A drabble writing community. Write 100 words based on the weekly prompt.
Prompt #3: Sleepless
Hello from 100 Words!
This week's prompt is: sleepless (Thanks for voting!)
Your response should be exactly 100 words long. You do not have to include the prompt in your response -- it is meant as a starting place only.
Please remember Imzy's terms of service and community policies when you post.




Original something or other:
She has not slept in three hundred and forty days. The drugs pumped ceaselessly into her veins will not permit it. This is the price she agreed to pay.
With a lurch in her gut, she – the ship – she-ship drops from the place of infinite direction. The captain is distorted in the funhouse mirror of her glass tube. Her head nods gently on her shoulders, propelled by the gentle current that keeps her from total atrophy.
She will never sleep again. The drugs pumped ceaselessly into her veins will not permit it. This is the price she agreed to pay.
What a fascinating universe you've captured. I love it.
Disturbing yet fascinating. Do you have more in this theme?
Not really? It's one of two scifi settings that don't yet have plots I've been kicking around.
Seriously cool.
Wow. It's been a long time since I did a pure 100 word drabble...
Original m/m work.
The humidity wakes Sam, choking him with heat and sweat, reminding him of long summer evenings trapped in the Monster's tower. He has to double-check that his hands aren't chained to the wall.
Cal sleeps beside him, sweat dotting his brow. Sam kicks the summer blanket off and lays his head on Cal's shoulder. There was never a Cal in the tower, and his presence calms Sam.
After a few moments, Cal begins to stir, and he pushes Sam off. "Hot," he mumbles. Soon after, his warm hand reaches out to twine with Sam's.
Sam smiles. This heat is welcome.
I love the comparison of the bad heat and the good heat. ♥
original
It was getting to be a habit, passing Riho at some corner or table as he muttered over artwork and barely nodded in Skylight's direction. He knew by now her tendencies to wander late at night.
She paused at his elbow, then frowned at the drawing. "That's not me," she said sharply.
It clearly was. Sleeping peacefully, curled up on the couch.
"It does look like you," Riho replied, unbothered.
Skylight shook her head. "I don't sleep like that."
"You don't sleep at all," he retorted.
She gave him a flat stare before moving past. She'd sleep—just not peacefully.
The tension! The implied conflict! I love it!
Thank you!
Original:
Would another coffee make it go by any quicker? Peering out the window had eaten five long minutes. The storefront barely deserved a glance in daylight. Now, significance was rung from every fixture. The sign had been the best of all; "For All Your Printing Needs". Every variation in tone, punctuation, emphasis was mulled over.
But still, that had barely been five minutes. The quiet desire for a hole dark enough to escape into returned.
It would never be an option. All there was was waiting for daylight. Waiting for the night to end. And waiting for them to leave.
Thought provoking! I like your writing style
So of course I want to know about the mysterious "them"!
I like this a lot!
Fandom: Ocean's Eleven (2001)
Pairing: Linus/Rusty
Rusty's not much on philosophy.
He's also not much on sleeplessness. But Linus is hogging the covers, burrowing into them endearingly and making a little snuffling sound. So Rusty is looking out at the eternal neon daylight that is Vegas.
Wait, endearingly? Christ, the kid is getting to him.
Linus has so much potential. And so much baggage. How do you grow up a Caldwell? Rusty made the choice. Did Linus have one?
Rusty's not much on philosophy. It makes you soft. So he watches Vegas glitter, thinks diamond-hard thoughts instead.
Maybe he'll wake up Linus. Just because he can.
I like the observation about Linus's possible baggage, the pressure of being A Caldwell. And the way Rusty keeps teetering over toward softness, despite his continual attempts to cloak himself in that Vegas brittleness. Careful, Rusty, he might be getting to you!
Thank you so much! I love writing Rusty because he strikes me as flash on the outside and thoughtfulness inward. :)
Alys Vorpatril (warning for canonical death)
She thinks the irony would kill her if she stopped moving long enough for it to find its target. In the deepest part of the night she wishes something would; she'd be a memory like her husband, her son safe in the arms of parents who wouldn't balk at taking their nephew in. They've taken one already, why not hers? Then she could sleep, entwined in his arms and she wouldn't have to choke back tears, smothering them with the infant's cries. They said you never sleep once the baby is born – she didn't think they meant like this.
Ooh. Ouch. Well done.
Don't know the fandom at all, but man the PAIN.
Hi, I hope it's okay to link to my fill: http://archiveofourown.org/works/7785775
Fandom: Suicide Squad
Sure! Thank you for letting us know what fandom it links to.
Some people would probably enjoy being able to view it and comment on it here. But it's definitely your choice.
I like your drabble!
Even though I haven't seen the movie yet. The negative reviews scare me a bit, but I'll probably still watch it at some point.
Is it just me, or does Suicide Squad Harley look a lot like Emilie Autumn? The female singer from Die Antwoord says the film makers ripped off her looks, but after looking at pictures of her, I don't really see it. What I see is a ton of EA influence! Of course, it's possible they based her appearance solely on her design in Arkham City and her recent solo title. In all likelihood they were influenced by a multitude of different sources.
Thank you! :D
It's true there are major flaws in the pacing of the movie or the lack of character arcs for some of the characters, but I had fun watching the movie. I guess it all depends on what you are looking for in a film.
Oh, that's an interesting thought. I had never compared these two, but I always thought new52!Harley in her solo run looks a lot like Emilie Autumn in many of her panels. (Though I'm so glad they changed her hair for the movie back to blonde xD) I saw that rant too, and she posted a lot of pictures side by side to prove her point, which are similar enough, but I don't get all the hate. I wonder if her reaction had been as crass if the movie had been a critical success.
Original, horror/supernatural
As always, I'm open to criticism.
The cellar is dark, even as feeble rays of moonlight struggle their way through the poorly boarded windows. Outside the abandoned house, acres of deserted farmlands are quietly wasting away. Inside, the silence is broken by the scratching on the door, an eerie yet gentle lament begging long gone jailers for release.
How long has she been here? Months? Years?
She cannot remember her name, or what it felt like to taste, to smell, to breathe. Yet she still longs to be free, and so her decaying hands claw at the door, as they have been doing for countless nights.
I ♥ horror.
Fandom: Person of Interest
Mild spoilers/references to Season 5 content
Characters: Sameen Shaw
She’s afraid to sleep. Shaw isn’t afraid of much, doesn’t always process things that evoke fear. Her personality differences—is it really a “disorder”?—makes navigating life interesting, but this is the first time she has experienced something like this.
Is any of it real? What is reality? Even if it’s a simulation, some part of it’s real.
Isn’t it?
She has to keep reminding herself that maybe it’s real, maybe her actions matter this time. Maybe her decisions will harm those she truly cares about. This isn’t something Shaw’s used to feeling, to thinking about.
She’s afraid to sleep.
As you know, I relate to this in spades. Nicely done.
Oh wow, this is awesome.
Fandom: Leverage
Sophie dreams of bubble baths, strawberries in champagne, and secrets.
Alec dreams of hacking, gaming, and stealing. Doing all three at once. And getting everyone to love it and do it with him.
Eliot's dreams have knives. He cuts intricate designs out of fruit and flesh, and feeds them to his enemies.
Parker dreams of bottomless pits. She shrieks in delight as the wind tears at her clothes, her hair a halo around her.
Nate doesn't sleep. The sweat beading down the side of his glass is the only thing, besides his own breathing, that marks the passage of time.
I love the way each dream (and Nate's waking reality) so perfectly captures each character.
Thank you!
Oh, ouch. Wonderful.
Thanks!
Fandom: Voltron (Devil's Due series)
What the hell is happening to me.
Not a question. Sven was too tired, too irritable, and just too everything to formulate a question, even in his own head. It was easier to stay awake and check over his armoury -- check and re-check, breaking down and cleaning and reassembling just to do it all over again.
The collapse. Then the second one, losing his place on the team into the bargain, no matter how logical that choice was. Now this.
He hunched over the workbench, wiry frame tense as cables.
Who the hell do I keep hearing in my dreams.
I really like how you make the questions not questions. It nicely reflects the weariness.
Yeah, by this stage of things he's kind of in a state --
Thank ye kindly :3
Once more the witching hour has come and gone. My head aches, my mind reels. Simultaneously I love and hate nights like these. It's true what they say, nothing good ever happens after 3am. The clock teases me, numbers dancing like fireflies as my vision blurs. It's been too long without rest. It's always too long when I've been sleepless.
I opt for a walk, what choice do I have now? The cool night air feels sweet on my skin. I walk towards the east as if willing the sun to rise more swiftly. Dawn breaks and so do I.
I walk towards the east as if willing the sun to rise more swiftly
I adore that line.
Merci. My sleeplessness tonight demanded I partake in this prompt.
and so it goes
I wake, overheated, underslept, at 3 -- too early for commuters, too early for birds. Only a few cicadas hum but it's more a lullabye than a statement of heat. I open the laptop and check for announcements of new fanfic to read -- something to look at in the dark. There's a new Avengers story, and I settle back into the pillows to read. One of the cats walks past, her claws clicking on the wood floor. The moon rises and flows past, trailing light on the pillow. I close the laptop as the traffic starts in the dark, and sleep.
This is wonderfully atmospheric. For some reason, the claws clicking is particularly striking. Great fill!
This is very nice!
Voltron: Legendary Defender, Shiro.
Shiro is haunted by so many things; his mind is a forest brimming with wailing hounds, their braying rings until it's all just fear and indistinguishable echoes. He sleeps, sometimes. Sometimes.
When he can't, he can be found alone, marooned even when there is another body in his space, sharing ailments and the ocean-blue backup lights. He is lost halfway between his past and his present, every bit the wide-eyed fox that pivots into the treeline quick as its heart.
He will find his home; he will find his burrow, he knows.
(He is already there -- they are, marooned together.)
I really like the aura of fear and otherness!
Oh, nice.
My fill's at the archive too: http://archiveofourown.org/works/7795102
Person of Interest, Root/Shaw.
I forgot how hard it was to write 100 words exactly!
Nice reversal of character traits there!
Sleepless
Change is coming.
You can feel it on the horizon.
Change is coming.
You can’t tell if everything will be fine or if it will be disastrous.
Change is coming.
Still you go through your days as if nothing is going wrong. You travel the world more, but keep your head about you. You start saving, but still you treat everything else as if you have nothing to fear. You go to see your family often, but still you tell them that everything is going well.
Change is coming.
Overall it makes you sleepless.
Oooh, nice!
FYI, we'll do an "amnesty" round pretty soon to encourage people to fill old prompts. But please don't stop writing!
Cool XD
Fandom: The Fosters
Characters: Ana Gutierrez, Mariana Adams Foster, & Jesus Adams Foster
Three o’clock in the morning and the babies still wouldn’t stop crying. Ana had tried everything from singing them to sleep to taking turns rocking them in her arms— nothing had worked. If anything, her efforts had only made things worse. With every attempt to soothe them, their cries became louder and more unbearable.
She knew it was horrible but she hated the sound of them. Their wails made her feel like her head was going to explode- keeping her up at night and depleting what little energy she had. More than anything, they made her feel like a failure. What kind of mother couldn’t pacify her own children?
Burying her head in her hands, Ana started to cry.
She had never felt so lost.
I read a lot about insomnia, and yesterday was reading a piece about insomnia and early motherhood. What a horrible combination.
Anyway, nicely captured here!
Oh, that sounds interesting. Do you still have the link?
Thanks! In addition to insomnia, the character is also suffering from postpartum depression here. Not sure how clear that was in the text, but I wanted to be subtle about it since she wasn't aware of it at the time.
Alas, I don't see the link in my history. But I did get the postpartum depression vibe. Again, nicely done!
Ah, no worries. Thanks again!
This is so heartbreaking. I can picture 15-year-old Ana alone with two babies and no one to turn to, suffering from PPD and not knowing what it is, hating herself for how much she hates being a mother. Beautiful job.
You always know exactly what I intended to get across with my drabbles. Thank you!