gateway into this horrible fate, rocking back and forth gently as she contemplates her impending demise. Her husband leans against a tree across from her, his shaky hands holding a worn dagger, passing it back and forth between themselves.

"T-Tasha, I do not think I can-"

"Be quiet, Alexei!" She feels her chest rumble as she barks her response, unable to stop the growl from following. But she doesn't care now; all she can focus on is the moon. So slow, it seems. Too slow. It needs to be done.

But it's nearly there now. She watches it with horror and anticipation, dropping to her knees and pulling her hair as it finishes its climb. The sound that follows isn't a scream so much as it is a howl.

4. Armor - Lily

Just Think of It!

7 out of 11 Bobbed Heads want

the ARMOR brand Bobbie Pin.

Keeps Bobbed Hair Tidy!

Lily reads the package over and over again, the objecting screams and wails of her mother from the other room as she beats on her daughter's locked door falling on deaf ears by now. She's reached the point of no return now; either way, she's gonna get an earful. Might as well go through with it.

She lifts the scissors, and with each snip a long lock of curly black hair tumbles to the floor.

5. Ash - Nat

A gurgle of blood punctuates the removal of the stake from the Antonelli scout's heart. Nat pushes her foot down on his chest, blood gushing further from the wound as she wipes the freshly-carved wooden spike. She grins at it, then kneels down and holds it close to the vampire's face.

"One log was salvaged from the fire you set to our ash supply."

She glances at the wood again, examining it as if it's a precious piece of art meant to be savored. Her thoughtful gaze makes it seem all the more abrupt when she pierces her victim's throat with the stake, leaving it there as she stands.

"Be more thorough next time."

His wet gasps of pain are silenced by the crunch of her heel against his face.