hardtime100 #101: Something Borrowed

Her kiss made you feel numb. Borrowed comfort, that's all it was, as the lights flickered and dimmed before returning to life in the gymnasium around you. A moment's worth of borrowed love tasted sour in your mouth. Cyril's love for you had been endless, selfless.

Later, in the ward, he asked to see Cyril. It was too late, you told him, and he cried, cried for another lost child, even though he had lost them long ago. But now is the first time you've actually felt lost, clinging to the one person who remained that reminded you of home.

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hardtime100 #105: Scars

Every night, after Toby had climbed back into his own bunk and fallen asleep, Chris would go over to the small mirror above the sink and twist his body around to look at the scars. There were two of them right next to each other, identical in shape and size. Toby had said that he'd done it, that he'd been the one who stabbed Keller in the back while he was shelving copy paper. Chris knew he deserved it. Just because he couldn't see the scars he'd inflicted on Toby didn't mean they weren't there.

Love was a scar, too.

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hardtime100 #106: If The Cliche Fits...
(In a gunfight, the hero can hide behind any object even if it is very thin and no bullets will pass through.)

Toby opened the door to his cell and there was a loud bang that made him spin around while dropping to the floor. The French guy was below the CO station, holding a gun, as Kenny was falling in slow motion, a red hole marking his chest. Toby watched the other inmates duck behind columns and overturned tables for cover as bullets sprayed wildly. He saw Chris get shot and crawled to him, hearing Keller's curses under the gunfire as he dragged him to safety. Toby thanked God when the SORT team entered, clinging to Chris as he awaited help.