GOOD EVENING LOVELIES!!! I hope everyone has had an amazing week, mine has been busy but I got through it.
Let’s go ahead and get right to it, shall we? Once again, today’s prompt comes from 5000 Writing Prompts by Bryn Donovan. When I said I loved this book, that was an understatement. There is so much in this book I want to tackle it’s pathetic. My writing muscles are definitely working again. (By the way, I am not sponsored by Bryn Donovan, I just really like this book A LOT.)
Today’s prompt comes from the Horror section. Before you continue, I will tell you all right now that this is my first attempt at writing a horror piece. I’m definitely not good at it, but I am satisfied with the end product. Is it flawless? Absolutely not. But that’s the whole point of practicing, right? To get better.
WARNING: there is implication/mention of suicide in this piece. If you are sensitive to that subject matter, please do not proceed. You ARE warned.
ALWAYS A BRIDESMAID, EVEN AFTER DEATH
Always a bridesmaid and never the bride. Isn’t that how the saying goes? You’ve got the makings and potential to be a bride, however your time never comes to fruition?
That was my problem. I always wanted to be a wife… ok, I always wanted a wedding, I never really thought about being a wife. I never thought about compromise, relationships, children… it was always about that damn wedding.
I didn’t want simple, that’s not me. I wanted what Charles and Diana had, The Wedding of the Century. Everything from the venue, all the way down to the dress… I knew what I wanted.
The first wedding I was ever in, I was seven years old. One of my aunts was getting married, and she wanted me to be the flower girl. Walking down the aisle, seeing all the decorations, seeing my aunt walking down the aisle in her beautiful dress, celebrating at the reception… I loved every minute of it.
When I was a teenager, my other aunt got married, and I was one of the bridesmaids. That wedding was more lavish than the first one.
After college, my five best friends started planning their weddings, and I was ecstatic. I loved weddings, and to this day, I still do. The ceremony, the reception… walking down the aisle, all eyes on the bride… yes, I could not wait for my day to come.
Then, Brandon came into my life. He was the one, I knew he was. After our first anniversary, I started planning the wedding. After a year, it’s pretty much a done deal, right? I had the venue picked out, the banquet hall where we would have our reception. I knew what I wanted.
By the time our second anniversary came, I picked out my dress. I made sure it was perfect, I would have all eyes on me that day after all. My day would be perfect.
Then our third anniversary came… he proposed, finally. I was so happy. Finally, it was going to be my turn… then I saw the ring. The simple gold band and single stone set in the center was definitely something I was not expecting.
No, that wasn’t the ring I was expecting.
We fought.
I told him how I had been waiting for this moment my entire life. I told him I had always dreamed of a big wedding. He, on the other hand, wanted a small wedding with only family and close friends to witness our nuptials. Then the subject of the cost came about, there was no way he could afford what I wanted. And that’s when it hit me, he would never be able to give me the wedding of my dreams. I realized if he couldn’t give me what I wanted, how could I go on in life? This man standing before me, who was proclaiming he loved me and wanted to spend the rest of his life with me, couldn’t do this simple thing…
I ran. I ran from the apartment, I ran down the street, I ran so I could get away from him. I was so disgusted I couldn’t look at him anymore. I was so devastated and angry the tears were streaming down my cheeks. It was my time to shine. It was finally my turn, and in a single breath he took it from me… and I hated him for it.
Somehow, I made my way down to the subway station. Strangely, I didn’t remember walking there. All I could think about was how my life was over, how could I face my friends and family. They all knew how important this was to me… the embarrassment was too much to bear.
I saw the train coming, all I wanted was my suffering to end…
The next thing I remember was standing in the center of a big room. There was a bright light shining on me, but the background was shrouded in shadows. The silence was deafening, I could hear my own heart beat. After for what seemed hours, three cloaked figures emerged from the shadows, their mouths the only parts of their bodies I could see.
“Welcome to ‘The Judgement’,” the first one said, his voice gravelly. I looked at him confused.
“We shall look upon your life, and see what punishment befits your sin,” the second declared, his voice just as hoarse as the first one.
“Sin? What do you mean ‘sin’?” I asked, getting frustrated. What were they talking about? Where am I? I had no idea what was going on, but one thing was for certain… I had never sinned.
The third one laughed.
“What are you laughing at?” I exclaimed, my temper getting the best of me.
“Humans are incapable of not sinning,” the third one hissed. I tried to swallow the growing lump in my throat. I was getting nervous, these figures were beginning to frighten me.
“We shall deliberate, and then reconvene to reveal your fate,” all three declared. The entire room went dark. I stood there a moment terrified, but even more bewildered as to what just happened.
Deliberate? Reveal my fate? What the hell were they talking about? Who were these people?
Suddenly, three fires exploded in front of me, with each of the hooded figures standing in a fire. The entire room was shrouded with red light.
“You are guilty of the sins of Greed and Envy!” all three roared.
“Guilty?!” I screeched. “I haven’t done anything wrong.” I tried to plea, but whoever these three were, they weren’t hearing anything I had to say.
“Your envious heart kept you from truly supporting the brides of the weddings you attended,” the first one proclaimed.
“Your avarice kept you from enjoying the life of happiness you could’ve had with Brandon,” the second explained, with what seemed like a hint of amusement in his voice.
“For that, you shall relive all the weddings you attended for the rest of eternity,” all three said in unison.
Wait, what? Relive all the weddings? For eternity? I fell to my knees. This couldn’t be real, it just couldn’t.
“Please,” I begged. “Tell me what I need to do to fix this and I shall do it.”
“You threw yourself in front of train because your fiancé didn’t give you the ring you wanted,” the first one began. “And when you two fought, you concluded he didn’t earn enough money to provide that which you require.”
“Like a child who throws a temper tantrum when they can’t play with their favorite toy,” the second one growled.
“Instead of living life, you put all of your time and energy dreaming of a fantasy where you would be the center of attention,” the third one said. “You sacrificed your life… over one day.” The fires stopped burning. All three hooded figures just stood there, still facing me. The middle one started walking towards me.
“Please,” I began, still on my knees with my hands clasped. “I will do anything-”
The figure smacked my head so hard I fell backwards. Instead of hitting the floor, I hit a bed. I looked around, and I realized I’m in my childhood bedroom. My mother rushes in and gets me up, and starts getting me ready… for my aunt’s wedding.
Okay, I’m dreaming, I initially thought. I’ll go through the day, live it like it happened when I was a kid, and I’ll wake up out of this bad dream.
The next morning, I’m a teenager again. It’s the day of my other aunt’s wedding. Okay, I’ll get through this day, surely I’ll wake up.
Then the next morning came…
Then the next…
Then the next…
After the seventh day of reliving the weddings I participated in, I thought I would wake up… how stupid could I have been…
YOU SHALL RELIVE ALL THE WEDDINGS YOU ATTENDED FOR THE REST OF ETERNITY.
On the eighth day, the cycle began again. I was a little girl again, playing flower girl. The next day, I was teenager, and so on… I’ve been driven to madness so many times I’ve lost count. I can’t tell anyone, every time I try to say I’m stuck in a never-ending time loop by those vengeful gods, the words don’t come out…
As I adjust my best friend’s veil for what is probably the thousandth time, my thoughts are with Brandon. I was indeed a fool. My focus was on the wedding itself; I was in love with the wedding, I wasn’t in love with him.
Please let him be ok, I silently prayed to the vengeful gods. Please let him have been able to move on and find someone to love him the way I should have.
“How do I look, Sicily?” My best friend asks me… again. I softly smile at her.
“You look absolutely beautiful.” I beam happiness for her, but on the inside I am broken and miserable.
For some girls, the saying isn’t always true… always a bridesmaid, and never a bride.
For me, however, my fate is sealed…
Even after death, I shall always be a bridesmaid.
That’s it for today. If you all have any suggestions on how to make my horror writing better, please feel free to leave a comment or shoot me an email. Lord knows I need all the advice I can get.
I will definitely get a set schedule down, please be patient with me. Next week I will bring back Writing Advice Friday, and hopefully I will have a prompt ready for you guys by Wednesday…. Hopefully *crosses fingers*.
Until next time, take care and be safe!!!
Love, Leslie
Leslie's Writing Desk 