I’m currently taking part in a little writing group online that sets a monthly challenge to write a story of 200 words or less on a set theme.

Each month we vote on the best one and the winner gets to pick the next month’s topic.

The first topic was (appropriately enough) entitled “The First Time”

This was my losing entry 😉

“Webcam Suicide”

The green lines on the screen are so pretty.

I watch them flicker.

The way they rise and fall as I breathe, mimicking each breath, each beat of my heart, puts me at ease.

I am those lines.

When I open my eyes, they’re the first thing I see, and I’m happy.

Happy that I didn’t awaken to the blackness of Takeshi’s stare.

If I had woken to that blackness, I really think I may have died after all.

The screen bleeps and I smile. The last thing I remember was the hiss of a screen.

It had faded away so slowly. The world around me fragmenting into tiny pixels.

One by one, that was how we went. That was the plan. To fade away together.

When I grew woozy, I’d lain on the floor, curled up like a cat and watched the others. Watched, as we slumped and disappeared.

And when the blackness came, I thought I had made it. Thought that was it.

Some people need a few attempts. I’d heard that. But I never thought it’d be me. I thought I’d get it right, first time.

But those green lines keep flickering and they really are beautiful.