title. salt and unanswered prayers
fandom. digimon a la the digiverse
characters. catherine/takeru, catherine/wallace, implied takeru/daisuke, takeru/michael
rating. pg
prompt. ocean/sea
warning. confusion ahead unless you understand my use of italics. :)

( she thinks that as soon as she lets him go, she is going to drown. )

- was published in the Lifestyle (2bU!) section of The Philippine Daily Inquirer on 01 November 2008
- was posted here on the 2bU website
- - was also posted here at windblownglass

EYEBALLING ONLINE FRIENDS - SAFELY



ON a cool summer day, people walking by the Ben and Jerry’s store at Great World City, a mall along River Valley Road in Singapore, noticed two teenagers, both with short black hair and light-colored skin, conversing animatedly.

The girls looked like childhood friends, eyes gleaming as they spoke of animé, common acquaintances, and their lives in general. Little did the passersby know that the talkative teens in front of them ( had never met before in their lives )

title. power fluctuations jump-start nonexistent hearts
fandom. twilight
characters. kate/garrett
rating. pg-13

( When Irina dies, three hearts stop beating. )

- was published in Mr. & Ms.: Trendspotting Magazine's July-August issue (under the pseudonym Irina R.)
- was also posted here at windblownglass

ONCE UPON A TIME:
THE CASTLES OF THE FAIRYTALE KING




Germany is a fairytale land. Walking through the forest near the Herrenchiemsee palace in Bavaria is like strolling through Hansel and Gretel's forest - minus the house made of candy and the evil witch who likes eating children for dinner. I'm naturally a daydreamer, but it is far easier to let my imagination run wild here, than back home - ( here, where every step in the rain is like a step into another world )

title. ice on ice
fandom. twilight
characters. kate/garrett
rating. pg-13

( Seven hundred forty-four hours of shallow breathing, a false peace stretched like a rubber band to the breaking point. )

- was published in the Lifestyle (Young Star) section of The Philippine Star on 02 May 2008
- was posted here on The Philippine Star website
- was also posted here at windblownglass

IN THE LAND OF THE CHERRY BLOSSOMS



I’m standing on a mountain road, face tilted upwards at the cherry blossom trees above me. I reach out and touch them, eyes lighting up as my fingers brush the soft pink petals. Today I’m blissfully aware that I am in Japan — that, though I’m far away from my friends, I am in a land I’ve always dreamed of visiting.

Late last year, I learned that I had been chosen as one of 10 students to be sent to Japan as an exchange student in a program supported by Japan’s Ministry of Education (MONBUSHO) and by the Youth For Understanding International Exchange. I had been elated (yet daunted) by thoughts of what I’d leave behind during my one month abroad: my family, my classmates, and my closest friend and confidante: my iPod. Such thoughts disappeared, though, when I arrived in Japan.

During my first three days in Japan, I stayed in the National Olympic Memorial Youth Center with my Filipino friends and with Indian and Korean exchange students. All of us were thankful for the YFU volunteers’ readiness to assist us; for the language lessons that we took; and, of course, for the free time that allowed us to bond with each other. I learned much in Tokyo, ( and not only about the Land of the Rising Sun! )

He's used the same smile on her hundreds of times. It's devilish, slightly crooked, but she's found that she likes it.

He isn't wearing that smile now. He's leaning against the cold concrete of the alley wall, thin fingers curled around a cigarette. He pulls it away from his mouth, exhaling smoke slowly - when the cloud disappears, he looks at her with steady, unfathomable eyes.

'You're tired of me,' he says, and it's not a question. When she says nothing, he sighs, reaching out and pulling her close to him.

She knows that she shouldn't hold him anymore, but she's oddly comforted by his arm around her, the warmth of his body through his leather jacket. She lets him hold her, run his hands through her hair; he's already crushed the cigarette under his heel but she can smell the smoke on him that the cold air hasn't blown away.

- used: second of four prompts at shortest_story

title. subtleties
fandom. twilight
characters. edward/tanya
rating. pg

He's woven a web of lies to hide it all. For years it has been one denial after the other - complex interconnecting threads, thin but there, always there. His words are subtleties (can you tell the truth from the lies?), smooth & caressing & perfectly-delivered, and sometimes his pretending blends, like the red-gold sun sinking into the horizon, into a state of believing that he hopes will never cease.

When he remembers it all, he immerses herself in her scent (so human), running a hand through her brown hair, hoping to be intoxicated by her, yet wishing (in a deep part of him that will never again see the light of day) for his strawberry-blond girl to tamper with his memory, to play with it in the way he swears she should have done before he started loving Bella.

(Sometimes he isn't sure where one love ends and the other begins.)

title. selfish
fandom. twilight
characters. heidi/jane
rating. pg

It's raining. Droplets run down her body, crystal on white marble, flowing, cascading, a river. She leans against the pillar, violet eyes cutting through the fog, the stem of a wine glass entwined in her tapered fingers. A crimson tear rolls down the glass, drops unto the ground, mingling with water until it disappears completely.

'You didn't call us,' a voice says.

She turns, crimson lips parting at the sound. She reaches a hand up, brushes a lock of mahogany hair away from her eyes, and twists it behind her ear slowly, gracefully. She moves, her short skirt hitching up just the slightest bit, dark stockings hiding everything.

'Jane,' she says simply.

'You didn't call us,' comes the reply, repeated, echoed. She comes out, a pale reflection of a child; her ruby eyes flicker to the darkened alley and back to the woman who watches her with amusement. 'Taking one all for yourself.. You're selfish tonight, aren't you?'

Heidi smiles, touching her thumb to her lips and running it down to her chin, leaving behind a trail, blood-red. 'Aren't we all, Jane,' she murmurs, 'aren't we all?'