Fic: Following the Path Before Us
Mar. 8th, 2012 06:56 pm![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
captainkai.livejournal.com posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
onepiece_300Title: Following in the Path Before Us
Rating: G
Media: Fic
Characters: Usopp
Word Count: 294
Prompt: The First Time
Warnings: None
Disclaimer: I claim no rights to One Piece.
The first time Usopp held a slingshot, he hit his target dead center. He was up on the hill over-looking the sea, facing a fallen log lined with empty tin cans he had scrounged out of the trash behind the bar.
Earlier he had been sorting through his mom’s belongings, tears rolling silently down his cheeks. The slingshot had been buried at the bottom of an old, wooden chest, wrapped in a dusty bandana. After a few minutes of hoisting books and clothes out he finally yanked the worn green toy free. The rubber was cracked and old, the paint faded in spots, but to tiny Usopp it was the greatest thing he had ever seen.
He had raced from the house all the way to the bar for something to shoot at then, as fast as his little legs could carry him, up the hill behind his house. Holding the slingshot up in shaking hands he had placed a tiny pebble in the leather strap connected to the rubber and pulled back. Then he had hesitated, nervous about his first try. A strange feeling came over him then, as though ghostly hands were wrapped around his, helping him to aim. He held his breath and… let go. WHACK was the sound of the pebble knocking the tin can from its perch. Usopp had frozen in place, staring at the spot the can had once stood. A trembling grin broke out on his face and he raced to the village. He spent the rest of the day telling anyone who would stand still that he was gonna be the best sharpshooter in the world, just like his dad.
The next three thousand times, the pebbles sailed past the cans. No one knew about those.
Rating: G
Media: Fic
Characters: Usopp
Word Count: 294
Prompt: The First Time
Warnings: None
Disclaimer: I claim no rights to One Piece.
The first time Usopp held a slingshot, he hit his target dead center. He was up on the hill over-looking the sea, facing a fallen log lined with empty tin cans he had scrounged out of the trash behind the bar.
Earlier he had been sorting through his mom’s belongings, tears rolling silently down his cheeks. The slingshot had been buried at the bottom of an old, wooden chest, wrapped in a dusty bandana. After a few minutes of hoisting books and clothes out he finally yanked the worn green toy free. The rubber was cracked and old, the paint faded in spots, but to tiny Usopp it was the greatest thing he had ever seen.
He had raced from the house all the way to the bar for something to shoot at then, as fast as his little legs could carry him, up the hill behind his house. Holding the slingshot up in shaking hands he had placed a tiny pebble in the leather strap connected to the rubber and pulled back. Then he had hesitated, nervous about his first try. A strange feeling came over him then, as though ghostly hands were wrapped around his, helping him to aim. He held his breath and… let go. WHACK was the sound of the pebble knocking the tin can from its perch. Usopp had frozen in place, staring at the spot the can had once stood. A trembling grin broke out on his face and he raced to the village. He spent the rest of the day telling anyone who would stand still that he was gonna be the best sharpshooter in the world, just like his dad.
The next three thousand times, the pebbles sailed past the cans. No one knew about those.
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Date: 2012-03-09 05:40 am (UTC)Great job! :D
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Date: 2012-03-09 03:08 pm (UTC)Thank you for reading this and leaving a comment. I really appreciate knowing what people think.
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Date: 2012-03-09 03:09 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-03-10 03:55 am (UTC)This was so.... SO... perfect. From the first line to the last, there was not a word wasted, everything was perfectly packaged and it all came full circle in such a brilliant way. And the details that were so small but said so much. That he was overlooking the sea, that the slingshot was wrapped in a dusty bandana, and then, of course, the feeling of invisible hands on his-- that Yasopp even so far from Syrup is still sort of there all the time and that he still shaped so much of who Usopp was and is and wants to be.
And somehow, the next three thousand misses makes this all the much sweeter, and perfect. &hearts&hearts
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Date: 2012-03-10 04:02 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-03-10 08:02 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-03-11 05:28 pm (UTC)Thank you for the comment. I really appreciate it!
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Date: 2012-03-12 08:45 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-03-13 02:02 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-03-12 09:05 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-03-13 02:01 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-03-14 07:19 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-03-19 04:22 pm (UTC)