Round Ten is gonna be a mother!

[Redneck Diva]

Here's the Diva's first submission to your crazy little contest. Gosh, is it just pathetic that I'm nervous?


Dru is in the hall closet, frantically throwing away dusty junk from years past. It's 7:30 am and she's already tired. She always cleans when she's upset, and after the hurtful words her husband threw at her this morning before he left for work, she has plenty of reason to be upset. Reason to be tired, too, since she's been head-first in that closet since 5:30. For some reason, throwing useless items into a garbage bag clears her cloudy head, even better than a call to her mother. Not to say she didn't call her mother in tears this morning - and it really did help - but sometimes the true catharsis comes when you angrily get rid of unwanted and unused junk.

"Crap! It's 7:30 already? Geez..." she says, glancing down at her watch. She backs out of the closet on her knees, being careful not to bump her head on the lowest shelf. As she ducks her head, it gives her the right angle to see something far back in a corner, something she hadn't seen. She starts to stick her head back in under the shelf to fetch it, but remembering she has to get the kids up for school keeps her from it. She makes a mental note to check it out later.

She wakes up her son and daughter, flipping on the lights in their rooms, and grinning when they groan and moan, almost in harmony. "I"m putting in my application for a transfer to another family!" yells her daughter. Dru dodges the pillow that comes flying at her in the hallway. She steps into the baby's room, walking quietly to the crib. Peering over the rail, she sees that the baby is already awake. Her heart catches for a split-second and she is overwhelmed by the intense, pure love she feels for this child. She picks the baby up, intoxicated by that sweet baby smell and breathes deeply into her chubby little neck. The baby giggles and pushes away, but Dru insists on snuggling her a bit more. Finally, a surrenderr, and the baby relaxes against her shoulder. After a few minutes, Dru realizes the tears streaming down her cheeks and snickers at herself for being so silly and emotional. She quickly busies herself with getting everyone ready for the day.

A few hours later, the kids are off at school, the baby is down for a nap and she has a cake in the oven, a peacemaking offering to her husband. Dru finds the time to go back to her work in the closet, anxious to get the mess out of her way. She decides the lowest part of the closet is cleaned out enough and begins to put things back in place. She gets down onto her knees again, ducking under the shelf, when she sees what caught her eye mere hours before. She reaches back towards it, figuring it to be a stray WalMart receipt. What she finds instead is a hastily scrawled phone number written with a neatly masculine hand. She remembers how strong his arms had been around her waist, how he'd smelled of aftershave and bourbon that night and oh how he had made her feel so pretty again. He had slid his number into her hand, as he sidled closer to her in the corner booth, nuzzling her cheek and making her shiver.

Her heart pounds, her hands tremble and she checks the time. Her husband won't be home for 6 more hours...

[Redneck Diva]

Crap! It always helps to read the rules before you dive right into something! I didn't put my initials on the story! I hope the police really don't come get me!! So, if it's not too late, I guess it should read "RD10" at the beginning of mine? Right? Please go easy on the Diva...I'm new here!

[smalls]

DS2

Sit and enjoy your cake
You gluttonous bastard
Sit and enjoy your life
Your loving family
Your adulterous wife
Your forgotten mother.
Slice by slice
Enjoy it while it lasts
One day you'll awake
Forever tired
That throbbing sense in the back of your head
Those hurtful things you've done
Those hurtful things you've said
Your sunny day turns cloudy
Throbbing
A stick, a splinter, deep under the skin
Infected
No good dead to right your wrongs
Stumbling to your booth
Order an ounce of freedom
Intoxicated philosophy
Justifying your actions
Denying
Surrender to your accusations
You lost the fear
Terrible thing to live in it
Worse to deny doing it
Living in your dream world
Walking dollar bills
Is the life you knew
You knew no pain
You knew no suffering
While it was all around you
Your waking epiphany
Your final judgement
The life you knew is gone
Lost in the seconds it spilled across the floor

[barrie]

I couldn't remember if it was okay to use the words with alternate tenses or not. I did though. Sorry if that wasn't playing by the rules but hey I did get a story submitted on time!

BL1

God bless but this is a wretched neighborhood, Beth thought as she stepped over the legs of an intoxicated man who had apparently passed out or perhaps passed on beneath one of those half-way phone booths.

The rumble of thunder allowed Beth just a moment of glee. She had been teased mercilessly all day at work for hauling around her umbrella. "It never rains in L.A.!" was all she had heard from anyone during her predecessor's going away party at the office today. "So what if it's cloudy, that doesn't mean it's going to rain. It never rains in L.A." Beth mimicked her co-workers under her breath as she walked.

Beth turned the corner, raising her umbrella and thinking about how uncomfortable she felt at her new job in this new town with her mean old fat cow of a supervisor. Mentally she apologized for the unspoken, hurtful comment but added another whispered, "you're still a tired old cow Lorraine!" for good measure.

Paying little attention to where she was walking, Beth almost walked right into the child and the large stick she was holding. Smiling, Beth held up her hands and said, "Whoa, I surrender!"

"Get out of the fucking way lady" was a low growl behind her. Beth half turned then startled as she heard an authentic snarl from her other side.

"Please, don't them hurt him anymore!" The tiny little voice came from the most angelic little girl Beth had ever seen. A cloud of blond curls surrounded a sweet face caked with dirt and tear tracks. Instinctively Beth stepped toward the child, putting herself between the girl and the man.

The growling grew in both volume and intensity. Looking to her right Beth saw the ugliest mutt she'd ever seen in her life. His back end was twice as high as his front end, his teeth jutted beneath droopy lips with drool hanging off them, his ears dragged the ground and his tail looked like it belonged on a rat. The creature was clearly still a puppy though and sending a prayer winging toward St. Francis because didn't he have something to do with animals and oh, please don't bite me, please don't be rabid, Beth prayed and leapt forward, sweeping the little cherub up into her arms. Sprinting forward, Beth was feeling rather heroic until she got the business end of her cherub's stick in her face and registered the child's panicked cries, "No, no, they'll hurt him! Let me go, let me go, let me go!"

Kicking and screaming the girl won her freedom from Beth's grasp and began running back the way they had come, headlong into a group of boys beating and kicking the dog. The animal's bravado was now reduced to pathetic yelps.

Finally grasping the situation, Beth chased after the child, scooping her up once again. Holding tight to her new charge, Beth charged the bullies screaming and wielding her umbrella in a way that Mary Poppins had never even considered. "I'll put your eye out you scumbag! Get away from that dog! Go on, that's right, run away!"

Small cries of "Yeah! run away you bad boys! You're mean, icky boys! You leave my dog alone!" goaded Beth on and rallied the puppy enough for him to get one good revenge bite in for good measure.

As the boys ran down the street, Beth lifted the girl above her head and spun around, laughing, "We did it! We did it!" Without thinking Beth was walking them away from the scene of violence.

"Wait, wait, we can't forget Sam!" The puppy limped toward them, growling softly.

Beth sighed, "of course, we can't forget Sam."

"Lady? I'm sorry you broke your umbrella."

"That's okay punkin, didn't you know it never rains in L.A. anyway?" Beth tried to shelter the child from the downpour as she thought about how she was going to get both child and pooch from hell home to their family. "Where does your mother live, honey?"

[jenn]

JS2
It was a CLOUDY, moonless night, the rain had stopped, or at least she thought it had stopped, perhaps it was just that her heart was beating so fast that she could no longer hear the rain. Barb was huddled in the corner, clutching the STICK tightly to her chest. The darkness consumed her, but she dared not reach for the light switch, although she would be able to see him, he would also be able to see her. She held her breath fearing he would hear her rasping for air. The footsteps were growing closer and closer as she squinted against the darkness, trying to discern just where he was. She could barley make out the shape coming directly toward her, she grasp the stick a little tighter inching it into position, waiting for just the right moment. Every muscle in her body tightened with each step closer, waiting for just the right moment. She knew if she screwed this up, she would become his victim. She tried to remember if this was kill 10 or 11, there had been many she knew that. Barb fought back the tears as he staggered toward her as if he were INTOXICATED, she recalled the paper saying the killer walked with a limp. Just another step and she would be behind him, and then she would make her move. Suddenly he turned and looked right at her, Barb knew this was the end for her, the sweat poured off, and the tears streamed from her eyes, but she remained motionless. He slowly turned back to his previous path and took that last step. She bound out of her hiding spot and swung the stick at his head with all her might, he stumbled, she hit him again, and he fell. Barb kept pummeling him with the stick, directing it accurately at his head each time and counting them out one, two, three... She felt the warm liquid hitting her and thought she must have left a window open and the rain had started again. When she reached 50 she stopped and flicked on the light, she was shocked at the sight, there was blood everywhere, sprayed on the ceiling, the drapes, smeared on the floor, the room had been painted in bright red. Barb thought this was going to be one hell of a mess to clean up. She calmly walked to the door in her blood soaked clothing, opened it, looked out and noticed it had stopped raining again; she bounced off the front step and down to the phone BOOTH at the end of the block. Barb picked up the phone and dialed.

“Hello”<br>“Hi MOTHER.”<br>“Oh Barb, what are you doing? You missed FAMILY monopoly night. You promised you would bring the CAKE.”<br>“Yes mother, I am sorry things came up.”<br>“Well you should have called, everyone was worried about you.”<br>“Mother I said I was sorry, what more do you want from me?”<br>“Barb sometimes you can just be so HURTFUL, I was worried about my baby girl. I love you Barb.”<br>“I know mother and I am sorry, I will make it up to you I promise. I have to go now mom. I still have lots of work to do.”<br>“OK honey I love you talk to you soon.”<br>”Love you mom goodnight.”<br>
Barb walked down the block to her car; she unlocked the door, took one last look over her shoulder and got in. She drove a couple of miles to a hotel; she took the room key from her purse, and walked to the room. She was TIRED, and her leg was hurting more with every step she took as she gimped into the room, went straight to the bathroom, and turned on the hot water. She let the water beat off her body, damn she felt guilty for missing family night. Barb turned off the water, grabbed a towel, and climbed into bed. She SURRENDERED to sleep within minutes. She awoke to a sunny morning; she smiled and got out of bed, dressed, and gathered her things from the night before. She left the room key on the table beside the bed, and limped toward her car. She threw her things in the trunk, and headed over to the café. She entered the diner, grabbed a paper from the machine just inside the door, and found a table. Barb almost cried when she read the headlines. “11th crippled man found beaten to death in his home.” She just wished the damn paper would understand she did it for them. She knew what it was like to grow up crippled; she knew they were miserable living life like that. She was their savior damn it why didn’t they see that.

[Tricia]

TW1

She made her way through the bar, walking around the tables and overturned chairs. She finished wiping down the booths in the back and made her way back towards the bar. The sheriff was just putting the last of the clean whiskey tumblers in the drainer.

It had been a crazy night.

Jimmy had come in about 11:30. She could tell that he planned to end his bar hopping spree at her place. He was already fairly intoxicated when he staggered his way up the stairs and through the front door.

He was trouble… always had been. In high school he had a reputation as a brawler and he hadn’t changed over the years. He had come from a white trash family and he was definitely keeping up the tradition.

He had been her bane all through high school. Him and his band of hoodlums as her mother always called them. They had taken great joy in teasing her, saying hurtful things about her mom, who had been stricken with cancer. Six months later her dad had packed and left after a particularly bad drunk.


Tonight Jimmy had come in and started his usual shit. Grabbing her ass every time she had to walk by his table, while his friends sat there laughing at her distress.
The drunker he got the harder he would grab her until finally in one drunken gesture he was up off the chair, thrusting himself against her and pushing her back onto the pool table. Her tray of beer went crashing to the floor.

“Get off of me”, she screamed.

“What sweetcakes? You know you want some of what Jimmy got”. He reached down and began to pull hard at the collar of her shirt with one hand while squeezing her breast with the other rough, calloused hand.

His foul breath was blowing rank into her face.

She pushed forward as hard as she could and it was enough to set him slightly off balance so that he staggered a bit and almost fell.



She felt herself surrendering to her anger. Years of abuse at the hands of her father and these fucking assholes had left a bitter anger burning inside of her. She was sick of them thinking it was okay to treat her like shit. She was tired of them taking advantage of her fear, thinking they could do anything that they wanted to her.

She felt the tears well up in her eyes.

Jimmy stood there laughing at her… saying something in his taunting voice. She couldn’t make out his exact words, but the patronizing tone in his voice was pushing her deeper into a dark red pit of molten lava that was already on the verge of eruption.

She picked the pool stick up off of the table and brought it around in front of her Samurai style and began to raise it over her head.
“What? You gonna hit me, you little bitch? I wish you would… Just give me a good reason to whip your ass.”<br>
She had a humming in her ears as she advanced towards him. She could not see anything around her; the world had gone black except for his smirk of a smile.

For a split second a look of sobriety began to dawn in his normally cloudy eyes. For a moment he just stood and stared at her. He looked like an animal that is just realizing that it was no longer the hunter… but the hunted.

He actually lost his bravado and seemed to shrink, as if the hatred in her eyes had turned his normally cruel soul into a puff of smoke that left him looking deflated.

It was too late.

As she moved in on him, he raised his hands, half to shield himself and half with the expectation that he would wrangle the pool cue out of her hands.

Her first blow came, not in a downward arc as Jimmy was expecting, but a steel-toed cowboy boot, right between his scrawny legs.

He doubled over and dropped to his knees immediately. She sent the stick down on his head in a crushing blow. The solid crunch of skull bone being shattered filled the air.
Again and again she brought the pool stick down on his head until finally someone managed to pull her away and rip it from her hands.

When the police arrived she was still in shock.
They took statements from all of the witnesses and carried Jimmy’s body away.

The sheriff came over and wrapped a blanket around her shoulders.
He sat down next to her.
“Everybody says that Jimmy was attacking you.”<br>She stared at her hands still clenched into fists in her lap. She didn’t speak.

The sheriff reached around and began rubbing her back in a soothing motion. He had daughters right around her age and his heart went out to this young woman who had no family left to lean on.

He put an arm around her and pulled her close and whispered against her matted hair.
“I wish your dad had been a better man, I’ve never understood it, him leaving you all alone”.

He lifted her chin so she would look into his eyes. “You’ve always been a good girl you know that? Your momma would have been so proud of you”.

His words made her break down into tears and she sobbed against his shoulder. Deep, painful, hurt, little girl sobs that wracked her entire body.

When she began to calm down he pulled out his handkerchief and made her blow her nose.

“I always knew Jimmy would end up like this. Just bad blood I guess. I just kinda figured it would be one of these old boys and their hunting rifles. Never would have guessed that a little bitty thing like you would take him down.”<br>
She glanced up and he gave her a slightly awkward smile. “Come on sweetie, let’s go back in the bar and clean up Jimmy’s mess. Guess this’ll be the last mess anybody cleans up for him.”<br>
He had an arm around her to keep her steady as he guided her in the door. Then he took his place behind the bar, mopping up spilled whiskey and overturned ashtrays while she got her rag and began wiping down the booths.

They both avoided the place where Jimmy’s blood and brains were beginning to matt on the hardwood floor.

He would have one of the deputies come by in the morning and take care of that.

[Tricia]

Time is running out... tick tock.
Mofos!

[Tricia]

The rabbit done died.

The jig is up!

Your goose is cooked.

We'll start adding... you start voting.

You get to vote for your three favorite stories... in no particular order.

Anonymous votes don't count

Voting will close on monday.
Totals will be posted on Wednesday!

Happy reading!

PS.
Yes we do take into consideration that newbies are still figuring out the game.

[Chaos]

In no particular order, this newbie is voting for:

1. HB1

2. JS1

3. TW1

All the stories and poems were awesome, though...this was a lot of fun! ;D

[RedneckDiva]

OOH voting! *claps wildly like the pitifully insane stay at home mother that she is*

And the nominees are...

HB1, JS1 and JS2

[Heather]

And after all the talk Derek was doing about how "his story was gonna kick my story's butt!" and then he didn't even post one! Uh! The nerve!

Anyway, my votes are:

DS1
RD1
TW1

[barrie]

I spent the last hour re-reading all the stories. Damn we're good!

Gotta give my first vote to Heather (HB1) not only was the story funny and clever but I see some real stretching going on with Miss Heather's writing. You're coming into your own babe and it's really neat to get to see it happen

On the other two, have I mentioned that I HATE having to vote?!? All the stories were GREAT! There wasn't a bad one among them (although there were some MISSING, ahem, COLLIN!)

Congratulations to all the first timers! It's a big thing to submit a story for people to read and judge. You all should be very proud of yourselves!!! Tricia and Jenn, of course, RULE! (picture much bowing and I am not worthy going on behind my keyboard) I'm gonna have to go with Tricia for my second vote.

This third vote was the worst and I still can't quite decide between JamesK1 and Redneck Diva but I guess I'm gonna have to give it to the Diva.

So, for those of you who don't want to have to wade through the above:
HB1
TW1
RD1

I can't WAIT to see the next round!

[Tricia]

Okay... as is the usual tradition, I am extending the voting time.

Why? It's a long holiday weekend stupid!

Okay I am the stupid. I forgot that with the long HOLIDAY most people wouldn't be around to read all these great stories and I certainly don't want to deny anyone the chance to vote for their favorites.

I will begin reading tonight... I spent the weekend with my mom.

Jenn didn't get a chance to vote either... I called her and apparently her boys were hanging each other off of the front porch or something so she didn't get to vote either... yeah, sure, right... like I haven't used that lame ass excuse a million times myself!
So lets say Wednesday, okay?

Great then the new voting deadline is Wednesday night.

[Angi]

RD1
JS1, and
TW1,

Man, voting is tougher than writing is!

[mystix]

All of these were good.. Really good.. here's my vote.. and it took me reading them several times.

1. HB1
2. AD1
3. TW1