#BlogBattles, short stories

Bottled Up

Rachael Ritchey

#BlogBattle 36 “Bottle”

genre: fantasy (mystery & drama)

www.wrangell.com
http://www.wrangell.com

She walked along the beach, head ducked and hands shoved deep in her jacket pockets. The wind whipped about, pulling her hair and waving it across her face in ticklish teasing. She’d given up the attempts to keep the lip-tingling tendrils from sweeping across her face.

The rocky beach seemed to go on forever, but in her loneliness she didn’t care how far it went, because there was no end in sight for her. Life seemed to have dealt her every possible blow a person could endure without dying.

She scoffed at the thought of it and lifted her face to stare at the horizon.

“Yes. I’m a country song,” she said into the wind.

Her words seemed to spiral around her and then disappear across the expanse of ocean. The self-deriding smile she wore melted into the deep creases of a frown and not even the restful sound of waves slapping the shore could bring her comfort.

Her steps slowed until she halted and her head slumped back down.

“What’s this?”

Something out of the ordinary caught her attention. She bent over and reached under the edge of a water-saturated, bark-less log left as dejected and forlorn on the beach as her.

“A bottle.”

She rubbed the side and peered into the semi-opaque glass wondering if there was a message in the bottle. An inkling of hope lit in her chest as she imagined some love note, or cry for rescue, or any manner of crazy story might be captured inside the bottle.

She tipped the bottle up and examined the top. It had a small cork placed in it but with enough outside the neck to grasp. Unable to resist, she pulled the top out, but instead of a celebratory popping sound coming from the bottle an intense whoosh of air escaped, followed by a loud crashing, as if the entire ocean was bottled up inside.

Her heart hammered in her chest and she dropped the bottle, stumbling backward away from the onslaught. But it was too late. She’d unleashed something beyond imagining.

The wind whipped about her in an ever-growing circle, pulling her clothes, pulling her hair, pulling her closer and closer to the bottle.

Her scream was lost in the gusts so even she could not hear her cries. In the next instant she was pulled from her feet and swirled with the currents of air. The pressure grew intense and her insides felt compressed.

“Help!”

It was her last cry before she disappeared into the bottle.

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Published by Rachael Ritchey

Rachael Ritchey is a dreamer who believes in the resilience of the human spirit. She never wants to forget we are not what has happened to us or what we've done. She believes we are deep wells of compassion and strength, and when unleashed, these subtle super powers can change the world, even if only just one person at a time. Rachael writes with an eye toward exemplifying these attributes. Her clean but real and true-to-self YA fiction reflects these qualities with daring adventure and sweet romance that almost anyone can enjoy. Rachael lives in Spokane, WA with her husband, kids, and their dog named Hashtag.

38 thoughts on “Bottled Up”

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  3. Whaaaat?!?!? I did not see that coming…I was too wrapped up in her emotions and the sounds of the ocean and the feel of the wind in my hair. 🙂 This line…“Yes. I’m a country song,” 🙂 Can’t wait to see where you take this!!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. 🙂 Thanks, Carrie Ann, I’m feeling romantic tonight so if I get more Wifi tomorrow, this bottle make take us on a romantic adventure. 😉 I’ll have to wait until tomorrow ) morning to read everyone’s stories from this week (still no power) do I’m delaying announcing the winner until then! 🙂

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

  5. Interesting! I wonder what’s inside the bottle… a whole other world maybe? I’m imagining all sorts. 😀 Great story.

    Sorry about your power troubles. Nature does make life hard sometimes.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. Thanks, Phoenix. 🙂 You have thought something very close to what I have in mind! 🙂

      The power troubles are more inconvenient at this point than anything, thank goodness! We didn’t have a lot of food in the fridge and freezer, unlike a lot of people, so we didn’t have a total loss in that regard, but I’m looking forward to a warm shower today! Just as soon as my clothes are dry. 🙂 I’m so glad my parents only live an hour away and still have power! We are lucky.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

      1. Sounds interesting! I hope we get to find out what you have in mind. 🙂
        It sounds like you are relatively lucky with the power outage. Hopefully it doesn’t last much longer, Parents do come in handy. 😉

        Liked by 1 person

        Reply

        1. They are working round the clock to restore power. It will probably be back by this weekend. I’m just glad it’s not the middle of winter yet! The nights are dipping, but we’re still at livable temps.

          I’m really interested to find out what’s inside this bottle she’s been sucked into. 🙂 Maybe we should make it a story prompt idea and open it up to everyone taking the next week to write something interesting for it. 🙂

          Liked by 1 person

          Reply

            2. You still dont have power?
              yikes
              Who needs electricity when you got a crazy imagination… unless you are some sort of robobionic persosn thingie and your battery running low… need moooore pooooooowwweeeer

              Liked by 1 person

            3. storrryyyy!!!! 🙂

              Seriously, still no power. The other side of our street has power but not our side. They aren’t working on the downed line behind the house two over either, so it will probably continue throughout the weekend.. Ugh.
              Now, you must write this robobionic story. How will the robo dude restore his power?! Ahhh!!!!

              Liked by 1 person

  12. Pingback: #BlogBattle Week 36 “Bottle” Entries & Voting | Rachael Ritchey

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