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Time Cannot Erase- Prologue

The lights of the house faded quickly in the darkness. The rains of spring fell heavily upon the ground, making rhythmical clinking noises on the sidewalk and street as Katie walked along. Her head was swimming, and the world didn't focus very well. She listened half heartedly to the rain that refreshed her overheated body. The quiet of the street and the lack of the other dancing bodies pressing in around her was a welcome relief. Her short hair was plastered first with sweat and now with rain as she walked away, towards home.

As she walked her headache began to subside and she started noticing more of the night's events, how the cars drove slowly on the slick road, and how those who were walking were hurrying to get out of the cold rain and giving her odd and suspicious looks for not doing the same. She sighed deeply, letting the fresh air seep into her lungs. Peace, this was what she wanted, not to be listening and dancing to music she didn't really like with people who fit into the same category.

She wandered, and stopped paying attention, letting her mind range over life, the people at the party, why she never did what she wanted and just said she wouldn't go. Why she let her friends do the things they did together. She was downtown by the time the storm changed.

The winds shifted and the rain grew heavier in a matter of seconds. The icy rain drops fell slantingly into her face, stinging her skin. Katie bowed her head against it as the winds picked up, whipping at her light jacket as she continued walking. Her walk quickly became a pain, she was cold, wet, and the wind was so strong she was barely walking forward at all. Glancing up she saw a beacon of hope. Quite literally, a ray of light. Up the street about half a block was a small shop window pouring yellow light out into the night. Katie didn't need to think before heading towards it and going inside. Had she stopped to look more closely at the window while the wink tried to knock her over, she would have seen that in the window was a display of colorful candles, books, and postcards with fairies on them. She may have noticed the flapping awning above was ripped and torn, not working very well for it's porous at all, and she might have wondered what a store was doing open so late, but she didn't hesitate, but entered.

Inside, the store was brightly lit from various lamps, and three hanging lamps. The walls were lined with shelves, books ranged across one wall, candles and other odd assortments sat on the others. To the left of the door was a wooden chair, that resembled a throne, and a girl sitting in it, but this too Katie did not notice. She was too busy looking at the center display of beaded curtains, black lights, and a large flip book of posters. Heat swarmed over Katie as she stepped further inside, the door closing behind her with a light clanking from the bells hanging near the top of it. The air was heavy with incense, making her sneeze.

"Bless you." A soft voice said from the left.

"Thank you." Katie replied before even turning to look at the speaker.

The girl who had spoken was sitting in the throne chair, looking quite elegant in strange clothes of white fabric. The shirt was a tank top with white beads making a twisting design across it. The girl wore a skirt of the same white material. It was long and flowing, with multiple layers. At the bottom hem was the same beaded design. Her hair was blonde and worn in a long braid down her back. She sat with her knees pulled up to her chest and rested her head on them. Overall she didn't look too much older than Katie.

"Why are you out on a night like this?" The girl asked, not looking at Katie.

"I was walking home from a party." Katie said shortly, looking again, reminded why she was even in this weird store. "Do you have a phone I can use? I need to call for a ride."

"Sure." The girl moved, not her head, but her hands, moving them gracefully across the table until it found the phone. She pushed it toward Katie, and it dawned on Katie what was so odd about this girl. The girl sitting in the chair was blind.

"Thanks." Katie said again, faltering slightly as she took the phone and dialed her home phone number. Thinking better at the last second she hung up. Her parents thought she was getting a ride with a friend, they would be mad if they found out she hadn't. Her mind scanned through a list of friends and settled on Danielle. She had been at the party as well, and had a car.

Redialing the phone, Katie turned her back on the blind girl, whose pale blue eyes were staring blankly at her. Dan picked up. She could hear the noise of the party more than she could her friend's voice.

"I need a ride." A crackled answer came, Katie thought she heard the words where and you, and went from that basic idea.

"I'm at some new age store downtown."

"The Nest." The blind girl said lightly from her spot.

"It's called the nest." Katie repeated into the phone for Dan's benefit.

Crackling, an okay, and then the line went dead on the other line, the sounds of the party dying away abruptly. Katie put the phone back on the receiver.

"Thanks again."

The blind girl didn't make a response. Katie spent the time waiting for her ride looking at the spines of the books lining the right wall. She was slightly surprised to see they weren't all in English. In fact, most of them seemed to be written in a language of short curved lines and patterns. She reached up and ran her hand down the spine of one of the thinner books on the shelf. It wasn't in English and it looked like the others really, but there was something that interested her in it.

But what that something was Katie didn't find out. A loud and familiar honk of a car horn drifted in from outside. Katie let her hand fall away from the book and grudgingly walked towards the door.

"Have a nice evening Katie." The girl said from her seat.

"You too." Katie replied, not realizing that she had never told the other girl her name.

Dan was sitting in the front seat, looking bad for her experiences at the party. Her makeup had run a little bit and her eyes were glazed over by the drinks she had drunk. Her dark hair was wore in corn rows and ended with mismatched beads at the end. Her face, usually serene and calm was contorted into a loose smile.

"Let's go." Dan said when Katie opened the door and sat down, putting on her seat belt. Dan always was nagging about wearing seat belts. It was a pet peeve of Katie's about how Dan was so annoying about wearing seat belts when she just went and drove drunk and sped everywhere. Dan was drunk now, but that wasn't enough for Katie not to get into the car with her.

The car moved quickly through the storm, as wind whistled around them. Everything was dark and wet. Dan chattered endlessly, talking about who she had danced with after Katie had left and how one girl who both shared the same distaste for had gotten sick and thrown up all over the guy she had been chasing for months. Katie was laughing too, when it happened.

What hit them, or what they hit, Katie didn't see. All she saw was the expression change slowly on Dan's face as the tires of the car screeched on the slippery pavement and the car twisted in its path. There were suddenly very bright lights coming at them from the side and then a loud crunching sound. Something hit Katie on the side of the head. The last thing she saw was that Dan was not there any longer, the entire left side of the car was gone. She was alone. And then things went dark.

Those are both very good! Very good writing, I really like your style. ^^ The end of "Time Cannot Erase" just had me shocked. I kinda have to admit I expected something to happen, but it was written so well, I was just blown away!

No, I didn't. Sorry, wish I could be more help, but I was just so fascinated, I didn't notice anything wrong with either.

You describe things very well. I can't wait to see what happens in Time Cannot Erase! I found some spots in Lost Pages where a semicolon might have been preferable over a comma, but I'm not a very good judge of that, so no worries. Otherwise, both look fine.
I would love to hear your input on Kara and Kael *hint, hint* *nudge nudge* *wink, wink*

You evil, evil girl! (talking about TCE)
By the way, if you're ever bored, I write a ton of stuff in white in the guild.
About semicolons: My Language Arts teacher told us about the misuse of semicolons too, and then drilled it into our heads. After that, I kind of got addicted to them. To me, they're important, because, as my fourth grade teacher once told me, I am the Queen of Commas.
I even gave away me friend Xian's real name, if you can find it.
Did you see that? Eight commas in one post!

Do you have a different notebook for each story? Right now, as I'm only writing one novel-length, I only have one. Well, one writing notebook anyway. I usually just think about my short stories for several days, then pull the rest out of my butt when I sit own at the computer to write them. Other than that notebook, I urrently have *counts* four. I got a really nice new one at B&N Sunday night made of recycled paper.

"Not a Goddess"

I am not a goddess. I am a daughter of a god, but in the time I was born, who wasn't? I am what the mortals call a muse. An inspiration, the last ray of hope in the blocked mind of an artist. My powers are nothing compared to the famous muses, the ones you could easily read about in any book on ancient mythology. I wander the nights of this new age, when the truth of what we are is diminished to nothing more than stories. Mythology. The word is almost laughable. I don't feel like a myth every night, as light fades from the earth and I begin my roaming, becoming solid and walking with ease among the masses, only to vanish upon the rising of the sun. But I suppose it might sound a bit far fetched to someone who hasn't been doing it every light-fall for centuries.

Apollo sired me, but my mother, a simple mortal, died in my birth. He rejected me as his demi-god daughter. He had endless love for my mother, but none for me. With his rejection was born the hatred I hold within me for the sight of the sun. That is why I work in the darkness.

In my wanderings I visit those who need freedom of the mind. With a brush of my gloved fingers against their cheek, thoughts flow from me into them, giving them the spark they need to find words of their own to make their work from.

My visits are never long, there is no need to linger and watch as mortal minds spin stories, poetry, and music from a gentle touch of inspiration. Even if I were to stay, they would not see me. Mortals look upon me and then their eyes seem to slip away, as though sliding across a wet surface and too caught up in the unintended moving of their new ideas to dwell on the sight of me next to them.

Work is endless for me, but I take joy and comfort in it. I love to walk among the mortals, knowing that they can see me if they'd truly look. But none of them ever look, or at least not long enough. The mortal mind is always pre-occupied with something that seems to important or not important at all that many go through their lives without ever seeing anything of what goes on around them. The one who imprisoned me, broke this mold to pieces. He went through life doing nothing but seeing the things around him.

I am nearly wordless still as to how the sightless eyes that mark this man's face see so much of what mortals overlook as being mere fancy and dreamer's talk.

(Another unfished story, sorry!)