Masks (Trifecta)

      Masks~

    

     Everyone wears masks to cover some part of themselves they want to keep hidden. The vulnerability that exposes a fragile spirit can sometimes be trampled on by an uncaring world. People who have been hurt, and don’t want to feel that type of pain again, wear a mask to protect the soft underbelly of their souls. Vampires, and zombies, not the kind you find at the latest cinema, but those you find in the human race, feed on the unmasked ones.

     Make-up is a tailor made mask. Enough make-up can make anyone who is sad appear to be happy. Take a look at the clowns that line the corner of Seventh Avenue; each of them with their painted on smiles that otherwise wear such deep sadness so well. They pass out balloons at a parade, make silly faces at children, and hide their sorrow beneath their masks. 

     Beneath the white faces are stories untold. Chester, the one with the half torn rainbow umbrella, lost his wife to a suit and tie fellow that works on Wall Street. She told him she wanted a “real man” and that a clown could never be that man. The umbrella reminds him that colour is something we add to our lives. It is easy to tell when he’s having a particularly hard time, the five-o’clock shadow peeks through the white paste on his face. The only time he lets the tears fall is when a random child runs away from him in fear, but the sadness remains all the same.

     When people find fear in the face of a clown, it reminds me that the Universe truly is a mirror, and those things we are afraid of are a reflection of our selves. It’s not the mask, or make-up that frightens, but the misery people feel that seeps up through the colours that scare them. In the end they want to find the rainbow instead of the rain.

© k~ 2013

Word Count: 324

This piece is the result of this week's prompt from Trifecta, where they choose a word, and we use the third definition as a base for our story. This week's word is:

   

APPEAR
1a : to be or come in sight
  b : to show up
2: to come formally before an authoritative body
3: to have an outward aspect : seem

 

  Images used in this blog are either mine, or come from Morguefiles unless indicated otherwise.

Waiting (Friday Fictioneers)

FRIDAY FICTIONEERS is a place where “writers are encouraged to be as innovative as possible with the prompt and 100 word constraints” (Rochelle Wisoff). 

THE CHALLENGE is to write a one hundred word story that has a beginning, middle and end. (No one will be ostracized for going over or under the word count.)

Copyright – Danny Bowman

To post the prompt to your page simply right click on the picture and then left click “Save image as…” This will download it to your computer. Then paste it into your blog page. Please respect the copyright and use it only for Friday Fictioneers purposes. Any other usage requires permission from the photographer. Thank you. 

Here's my one hundred: Waiting

She sat on the curb staring at the wet pavement between her white Keds. He said he would call between 2:30 and 3:00, but it was already 3:13 and he hadn’t called yet. She was sure he told her to use the payphone on the corner of 5^th and Normady, the one with the sticker that said “Old School Dirt” near the receiver. 

“How many phones could there be with that sticker on it?” She said aloud, as she fought the anxiety that was building an arsenal of its own in her chest. 

Ring.

She answered “Yes, yes, I’m here.”

k~

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Acknowledgement of Guilt (Trifecta)

  The note on the table said it all:

This post is for Trifecta Writing Challenge's 33 word weekend, the prompt is a "confession" of some sort in fiction, or non-fiction form.

See what other people have done with the prompt by clicking on the links at the bottom of the Trifecta page.

Dinner For Two (Scriptic)

Image from Morguefiles

Cinder really enjoyed keeping score in her relationship with Chad. She would do so much for him that he could not possibly want for anything, but it was never without a price. Chad enjoyed the finest wine, tailored suits, and he had a beautiful silver Jaguar to drive whenever he wanted to. He didn’t have to work, but he liked the attention he garnered when he got off the elevator in shiny, sharkskin pants and matching jacket, and Cinder knew it. 

Cinder would shop for the best deals, even though they had plenty of money. It made Chad happy when she could forget that she was a billionaire’s daughter, and just live life with him like a “normal” person. Cinder went along with his idea of “normal” until she became sick. 

The attentive care that she gave to Chad she wanted in return. She had spent so much time spoiling him with everything he wanted that he did not know how to do it for anyone else, or maybe he just didn’t care. While she was going through chemotherapy she had days that she would be tethered to the bed, and bathroom of their master bedroom, so exhausted that it was difficult to move from one place to the next. Chad would go shopping on his way home from work and just drop the bag on the bed before he went back into the living room to watch the latest football match. Cinder was hurt and furious. 

Several weeks of this kind of treatment from Chad was more than Cinder could bear. When she was able to get up again, she was hell bent on revenge. She decided to fix Chad a romantic dinner to thank him for taking care of things the way he did while she was sick. He came home to candles on the table, and soft music playing in the background. Oblivious to the subtle indicators he set his things on the table opposite the bottle of wine.

“There’s a game on tonight Cin” he said.  

“I thought we could have an intimate dinner before the game,” she said from the other room.

“Yeah, alright,” he said while he crossed the room and reached for the remote.

“Are you coming to the table Chad?” 

“Yeah, sure Cin, I’m coming,” he said as he reluctantly put the remote back on the living room table and meandered into the dining room.

Cinder came around the corner wearing a bright red gown that swooped low in the front and hugged her hips while leaving the back free until the curve of her ass met the fabric again.  Red was Chad’s favorite colour on her. Her hair was pulled up in a hot messy sweep with errant strands brushing the side of her face and neck.

“Wow, you look really good Cin,” Chad said.

“Thank you. Now sit down so we can eat before the game starts.”

Cinder carried out two plates with metal covers on the top to keep them hot; she set one down at her place, and the other at Chad’s. Chad’s eyes were as hungry for Cinder as they were for the game he seemed to have forgotten. 

Cinder poured each of them a glass of wine and sat down to eat.

When the meal was finished Chad pointed to the TV and asked “You gonna watch the game with me?”

“Sure, give me just a minute or two to clean this mess up.”

To anyone looking in at the situation, Cinder was calm, and Chad was relaxing into the sofa as he slipped his shoes off, but underneath the calm exterior was a woman scorned. Chad had betrayed her and she intended on making him pay. She put the dishes in the kitchen, and fixed a brownie sundae for his dessert.

“Here you go Chad,” Cinder said as she handed him dessert.

Chad licked the whipped cream top and wrapped his arm around Cinder as she joined him on the couch. He ate the first bite of the brownie with a groan of contentment. By the time he had finished his dessert the peanut oil she used to make the brownies had started to react. First he started to itch; then his skin became pale and he started wheezing. Cinder watched as he started becoming weak and confused. She smiled and put her finger on his lips. 

“Shhhh, darling, the game is about to start.” 

Chad’s eyes opened wide. His words were strangled in his throat. Just before he went unconscious Cinder kissed him. “I know it’s hard to know how to thank me for all that I’ve done, but I figured out a way that you could do just that Chad. Don’t try to talk, pretty soon your air will be gone and you will just go to sleep. Quiet now, the game is on.” 

k~

 

For the Scriptic.org prompt exchange this week, Bewildered Bug at http://www.bewilderedbug.com gave me this prompt: “She goes out of her way to visit twenty different stores just to get the best deals, save money and get the products he truly loves, whether she is well, exhausted or sick and through rain, sleet or shine. When she was bed-ridden, however, he went to only one store and gets what would be “good enough” for three times the price, only to throw the shopping bag on the bed and turn the TV onto the latest football match.”

I gave Tara Roberts at http://thinspiralnotebook.wordpress.com this prompt: A woman runs into an ex who is shopping with his pregnant wife. While they were dating, he told her he didn't want to have children. How do they deal with the face to face that follows?

Images used in this blog are either mine, or come from Morguefiles unless indicated otherwise.