Six Sentence Stories: A Love Like Iron

Posted on by

Art Window, Paris. Photo: TVTA.

I’m linking up with Denise at Girlie On The Edge Blog, where she hosts Six Sentence Stories, and everyone is invited to write a story or poem constructed of six sentences based on a cue word given.

This week’s cue word is Iron.

 

 

Editor’s note: the following is an extract from a larger work in progress, a ghost story, and features two characters making a circular journey. I chose this extract for the Six Sentence Story as it mentions the word ‘iron’ many times, and seemed the perfect fit.

A love like iron

Henry felt the impatient pull of the maze, a magnetism drawing them to the window, reducing them to ferromagnetic powders sent scurrying to the vibrating point of an impossible attraction in an impossible place.

Marling took his arm and led him along, shoulder to shoulder, their cheeks so close they might have easily turned their faces and kissed as two lovers.

And they walked like this for moments in silence, pulled towards the maze, the midday sun finding the iridescence of Marling’s feathers which poked from her crown; medicine woman, animal power.

And the sun’s rays did also cast luminosity upon Henry’s new silk eye patch; pirate-bold, buccaneer.

When finally they arrived at the centre of the maze, the window had already been flung open by their enemy; the relentless pursuer who was waiting for them on the other side.

They entered the world of iron butterflies, iron maidens, iron ladies, iron men, iron giants, iron fists, iron skies and iron ages of a paradise wrought to a refinement good enough for the Eiffel Tower and Paris balconies, where once they haunted these structures as ghosts – flitting through the fretworks without a care in the world, and yet to be burdened by a guilt forged in iron upon their bare shoulders.

Love locks, Paris. Photo: TVTA.

The Eiffel Tower, Paris. Photo: TVTA.

 

28 thoughts on “Six Sentence Stories: A Love Like Iron”

  2. Pingback: Sunday’s Six Sentence Story Word Prompt! – GirlieOnTheEdge's Blog

  4. I always enjoy your writing! This was a very neat excerpt. As soon as I read the words “iron butterflies” I began singing In A Gadda Da Vida in my head. At least I’m not hearing Voodoo Chile, anymore!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply ↓

  6. This is very intriguing! Hope this is not the only excerpt we will read? 😀
    Paris love locks! Had to look it up. So tell me, is there a Hungarian prince in your story? 😀
    Love the 2nd photo – the perspective from the underside looking up. Have taken pictures of trees standing next to the trunk looking up.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply ↓

    • Hi D. I hope so! Your cue word this week was a perfect fit, it will good to sneak some more extracts in 🙂
      Hungarian prince eh? Not quite, but the character Marling is a British aristocrat counted in her somewhat lengthy CV!
      Yeah, I took a whole bunch of those tower pics with an underside looking up perspective, and like you have taken many of trees in that same way 🙂
      Thanks for reading and for all your good work on SSS!

      Like

      Reply ↓

      • Glad it worked. Hopefully, there will be another cue word that will work as well.
        British aristocrat, eh?
        Yeah. When I read a little about Paris Love locks, 1 story said it had its origins in Hungary. Another story, Serbia. Could be either. So-o-o…
        Are all in black and white? I had a photographer friend who shot only black and white. She was a huge Ansel Adams fan.
        It’s my pleasure! Thank you 🙂

        Liked by 1 person

      • I’m editing it today, so will keep an eye out on anything SSS-worthy for a future cue word that may fit. Exciting!
        Oh, I didn’t know about the origin of the Paris love locks – Hungary and Serbia eh? There are so many of them attached to railings in different parts of Paris it’s easy to snap photos. My tree photos were colour, but some I digitally switched to B&W for effect. Surprising how they took on a haunted, or antique look when removing colour.
        Ah, the Adams landscapes are breathtaking!
        Happy rest of the weekend, dear D 🙂

        Liked by 1 person

  7. Henry and Marling have led quite the exciting lives and in what seems to be different spheres of existence. What an interesting tale you have woven!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply ↓

  10. damn! if that, (your upcoming story), don’t got ever thang!

    Really like the setting/set-up and the hint/peek at the characters, approaching the action.
    And… and! the ‘iron'(s) of your last sentence. From rock groups to politicians to song titles to iconic images…

    very cool

    (so, semi-technical question: did you outline the (full) story or seat-of-the-pants it?

    Asking ’cause of your mention of a circular journey of the characters. God knows drawing an actual circle is hard enough, (as in, “Hey! What are you doing over there?! we’re supposed to meet right here!”), but in a story. ayiiiee.

    As a setting, Paris would surely have so much to riff off*

    That said, the argument for the outline approach to writing surely has lower levels of stress (see: ends of circles above).

    *not to say you’re riffing your story, some of us write with a certain non-control…. “Hey! A sentence! Lets see where it leads…. my god! there’s a story down there…” lol

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply ↓

    • Hey Clark, thanks so much!
      Top question that… for me it’s seat of the pants all the way! But I do agree taking the outline approach equals less stress, especially when you hit a brick wall or a deep plot hole while flying high. But then, maybe, part of the joy of writing is finding solutions in unexpected places under impossible circumstances?

      Like

      Reply ↓

      • Totally get that last part. (the excitement).
        Surely the coolest thing about writing is when you ‘discover’ something about a character that at, so point improbably far into the story, when you discover something about the character that makes sense of a resistant part of the story. I would, like, pass a lie detector test saying ‘No’ to the question: ‘But Clark, you’re the sole author, you created these characters and you will insist that you didn’t realize that the background of your character provides the solution?’
        lol

        Liked by 1 person

Reply to this blog post

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.