Generated word for the final day: Spirit

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Jesse stared into the slowly dying coals of the camp-fire. The light that's reflecting off of the cave walls were starting to dim as the embers faded.

Jesse sighed softly, turning to look at the open door. It was dark outside, and she could hear the wind howling. She didn't like the fact that Petra was sitting out there in the cold.

Jesse hesitantly got up, picking up Petra's jacket that was lying beside the dying camp-fire to take it to her friend. Petra probably didn't want to speak two words to her, but Jesse didn't want her friend to catch a cold on her account.

Petra was sitting outside on the grass, looking out in front of her with an expressionless stare. The cold wind was tugging at her clothes and hair, her pale skin covered in goosebumps and her lips blue.

"Jesse." Petra said softly when Jesse stepped up beside her. "Please just leave me alone."

"You've been out here for too long." Jesse replied softly, draping the jacket over Petra's shoulders. "Why don't you come inside?"

"No." The reply was simple and blunt.

Jesse sighed softly, sitting down on the grass beside Petra. She knew she was doing exactly what Petra didn't want, but she wasn't giving up on her friend that easily. Jesse hated seeing Petra that way – her gaze distant and her eyes expressionless.

So different from the strong, confident warrior Jesse knew a while back... so much more broken.

"I know you just want me to leave." Jesse said softly. "But it's not going to make anything better."

"Really?" Petra snapped, all of a suddenly glaring at Jesse. "How would you know?"

Jesse looked down at the ground, hurt by Petra's remark. The redhead's shoulder's slumped and she looked down at the ground. "I'm sorry."

Jesse didn't reply, only giving a small nod to show that she accepted the apology. Petra slowly slipped the jacket off her shoulders, properly putting it on, before returning to her former position – staring out in front of her lifelessly.

Jesse turned her head, following Petra's gaze. The lake beautifully mirrored the starry sky, reflecting the millions of silver dots back up. Petra sure had picked a beautiful place to set up camp.

"Why did you come?" Petra asked softly after a while.

Jesse looked over at her. It was the first time in days Petra had directly spoken  to Jesse, out of her own will.

"You said that day in the cabin... that you would wait for me in Beacontown..." Petra kept pausing throughout her sentence, seemingly in an attempt to stop herself from bursting into tears. Jesse's never seen the warrior that fragile. "Why did you come, Jesse? Why?"

"I thought... I thought that's what you would have wanted." Jesse replied softly.

"I did." Petra whispered softly, reaching up with one hand to wipe her eyes. "More than anything..."

She turned her head towards Jesse, her blue eyes glazed over with tears. "But not like this."

"I didn't want things to go the way they went either." Jesse said softly, tears pricking at her own eyes. "I just.. I just want you to be happy."

Petra blinked a few times, turning her head away from Jesse. She lowered her gaze to the ground, and Jesse watched a single tear roll down her friend's face. Jesse hated seeing someone as strong as Petra in such despair. Even more knowing it was all her fault.

"I'm sorry." She said softly.

"You're making it so hard to forget." Petra whispered.

"Do you want to forget?" Jesse asked, hesitantly reaching out and touching Petra's shoulder.

Petra visibly flinched at Jesse's touch, only barely appearing to hold herself back from pulling away. She didn't answer however.

"Petra, please talk to me." Jesse said softly. "I'm here, whether you like it or not. I want to help you."

"How are you so calm?" Petra suddenly lashed out, getting to her feet and turning to Jesse. Her face was streaked with tears by now. "How is this all so unbelievably easy for you?!"

"It's not." Jesse whispered, standing up as well. "This isn't any more easy for me, than it is for you... we just handle it differently."

Petra raised her hands up, raking her fingers though her red hair before turning her back on Jesse.

"If you want me to leave so badly, I will." Jesse said softly, looking down and rubbing her arm. "I don't know where I'll go, but..." Her voice trailed off.

"You're right." Petra said softly. "I don't want to forget."

She turned back around to Jesse. "Why did things have to go so... so wrong?" Her voice was desperate.

"I don't know." Jesse replied softly. "It was... It was my fault. Really, if I had just.."

"I don't want you to blame yourself." Petra said softly, stepping closer to Jesse. "If anything, it was my fault..."

Her voice trailed off and a dead silence hung in the air. Somewhere in the distance a wolf howled, soon followed by the hoot of an owl.

"I understand that this is hard." Jesse said softly. "But please don't blame yourself. That's why I came with you... I wanted to make sure you found the happy ending you were looking for."

"But I can't have it." Petra whispered, another tear rolling down her face. "Not without you."

She lowered her head, holding back a sob. Jesse reached up, gently wiping a tear off Petra's face. Petra flinched at the touch.

"Why are you still here?" Petra asked softly. "What's keeping you from.. from leaving?"

"I don't know." Jesse admitted softly. "I just... never left. Maybe.. maybe my purpose here isn't fulfilled yet."

"You gave your life to save us all from Romeo." Petra said. "What more could the living world want from you?"

Jesse hesitated. "Maybe... maybe I'm waiting for someone." She looked up at Petra. "Like my best friend perhaps."

More tears welled up in Petra's eyes, her face crumpling as she held back another sob. "I miss you." She choked out. "More than anything, I miss you... so much."

"I'm here." Jesse said softly, touching Petra's arm.

"You're not here, Jesse, you're.. you're... dead." Petra's voice cracked on the last word.

"Petra, listen to me." Jesse said softly, reaching out and taking both Petra's hands in hers, gently squeezing them and rubbing her thumbs over Petra's knuckles.

"Would I be holding you if I wasn't here? Would you be able to feel my hands on yours if I was only some sort of vision? I'm here for you, I don't want you to grieve. Please."

Petra looked up at Jesse, their eyes meeting. Hers were red, welled up in tears. Only now did Jesse notice Petra hard dark circles underneath her eyes, like someone who hasn't had any proper sleep in days.

"Why are you doing this?" Petra asked softly. "Why are you doing this to me?"

"Petra.." Jesse's didn't get a chance to properly start her sentence.

"Every night you're here, reminding me all over again that you're gone." Petra whispered. "During the day I do everything I can to get you out of my head... to just for a moment being able to believe that you're back in Beacontown, waiting for me to come home.

Then night-time comes and I'm reminded all over again that I lost you."

It was Jesse's turn to look away. Petra was the only person who could still see her, touch her. Jesse thought this was a sign, that Petra still needed her. Was she really just making her friend's grief worse?

"I just wanted to help you." Jesse whispered, causing Petra took look back up with tear-filled eyes. "I want you to be happy again... it's all I've ever wanted for my friends, for you."

She reached out again, touching Petra's hand. Upon feeling Jesse's touch again, Petra all of a sudden leaned forward, wrapping her arms around Jesse.

Jesse stiffened, but then melted into the hug, tightly embracing her friend. This was the first time since she passed away, that Petra had hugged her.

Jesse never wanted that embrace to end. But she knew, it couldn't last forever.

"The sun's rising." Jesse said softly, noticing the dim glow on the horizon. "I'm going to leave soon."

Petra sobbed, this time not even trying to hold it back. Her grip on Jesse tightening slightly. Jesse could tell that with all her heart, Petra didn't want to let go.

"Hey." She said gently, pulling away and looking up at Petra. She reached up with one hand, gently wiping the tears off Petra's face.

"It doesn't have to end this way, OK?" Jesse said softly. "You have a whole life ahead of you, without me. You just have to be strong."

"But I'm not." Petra whispered. "Physically maybe... but emotionally I can't deal without you."

Tears were starting to brim Jesse's own eyes. She gently let go of Petra's hands, taking a step back before they could break through. In a few moments the sun would rise, and she would disappear.

"I'm sorry." Jesse said softly. "I have to go."

She started turning away, not having the heart to look at Petra's face as she left.

"Jesse, wait." Petra said desperately.

Jesse turned to look back at her again, once more meeting Petra's grief-stricken eyes.

"I'll see you again tonight... right?" She asked hopefully.

A small, sad smile appeared on Jesse's lips. "You want to?"

Petra nodded, for the first time smiling. "I'll be waiting for you."

Those were the last words Jesse heard, before she felt her spirit fade away for another day.

___

I think "Linger" was one of my favourite one shots to write, so when I got the word "spirit", I just had to go with a similar concept.
I thought to myself; "What if one of Jesse's friends could actually see her this time.

I'm going to be honest with you, I've been close to tears while writing a few things. But this one shot absolutely broke me, especially towards the end. I've written a lot of death, but this one? I don't know, it just got right through to me; I wrote the last paragraph with tears on my face xD 

Before I rambling on, I need to point something out; my friend was talking to me and read this while I wrote it. When it came to the part where Jesse told Petra she was waiting for her, his first question was; "Did Jesse just indirectly ask Petra to commit suicide?"

As serious as his question was, I couldn't help but laugh. Nope, absolutely not what that scene meant! 
Jesse is unintentionally keeping her soul from parting with the living world, because she doesn't want to move on. She just meant that she'll be waiting for when Petra's time comes; she definitely wasn't asking Petra to just straight up join her!

I feel like this is all I have to say about the one shot itself.

And wow, here we are at the end of the challenge! A month of daily writing complete, 31 one shots now on paper - some good, some bad.

As hard as this challenge got towards the end - thanks to writer's block - I had a blast. I had way more fun than I did back in March. 

I would highly recommend this challenge to those who have time to sit down and write every day. It's definitely amazing practice, while being a ton of fun as well. 
Pushing yourself to write every single day, especially with the added challenge of not being able to plan beforehand as you only receive the prompt on the day you write it - There's no way this challenge doesn't benefit your writing skill. 

If you have the time and the dedication to do this - I'd say go for it!

I will definitely be doing another "31 Day One Shot Challenge" in December. I have off from school for that entire month, so I'll have 31 stress-less days to sit down and write! I already have a unique challenge picked out for those one shots as well, which I'll be sharing with you when the time draws closer.

I think my favourite one shot of this month was "Exile", one I will definitely be revisiting in the future! It is closely followed by "Bait", and most certainly today's; "Spirit".
I will definitely be revisiting these topics in the future, I feel like the stories of "Exile" and "Spirit" could both be expanded greatly! Maybe even "Bait", who knows?

For now, I think it's time we close off the second one shot challenge book. I will now be continuing to post in my normal one shot book, which consists of random updates. 

I had a ton of fun, I am sad to see this month go - but there's another challenge to look forward to in the future! And with me, I think there always will be xD

I hope you all enjoyed the stories in here, special thanks to everybody who came along for the ride and supported me in this challenge.

Bye for now!