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#FridayFlash: Straight and True, My Arrow Fly

Straight and True, My Arrow Fly

by Tony Noland

On a king-size bed in a discreet motel, a man and a woman regard each other ecstatically and embrace. She runs her fingers through his curly brown hair, bright red fingernails scraping deliciously along his scalp. He cups her breasts through her blouse, feeling her arousal demonstrate itself in the hardening of her nipples. They do not rush to strip themselves naked - there is plenty of time, and the anticipation is delirious. Mouths and fingers explore and caress, soft breath plays on warm skin.

They are so entwined in each other, they fail to notice the opening of their door and the slender man who slips through. He has sleek hair and green eyes; the silvery moonlight glints off the barbed steel tip of the weapon he has pointed at the bed. He gently closes the door behind him with his foot. It makes a solid "click", and the man and woman on the bed jump at the sound, recoiling so violently the headboard bangs against the wall. She turns on the light and screams when she sees that the intruder is armed. The man shouts and moves fast to get out of bed.

He is coming around, low and ready for a tackle when he realizes the slender man has drawn back the bowstring of his enormous compound bow, drawn it back tight. The long, razor-tipped arrow is pointed straight at the woman. For a moment, no one moves. Then, in a voice that is arresting, almost hypnotic in its round, measured tones, the intruder speaks.

"This arrow will kill her instantly, Neil, so sit down." Neil hesitates, then sits on the edge of the bed. The man continues, "Jessica, I'm here on behalf of your husband."

Jessica stifles another scream. Neil gets on his knees, moves in front of Jessica to protect her with his body.

"He hired a hit man?" Neil says. "What the hell for? He could have just said something and... and we could have had it out. There's no reason to kill her." Neil is pale, the sweat of fear driving away the lingering sweat of passion. Still, he does not move from between the arrow tip and his lover.

"I'm also here on behalf of your wife, Neil, and I'm not here to kill either of you." The intruder relaxes the bowstring, but leaves his fingers on the arrow shaft, ready to fire.

"Then..." Jessica is finding it difficult to speak. "What do you... I mean, what are you here to do? What do you want?"

"My name is Eros. I'm the god of love, and I'm here to end -" he waves at them in the bed, "- this."

The two of them stare at him. Even as their questions and objections rise up, doubt does not. No one can fail to believe when faced with a god who has revealed himself.

Jessica says, "The god of love? You mean... like Cupid?" Eros nods, the tip of the arrow waving up and down. "But we're already in love," she says, "You don't need to shoot us with some kind of magic arrow!" Jessica clutches Neil from behind, her arms tight across his shoulders and chest.

Eros grimaces and shakes his head. "This isn't love; it's a mockery of it. You're lusting so heavily for each other that you've convinced yourselves that it's love. Home and hearth and filial loyalty - that's the wellspring of real love. Both of you want to get love the easy way, without investing time and energy into your relationships." He shakes his head again. "That's not how it works. Love is a garden that takes constant tending, and you've turned your back on it. No, Jessica, I'm going to put a stop to this and send you both back to your homes and spouses, where your true loves lie dormant."

He raises the bow and draws the string.

Neil is frantic, says "Hey, you said that arrow would kill her!"

"So it would," says Eros. He runs his fingers over the arrow fletching. The feathers turn from blood red to bright golden yellow to dull gray.

"So... the gold ones make you fall in love?" Jessica asks. "Then can't you -"

"No."

"But... the tip didn't change," she says, eyes fixed on the jagged metal tip. "The colors changed, but the tip didn't! Why not?"

"Love hurts, Jessica. Coming and going." Faster than either of them can react, Eros shoots Neil in the chest, the barbed tip plunging deep into his heart, the shaft quivering with the impact. Before Jessica has time to scream, a second arrow finds her. They both collapse on the bed, phantom wounds closing over, twin shafts of silvery light dissolving over their unconscious bodies. Eros stands for a moment, looking at his victims. He sighs, opens the door, and walks out, closing it softly behind him.

On a king-size bed in a discreet motel, a man and a woman regard each other guiltily and separate.

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40 comments:

  1. Love it. The idea of Eros as a vigilante of love just works wonders for me.

    That and the comment that 'Love hurts'. Course, I just got reminded of that recently, so it's closer to home than normal.

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  2. This was absolutely fantastic Tony. I think I have a new favorite.

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  3. Excellent! ...Is it wrong that the theme to "The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly" is playing in my head? :)

    Priceless story and well done, sir.

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  4. "Love hurts, Jessica. Coming and going."

    So true. Nice concept playing Eros this way.

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  5. Eros the hunter can find you even in a scungy motel. Thank god love is a garden - it can stand the odd weeding every now and then. Nicely done, Tony :)

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  6. Oh wow! Such a cool take on the theme. I love the idea of Eros as a Valentine vigilante. Bravo, sir!

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  7. I did guess he was Eros before he spoke, but I liked what you did with him, made him your own interpretation to unpick love. Nice work.

    Marc Nash

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  8. Love the story ... Our culture does sometimes seem to forget that sex and love aren't the same thing, that sex arises from romantic love (or should) but that they're not identical.

    But forgive the pedantry. "Discrete" means separate and apart. "Discreet" is quiet, out of the way and I'm assuming you meant the latter?

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  9. Nice! I liked the slow reveal as to who the stranger was and why he was there. There's going to be some explaining to do, methinks.

    Nicely done!

    CD

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  10. Sex = Lust = Limerance = Infatuation = Sex = Hormones = 'Love' = Divorce

    Great story Tony. I love the idea of Eros as the new Robin Hood of the Chaste. Peace...

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  11. Cool take on the mythic theme. I love the modern, almost noir beginning.

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  12. Love god for hire. Clever Tony. Enjoyable piece.

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  13. This is just so cool. Can Eros' theme song be "Shaft?"
    Love your work Tony, it is always awesome.
    Adam B @revhappiness

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  14. Cool modern take on the cupid thing. Nice and gritty. I admit to thinking Eros is an asshole.

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  15. Love the concept of this one, and you execute it well. Nice modern touch on the Cupid tale.

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  16. Tony, I hate to hear where your inspiration came from, but I'm happy you were brave enough to share this with us.

    Very well told story.

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  17. Thanks everyone for all your great comments! This is indeed a thoroughly modern take on this god.

    In mythology, Cupid was responsible just for romantic love, and there was a element of caprice in it, sometimes making people fall in love with the wrong person. Eros had a more complicated area of responsibility, which included sexual attraction, domestic felicity and marital love.

    As anyone who's been married for a while knows, love between a husband and wife grows into a different kind of love than the first white-hot passion of initial romance. That takes a different kind of interaction & engagement to foster and support, to keep it thriving. Good marriages don't just happen; they are hard work.

    Lust is great, and it can certainly feed a romance, but by itself it's not love.

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  18. I just love it~ I can see it all so vividly. Bravo!

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  19. I definitely side with your message, Tony, of love over lust and responsibility over giggling on a mattress pad. Good for Eros to get accountable.

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  20. This is such a unique take on Eros. I so wish I'd thought of this.

    It's wonderful.

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  21. Nice. That didn't go anything like I thought it would! I love it when mythological characters pop up in unexpected ways.

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  22. I had a sense of where this was going when a fellow with a bow appeared, but it was well, ahem, executed. As usual!

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  23. Loved the story, Tony. But I don't really get the significance of the tip of the arrow not changing.

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  24. I was sold the moment I read "Compound Bow." Bloody good show, dude.

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  25. I like the slant of a modern-day Eros saving marriages.

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  26. So it was a take-your-reader-to-work-day for Eros! He deserves a raise...

    You deserve kudos for this great tale!

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  27. Interesting take on a modern Eros. I quite like the fact that he can make people un-interest in each other besides falling in love.

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  28. Egads! Riveting pacing. Novel idea! Well thought out and composed, Tony

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  29. This would have been an excellent episode of the Twilight Zone or such - and a little morality tale, to boot. Fun!

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  30. That opening is nearly too hot for me, but after that it's all good. Good job, Eros, setting those two straight!

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  31. I like this one a lot, Tony. Creative use of the Eros myth. Great details, scene-setting. I think the ending could have a tad more oomph, but overall it's one of your best.

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  32. This zig zagged so many times... Inventive and what a great take... Who knew Cupid was a badass?

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  33. Nice morality tale here and told in an interesting way as well. Very interesting take on Eros. Love the ending and how it brought everything a great conclusion.

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  34. Thanks, everyone! As far as I know, classical mythology dealing with Cupid and Eros does not give them the power to make someone STOP loving or lusting after someone. The gray fletched arrows here kill passion, and they are my own invention.

    Of course, the red and black fletched arrows are my invention as well, since classical mythology says nothing about Eros being able to kill with his arrows, either. Still, a bow is a weapon, but I'm going to assume that there's a reason you don't mess with gods, even gods of love.

    @mon: He uses a bow because it's quiet and powerful, and being on the receiving end will be painful but not necessarily fatal - a perfect embodiment of love. He was either going to get a titanium-and-carbon-fiber recurve bow or a compound bow. There's no reason why he wouldn't stay current with bow technology.

    @Amber: "Love hurts, Jessica. Coming and going." Whether he's shooting you make you fall in head over heels in one great shock of love or to kill off an untoward passion within you... it hurts. The pain fades to an ache, but it never really goes away.

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  35. Thought I'd already left you a comment Tony, but it appears I just retweeted this one. Yet another one of your well-crafted twists... taking something old (in this case, classical!) and adding a new spin. You seem to have a knack for that :)

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  36. Nice turns of phrase here. I particularly liked: "where your true loves lie dormant". Nice premise.

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  37. Oh this was just fantastic. I really enjoyed it, the bow and arrow was a nice touch.

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  38. Wow! Excellent, I really enjoyed it!

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  39. Awesome! I too love the vigilante aspect.

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  40. I really enjoyed this. Good message in there too!

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