Slow Down By Loose Ends Novels & Stories

Her gaze flickered upward to meet mine. There was hesitation there. But also something else. Hope. She nodded. “Please.” I moved behind her, gently gathering her hair into my hands. It was soft beneath my fingers, finer than I had expected, though the knot itself was firm—tightened from her earlier efforts. “This may take a moment,” I said quietly. “That is all right.” I worked slowly. Carefully. Loosening one strand at a time rather than pulling against it. My fingers moved with patience, easing the tension rather than forcing it free. Each small shift loosened another thread, another hold, until the knot began—gradually—to give.

Carried things heavier than I should have. Every time someone told me to slow down, I ignored them. Because slowing down meant thinking. And thinking meant feeling. And I could not afford that. Not anymore. They started happening slowly. At first, I did not notice them. A wrong herb. A dropped cloth. A forgotten instruction. Then someone pointed it out. “You added too much of this,” a healer said gently. I frowned. “It is still usable.” “It is, but you are usually more careful.” “I am careful.”

But his movements don’t connect cleanly from one point to the next. I step forward just enough to change my angle, not closing the distance in a way that draws attention, but enough that I can track the transitions more clearly. His partner increases speed through the second pass of the sequence, forcing a tighter response, and Jesse follows it, but the shift comes a fraction later than it should, like the decision trails the motion instead of leading it. It’s not hesitation or uncertainty. But I can tell, it’s something else.

Don’t forget to slow down today. I stared at the message for a second, then smiled without even trying. It was such a simple thing, but it reached me in a way I didn’t expect. I didn’t reply right away. Instead, I took a small breath and let that one sentence settle. And slowly, without forcing it, I adjusted. I didn’t rush as much. I paused when I needed to. The day didn’t suddenly become easy, but it became manageable. And somewhere in between everything, I realized something,

The unnatural tension began to fade—not abruptly, but gradually, like something losing its grip. Selene stepped forward slightly, her voice low. “It’s retreating.” Raymond didn’t look away. “No,” he said. “It’s being pushed back.” Amber opened her eyes slowly, her breath even, her posture calm. “No,” she corrected gently. “It’s losing its hold.”

He turned around and stared at me, frozen in place, my face pale. Frowning, he snapped, "Look! Why did you have to keep fighting for it? Take the card and buy a new one tomorrow. "Clean up the shards on the floor so Susan won't get injured." With that, he wrapped his arm around Susan's waist and walked upstairs. Susan leaned against his chest before turning to look at me with a hint of triumph in her eyes. I slowly crouched. The marble floor was icy-cold. I picked up a sharp shard and pressed my fingertip against the edge, letting it pierce through my skin.

I murmured, my words making him shudder. So he liked me to talk dirty to him. That might help divert his attention. “Is this good?” I asked as I opened his pants, and unzipped them, “If you feel like we're going too fast, I can stop, baby. But I want to feel how hard you are. Because you're hard for me, aren’t you?” He just shook his head before bringing a hand to my waist, his fingers tightening slightly as my fingers caressed the exposed area.

Stepping onto the tiled floor, a sense of renewed energy coursed through me. With damp hair trailing down my back, I made my way back to the bedroom. But I felt a sudden jolt in my body as I got slippery and my foot slipped. As my foot met the floor, it betrayed me, sending me into an ungraceful descent. Time slowed as I flailed, gravity asserting its dominance. I slipped and fell down. The world blurred, and with a sharp crack, darkness claimed me. Awareness returned in fragments, my surroundings started to get clear.

Another shot. Time slows.