femgenficathon

Title: Something to Hold Onto
Author: annearchy
Fandom: Sling Blade
Rating: PG-13
Length: ~ 8,350 words
Warnings: Homophobia, domestic violence (mostly implied), redneck asshattery and occasional cursing
Prompt: 20) Some knowledge and some song and some beauty must be kept for those days before the world again plunges into darkness. -- Marion Zimmer Bradley (1930-1999), American author of fantasy novels, short stories and anthologies, poet, composer, editor and co-founder of the Society for Creative Anachronism.
Summary: In a small Arkansas town less than an hour's drive from Little Rock, Linda Wheatley lives a life of quiet desperation. If not for her son, her best friend and, eventually, an odd man named Karl, she wouldn't have much to hold onto.
Author's Notes: The film SLING BLADE was released in 1996 but I didn't see it until August of this year. Linda is the only significant female character, and this is my vision of her story, both before and during the action of the film. Once Karl enters the story, occasional bits of dialogue are taken directly from the script, which I found online. Copyright 1996, Miramax Films and The Shooting Gallery. No copyright infringement is intended (but all grammatical errors in dialogue are intentional). Many thanks to my beta, miss_bowtruckle.

( Something to Hold Onto )