Story Teller Prompt Saltwater Tears

I ran away from home. Or maybe it was to my home. I just knew that the saltwater, the sand, the wind and the waves, drenched me in a perfume that felt like a drug. My inner hurricane calmed to a gentle spring rain and my inner demons were lulled to sleep by the sounds of water gently lapping against the rocks. Breathe, breathe deep. Oh God, why does the ocean do what no pill, no drug, no therapy, no word can. And why do we always have to move away from it? My saltwater mixes with the pools that eddy around my toes and I'm part of the world that calms me. I dream of being a mermaid. To live in the watery world that calms me, to always be able to live there. Would I cry for land?  Would I wish for legs? I don't think so. I long for the sand, the water, the sounds, the waves, everything the sea can give me. Nothing I can give myself.

A car door slams. I have been found. I drag my sleeves across my wet face. I say goodbye to the lover's moon. My love, my salvation, my shelter in a storm has always been the beach. And now, I must leave it. Promises of visits to it are made, but I know they will be broken. This is it. I pull handfuls of sand into my pockets and breathe deep. Would that I could hold my breath forever. I would always have the peace I had moments ago.

I turn my back on my lover. It cannot come with me and I cannot stay. I know that. I cannot look back. I am in a fragile state. I think frantically of getting jobs here and splitting from my family so that I can stay here, beside my beloved beach. How many jobs would it take? Three? Four? I could do it. I'd live downtown close to the beach. The boys could come for the summer. We'd go to the beach. I am grasping at straws. I quell the frantic child in me. I grow up. I say goodbye. I wave. No looking back. Just gentle saltwater tears.

Story teller Prompt The Dragon

Raisa knew he was out there even though she'd asked him to stay away, afraid for his safety. She'd angered Mab and now she would pay with her life.  It was the time of Dragons in Feyland and the Dragon needed to be fed. If you angered Mab, you were more than likely to be the one to be fed to the Dragon next.  She'd only been jesting, but Mab wasn't known for a sense of humor and now Raisa was going to pay a high price.

The vines that held her to the bench, the Feeding Bench, had wrapped her tightly around the wrists, ankles and waist as soon as she'd sat down tightening with every pull of her arm or leg, with every breath.  She'd tried every spell she knew to break the vines, but nothing worked.  She turned slowly to look at him and realized he was eating through the vines.  That she hadn't tried.  "Puck, Puck! Mab is going to be so pissed at you. She'll feed you to the dragon next. It's over! I'll see you wherever faeries go in the afterlife. Go before he comes and eats us both!"  The rabbit kept chewing through the vine even as the ground shook.
When it had broken through the vine, it continued to eat up the vine instead of jumping on the bench to eat through the rest of the vines.  He followed the vine as it wrapped around her arms then jumped into her lap.  "Puck, if I escape this, I'm either going to kill you or kiss you, or both!" she said as he sat in her lap chewing her in very personal places where the vine was wrapped around her.

They both jumped as a roar and a breath of hot wind passed over them.  But Puck continued his eating, faster if even possible.  Raisa stopped complaining and swallowed hard. A large head towered above the rocks, red with blue scales and a gold sheen. It's large teeth were as big as Raisa's head.  Steam billowed out of it's nostrils. Raisa was frozen in fear, she couldn't even breathe. She couldn't warn Puck who was chewing on the other arm now. The dragon turned toward her, and Raisa knew she and Puck were done for. Then suddenly she was in the air and the dragon was behind them flying after them, but far behind and she was in her best friend's arms.  "Shit Raisa, next time piss off someone else!  That vine tastes like crap!"