“Oh! Silly me. I’ll do that right away.” Down came the hair. The knight dutifully grabbed hold and ascended. Rapunzel screeched as the sudden weight yanked her out the window. The knight landed on his butt as Rapunzel crashed next to him. She did not survive the fall.

“Oh dear,” the knight said.

OliviaGrove

Government Takedown

In the mountainside was a town called Alsistin. In that town was a coffeehouse frequented by many locals and tourists at various hours of the day. Kate and Carlos loved the coffeehouse but rarely got the chance to visit. When they were able to, they always made a point to get extra coffee for home. Kate was currently standing in line, order prepared. Carlos was sitting down at a nearby table, laying out the blueprints and notebooks on the table. She smiled at him but he was too caught up in his task to notice. She shook her head endearingly and moved forward in the line. She was standing behind another woman who was wearing a red knitted scarf and holding on to her purse for dear life. She never knew what to expect with the people in this town. Slowly, she shuffled toward the register. Five agonizing minutes later, she had placed her order. She moved over to the side to wait for her drinks. When they finally arrived, she carefully took them over to their table and sat down, ready to discuss the plans. Carlos passed her a notebook and she read the tasks that she had been assigned.

Enter through the main door.

Locate nearest fire alarm.

Distract the security guard.

Wait until the phone call.

Pull the fire alarm.

Run.

"Seems like the plan's all set. When's it gonna take place?"

"Tomorrow. Noon."

"Alright, then. You have all the tools you need for the heist?"

He stared at her blankly."What makes you think I don't?"

"I didn't say that. I just wanted to know if you were ready."

"I am always ready."

"Then we're ready."

He looked back at his blueprints sharply. They drank their coffee as Carlos traced his route in red Sharpie. When Carlos had finished, they sat for a while admiring the landscape and worrying about the future that they would create. Too soon, they packed up their stuff and walked out, putting the plans in the trunk of their light blue Volkswagen. They sat in the car and turned on the radio. It was already set to the only station that would play where they were; some news channel about classical music where the hosts spoke in soft voices so as to not startle the child sleeping in the adjacent recording booth.

Carlos drove the car to the house where they were staying. It was very modern, featuring wood paneling, clean, uncluttered designs, and a variety of marble.

They dropped their bags off at the entrance and prepared to go to bed. They woke up to the alarm blaring and the sun barely rising over the mountain peaks. They dressed methodically and grabbed their bags on the way to the car.

Carlos started up the engine and drove to their destination: GCC. The Government Control Center. It was the office buildings for all the government employees who handled the "placement" of the country's youth. All youth in the country had to be taken from birth and go through training, assessment, and processing. Very few people knew where the youth actually went because when you were there, it seemed like anywhere else. It was what both she and Carlos had had to go through. That was where they had met. She had recognized Carlos' genius for what it was, and through the night, they formed a pact to take down the government.

When they arrived, they took to their roles. Kate flirted with the guard, a man who had probably never seen a woman besides his mother. When he was falling for her charms, she stabbed him in the neck with a syringe filled with a tranquilizer that would knock him out for a good hour. While she waited for her phone to ring, she went through the security cameras and replaced the last ten hours of footage with a repeating loop of no activity. Soon after, her phone rang. She dashed over to the fire alarm and pulled the lever. Then she ran back outside and hopped into the car. Carlos was right behind her. He pulled the car out of park and drove off smoothly. They were in and out in ten minutes.

An hour later, they were in the airport, faces changed and heading to Bethelinca where they would meet their son Matthew for the first time in eighteen long years.

A/N: So, this is my first story, let me know what you think. Constructive Criticism would be really helpful, and if you want to see more of this or different stuff, let me know in the comments. Hope you enjoyed it!

Challenge

I Demand Action

Give me a fight to end all fights. I want you to let it all out, everything we keep bottled: anger, frustration, rage, hate. Give it all in one epic knock drag out. It could be a bar brawl or a fantastical fight between beasts of unimaginative power. It could be as simple as one being tortured, the fight he gives not to give in. Think out of the box and get ready, for I shall be joining in. Most likes wins, good luck and good writing!

LittleBugs

Take My Breath Away

I am so tired

Of all of these people

Trying to change me

For something they want

I am so tired

Of all of these people

And their entitled ways

Taking what little I have

I am so tired

Of all of these people

And their controlling voices

Taking the freedom I had

I am so tired

Of all of these people

Telling me that what I am

Who I am, is bad; wrong

I am so tired

Of trying to please these people

Trying to be someone else

Trying to be myself

I am so tired

Of trying to be a person

Worthy of glance

Take my breath away

Take my breath away

For I am unworthy of glance.

Do me a favor

And ignore my pleas.

Take my breath away

For I am of no significance.

Do me a favor

And dress me in my truths.

Take my breath away

Hang my head at the altar -

For I have fell through a ring

Just like the one I wish I could be.

Take my breath away.

Fashion me a grave.

Ready it for my coffin -

And throw the first fist.

Take my breath away

And lay flowers at my stone.

Imagine my laughs and smiles

For I have gone; unworthy was I.

Take my breath away

Someone above may see

This child unworthy by glance

Worthy by heart and mind

Take my breath away

And follow the cars outside

Watch these cemetery gates close

And don’t be afraid;

unnaturalsquare

Timing

Clocks ticking,

Tocking.

A constant steady

Beat.

unnaturalsquare

Smeared Vomit

The blank page

Stares up at me,

Taunting silently.

I feel the words

In the back of

My throat,

But they won’t come.

No matter what

I try, they stubbornly

Stick.

I force myself

To vomit up the words.

Nonsensical words,

Covered in gore,

Tears, and insanity.

I smear around the words,

But nothing changes.

And all there is

Smeared Vomit.

Challenge

Challenge of the Week CXXV

Attachment and Fear. Two sides of the same coin. The desire to control, to grasp, to cling. Write about attachment, or fear, or both. Fiction or non-fiction, poetry or Prose.

Being24sux

An unconventional prose.

Last night I dreamed of castles in the sky and railroad tracks cutting through the ocean.

I see you as a stranger wearing a filthy coat. You're always just staning there, sauntering to and fro, looking through a restaurant window. Behind the fingerprint covered display window displaying the daily lunch special and we deliever sticker sponsored by postmates.

Why don't you ever take that thing off?

You finally do and sit at a small table. I can see you now. You're playing with your hair; your fingers dancing around clumpy, oily tresses while your thumb fiddles with a cracked phone screen.

I work on Wednesdays and I'm afraid to call in sick. I already did last week just to sit in bed with a bad hangover.

You gave the menu back to my coworker and curled the edge of the paper placemat one last time before standing up in one impatient sweep. The legs of the chair let out a wooden bang against the cement floor of the restaurant.

You were already swinging your dirty garment over your back like some sort of pathetic cape, the sort that anti-hero might wear.

You never order anything when you wait for me. No cookies, no coffee, no daily special crumb cake. You're a cheapskate, but a proud one. Unlike the usual customers that come in and look at the menu right after taking a piss or dumping a load in our tiny one stall bathroom. They want to seem polite while they take an average 5 second look at the menu. They are afraid of being rude, but more are afraid of being labeled as such.

"Oh, you don't have gluten-free desserts? I'll have to come back anyway sometime." They might say.

Fuck you, you weren't going to order anything anyway, you psuedo celiac.

That's what I hate about most people. They only do certain things out of guilt.

But not you. You have always been the flight to my fight. The habit of making me prolong things just so I can have another moment with you. Moments with you made me feel like a drunk taking the last drink at the bar before the lights came on. I have never felt so desperate to ingest one last moment with you than I did today.

Today, I did work. Unfortunately, I was running late and you, as the bartender in my life, already closed out the tab.