They come on horses, numb from the weight of armour. They carry swords stained by the red liquid of life, extinguished. They come on tourist buses, dragging their wheeled suitcases, bang-bang-bang over my cobbled streets.
But…it is I that watches them.
I stare at them through my battlements adorned with ancient text. My towers of worship and pain scan the streets and hotel rooms, peering in; looking for him. I’m tired of crusading knights; driven by obliteration and the glory of their god versus all others.
Yet, one day he came to me. T .E. Lawrence, Lawrence of Arabia. He was worthy. A knight who rejected the glory of knighthood. The embodiment of charisma, passion and bravery. He knows forbidden love, as do I. He gazes at me, and I at him. A proposal of marriage, we’ll be entwined by prose and verse.
Immortalised in ink; scribed the on thin pages of deadened trees. Our love, eternal, will never die.
via Flash! Friday–Vol 2 – 41 | Flash! Friday.
Reminder of the rules: 140-160 word story. 24 hours. Use the photo prompt. Use the element (in the locket).
Before the competition started, I promised myself an extra challenge – to use the non-prompt. Each week we’re given an example e.g. if the locket says “you must include the word ‘underpants'” – this week the example it gave was Lawrence of Arabia. Which wasn’t part of the competition, but I used it. I had to do a bit of research. I found out that he loved the castle and I imaged him sitting there, but the castle was also dreaming of him. He refused a knighthood, which also fitted the story, as the castle was a base for crusading knights over history. Also, he never married, but was said to be in love that was at the time forbidden (how true this is I don’t know).
Got a lovely ‘Special Mention’ for my troubles. Thanks, kind judge.
Metropolitan Dreams 