The person in bed beside me feels like a stranger. Her sleeping form, chest rising and falling in the dark and the sound of her breathing barely audible over the rain battering against the window. In the morning the ground will be soaked, the skies like iron, London commuters shaking umbrellas outside red busses and cursing. The person in bed beside me hates the rain but I remember a woman who doesn't, one who will let the drops soak her clothes to transparency and look at me with wet eyelashes and rile me to murder. There is a creak in the hall as the house settles.

In the morning, all the umbrellas in the house are missing and the stranger in my bed blames me.

------

He infuriates her as much as she infuriates him, the biting back and forth, the inability to be in the same room together for too long before the storm between them crackles and one of them bows out, fearful that someone will notice. She boasts she will cook her partner a chicken that weekend. He dismisses her out of hand: I'd rather be poisoned than eat what you make. She'd love to poison him, she says and she has won this round.

When did that fury, that rumble of anger, become something else entirely? A different emotion, but one that scares her more, somehow.

She goes home to her partner, three umbrellas hidden in her handbag. When she shops, every chicken in the supermarket has been sold. The bare shelves taunt her. Her partner cannot understand how there is no chicken. He throws a plate and she screams until she's white in the face.

-------

We're both sick of chicken, this stranger and I. The freezer is stuffed to the gills. She tells me she is becoming vegetarian.

I cannot find it within myself to care. We tiptoe around each other in the house, the furniture holding itself stiff. Apprehension makes the paint peel from the walls. Toast burns in the toaster of its own accord and the towels do not dry on the rail. Fight builds in me and I see it struggling to escape in my tense knuckles, my aching neck, my rounded shoulders.

The stranger makes the decision for me. I am repentant, a coward. She leaves and I stay.

------

Her time is up. The sands of the hourglass have run out. Her mother will laugh. Can't keep a man, can you? She hasn't found a man who can be kept. The one she wants, the one she fears, is much more than that. A drunken bargain, woken from a threat (I wouldn't marry you if I were forty and desperate) (I'd marry you, forty and desperate. Then, I'd have won). She'd spin him like a hurricane and in return he'd throw her to the wolves. Her equal, her rival.

But this man is white faced and drawn this morning.

An argument with the missus?

She left. Go on, gloat, you with your man under your thumb.

A spark, a moment of pure fire.

Actually...

A pact to marry once they are both 1000 years old. After the pact was made they both agreed to have monthly dinners with their new partners. This was the 1000th anniversary of the pact, the two young vampires staring at each other across a long dining table.
“YOU WHAT!” Screamed Alana, staring at Ellie across the table. A cold faced Ellie stared back.
“You heard me, I signed him up for the military. It was a lot easier than you think.” Ellie stated quite matter of factly. “I didn’t think he was right for you. Your standards have really hit the floor Al”
“Don’t call me that Eleanor” Growled Alana. This was the longest she had had a relationship, almost 5 years. She was seething, but after a moment she took a deep breath and her expression calmed. She wasn’t angry anymore which confused Ellie, as this was the greatest trick she pulled yet. Alana paused before bursting into laughter. After laughing for 5 straight minutes, she managed to say “Your so worried about my date, but where is yours?”
“Shit.” Ellie snapped her wrist up to check the time. Two hours late. “Well what did u do to her?” Alana continued laughing at Ellie’s new found revelation.
“I might have..” Alana still laughing at her own diabolical plan “put her in..” Alana dying with laughter at this point.
“Get to the point Al, what did you do to her?” Snapped Ellie. Alana finally composed her self, wiping tears from her face from laughing so hard. But before she could answer, the coat cabinet began to creak. The lock popped off and a pale grey body fell to the floor. Alana burst into laughter, falling to floor and giggling like a small child.
“YOU DRAINED HER” Shouted Ellie.
“I can’t marry myself can I?” Alana responded with a grin on her face. “I knew you were going to doing something to John before tonight. I had to get even.”
After a deep breath Ellie said “Well done Al, that was pretty good. But enough of the shenanigans, we shouldn’t keep our guests waiting” With a smile, getting up from the table and walking to the door. Alana nodded and joined Ellie at the door.
Before opening it Alana said “Your really that desperate to marry me that you sent John to the military.”
“You killed mine!” Ellie retorted.
They both smiled at each other as the great big doors opened to reveal an enormous wedding venue. Friends new, old, and even older were there as they all cheered at the sight of Ellie and Alana.
“Shall we” stated Ellie offering her arm to Alana, and they both set off down the aisle.

Welcome to the Prompt! All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.

Reminders:

>* Stories at least 100 words. Poems, 30 but include "[Poem]" >* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail >* See Reality Fiction and Simple Prompts for stricter titles >* Be civil in any feedback and follow the rules

🆕 New Here? ✏ Writing Help? 📢 News 💬 Discord

I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.

[removed]

[removed]