Each Sunday, Weekend Writing Warriors offers a selection of eight-sentence excerpts from writers in multiple genres and forms. Check out the full roster here.
***
I’ve already stepped out of the shadow of the Great Shipwright. I failed; well, all right, I didn’t want any of it, because it was expected.
I am afraid that I don’t really exist; I’m wearing someone else’s flesh, carrying someone else’s genes.
I’m twenty-two. Naime was scarred by that duel when she was twenty-five. I think I will feel real if I make it past the quarter-century mark and that scar does not magically appear on my face. Eyes seek eyes, and I’m not really looking at my face, not the way someone would see it from the outside, not the way it looks when I’m not looking in the mirror.
I’m afraid of the day when I no longer cast a shadow.
***
Speaker is Yasmin-3, Full Clone of the Great Shipwright (Naime). She’s the minor villain of the Ship’s Heart trilogy. Thanks to my writing comrade Lev Mirov, she’s getting her own novel. “Minor villain wreaks havoc on major villain when she discovers she’s been played and finds redemption through her love of sex and fried dumplings.”
E. P. Beaumont 
This is a very effective glimpse into the mind of someone whose grip on reality is tenuous. It’ll be even worse, of course, if his fears are real.
Yasmin-3 is kind of scary here and all mixed up, clearly. I’m fascinated! Great excerpt…
Wow, my curiosity is certainly piqued. I need to know more about this unusual person facing such a crisis.
Rather a sad reflection!
Wow, this really puts you in the scene. Nice!
“I am afraid that I don’t really exist; I’m wearing someone else’s flesh, carrying someone else’s genes.” That is AWESOME. Amazing writing. Seriously, wow.
” I’m not really looking at my face, not the way someone would see it from the outside, not the way it looks when I’m not looking in the mirror.” I LOVE this line! It encapsulates the insecurities of us all and shows the discrepancy between how we see ourselves vs how others see us. Excellent.