Valentine and we walk towards the sea, your hand, a bird nesting in mine. The night is the shadows of slumbering trees, it is winged with our dreams in the brightness of spring, it is us and it is a moon.
Wrapped in brown paper, in my pocket I carry my secret, my weapon, my precious, the ring meant to tether us tight from tonight into forever.
We drape ourselves in silence soon to be shattered. Soon I will ask, and you will look at the sea before dropping the word, the promise, the song to unite us.
— and if, if you dare to say no, it still will be us two, forever together.
It is your decision you may choose the ring I have brought to strap you or the blade in my belt I brought to spill our lives in the sand.
Camille Corot
Tonight I host Prosery at dVerse, the prompt where we write prose where we give one line for you to embed into the prose.
The line is “It is a moon wrapped in brown paper.”, from the poem Valentine by Carol Ann Duffy. Your prose shall not be longer than 144 words, including the given line.
February 14. 2022
Björn Rudbergs writings 
Deep, moving, hauntingly romantic. What woman doesn’t long for that ring on Valentine’s Day? 💍
I think it the ring will tether you down, it might be a bit less romantic.
Depends if one enjoys being tethered or not …😉
Oh, Bjorn, the darkness was always threatening, but then it poured out!
Darkness can always grow darker.
lol … you are so funny; I knew you would have some sort of slaughter in the end 🙂
I think I need to find a way to end it in sleazy romance sometimes. ..
Gee, she better say yes or hearts may truly bleed this night under the moon. Yikes… haha a dark spin on Valentine’s Day
Either way, she’s tied forever..
still death do us part….or until she gets a good lawyer …haha
Oops till… really enjoyed this one Bjorn… the twist was excellent.
This is deliciously dark and enticing, Bjorn! I love how seamlessly you have incorporated the line by Duffy 💝💝
Thank you… I always try to break up the line to find something new…
OH MY! This turns dark at the end…..there I was being romanced by your words and BAM! What a tale you’ve turned. Love the change in punctuation with the sentence.
Isn’t that the purpose of flash fiction…. the evil twist?
When I read precious the ring, I thought of Gollum and what he was willing to do to keep it. Not a healthy relationship on the horizon in either case!
Nope…. he’s very possessive
Possessive and possession come from the same root. Turning a person into an object to obsess over is never healthy.
Amazing style, especially that opening paragraph, straight in…I say especially, because afterwards………dark..dark..dark….stunning how that turned, softly, poetically, sharply, very sharply…
I had a feeling from the beginning that this was going to be dark–because you do love those twists! 😊 Creepy, but it seems like it could be true.
Pushy, isn’t he? I hope she thought to bring a gun.
OMG a dark one!!!!
Have a good Monday Björn
Thanks for dropping by to read mine
Much love…
A perfect (and perfectly effective) breaking of the given line, Bjorn. Awesome. Thanks. And thanks for hosting!
I can only hope that she knows him well enough to have something up her sleeve. Excellent unexpected ending.
The terrible twist – and they’re far out in the woods too. The girl was captured before she got there.
sadly too gruesomely true … many men will kill,partner and kids, if they don’t comply with his every command. Great and realistic write Bjorn!
Oh my, harsh choice — but beautiful write Bjorn. Happy Valentine’s Day.
A dark twist! I like how you used the line.
Sounds like dangerous love in the making!
You inserted the given line so well I needed to read the prosery twice before I saw it! Pity about the ending possibilities! It was either ‘do’ or ‘die’!!
Such a dramatic and thrilling write Bjorn. What a decision to make.
And that line was cleverly inserted that I didn’t noticed it at first.
That’s some poetic prose and quite a choice she has in this (ultimately dark) tale. And, as Ron mentioned, a terrific rendering(s) of the line.
This reminded me of Fifty Shades of Grey. Despite Grey not being poetically inclined, the darkness was definitely there. A fresh piece Björn! Like the other commenters I liked how you broke up the line from duffy.
Well. Wow. That’s… dark, Björn.
..!!! A romantic story with a dark twist,that’s one of my favourite kind! 🙂
Intense. I love this secret we know and how you integrate the quote. Reminds me of the song, “Banks of the Ohio” my mother used to sing it to me when I was little, a man who asks, she says no, and well, a similiar fate awaits her.
Like an ancient ballad, the light and dark entwined. (K)
Love the threat of murderous passion here Bjorn!
Oh my … a dark Valentine beautifully composed … thanks for a neat challenge!
Wow, Bjorn! That took a turn that was stunning. That guy has all the answers!
What a fabulous write, Björn! I love how you split up the line. And this ring seems to be more of a collar, attached to an invisible leash!
A very chilling tale in such few words, I think it brings to light the simplicity over depth of even the most gruesome of acts and thoughts.
That ending was deliciously devilish after the build up of romance in the first paragraph. Love how you used the sentence here.