Part of Unhitched’s prompt collection, Boot Tread …
Prompt from a comment on AO3:
These characters are so rich and faceted… nothing about them is uninteresting. You could describe the tread pattern of Axe’s lost boot in 3-5 precise words and it would somehow be profound, meaningful, and completely in-character.
Tyler_Durden
100 words
Rated: G
My vision is lost when thunder rolls over the sky and clouds burst with a flash.
I crouch into the brush, waiting for the downpour to stop, staring over the yard of the smoking rancher across the street. In the mud, my boot prints fill – a foot-shaped puddle with a spine flanked by islands of chevrons. Those chevrons point shamefully toward the house fire trapping Wild, but I have to wait.
As instructed.
I have to wait, hoping to watch his prints overlap mine.
I have to wait while that house burns, praying that he is stronger than me.