Friday, March 2, 2018

Paula's Prompts: A Symposium in Space Freebie Story

On February 7, 2018, Paula Wyant offered up the line "I refuse to let her hurt me" at ptwyant.com as her Wednesday Words prompt. 

It became the 'At Her Service' freebie story I offered up on Wednesday. 

It also became this...I'm currently working on an expanded version of 'A Symposium in Space'. 

That line demanded attention from both Phaedra and Alkibiadea, two of the characters involved in that particular story...

Phaedra:

I refuse to let her hurt me. 

When she cuts her hands, when she twists her mouth into a condescending sneer, when she used a tone of voice which makes me want to cringe, I hold onto my composure. I cling to my tattered self esteem, refusing to let myself be battered. 

Pausania’s cruelty is a test. I have to pass it if I want to stay by her side. 
I’m so tired of being tested. The conversations that turn into verbal duels with Pausania constantly seeking to cut me down. 

I refuse to let hurt me. No longer will I play her games even if I risk losing her by quitting.

I can’t take this any more. 


Alkibiadea:

I refuse to let her hurt me. 

She stays one jump ahead of me, leaving behind traces of her presence. Tantalizing me with the possibility of capture while slipping through my fingers. 

It’s enough to drive me mad, but it’s a delicious madness. 

I play her game, chasing her throughout the galaxy. I put on a show with the Sokratea, laughing at the universe even as she laughs at me. 

I still refuse to let her hurt me. Sokrat shattered my heart into a million pieces. Now those pieces are scattered across the Intergalactic Democracy, lying in every place she’s ever been. 

She’s done this to me, humbled me like no lover or beloved ever could. 

I’ll never stop hunting her, but I refuse to let her hurt me. 

Never again.

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