Short Story: "Careless Love" #CarelessLove "Amano Writing Club"

The wind gently brushes the grass, and the mackerel clouds look down like the eyes of gods.

Amor stands quietly, holding a golden spear.

His eyes are distant, fixed on a single point 100 meters away.

A tension that seems to tear the air drifts around him.

First, the approach is life.

And, the proper angle.

Throw it so that it gains high-speed rotation.

Amor chants it over and over in his head, visualizing it.

He inhales and holds his breath.

Once he arches his back, he uses that recoil to move forward.

He accumulates speed in the approach, uses his lower body in a cross-step,

and transfers that energy to his upper body with a block.

Now—!

At the final release, while paying maximum attention to the angle of the spear, he snaps his wrist and adds rotation.

He releases the spear.

At the same time, his whole body trembles, and a roar escapes him.

The spear, having launched at the best projection angle, draws a parabola, undulating, twisting, and tearing through space.

The released golden spear pierced the left chest of the man 100 meters away.

The man opened his eyes in surprise and fell in love with the woman next to him.

"As expected of you, Amor. You're good at javelin throwing, too."

Cupid said, looking down from above the clouds.

“I’ve been doing even better since I switched from the ‘freestyle throw’ to the ‘reverse-grip throw’ recently.”

Amor replied, rotating his shoulders lightly.

Ever since he watched the javelin throw at the Paris Olympics,

he gave up the bow and arrow he had used for years and dedicated himself solely to the javelin throw.

“Come to think of it, you fell in love with athlete Minamiguchi, didn’t you?”

Cupids fall in love, too.

“Yeah. But that’s not the only reason I switched to the javelin.”

Amor explains.

“You know how there’s such a thing as ‘half-hearted love’ (nageyari na koi)? I want to set that right.”

Cupid doesn’t show much interest, but Amor continues with his theory.

“The javelin throw is so profound and sacred, yet the moment it becomes ‘half-hearted’ (nageyari), its dignity drops. Through my javelin throwing, I want to change the meaning of ‘half-hearted love’ into a serious love.”

“But humans can’t see us, so why don’t you try asking the gods?”

“That would be meaningless. What’s important is the feeling and the action. The results will follow.”

Hmm. Cupid gives a vague reply. He still doesn’t seem interested.

“Alright, next is that girl.”

Amor measures the distance by eye.

The distance is long this time. Should he take a longer run-up?

No, should he adjust the angle of projection?

He turns it over in his mind.

The approach is everything.

The proper angle.

Throw it with high-speed rotation.

Amor enters the throwing motion.

The golden spear draws a beautiful parabola high in the sky,

and pierces yet another new love...

End

(1017 characters in the main text)

Afterword

Nice to meet you. This is my first time participating in Mitsuru Amano's project. This was also my first time writing action scenes... It's difficult, isn't it? But I enjoyed writing it. Please let me participate again. Thank you for the wonderful prompt.

#AmanoWritingClub
#ShortStory
#Fiction
#Cupid
#Amor
#Cupido
#JavelinThrow
#Projection