vignettes

[marycatelli]

This week's prompt is:
excuse

Anyone can join, with a 50-word creative fiction vignette in the comments. Your vignette does not have to include the prompt term.

Comments

[marycatelli]

Nothing that gave them an excuse to turn back. Then, thought Autumn, the only excuse would be knowledge that Felix was past their helping. Taking up an enchanted swords in a chapel was a pledge unwise to break.
Shelves appearing in the walls below made her bite her lip, but she did not stop walking down the stairs. The shelves were not empty, but they had to walk down several steps before the pale lumps became clearly skulls.
She faltered and walked on. A warning of the peril.
"At least they don't light up," grumbled Ciara.
Autumn bit her lip.

[marycatelli]

Ned's voice came from the mist ahead as he cheerfully reminded the huntsman that he and several of his fellows were dwarves.
"Nothing like a good mountain range for a dwarf, we have no excuse!"
"Never let the dwarves of the mountains hear you talk like that," said the huntsman.

[starshipcat.livejournal.com]

Although coming up here to Shepardsport had been a dream come true for Tara, its realization was not without difficulties. At least the training had helped, not merely with specific skill-sets she would need in order to be a useful part of the settlement, but also introducing her to the "I have no excuse" mindset of the military aviation community which had been so foundational to the space community.

However, intellectual knowledge was one thing. Internalizing it as part of her own system of values, to the point that she applied it automatically, was far harder. Now that she was up here and working on a daily basis at tasks that had the potential to be matters of life and death, yet inevitably making mistakes, she was finding it harder than expected to take her punishments without complaint, particularly when she had reason to believe that certain people had sabotaged her work.

[marycatelli]

Always complications

[marycatelli]

At least, if his clothes did not serve as his shroud, which they might yet. That would be excuse enough to not buy another shirt. He drew a deep breath and flew again. North.
Not for long. Even the need to put distance between him and that woman, and the dawning of stars in the night sky, did not let him fly for long, not after losing that much blood. He picked out, finally, a rocky outcropping, and realized that beneath it, a woodcutter had a hut. There was no sign of the woodcutter, which was just as well, but there was a secure door, and he sat within and ate his meal before he slept. No point in waking early when he was weak, he reminded himself, as he drifted off.

[marycatelli]

"That way when you are grown, you are inured to it."
Will looked up at his father, not understanding.
"When you have money in your pocket, you need an excuse to escape without purchase. For now you can just stare."
Will nodded. Then he squealed and pointed at glittering wares.