Short Story Opener #1

The deep blue waves of the storm, so dark they were almost black, were crashing against the rocky shoreline in the wee hours of the morning. From the fading yellow light of the ancient lighthouse on the coast of the isle I could see the outline of what appeared to be a woman draped in a flowing white gown while standing on the deck of my boat. She stepped to the edge with her arms spread apart, the wind howling at the open cliff face beneath her feet, and then in the time it took to take a breath she jumped from the cliff. I watched in horror as she fell from the top of the isle onto the rocky sea below but at the last second a flash of light burst forth so blindingly strong I was forced to shield my eyes. When I opened them again she was gone, all that was left was the white dress floating gently atop the tides.

The next morning as the sun emerged from its hiding spot under the horizon I docked my boat at shore. I walked up the rickety old stairway leading to the quaint village of Ireton, my great grandfather had been born here and after becoming a seaman I decided to trace my roots back to this little village. The bell tower in the town was made of old grey bricks, many of them crumbling and falling apart, with a door once painted bright red and blue but now was faded and peeling; this was where I was to meet my guide. Samantha was her name, she said that I would be able to tell her apart in an instant, she was right, the bright green hair really gave her away. It was like emeralds had been mashed up with the green of a ripe kiwi.

“Well Hi there, you must be who I’ve been waiting on since I’ve never seen you in town and I know everyone” Samantha said with a pop of her gum.

“Hello, sorry for being late, I had a bit of a long night” I replied sheepishly, still thinking I had imagined the last night’s events.

“No worries, everyone has a rough night now and again. Come on I’ll give you the ‘grand’ tour” she chuckled.

“Lead the way” I said.

Story Opener #2

The crackling of the fire was dying down as the dusk turned into twilight. The shadows danced in the peripherals of my vision. Empty bottles laid scattered around the campfire, we must’ve gone through the last of our water today. It could be another week before we found more and even then who knows if it will be drinkable. This water was supposed to last us at least another month but the stragglers we picked up last week were ruining my calculations.

We should never have stopped to help those people. They were weak, they added nothing but extra weight to our group and were sucking up our rations at double the predicted time. Water was hard to find nowadays and wasting it on things like bathing everyday really took its toll but the strangers insisted on it. If we were going to make it to the safe zone we were going to need to have a serious talk.

Story Opener #3

It had been months since I had seen another living thing aside from the black raven that follows my every move, from the dark jagged mountains to this bleak desert region I’m currently traipsing through. The cut on my arm from my last fight looked infected, I’d have to find an old hospital soon if I had any hope of maintaining use of the arm. The bruises on my face and torso were changing from purple to green as they began to heal. Being out in the open like this made me nervous, more than when I was back in my home city when all of this started.

We lived in one of the “safe” places left. They said that we were living in a haven, a place for others looking for help, maybe we shouldn’t have been. I woke up early one morning before anyone else, I grabbed my grey duffle kept by the stairs, we were all told to carry our bags at all times, I climbed out my window and out onto the roof where a flock of ravens always sat. I used to feed them bread crumbs, at least back when we had bread, now they just sit there staring at me and pecking at the roof. That’s when i heard the screaming, a high pitched wailing coming from the center of the haven. I stood up on the roof to see what was causing the screams and was hit in the head and started tumbling to the ground. The next thing i remember i was in a house with my family, or what was left of it anyways. I felt something warm coming out of the top of my head, i reached up and touched it and saw blood. Looking around the house was in shambles and covered in blood, i slowly realized it wasn’t my house. “W-where are we” i managed to stutter out. I didn’t catch what was said because as they were talking they were ripped from up above me and back into the streets. I scrambled up and grabbed for my bag, running up the stairs i catch a glimpse of myself in the mirror, the cut on my face wasn’t deep but needed to be wrapped, i managed to shred a part of my shirt and wrap it around the cut. I check out the window and see a mob surrounding the front of the house. I swing out the window holding onto the gutter and jumping up to the roof. Panicking i jump from the roof over the wire fence and start running.