A couple in their early stages was walking the mall. She pulled him into a Victoria's Secret store and picked up a frilly red nightie.

He scowled. "You aren't wearing that for me."

"But Babe, red is for love and romance."

"Blood and anger," he retorted. 

"You said you left the service five years ago. You gotta let it go."

"You hold your buddy on the battlefield with blood gushing out of his guts and get over it." 

"It's in the past..."

"It's every night in my colorful nightmares." He stormed away, leaving her there with no way home.


January 2, 2024, prompt from Charli Mills at Carrot Ranch Literary: In 99 words (no more, no less), write a story using the color red. It can be a descriptor, a setting, a character, or a metaphor. How far can you get in a story by expanding “red”? Go where the prompt leads!