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fandomweekly2019-01-13 09:21 am
m_findlow) wrote in fandomweekly2019-01-13 09:21 am
Entry tags:
[#002] LOSING EVERYTHING (THE HANDMAID'S TALE)
Theme Prompt: Theme Prompt: #002 – Heartbreak
Title: Losing everything
Fandom: The Handmaid's Tale
Rating/Warnings: PG-13
Bonus: No
Word Count: 569 words
Summary: Piece by piece, they took everything away from her.
I'm screaming. At least I think I'm screaming. It's hard to tell.
The birds are screaming, too. It was so quiet here in the forest before that you couldn't hear a thing, not even the sound of my sneakers as they crunched the dry leaves underfoot. I started thinking even the birds are smart enough to know it isn't safe to stay here in Gilead, and that they've decided to escape as well. But they haven't. They're screaming, probably on account of the gunshots that have disturbed their peace, but it's nice to think that they're screaming out at the injustice of what is happening.
First they took away my credit card and bank account. That was okay. I could live with that. Luke always said I spent too much money on things we didn't need, new clothes and spoiling our daughter with far too many toys. It's a compulsion for women, they said. We see those shiny things in shop windows and just have to have them, regardless of need. They're protecting us from ourselves.
Then they took away our jobs. Your place is at home, keeping house and caring for the children, not being freehtinking, liberal contributors to the economy. Even that was okay. The weight of all that responsibility for bringing money home to keep a roof over our heads relieved in an instant, leaving nothing but time to spend with our daughter. We had such fun together, out at the park with Moira, or reading stories of princes and princesses. We loved those stories because they always had a happy ending. Life should have a happy ending.
Luke always said that the most important thing was that we had life and good health. Luke was smart like that. He knew things that would impress the everyday man, like the etymology of the phrase mayday, or how to use the word discombobulate in a sentence that made it sound perfectly ordinary.
But Luke was wrong when he said all that mattered was that we had life. I have life. My daughter has life. I can only speculate that Luke still has life. But now they've taken her away, my precious little angel, and now life has no meaning. What good is life without meaning?
Hannah. Even the word hurts because I know that they've taken that too, just like they took my name. I'm just Offred now. Of Fred. I belong to Fred. And after that I'll belong to someone else. Ofjohn, Ofsteve, Ofdrew.
I'm still screaming, but now I remember it's only a dream - just a memory of the day they took away everything. The Eyes with their guns grabbed Hannah from my arms. She screamed and cried in terror, my baby girl, or maybe that was me. In my head I'm always screaming. I scream when the Commander shoves himself inside me, so that I can't hear his pathetic grunting. I scream when Mrs Waterford starts talking because there's nothing kind she has to say to me. I scream when Ofglen and I stand beneath the wall, staring up at the bodies hanging there. One day I imagine I'll scream because I'll see Luke up there, but even then it'll only be in my head.
I'll find my voice again only when I see Hannah. They won't harm her because she's too important, but I'll scream like hell until I get her back.
Title: Losing everything
Fandom: The Handmaid's Tale
Rating/Warnings: PG-13
Bonus: No
Word Count: 569 words
Summary: Piece by piece, they took everything away from her.
I'm screaming. At least I think I'm screaming. It's hard to tell.
The birds are screaming, too. It was so quiet here in the forest before that you couldn't hear a thing, not even the sound of my sneakers as they crunched the dry leaves underfoot. I started thinking even the birds are smart enough to know it isn't safe to stay here in Gilead, and that they've decided to escape as well. But they haven't. They're screaming, probably on account of the gunshots that have disturbed their peace, but it's nice to think that they're screaming out at the injustice of what is happening.
First they took away my credit card and bank account. That was okay. I could live with that. Luke always said I spent too much money on things we didn't need, new clothes and spoiling our daughter with far too many toys. It's a compulsion for women, they said. We see those shiny things in shop windows and just have to have them, regardless of need. They're protecting us from ourselves.
Then they took away our jobs. Your place is at home, keeping house and caring for the children, not being freehtinking, liberal contributors to the economy. Even that was okay. The weight of all that responsibility for bringing money home to keep a roof over our heads relieved in an instant, leaving nothing but time to spend with our daughter. We had such fun together, out at the park with Moira, or reading stories of princes and princesses. We loved those stories because they always had a happy ending. Life should have a happy ending.
Luke always said that the most important thing was that we had life and good health. Luke was smart like that. He knew things that would impress the everyday man, like the etymology of the phrase mayday, or how to use the word discombobulate in a sentence that made it sound perfectly ordinary.
But Luke was wrong when he said all that mattered was that we had life. I have life. My daughter has life. I can only speculate that Luke still has life. But now they've taken her away, my precious little angel, and now life has no meaning. What good is life without meaning?
Hannah. Even the word hurts because I know that they've taken that too, just like they took my name. I'm just Offred now. Of Fred. I belong to Fred. And after that I'll belong to someone else. Ofjohn, Ofsteve, Ofdrew.
I'm still screaming, but now I remember it's only a dream - just a memory of the day they took away everything. The Eyes with their guns grabbed Hannah from my arms. She screamed and cried in terror, my baby girl, or maybe that was me. In my head I'm always screaming. I scream when the Commander shoves himself inside me, so that I can't hear his pathetic grunting. I scream when Mrs Waterford starts talking because there's nothing kind she has to say to me. I scream when Ofglen and I stand beneath the wall, staring up at the bodies hanging there. One day I imagine I'll scream because I'll see Luke up there, but even then it'll only be in my head.
I'll find my voice again only when I see Hannah. They won't harm her because she's too important, but I'll scream like hell until I get her back.
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