Vignette 1

He dunked the brush back into the red liquid. He flung the brush up to the white rose and plastered the thick liquid carefully onto its petals. Without time to spare he moved on to the next flower. Ace gazed up from his work to the green grass patch where the croquet game was being held. High society members were looking over their large rimmed glasses at the young petite girl focusing with the flamingo in hand. The hedgehog, formed in a ball, waited anxiously, knowing that his life depended on his next move. The girl took in a breath and with a smooth motion hit the hedgehog towards the first gate. The hit was too soft and anyone with eyes could see that the hedgehog wasn’t going to reach the gate. But miraculously he went though, spinned on to the second gate and went through six more gates before reaching the end in perfect timing. Everyone clapped like their lives depended on it, which sadly was the case, and congratulated her on her success.

Four of hearts grumbled next to Ace.

“Pathetic suck ups.”

He took care not to say it out loud, for just like them, his life depended on it.

Ace looked at the queen, whose face showed no ecstatic emotion but looked rather tired. He wondered what she was thinking. Did she even enjoy the game that she played every day when the sun was at its brightest?

Ace wasn’t like the other card soldiers. Perhaps because he was Ace of Hearts. Perhaps that made him believe in a life that was better than the one he was living. Perhaps because unlike all the other soldiers who resented and hated the queen, he instead felt a moving sensation in his heart whenever he saw her. He made sure no one else ever knew how it made him feel when he saw those beautiful sad eyes, when he saw her lips turn into a tight scowl, when he watched those delegate hands move when she was mad. He was probably crazy for feeling the way he was. But he had no desire to feel anything less.

As he watched the queen and her entourage stroll away, leaving the soldiers to pick up their mess and the grass piles that were left by the hedgehog’s pens, he decided determined that he would somehow talk to the queen. And soon. 

 

Ace heard his footsteps crunch on the perfectly trimmed grass. He was in a playful mood and looked around if anyone was nearby. He took his spear and swirled it around in the air in an imaginary battle. As he reached the wall, he lost his footing and hit his head against it. Hoping no one heard on the other side of the wall, he listened for anyone coming near. But instead he heard a soothing voice. He had never heard a girl sing before and at that moment he never wanted to hear anything else again. He wondered if it could be a servant, perhaps one of the queen’s guests. The voice, the melody, overpowered him so that he found himself looking for a way to climb over the high red wall. He knew he could be beheaded for this. But he didn’t care. He needed to know who that beautiful voice belonged to.

He managed to softly fall into the bushes when he fell over the wall. He hosted himself up, looking around for the voice.

He saw the back of a beautiful, lean, young girl with long red hair. He could see how her hair melted into different shades of red. She wasn’t a servant but she could be a friend of the queen. He could never speak to her, she would probably yell if he came near.

He tried to get closer, still listening intently to the song she was singing. He found a place situated behind a bush that was cut into the exact image of the red queen. He could stay there all night. He wished he could see the face of the beautiful girl. Her voice sounded sad but that brought a magical feel over the whole image of her singing. He wanted to take her into his arms and tell her she had no reason to be sad anymore. He was just about to shed a quick, manly, tear when a sudden jolt brought him back to his reality.

He recognised the scoundrel who pulled at his leg. It was the red queen’s nasty dog. He growled at the little monster, but it didn’t seem to mind. It was still trying to pull him out from behind his cover.

He looked at the girl anxiously. She hadn’t seemed to hear the commotion and was still hugging herself. She sighed. He smiled sadly and sighed too.

He kicked his leg furiously, trying to loosen the grip of the dog. But it didn’t go quite as plan when the clumsy card soldier lost his balance and fell head first into the dam.

The girl gasped in shock and looked at the stranger in her dam.

Only when he had removed all the grass off of his face did he realize who the girl was. It’s the queen herself! With that realization he lost his footing again and fell back into the water with his legs in the air. Spartling for air, a frog decides to jump onto his head.

He heard a sound growing louder and louder. It was only when he got the frog off of his head that he realized it was the laughter of the queen. He had never heard her laugh before. He gave a crooked smile. And she stiffeled her laugh with her soft, small hands and smiled back at him. 

This is a short scene fiction story told by Olivia Kay.

What is Scene fiction?

It consists of writing one scene that tells enough to convey a story and inspires the reader to dream up what happens next.

 

What you can do with this Story?

You can use this Vignette as a story writing prompt. Simply take the text and write what happens before and after. Make it your own story.