Cold-- December Champagne Challenge Rated G

A place for MoonShadow's G to PG-13 stories
User avatar
PNWgal
Moonlightaholic Mod
Posts: 14732
Joined: Fri Jan 16, 2009 8:40 pm
Location: Stuck in the middle between Mick and Josef

Re: Cold-- December Champagne Challenge Rated G

Post by PNWgal »

MS, this really is a beautiful piece. Beth comes to help Mick honor the dead of a war she didn't live through and doesn't understand, but she still wants to be there for him.
MoonShadow wrote:Blankets of fog had rolled in from the bay and they carried with them the scent of distant dreams.
That's a gorgeous line.
MoonShadow wrote:I come here every year. To stand above them. To remember what they gave me.
How difficult it has to be for Mick, to remember the fallen and to know that he will never follow them to a final rest. But he does get his second chance in Beth.

Very nice. :hug:
Image

Banner by the talented GuardianAngel


"It is better to keep silent and be thought a fool, than to open your mouth and remove all doubt." - George Eliot

"The dogs may bark, but the caravan passes on." - old Arab proverb

"Do the best you can do. Love many. Trust few." - Jack Ingram
User avatar
MoonShadow
Logan's WoW nemesis
Posts: 938
Joined: Sun Jan 18, 2009 2:26 am
Location: Sitting on a staircase somewhere

Re: Cold-- December Champagne Challenge Rated G

Post by MoonShadow »

Lucy, JMC, Darkstarrising, Shadow, PNW
Thank you all for the wonderful comments and compliments!
I guess I'm a poet at heart, I love to paint lovely scenes with words.
This is certainly been a great challenge
Image
Banner by Lilly

Be bloody, bold, and resolute; laugh to scorn
The power of man, for none of woman born
Shall harm Macbeth.

Macbeth, 4. 1
User avatar
nutmegger911
Cleaner
Posts: 6233
Joined: Sat Jan 17, 2009 10:36 pm
Location: Right here - right now

Re: Cold-- December Champagne Challenge Rated G

Post by nutmegger911 »

Oh, Moonshadow, this is a wonderfully poignant look into Mick's time, and a beautiful tribute to those caught in the crossfire at Pearl Harbor.

I loved this:
MoonShadow wrote: “Beth, this wasn’t the anniversary of your war.” He breathed deep before the words came. “These were my friends. This was my time.” Pain laced every word as it slipped into the darkness like the tendrils of fog.”

“You come here every year?”

A cross between a snort and sigh of impatience spoke volumes.

“Yeah, every year. I come here every year. To stand above them. To remember what they gave me. I don’t know how to make you understand what all this,” he gestured across the rolling hills marked with marble, faded greens and browns, and limp miniature flags hanging in the darkness. His empty hand turned palm up, before it fell to his side, “What this means to me.”
She’s trying to understand, he’s trying to explain, but there is no way to truly bridge that gap. The frustration is hard for both of them.

This is so very beautiful.
MoonShadow wrote: “Are you ready?” she asked in a whisper.

“No.” “Yes.”
He can’t entirely let go of his past, and yet he’s embracing his future with her. What a wonderful way to connect Mick’s past and his future. Brava.
NM911
Image
LIVE WIDE
It ain't canon until they've shot it (and aired it) - I said that.
Trust the Muse. - Catmoon
The system isn't broken, it's fixed. - Billo
User avatar
MoonShadow
Logan's WoW nemesis
Posts: 938
Joined: Sun Jan 18, 2009 2:26 am
Location: Sitting on a staircase somewhere

Re: Cold-- December Champagne Challenge Rated G

Post by MoonShadow »

nutmegger,
Thank you for your kind words. I love peeling back the layers that wrap Mick's past.
Image
Banner by Lilly

Be bloody, bold, and resolute; laugh to scorn
The power of man, for none of woman born
Shall harm Macbeth.

Macbeth, 4. 1
User avatar
Moonlighter
Rogue vampire
Posts: 1188
Joined: Sat Jan 17, 2009 12:48 am
Location: Found my nice soft place, snuggled up next to Mick in th-this fr-fr-frigid fr-fr-freezer...

Re: Cold-- December Champagne Challenge Rated G

Post by Moonlighter »

This was beautiful, MoonShadow. What a lovely tribute to all those fallen soldiers. And your depiction of Mick and Beth reaching out to one another to bridge that gap between them is so well done as we watch Beth try to comprehend his losses and Mick try to explain it to her. I'm always glad to see Mick hopeful and willing to grab hold of his future, in this case Beth.

Beautifully done, MS!
Image
Banner courtesy of the wonderfully talented, Moderator Most Awesome, soon-to-be-missed Phoenix!
jen
Cleaner
Posts: 6411
Joined: Mon Apr 20, 2009 12:11 am

Re: Cold-- December Champagne Challenge Rated G

Post by jen »

Moonshadow

This is lovely! Your imagery is quite stunning. This place was clearly not a comfortable place for Beth. It was cold, dark and frankly a little creapy but she chose to be there because Mick wanted to be there. It was her decision to be a part of his life.

If it was important to him, it was important to her and that is a critical element in the families we choose.

Both recognize the different perspectives, different needs and still value the perceptions of the other. Beth chose to be there with Mick as he stood with his friends of so long ago, and then he left with her so that she could get warm.

Lovely!

Thank you!

Jenna

:hearts: :flowers: :hearts: :flowers:
Mick and Beth--two of the lovely faces of Moonlight
Image
Beautiful banner by the Fabulous Phoenix
User avatar
maggatha3
Ancient
Posts: 4853
Joined: Thu Jan 13, 2011 8:06 am
Location: Βack to Greece....
Contact:

Re: Cold-- December Champagne Challenge Rated G

Post by maggatha3 »

I have been in a similar war cemetery ...first time when I was 17 years old..in Crete. It was a sunny April morning and I can only recall feeling cold and empty. All those similar looking graves, similar ages of young men, different names though and different tears shed upon them. So many broken ties right in front of my very eyes..really, I wondered why our teachers thought of taking us there..so much pain. still, the luck of war experience makes it difficult to share the deep feeling of someone who fought with them, depended on them, had been saved by them or outlived them. Beth can never share this feeling...only stand by Mick..

Loved it! :heart:
-It never ends well...
-Never?
Image
Gorgeous avatar by our talented Lilly .
Banner by the amazing friend Hot Micks!!! .
User avatar
MoonShadow
Logan's WoW nemesis
Posts: 938
Joined: Sun Jan 18, 2009 2:26 am
Location: Sitting on a staircase somewhere

Re: Cold-- December Champagne Challenge Rated G

Post by MoonShadow »

maggatha3, jen

Thank you both for reading this story.
I've stood in a military cemetery and looked at all the names and dates and been moved to tears over the
heartbreak and loss that these places represent. But I've never been to a WWII battlefield. I'm not sure I could.

you are both so kind,
thank you
Image
Banner by Lilly

Be bloody, bold, and resolute; laugh to scorn
The power of man, for none of woman born
Shall harm Macbeth.

Macbeth, 4. 1
User avatar
allegrita
Moonlightaholic Admin
Posts: 45952
Joined: Sat Jan 17, 2009 9:22 am
Location: Snuggled under the brown afghan, watching the fire

Re: Cold-- December Champagne Challenge Rated G

Post by allegrita »

Just stopping by for a reread of this really poignant story. :rose:
Image
User avatar
MoonShadow
Logan's WoW nemesis
Posts: 938
Joined: Sun Jan 18, 2009 2:26 am
Location: Sitting on a staircase somewhere

Re: Cold-- December Champagne Challenge Rated G

Post by MoonShadow »

Thank you lady,

I love it when folks drop by and comment.
sometime I re-read these and wonder... so many of them write themselves. I just get out of the way and let Mick, Josef, or Beth say what they need to say. :heart:

then I just smile.
Image
Banner by Lilly

Be bloody, bold, and resolute; laugh to scorn
The power of man, for none of woman born
Shall harm Macbeth.

Macbeth, 4. 1
User avatar
cassysj
100% Moonlightaholic
Posts: 12734
Joined: Sat Jan 17, 2009 5:58 am

Re: Cold-- December Champagne Challenge Rated G

Post by cassysj »

This is such a beautiful little piece.
Image
jen
Cleaner
Posts: 6411
Joined: Mon Apr 20, 2009 12:11 am

Re: Cold-- December Champagne Challenge Rated G

Post by jen »

Lovely piece.

Mick is both blessed and cursed by living beyond 'his time'. The world that he grew up in, that made him into the man that walks the streets of L.A. in the 21st century was very different from the one he now inhabits. He does his best to fit into the modern world but his roots remain planted in another time.

Perhaps it becomes easier for vampires, when society no longer resembles what they remember.

And yet even then, does the past break into the present, as it did on this day for Mick? Beth is to be congratulated for choosing to share it with him, easing the solitude of his journey.

Thank you!

Jenna

:hearts: :flowers: :hearts: :flowers:
Mick and Beth--two of the lovely faces of Moonlight
Image
Beautiful banner by the Fabulous Phoenix
User avatar
allegrita
Moonlightaholic Admin
Posts: 45952
Joined: Sat Jan 17, 2009 9:22 am
Location: Snuggled under the brown afghan, watching the fire

Re: Cold-- December Champagne Challenge Rated G

Post by allegrita »

This is a perfect story to read on Memorial Day weekend. Mick's sorrows about the past, his grief for his lost friends, and the warmth that Beth offers him--a chance to move on from grief and cold into warmth and life. Just a beautiful story, MoonShadow. :heart:
Image
Post Reply

Return to “MoonShadow's Office”