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Weekly Contest #376
A Knock at the Door The rapping on Paul’s apartment door is loud and insistent. In response, he moves quickly to determine the actual urgency. What he finds is a middle-aged man in an inexpensive suit with a conservative haircut. “Paul Morton? I’m Detective Blake, Metro PD. May I come in and speak with you?” “Sure.” Morton closes the door after the man enters. He notices Blake’s eyes scanning the room. “What’s this about?” “Do you know Alice Archer?” “Yes. What’s happened?” “Why do you ask that?” Blake snaps. “Well, you come here out ...
Weekly Contest #366
Austin is pissed. He is probably making more noise than necessary when shutting the kitchen cabinets, but his annoyance must go somewhere. Screwing on a smile, he comes back to the living room asking, “Another round of margaritas, anyone?” This is where he finds Delia and Mark giggling like teenage girls. Austin imagines them doing the same thing fifteen years earlier when they were best friends in high school. “That was so embarrassing,” Delia says, taking a large sip from her glass.” I can’t believe people say they’d like to go back to th...
Weekly Contest #350
Your Turn The Ft. Lauderdale Sun-Times devotes this space to our readers. We invite you to send in your thoughts about life in southeastern Florida. These columns are not censored, but may be edited for clarity. Reader David Tarnower offers the following thoughts. If you’re a single middle-aged heterosexual male you’ve probably been inundated with news about “toxic masculinity,” “the patriarchy,” and other nonsense designed to emasculate us. Having been in the dating pool, successfully, for a number of years, and been through three marriag...
Weekly Contest #321
(This story contains brief mentions of serious medical conditions) Going Dark “I’m leaving.” “Where are you going?” “You don’t understand. I’m leaving you, this, us.” “What are you talking about?” “Really? The suitcase didn’t tip you off? I just don’t see this getting any better. I’m cutting my losses.” “What getting better?” “Us. This is no kind of life. You don’t want to do anything. You hardly talk to me. I can’t remember when we last had sex. We’re like roommates that have completely independent lives.” “Are you friggin kidding me? You...
Weekly Contest #304
I looked at the ad three times. Each time I looked at it put the newspaper down, but something kept drawing me back to it: Westchester theatre seeks actors, directors, and playwrights for 24-hour Marathon. I always wanted to write a play. While I’d seen these marathons promoted in Off-Off Broadway theatres, I always told myself this wasn’t for me. And it was too much of a hassle to get downtown. Now, this would be in Westchester, where I live. What was I afraid of? Only that: a) I would never be able to write a play, overnight. b) I would ha...
Weekly Contest #224
Instant Theatre-Just Add Coffee I looked at the ad three times. Each time I looked at it put the newspaper down, but something kept drawing me back to it: Westchester theatre seeks actors, directors, and playwrights for a 24-hour Marathon. I always wanted to write a play. While I’d seen these marathons promoted in Off-Off-Broadway theatres, I always told myself this wasn’t for me. And it was too much of a hassle to get downtown. Now, this would be in Westchester, where I live. What was I afraid of? Only that: a) I would never be able...
Weekly Contest #209
TRAPPED We had barely moved in thirty minutes. I realized, of course, that I would be in the same frustrating circumstance if I did not have a passenger, but there she was. Like me, Barbara was on the board of the Community Center which met once a month. Barbara was a single (divorced) woman about my age, with two grown daughters away at college. She worked as an administrative assistant in a real estate company. I approached these meetings like I do my teeth cleanings, necessary but kind of a drag and a time suck. But being on the board ...
Weekly Contest #163
My First Dead Body “My Aunt Carmela died”. These were Roseanne’s first words when I walked into the candy store where she waited for me. I was 19 and Roseanne was 17. We had been dating for a few months. “The wake is at the Gun Hill Funeral Parlor…tomorrow”. I wasn’t sure why Roseanne shared that detail until I realized she expected me to go with her. The thought of this terrified me on so many levels. I had never been to a funeral and had no desire to go to one now, but I could tell that this was a social convention and I needed to go al...
Weekly Contest #140
My First Dead Body “My Aunt Carmela died”. These were Roseanne’s first words when I walked into the candy store where she waited for me. I was 19 and Roseanne was 17. We had been dating for a few months. “The wake is at the Gun Hill Funeral Parlor…tomorrow”. I wasn’t sure why Roseanne was sharing that detail until I realized she expected me to go with her. The thought of this terrified me on so many levels. I had never been to a funeral and had no desire to go to one now, but I could tell that this was a social convention and I needed to...
Weekly Contest #90
Heading Uptown Sophia wasn’t surprised. As usual the train was full as it pulled into 51st Street. Being an experienced subway rider, when the doors opened, she managed to position herself so that she could stand securely and hold on to the bar above her head. From where she was standing, she had at least a partial view of where Stavros was standing. She was sure he wouldn’t recognize her. The wig, sunglasses and the crowded train took care of that. The young man sitting directly in front of her continued to read his newspaper and avoid eye...
Weekly Contest #74
10 Things I’ll Never Do Most of my friends are either about to retire or recently moved past it. For the people who are currently retired, they run the gamut. Those in more than fine financial shape (not too many) frequently travel to visit friends, or just get away and explore. At the other end of the retirement spectrum are those who can “manage” … meaning they don’t necessarily have to work but need to be careful with their expenses (everyone else). For the latter group, a not so dissimilar life as the one they were leading before they s...
Weekly Contest #55
Gwen stands behind the couch, watching Arthur flip channels on the remote with alarming speed. She’s seen him do this many times before, but for some reason, tonight she stands transfixed as the images fly by on the television at the speed of light. Arthur senses her presence but doesn’t turn around. “I thought you were going to bed”. He tosses the words over his shoulder. “I was, but I wanted to see what captivated you so much that you’re not”. “I was watching something but then I lost interest”. “Yeah, given the flipping around you’re ...
Weekly Contest #51
It’s been more than 50 years since I last stood in front of the semi attached house in the East Bronx. I stand in front of my car parked across the narrow street, which is dotted with one family homes, many having “mother-daughter” ground floor apartments. The community remains solidly lower-middle class. I try to conjure up some good memories, but it’s a struggle: there were the summers spent playing a variety of board games; the massive comic book collection; the excitement of opening packs of baseball cards; the first crush; the triumphs...
Weekly Contest #44
The actual words were just scrambled eggs in my head. It started with, “We need to talk”, the scariest four-word sentence I know. I got up from the couch leaving Gwendolyn and Cecily curled up together. Since we got them as kittens a year ago, they’d been inseparable and impossibly cute. Ann slid into the dining alcove I always considered cozy, but now as I sat down on the opposite side, I felt like a defendant awaiting a verdict. She looked directly into my eyes but with little emotion that I could see. “I’ve got some things to think ab...
Weekly Contest #30
Be Careful What You Wish For The actual words were just scrambled eggs in my head. It started with, “We need to talk”, the scariest four-word sentence I know. I got up from the couch leaving Gwendolyn and Cecily curled up together. Since we got them as kittens a year ago, they’d been inseparable and impossibly cute. Ann slid into the dining alcove I always considered cozy, but now as I sat down on the opposite side, I felt like a defendant awaiting a verdict. She looked directly into my eyes but with little emotion that I could see. “I’...
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