The Inspire Creativity series will require folks to work their creative muscles a bit. For clarity’s sake, these posts will be heavily moderated and anything that goes against the rules posted with every Inspire Creativity post will be deleted.

Anyone who half-knows me will confirm : I love noir.

And not cute, platonic love, either.

I’ve always been a major fan of the hardboiled detectives, the femmes fatales and the quadruple-crossing so commonly found in the genre. Thus, as this week’s “Inspire Creativity”, I present you a little noir story I’ve written, and that I want you folks to continue for me.

The rules are simple : you just have to follow up the last comment bit of story while firmly holding a “Yes, and…” mentality. Everything is allowed as long as you write in the style and mood that has been imposed, and of course, actually continue the story of the first post. Have fun!

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Ambivalence

February

The city was glowing as it was, any other night; a glorious sin in a ocean of dark purity. My righteousness had led me to the roofs on that night.

A beautiful night.

The very first snowflake fell besides my grounded knee and kissed the grayish grounds until it disappeared, engulfed by a beast so far greater than itself. I knew the feeling. I heard the clicking sound of high heels behind me. The clicking sound of a cocked handgun, pointed like a finger at a hole in my head waiting to happen.

She was the paragon Femme Fatale, straight out of the old movies. I could see the ripples on the film as the air bended around her.

I had learned something, on this night, in February. Bad shit happens.

“A beautiful night, isn’t it?” The usual fake smug grin painted on my unshaven face, clinging to my last drop of pride, the final ounce of soul the city had yet to rip out.

She was crying.

“I’m so sorry.”

Her finger against metal. Click. And then nothing.

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What? You thought I’d go easy on you guys? Let’s see what you folks can do with this.