Knew not confinement (Vignette )
The core moment of meeting the other person here really happened, but everything else—the narrator's life, her relationships, and her biggest struggles—is fiction. I wrote this piece to explore feelings and themes I think many people can relate to, and I hope it finds those who need it.
The word you might use to describe me would be: lesbian, a charting author, or something in between. I was drawn by the way she was moving on her feet, yet I knew that alone did not set her apart. She pushed quick shifts like a half breath that never became steps. Her shoulders were perched high, covering her neck with a kind of guarded confidence. The candy coloured crystals held in the jewelleries, blinked a glint in the light; They finished the question her lips wouldn't speak.
Her eyes darkened with eyeliner but softened to me with their wrinkles. Her hair flicks, licking above her ear and revealing nothing more. With a ding in her heart, she thanked me for writing poetry. She hadn't read my poems, yet she knew I wrote to breathe, and in that shared understanding I knew not a room, I knew not confinement. She knew how much confidence it would give me to keep working...
But butterflies don't last. I overthrew the image I had of her in my head and focused on the layers covering her figure; I placed an earring in each ear as I faced the mirror. I glued thoughts like stickers on the things I hated about the way I looked. She told me those earrings were made for me: I was lucky to have my husband think of me as the apple of his eyes — that was how those earrings became a gift to me.
~Caitlin Charlton ~
A/N: I wrote this piece to challenge the idea that contemporary writing ignores older prose styles. My goal was to blend modern themes with time-honored techniques from literary tradition, specifically the deep focus on a character's inner thoughts and the use of vivid sensory detail. Thanks for reading if you made it this far♥️🤗🙏🏽🖤.
About the Creator
Caitlin Charlton
poetry too close to home
🪄~unique fictional stories 💎 you’ve never known 🪄
📖~ let me read your work, say hi to me, I will leave comments longer than the road, please do return ~ 🙏🏽
📸 YouTube natures finest moments 🎥
~ married👰💍 ~
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Compelling and original writing
Creative use of language & vocab
Easy to read and follow
Well-structured & engaging content
Excellent storytelling
Original narrative & well developed characters
On-point and relevant
Writing reflected the title & theme
Heartfelt and relatable
The story invoked strong personal emotions
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Zero grammar & spelling mistakes
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More stories from Caitlin Charlton and writers in Fiction and other communities.
Logic and reason are not always explanation enough.
Logic and reason are not always explanation enough. Understanding is elusive He sat looking at the half empty glass but not seeing it, he was cold but not feeling it, he was in pain but not hurting from it. His mind was numb, his memory a jumble of conflicting events, as if from a nightmare but were in fact real. The phone rang for a long time before it gained his attention and then he tried to turn it off, an automatic reaction against coming back to reality. His mind preferred the numbness to anything else that was available. In this distracted state he accidentally accepted the call and put it onto speaker, the voice from the speaker jolted him into giving it his full attention. This was a call from the dead. The voice was full of concern, “where are you John, why haven’t you called, what is going on?” Even to his own ears his tone sounded subdued, defeated, “I am in the cabin, in the woods but I am OK will call you later” and he turned the phone off both ending this call and not accepting any other.
By Peter Roseabout 18 hours ago in Fiction
Comments (19)
Wooohooooo congratulations on your Leaderboard placement! 🎉💖🎊🎉💖🎊
Love is love and should be celebrated in its entirety. Period. Beautiful work by a person with a truly beautiful soul. Congratulations, Caitlin, on making the leadership board this week❣🥰
Your description is stunning. Every detail feels alive, like I’m right there in the room with you. Thanks again for the shoutout!
The moment of recognition between the two characters is written so delicately. You capture connection in a way that lingers.
More people should “I overthrew the image I had of her in my head and focused on the layers covering her figure;” Would make for more healthy relationships. To see the real person before us instead of the myth we have created. Beautiful line, great piece.
This is wondrous, Caitlin. That photo is stunning. So beautiful, as are your words. One of the things I think is particularly great about Vocal is there is a thriving group of LGBTQ+ authors who find a safe space here. Love is not only wondrous in every form, but for those of the rainbow community, it often takes true bravery. Truly beautiful description of such a beautiful lady. ⚡💙 Bill⚡
Thank YOU for underscoring same-sex relations in your writing, Caitlin. As a gay man, I live for this kind of art ^_^.
I love how you did this, Caitlin, blending modern themes with traditional techniques. I felt like I was reading classic noir in a 2025 setting. I see tons of potential in this. It’s the perfect gateway to the development of a quirky friendship that leads to a dark path but ultimately one of survival. You should explore this further. I am impressed with your skills - clean and crisp writing.
I feel like you executed your goal so brilliantly! This was so deep and absolutely beautiful. I loved it!
Cc—I’m not a poet like you and you certainly know it — just a silly Cartoonist! But I always look 👀 forward to your next presentations! 🌹 Jk-bud.in.l.a.
Phenomenal writing here Caitlin! Beautifully & gracefully executed! 💕
It feels like she's hiding while trying to be seen at the same time, like there is confidence in her, but only for herself, like having other people watch her in her confidence may just break her... Freedom to write, it's like dancing with words, and you dance so well 🩵🩵🩵
I love how your surreal imagery evokes sensual detail. It’s reminiscent of Emily Dickinson’s poetic flights of imagination and reminds how powerful unexpected description and metaphor can create or change the mood in a story. In JM Barrie’s Peter Pan, he used a similar technique to great emotional effect. He writes of Wendy’s mother that ‘her sweet mocking mouth had one kiss on it that Wendy could never get.’ Although logic is absent in his construction, it unlocks the sensual power of a young girl who wishes she was a fully grown woman and an initiate into the mysterious world of adulthood. I love that you are exploring the idea of evoking rather than describing. Great work!
Aww this is so bitter sweet to me. I love how it captures the tension between self-image and how others see us, especially in the moment with the earrings.
I love how she sees the layers in the other but does not see them in herself the same way. It’s as though we are the mirrors for one another, in your story. Beautifully written, lovely Caitlin!
You perfectly captured the feeling of being truly seen by another person, even for a moment, and the struggle of returning to self-doubt afterwards.
Simply as always outstanding what I love about this piece is the style you took with this especially because there is not enough material for lgbt plus people, which is somthing I would like to see more off. I hope you don't mind my take on this was for people inner voice who like myself are not straight if that makes sense. I put up a piece a while ago for LGBT pride writing competition, I was not say happy with I felt I made a fast quick choice by sending my piece through which was successful, but I was torn still seeing this on google, like have I done the right choice here for the world to see, as it's about pansexuality for so many people have no clue what that is I don't know at the time I felt it may not get through, and bam out of no where it is now linked to be me on google. Thank you for have made me feel much better having my sexuality up for self awareness so thank you for this piece. Truly amazing what I do is have a look at these pieces as well you have recommended.
"She pushed quick shifts like a half breath that never became steps. Her shoulders were perched high, covering her neck with a kind of guarded confidence. The candy coloured crystals held in the jewelleries, blinked a glint in the light; They finished the question her lips wouldn't speak." One of the most beautifully descriptive passages I've read. And you've blended the old and contemporary exceptionally, Caitlin.
“ Her shoulders were perched high, covering her neck with a kind of guarded confidence. The candy coloured crystals held in the jewelleries, blinked a glint in the light; They finished the question her lips wouldn't speak.” OMG, this is fucking fantastic description. Amazing work!