Apocalypsewriters - I Think I’m Lost

October Prompt Day 16 - flying kites

Wow, would you look at that, another short story inspired by the amazing @creativepromptsforwriting . This one was too sweet to share. It’s set in the family au, where half of @pagesofcursive and my characters are adults, and the other half are kids fostered by said adults. Enjoy the fluff!

wc: 890

Summary: Kite shenanigans on a beautiful afternoon

“Just reel it out,” Juni coached, one of her hands holding the edge of the kite controls, the other hovering over Violetta’s as the kid slowly unspooled the rope. “That’s it, you’ve got it!” The words of encouragement drew out a joyful smile from Violetta, and the pair grinned up at the bedazzled purple kite together. 

A few paces away, another duo was having a little more trouble. “Not quite,” Bella corrected, her voice strained as she corrected Tora’s grip and the angle of the kite control. “Remember, you need to take the wind speed and angle into account.” 

Tora shuffled, unable to remain still. She looked bored to tears, but she still hung on to the kite. 

Noticing their plight, Juni called over, “Don’t forget what we talked about, Bella.” 

Bella furrowed her eyebrows for a moment before a look of understanding crossed her face. She took a deep breath, recalculating her approach. She twisted around to meet Tora’s gaze and asked, “You do want to be the best, right?” 

The bored expression on Tora’s face immediately switched to one of excitement, her eyes sparking like lightning. She bounced on the spot, losing her grip on the poorly decorated kite as she cheered animatedly, “Of course!” 

Bella lunged to catch the brightly decorated blue and white kite before the wind swept it away, breathing a sigh of relief as she secured her grip on the kite once more. “Then do exactly as I say,” she commanded. 

Tora tightened her grip on the returned kite and nodded seriously, her focus revitalized by the new inspiration. “Okay!” 

The pair sitting on the porch had no such troubles. Freddie’s kite glided in the middle of the pack. He and Dawn had picked out the kite together, but Violetta had been the one who insisted that it had to be decorated, generously donating one of her glittery stickers to their cause, though Freddie and Dawn accepted it reluctantly. Their kite flew well enough, keeping steady in the breeze. 

“Are you enjoying yourself?” Dawn asked, her voice a murmur so the others wouldn’t hear. Her hand rested on his shoulder, just causal enough to seem accidental to anyone watching them. 

Freddie shrugged, leaning back against her knee, keeping his gaze on their kite. Many would think that he was bored or apathetic, but Dawn could tell that he was having fun and taking in the moment. 

She chuckled, a fond smirk on her face. “Me too.” 

A sudden commotion rose up from the front yard as Zach broke free from Lynn’s grip, sprinting across the front yard with his kite string in hand. “No, no, no, no!” Lynn called desperately, chasing after him, but she was too late to stop Zach from accidentally crossing kite strings with Aster. “Sorry!” 

The black and silver kite that belonged to Aster and Nyx had tangled and crash-landed with the obnoxiously glittery, electric blue kite that Zach had picked out. Lynn scooped up Zach to prevent him from causing further mischief, and Nyx just laughed. “It’s all good,” she said, attempting to untangle their kites. “I know you have a handful there. It was inevitable.” 

“Yes, but that’s the fourth time this has happened,” Lynn complained. She lowered Zach to the ground, and Nyx handed him his kite, smiling as she returned to Aster. Lynn crossed her arms, exasperated. “Zach, don’t you want your kite to fly higher than Tora’s?” 

“Not really,” Zach replied cheerily, waving the kite around in front of his face. “I just want it to fly!” 

“But you can’t do that when you keep running it into other kites!” Lynn explained, trying to find his logic, if he had any to begin with. 

He watched as Aster’s kite returned to the air. “But half the fun is getting it up there!” Zach pointed up at the sky, and then grunted as he locked his gaze on the sun. He fell backward onto the warm grass. 

Lynn chuckled fondly as she helped him back up. “Okay, well I don’t think I’m as good as Bella at maneuvering kites, but I can help you with that.” 

His brow wrinkled at the big word, and he tried to sound it out. “Manu- moo-vring?” 

She smiled. “We can even run along the street to get it moving,” she said, knowing that Zach would love that idea. 

And, indeed, his face lit up, and he bounced up and down at the mention of running. “Really?” he exclaimed. 

“Really,” Lynn confirmed. “Just on the path, though, not on the road.” 

“Yay!” Zach cheered, and he took off running, making a beeline towards the road. Unfortunately for both of them, he seemed to be on the perfect trajectory to crash into a parked car, and his eyes were fixed on the kite. 

“Hang on!” she yelled, dashing after him. “Zach, wait!” 

The entire group laughed as she desperately chased after the small boy, steering him away from any obstacles. As the day went on, the kites soared through the air, dipping and twisting against the bright blue sky. When the breeze finally died, the kids tucked their kites beneath their arms, and everyone trooped inside for food as rumbling bellies and complaining mouths grew in volume. Another perfect afternoon was over, but there would be more fun and laughter over dinner. 

i love aspec men, especially aspec trans men. you guys are awesome <3

I’m aroace but since that has next to no representation I didn’t realize that until about 2 years ago. But there are so many things that should have tipped me off

- my drama teacher asked me if I would be comfortable playing a character with a romance heavy role

- A friend after hearing I played a flirtatious character said they couldn’t see me in that role

- I TALKED MYSELF out of crushes I had in the past. Just “oh, a crush isn’t like what the media makes it out to be. Crushes are just me wanting to get to know that person better as a friend”

- Completely uninterested by talks about crushes leading to me feeling isolated from my friends

- Never imagining myself in a relationship. If you asked me what I wanted to do with my “crush” at the time, I wouldn’t be able to answer

- Not understanding or having celebrity crushes (I still don’t)

- Liking a character from a book series a LOT and realizing that any other person in my position would like this character more and differently than I did

gay shit ive done that i thought was 100% straight before i realized: a biography

tried to explain to my straight friends that girls are just objectively more attractive than guys. like objectively.

and being convinced that they were lying to me when they disagreed and said they were attracted to men

didn’t understand why breakups were such a big deal. “if he doesn’t give you enough attention just leave him.” “well at least now you have more time for yourself!” “well you still have me :)”

avoided watching lingerie or swimsuit commercials and had my eyes glued to the floor in locker rooms because obviously i’m not gay. like look at how not gay i am

“yeah sometimes i want people to look at me and wonder wtf i am”

got happy chemicals when people thought i was with my female friend

thought that bi girls and lesbians were the coolest fuckin people ever

female characters who didn’t want a relationship with a man and had their own independent storylines were my favorites

stopped watching shows if the characters randomly got paired up in het relationships

got super excited “for no reason” whenever i read a book with gay rep

“i want to look goth and lethal and have a sword but i also want to be a fairy and look like the embodiment of a claire’s store”

“i wish i was a boy because girls are so pretty and i don’t want to have to be with a boy”

never wanted to get married or have kids

felt super uncomfortable whenever a man would show any interest in me

“obviously ⏳ is more attractive than🚪”

but all sizes and shapes of girls are cute

sweaters, flannels, boots and beanies are not seasonal, they are year-long clothing items for all weather. even if it’s 108 degrees and humid

handpicked boys to have a crush on

“these are the men i’m attracted to” (insert queer-coded fictional character with feminine characteristics)

“who do you have a crush on?” “no one” “aw are you embarrassed to tell us?” 😐

any man who has ever been nice to me i must have a crush on now. that’s the rules.

i think i like him but i have to convince myself really hard that i do and the second he reciprocates fondness i no longer like him. i’m probably just picky

“he’s sweet, he’s funny, his face is symmetrical, and he’s smart but not in a show-off way… why don’t i like him?”

“look at all these other girls being boy-crazy. SOO GLAD i’m not like that :P”

other gays/queer people feel free to add on (although this is primarily for sapphics (and aspecs))

Barnes and Nobles is gonna start serving food and alcohol.

Everybody’s cracking jokes about how it’s a desperate attempt to stay relevant in the age of Amazon.

But you know what? Props to them. This is exactly what Blockbuster didn’t do. At no point was Blockbuster like “Hey, movie rentals aren’t the lucrative enterprise they once were. Perhaps it’s time we become known for our cheesy garlic bread.”