Yes to Both

A short story, written for a contest on writing.com for a group there called "Writers Cramp" !,000 words based on a prompt for a steam punk romance. Enjoy.

    Achoo! “I have a cold, don’t kiss me!” exclaimed Andrea as she swiped a tissue across her already red nose. A dark male chuckle flitted across her sensitive nerves and she smiled, before tucking her used tissue into the trash.

    “You should stay home from work today.” he said softly as he began to button his brown leather jacket. I love that jacket, thought Andrea miserably. I did things to her insides whenever she seen it on him.

    “I can’t. I’m going on my first assignment today.”  she protested and with a sigh he nodded.

    “You’re going to be great then.” he said and he kissed the top of her forehead, before giving her his customary wink, and heading out.

Feeling light headed, Andrea made her way across the room to finish dressing. She barely remembered to grab her goggles on her way out, but they were strapped to her forehead before she made it too work and the fact that she remembered was better than nothing she decided.

    “You ready to get this rig out there?” called her boss the instant she was inside the station.

    “Yes sir!” she agreed with a curt nod and a sniffle.

    “You aint sick are yah Montez?” he asked gruffly, a concerned eye on her puffy features.

    “No sir.” she lied. This was her one and only chance to show the boss what she had, and to finally get out of the steam room of that damn locomotive. She had bigger dreams then shoveling coal into the fire pit. She wanted to fly!

    “Alright Montez. This is your order. Take her around, make the drops and bring her back. All nice an easy. Got it?” he asked as he handed her a clip board. Andrea nodded and took the schedule, then pulled her goggles down over her eyes and boarded the docked blimp. “This ship is the easiest to drive if you can handle her, we’ll find you something your better qualified for tomorrow, got it?” he said, and she silently nodded once more.

    “Alright get out there then. And watch for Pirates!” he growled. Andrea paused halfway up the walk, then continued on, her heart pounding a mile a minute at the thought. Getting raided by a pirate on her first day would be the worst possible thing to happen, she wouldn’t even make it back to the steam room she’d end up scraping the pits interior and that was one of the worst jobs ever. Her only other option was to go work at her mothers tavern, and she did not want to end up running the family business.

    “Do a good job Montez.” said her boss, and Andrea closed the door on his parting words, then turned the crank to lock the metal gears into place. She glanced around the freight, the wooden pallets stacked with merchandise and the two leather seats sitting in the front near the one and only window. This wasn’t her goal in life either, but this was her first step in getting to drive one of the heavier ships. She shuddered as the underbelly of a tour bus soared over head, temporary clouding the interior of the ship. “Today’s the day.” she whispered to herself, before climbing into the seat and opening the side window. There where no mirrors on the ship, which was the point of the overly large glasses to protect her eyes from any flying debris.

The radio over head crackled and she rushed to answer the call, her fingers shaking as she pressed the intercom button. “Come back?” she said breathlessly.

    “Ready when you are skip.” said the voice on the other line, and a shudder went through her. It was him.

    “Ready sir.” she responded and began flipping on the various switches and buttons. The engine roared beneath her, and she sucked in a  deep breath at the sensation. Behind her the propellers began to spin and she took a deep breath to calm her nerves as the blimp lurched higher into the air.

    “Ready for take off.” the radio crackled and she jumped in response. Anxiety raced through her as she gently tilted the joy stick and peeked out the window. The freight swung away from the loading dock and she breathed a sigh of relief when nothing crashed or exploded.

    By the end of the day, she was feeling rather good about her self, she’d successfully docked the merchandise blimp over thirty times without breaking a single set of docking stairs. She’d never once hit another flier, and she’d even managed to get it all done with a few seconds to spare.

    “Skip, how you doing out there?” crackled the radio, and with the hands of an expert she reached up and pulled down the tiny radio and hit the button.

    “All good sir.” she said with a smile.

    “You done yet skip?” asked the male voice, and she imagined the brown leather jacket that went with the voice, her toes curled and her heart hammered.

    “Yes sir.” she said happily.

    “Gotta a question for yah skip.” he said and she frowned. Had she done something wrong? Forgotten something on one of the docks. She quickly glanced back into the tank, it was of course empty.

    “Sir?” she asked nervously.

    “Gotta  ring up here in the Window.” he said, naming the station where he sat, day after day directing the ships through his head set. Andrea gasped, the joystick going out from under her hand, and slamming to the left. The side of her ship hit the edge of another passing by and both air liners slid apart like two balloons bouncing in the wind.

    “Skip, got alert of a collision. You alright?” his voice was worried, and she swallowed.

    “Yes.” she answered, her voice higher pitched than usual.

    “Is that yes you’ll marry me or a yes your ok?” he asked quietly.

    “Both.” she answered with a loud sneeze.

Author's Note

This is a contest entry, in which i had to write in just 24 hours. Writers Cramp believes real writers don't edit there work as they write, so they challenge us to write a story based on a short prompt, in just 24 hours. From 12 p.m to 12 p.m Enjoy!