Culpable

* I wrote this story was for the BarnesandNoble.com presents ... Write & Win Contests on the AOL message boards. I enjoyed these contests because they made stretch my mind. The topic was "Mirrors" and the rules, in short, were that the story had to mention the topic, and be 250 words or less. The challenge being not only to create a good story about the topic, but to make it still readable after chopping out all but 250 words. This story took first place. I have to say I was pleased. :)

This was way more work than it looks like. I was shattered when the new administration took over.

I shouldn't have been surprised, no one's ever truly appreciated anything I do. I didn't like my old boss, I knew the witch was about to get canned. Some people get power and go crazy. It amazes me that with her looks and talents that she could entertain so much hate and jealousy. If she hadn't tried so hard to destroy everyone around her, she'd have stayed on top.

I tried to warn her, but it only pissed her off. She wasn't one to look into a mirror and accept the truth. I was just a tool to her, the means to an end. When it was over I was held responsible for her mistakes. I didn't want to hang around and take the blame, but I had little choice. If you knew me, you'd know I am not capable of running from a problem.

So, the new boss finally came around to see me, I knew she would. I'd kept an eye on her for years, and noticed right away the change in her confidence. She stood in front of me without expression,

"Any last words?"

"It was a compliment you know, you always have been the best looking girl around here." I said, hopefully.

She shrugged, "That was important to her, not me."

Then she grabbed me and threw me to the ground, and I shattered.

What can I say? Snow White might be fair, but fate certainly isn't.

~January 23, 2005

Elation

This Story was written for the barnesandnoble.com presents...Write & Win Contests topic, Music. The rules, in short, were that the story had to mention the topic, and be 250 words or less. This story took first place in the contest.


I watched him dance, slim body shining golden in the light of a fiery late day sun.

The sheen of sweat clung to his lithe frame the way silk holds to the body of a spider’s prey.

His skin was warm, the color of buttered rum, darker yet against the shock-white of the sand. The other children danced alongside him… their grins infectious, the sound of their laughter a refrain that flew above the canopy of trees to caress a sky so blue it seemed endless.

No drums sang today, no voice rose in song or prayer. The only music was the reverberation of children’s laughter.

I watched a girl near the crowd’s edge thrust her arms above her head, her new school book a trophy she carried as proudly as any Olympian.

Hunger was a familiar garment on her body, but elation was the dress she wore today.

When had I laughed last? Really laughed?

Who knew.

It didn't matter, because I was laughing now. Reminded by children of what was really important.

~January 15, 2005

Tangled

This Story was written for the write and win contests, but I never entered it. I don't even remember what the topic was :)

You can't say civilization isn't advancing:

in every war they kill you in a new way.

-- Will Rogers

These woods were thick, even the deer had trouble pressing through the tangled underbrush. I didn’t want to cross that clearing -- even in the dark I was a target. But the thought of trying to navigate the thicket again gave me reason to consider my options.

From where I crouched the sky was open to me; the silhouette of the pines ahead of me, and the wide expanse of sky behind it.

I love the sky; deep, open and honest. Once upon a time mankind had ventured to stick his little toe in the waters of that pond, we’d dreamed of exploring the wide expanses of the universe beyond. Now those dreams lay forgotten and broken. I grimaced, standing slowly. It was time to make a move.

Poop or get off the pot, as Granny used to say to me.

Moving quickly I rushed into the low grasses of the meadow and made a beeline for the other side, which I figure must be about 300 yards or so. I noticed the greenish glow after all of about fifty feet, and realized I’d run through some kind of mine field.

A toxic powder, lying in wait for an idiot like me who decided to choose the easy path. I dropped to my knees and fell on my back. My breath grew shallow my vision swirling with green.
My soul slipped away from me then, up and away to the sky and stars above me. At last I was free to explore the universe above me.

~January 5, 2005