Chalk

-

This is my entry for the The 100-word Microfiction Challenge 2020.  My story had to include these elements: 

 GENRE  DRAMA

ACTION  GETTING ARRESTED

WORD  COURTESY

"Chalk" was selected as one of the top 20 stories in round one in the Group (76) which means I move forward in the competition and will be working on a new story for round two this weekend. 

 http://www.nycmidnight.com/Competitions/MFC/100/1stRound2020_Results.htm

This is the story that I wrote on May 8th, 2020 for the MicroFiction contest.  The George Floyd killing that rocked the world occurred on May 25th, 2020. I do not have a crystal ball.  I did not want to create a topical story so I did not write about the pandemic, etc.  But yet, here we are.  This is my story.

Chalk 

The cop pressed Francesca’s wrinkled face to the pavement, knee in her back, as he pulled her other arm behind her.  He snapped the cuffs on her wrists, her age-spotted hands still tinged with pink chalk.

 

“Can’t breathe”, she whispered.

 

“Shut up.  Defacing public property is a crime.”

 

“Inhaler,” she pleaded.  He moved, leaving her on the ground. “Took down another protester,” he reported into his mouthpiece, waving on bystanders with courtesy as they dodged the rain.  

 

Francesca tried one last time. “Please.” Her dying word was left unheard and unanswered.

 

Water erased the rose-hued words, “Let me die free.”

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Price of Life

-
Fall 2019 Winners – WritersWeekly 24-Hour Short Story Contest Honorable Mention Writing Prompt: The two children were laughing as they tried to catch the red leaves raining down from the sugar maples. A cold wind brought the promise of frost by morning and she shivered as she tried to keep the children on the narrow path. A fall in the river would be dangerous this time of year. When she glanced up, she instinctively reached for the children's hands. A man, whose untucked shirt was dripping with red, was approaching. As he got closer, he showed a toothless grin, tipped his hat politely, and said... CRUCIAL HINT! You are very likely thinking the man just killed someone. The fact is, that's what MOST people reading this topic are also thinking! You should probably take this story in a different direction, don't ya think? (Wink wink!!) === Tempeste Ensorceler sank slowly to the log, landed heavily, dropped her bag and tugged and pulled her boot until her fo...
Read more

The Chandelier

-
 This story received an honorable mention in the first round of the NYC Midnight Short Story Challenge 2021.  The story had to have these elements: Action/Adventure genre, acrobat, dependence. =========================== Sam dodged the fist coming his way and delivered a knee to the stomach.   He followed with an elbow to his victim’s back, sending him sprawling to the cement. He picked up the bleeding guy’s head by the hair and said, “Call off work for a few days,” and threw him back down to the pavement, breaking his nose.   Sam brushed himself off,   buttoned his black leather jacket, crossed the open plaza surrounded by high rise buildings and got into the back seat of the waiting SUV.   The car pulled into traffic as soon as the door was closed. “Alright, I beat him up as requested. Who was he?” Sam asked. “Part of the next assignment. We need you to take out a Bulgarian politician’s daughter. He has, shall we say, disappointed us. She thinks she...
Read more

Side Show

-
               “Do you know why I pulled you over?” the police officer asked her.                “Not entirely sure, sir.” Sheila was trying to hedge her bets.   She had been going about 5 miles above the speed limit but if that wasn’t why she was being pulled over, she didn’t want to add to the possible charges against her.   She was hoping he would not ask her to get out of the car as she only had on her jungle print bathing suit and a pair of flip flops.                “One of your headlights is out.   You want to tell me how that happened?” He indicated the damage on the hood of her lemon-yellow Volkswagen Beetle.                “You’re not going to believe it.”    ...
Read more