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May 2016 Issue - Stories - Topic: Velocity
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Millions and billions and trillions of ideas! :)
AUTHOR: Garrison KellyTITLE: No Means No
GENRE: Modern Drama
WORD COUNT: 1,853
RATING: PG-13 for rape references, violence, and swearing
Reading the same words over and over again drained the life out of Selena Gray and Jasmine Shelley’s eyes to where they could just fall asleep at the library. Every letter of their textbooks looked as dull and gray as rainy weather. They had been cramming this useless information for hours while hunched over their table drifting in and out of slumber.
“Jesus Christ, what time is it?” asked the dark-haired Selena with no life in her voice.
“Time to go to bed. This is ridiculous,” said the blond-haired Jasmine with a yawn punctuating her sentence. “I swear to god, if I don’t pass this test, I’m going to be pissed. I dumped way too much money into this damn college to just let it all go to waste.”
“Yeah, no kidding,” said Selena as she stretched out her arms and squinted.
When the two students stood up, pushed their chairs in, and stretched some more, Jasmine had a quizzical look on her face while walking toward the library window. “Do you hear that? There’s something going on outside. It’s like some yelling or something.” She thought about it some more and then her sleepy eyes widened to alertness. “Oh, no, no ,no, not this!”
Jasmine and Selena headed over to the window and cracked it open just a pinch. The boisterous voices outside belonged to the Sigma Alpha Alpha (ASS) Fraternity, all of them barrel-chested, all of them wearing red sweaters with their logo, and all of them holding a banner that emulated their chant. “No means yes! Yes means anal!”
“Oh my god…oh my god…” said Jasmine with tears in her eyes as she slid down the wall and parked her rump on the floor. She kept repeating herself while holding her head and rocking back and forth. When Selena knelt down to put a comforting hand on her shoulder, Jasmine finally said, “There’s a boy down there that I used to date. Max Tyler. He’s the one with the blond hair combed back. I can’t let him see me up here. We’ve got to get out of this fucking library!”
Selena hugged her friend around the head and said in a soothing voice, “Okay, calm down, we’ll get out of here. I think there’s a back exit in this library that leads to the woods. Once we get there, we’re hitting the ground running. Hell, I think our physics books called this velocity or some shit like that. Come on, let’s go.”
The two students stood up and left their books behind when they speed-walked their way to the back exit. Once they touched the door handle together, they stopped and took deep breaths in preparation for what came next. Selena asked, “Are you ready? One, two, three!”
On three the door burst open and the two female students bolted out to the woods at the highest velocity with no regard for their tiredness or physical wellbeing. If they had to drain every ounce of energy running through these woods, they would keep going until their feet were bleeding. They weaved throughout the trees and foliage and were already breathing heavily. Only a few seconds later, they were hunched over. Their tongues were aching and their ribs felt like they were on fire. But keep running they did.
In this mad sprint to nowhere in particular, there wasn’t much time to take in the dark surroundings. Because of that, Selena didn’t notice an oncoming deer when it got excited and kicked its hind legs into her stomach, driving the air from her body like a deflated balloon. After the deer ran off, Selena found herself on her knees trying to suck in as much air as she possibly could. She coughed violently while blood poured from her lips.
Jasmine rushed to her friend’s aid and knelt beside her with a light hug. “Are you okay? Do I need to call an ambulance?”
Once Selena was done coughing and puking up blood, she rolled over on her back holding her stomach and said, “What good is 9-1-1 going to do? There aren’t even any police watching those assholes at the college! What the hell’s going on here?” She pounded the ground in frustration, but that only sent a flood of pain through her stomach and caused her to heave more blood.
In the midst of this first aid excitement, Jasmine still managed to hear leaves crunching and twigs snapping under somebody’s boot. She immediately thought the worst and pulled her wounded friend as far away from the noises as possible. In her exhausted state, Jasmine still managed to find a hollow log to take temporary shelter in alongside Selena.
Once the two crawled inside, Jasmine placed a gentle finger on Selena’s lips and whispered, “You have to be quiet, there’s somebody out there. Try not to cough.” Selena couldn’t help it and let out a drop of blood before Jasmine shushed her again.
The leaves and sticks crunching grew louder and closer to the hollow log. A familiar male voice said in a singsong voice, “Oh, Jasmine. I know you’re out here. I can still hear you saying no from a mile away, babe. Well, you can say no all you want, but you know what no really means, right? Forget all that feminist bullshit for one night and just let me have some of that action!”
Jasmine felt her breathing getting heavy as the memories of dating Max Tyler flooded back to numb her mind. The vaginal groping in the movie theater. The breast grabbing in public. The smacks on the ass. The persistent requests for sex and the increased aggressiveness in Max’s voice each time Jasmine said no. Each of these frightening scenes made her wonder why she would even date such a caveman in the first place. Her heavy breathing became even heavier as anger mixed in with her anxiety. If it wasn’t for Selena giving a slight shush, Jasmine wouldn’t have put her own hand over her mouth.
“Oh, Jasmine-Pie, come out, come out wherever you are! If I don’t find you, my buds will. I didn’t like the idea of sharing you at first, but I could see it happening one day. I totally could!” Max’s combat boots were at the opening of the hollow log facing the left direction, a scene which almost made Jasmine gasp in fear. She resisted the urge yet again when she felt something furry crawling up her leg. No! It wouldn’t happen like this!
Jasmine petted the furry animal that was mounted on her leg and suffered a few blood-drawing bites on her finger. She didn’t scream as the little guy ran inside her hoodie pockets. In fact, she crawled out of the hollow log with him. “Jasmine, what are you doing?!” Selena whispered aggressively. “Get back here!”
Outside the log, Max was still strolling around the woods with a goofy grin on his face and his hands in his sweater pockets. “Come on, baby girl, give me a kiss!” he said while making lip smacking noises.
“Kiss this, you pervert! No means no!” shouted Jasmine. When Max turned around to face his ex-girlfriend, a squirrel jumped out of her hands and into his face, chewing his cheeks and nose with a voracious appetite. The frat boy backpedaled and screamed curses when he tried to pull the little munchkin off his face.
The squirrel was about to finish his delicious dessert and then it jumped off when Max tripped over another log and rolled down the hill. He crashed head first against one of the trees and was unconscious and bleeding almost instantly. He might have even been dead.
Jasmine breathed heavy sighs of relief as she knelt down on a pile of leaves and let the floodgates pour like rain. It was finally over. No truly meant no this time. Her moment of victory was ruined when she heard Selena cough up more blood as she crawled out of the hollow log. Jasmine rushed to her aid and petted her hair before saying, “It’s okay. We’re going to get you to the hospital. It’s all over.”
“Woo-hoo! Lesbian make-out scene, yeah!” shouted one of the male voices from the crowd. A whole group of frat boys dressed in sweaters and khakis were standing only a few feet away from where Jasmine and Selena were.
“Go away! Get out of here! Can’t you see she’s hurt!” shouted a sobbing Jasmine.
“Yeah, we know. You know who else is hurt? Max! I don’t see you doing anything for him! Maybe you should go down that hill and give him mouth-to-mouth!” said one of the frat boys before the whole group of them laughed like donkeys.
Selena managed to roll over onto her stomach and get on her hands and knees. In a raspy voice, she said, “Go to hell!” and then spit a wad of blood at one of the frat boy’s feet. That one guy formed an angry face and marched over to get his “free pussy” when he felt the world’s deadliest kick to the nuts. He crumpled over and spat up even more blood than Selena did.
The other frat boys began scurrying away when they saw that the same wild deer from before had reared its head again, kicking, bucking, and being a wild warrior in general. Jasmine got a good look at the deer’s face and saw that it was foaming at the mouth when it took a big bite out of the frat boy’s arm, causing him to squeal in pain.
The deer danced and flailed around some more before curling inward and flopping on the ground in death. Its foaming mouth was flooding with even more poison now that it was dead.
“Hey, Jasmine,” said Selena before coughing some more. “Remember how I said calling 9-1-1 would be useless? I may have lied a little bit. It maybe useless, it may not be. But it’s our only fucking hope.”
Jasmine tenderly held Selena’s head in her arms while dialing 9-1-1 on her smart phone. “Yeah, I need an ambulance to come out to Braxton Woods. My best friend was kicked by a deer.” She looked empathetically at the frat boy and Max Tyler before saying, “There are two other people who need medical attention too.”
“Just let them die, Jasmine!” shouted Selena.
“Shut up!” whispered Jasmine angrily. She talked back into the phone, “Oh, and one more thing. The deer died of rabies. Okay, thanks! Bye!” The stresses of the day caused the exhausted Jasmine Shelley to roll over on her back and gaze at the night sky. It wasn’t long before tiny raindrops pricked her skin, but she didn’t care. She never felt safer than in this moment of victory.
“We’re supposed to be better than those guys, Selena,” said Jasmine. “That’s why I included them in the ambulance call. Besides, if you really want them to learn what “no means no” stands for, wait until they go to prison!” Jasmine and Selena’s smiles were brighter than any full moon out this evening.
Title : Chase Author : Edward Davies
Word Count : 1846
Rating : PG13
(Comments & Feedback Welcome)
My fingers drummed nervously on the steering wheel as I peered through the windscreen of my stolen sports car at the bank across the street. It had been over ten minutes, and Needles and Frankie assured me they’d be less than that. In and out, that’s what they told me, but clearly something was holding them up.
I still had some of my hamburger left from earlier, sitting on the wrapper in the passenger seat. I stopped drumming for a moment, picked up the lump of burger patty, pickle, and bun, and absently took a bite, not once taking my eyes off the bank.
Where on earth were they?
Placing the final piece of hamburger back on the greasy wrapper, I continued to watch the silent bank. I couldn’t see anything through the windows, but no-one had left the building since Needles and Frankie went in, so things must be going according to some sort of plan. I checked my watch. It had been fifteen minutes.
As I glanced up from my watch, I heard a sound coming from behind me, and a police car sped past. Instinctively I ducked down in my seat, watching the police car pull up next to the bank and fretting as the two armed police officers bundled out, their weapons drawn.
“Crap.” I mumbled to myself, gripping the steering wheel for dear life, feeling the engine humming under my fingers. Thankfully I was far enough away from the bank that the officers hadn’t given me a second look, but if Needles and Frankie didn’t show up soon I was not going to wait for them and risk getting arrested. At the very least I could get jail time for auto theft. This was getting heavy.
As I peeked through the steering wheel at the bank I heard gun fire then, after a few seconds, Frankie appeared, firing back into the bank, Needles hanging limply from his left shoulder. They turned towards the car, and as they did so I could clearly see that Needles was bleeding badly from either a chest or shoulder wound. The two of them hobbled across the street, Frankie firing back at the bank every few steps, until finally they were at the car. After bundling Needles into the back seat, Frankie climbed in next to me.
“Drive!” he shouted.
I stepped on the accelerator, pulling out into traffic and speeding down the street. Frankie buckled up, glancing down at the seat he’d sat down on.
“What is that?” he asked.
“What’s what?” I asked back, not taking my eyes off the road.
“Is that a hamburger I’ve just sat in?” he groaned, “Bloody brilliant.”
“Sorry Frankie,” I apologised, asking, “Is Needles okay?” I could just see him in the rear view mirror, and he didn’t look a healthy colour.
“He better be,” Frankie replied, looking over his shoulder at him, “we can’t go to the hospital after that debacle!”
“What happened?” I asked, “Where’s the money?”
“There is no money,” Frankie growled, “someone tripped the silent alarm before we could get anything from the tellers. Those cops showed up, guns blazing – we were lucky to get out of there alive.”
It was then that we heard the distant sound of police sirens. I looked in my mirrors, seeing the faint sign of police lights flashing a dozen or so cars behind us.
“Take the next exit,” Frankie suggested, “we need to get onto the motorway and get as much distance as we can between us and them.”
I pulled over to the left hand lane, taking the entrance onto the motorway, then hit the accelerator when I had a clear run. I watched the speedometer as it edged towards sixty-five miles an hour, pressing down slightly on the pedal to get up speed. If we were caught now, it would be for more than just auto theft – it would be for attempted bank robbery and, possibly, attempted murder if any of Frankie’s bullets had hit any of the bystanders. Maybe even murder if someone didn’t make it!
I weaved in and out of the traffic ahead, hoping that we wouldn’t hit any jams, pushing the speed of the car close to seventy. Frankie looked out the back window, “We’re losing them,” he said.
“How’s Needles?” I asked again, not daring to look away from the road as the speedometer nudged over the seventy mark.
“We’re losing him,” Frankie shook his head, “we need to get him medical attention, but not at a hospital. What about that doctor friend of yours?”
“Doc isn’t a medical doctor,” I tried to explain, “he’s more of a... a scientist.”
“Well, maybe he can do something for him,” Frankie growled, “head to his place.”
“It’s in the opposite direction,” I pointed out, “if we go that way, we’re bound to get caught.”
“Then just keep going,” Frankie snarled, grabbing a handful of napkins from the dash and using them to wipe ketchup and grease off the seat of his pants.
The sirens were getting fainter, but I kept the speed going, pushing it somewhere between seventy and seventy-five. I prayed that the car would hold up – it was pretty old, and that kind of speed was more than it should have been capable of.
A groan from the back seat momentarily took my concentration away from the road. Needles was coming round.
“Are you okay back there?” I asked. Frankie was ignoring him, still trying to clean the residue off his trousers.
“I’m... finding... it hard... to... breath,” Needles wheezed, and I could hear a sound like air escaping from a poorly constructed paddling pool. It did not sound good.
“I’m no doctor,” I said quietly to Frankie, “but it sounds like he’s punctured his lung.”
“You just concentrate on the road,” Frankie said, throwing the napkins out of the open window and unbuckling his seatbelt, “I’ll take care of Needles.”
I turned my eyes back to the road, narrowly avoiding a Sunday driver who had chosen to do thirty in the fast lane. I swerved round him, then back into my lane, checking the mirrors to curse the guy I’d overtaken. I almost lost control of the car; all I could see in the mirror was Frankie's ketchup-covered rear end as he clambered into the back seat, trying to get to Needles.
“Why didn’t you get in the back with him in the first place?” I muttered, straightening up the car and pushing it to almost eighty, “Do you know how dangerous what you’re doing is?”
“Just shut up and drive!” he yelled.
As Frankie's bottom disappeared and cleared my view in the rear mirror, I could see a set of flashing lights just overtaking the Sunday driver.
“They’re still on us,” I told Frankie as he fell ungracefully into the back seat. Needles winced with pain; I can only imagine that Knuckles landed on him somewhere that he’d been injured.
“Can’t you make this thing go any faster?” Frankie grumbled, straightening himself up in the back seat, “Isn’t this supposed to be a sports car or something?”
“It was a sports car in 1983!” I growled, “That was over thirty years ago.”
“Just put your foot down,” Frankie said, “We’ve got to lose them.”
I pushed down on the accelerator, finally passing eighty miles an hour, but I could feel the car shaking as it struggled to keep up the speed.
“It’s not going to take much more of this,” I warned Frankie, “we need to get off the motorway and lose those cops on the back roads.”
“Find a turnoff then.” Frankie shouted. It looked like he was trying to stop Needles from bleeding, “Honestly, I don’t know why you didn’t get a new car.”
I watched for the sign for the next exit, which was less than a mile away, and when it arrived I spun off the road, taking the exit as quickly as I could. The speedometer momentarily dropped to sixty miles an hour before slowly jumping back up to eighty-two. I heard Frankie groan in the back seat as he was thrown sideways, and Needles muted groan sounded almost like it could be his last. Glancing in the mirror, I could just see the pursuing police car turning off from the motorway, less than a third of a mile away.
I carried on down the road, entering a high street that had speed restrictions of thirty. Obviously I ignored that and carried on picking up speed. It was as the needle edged towards eighty-five that I heard the back door of the car open. Glancing in the rear mirror, I just had enough time to see Frankie push Needles out the door. My eyes widened as I saw Needles body bounce down the road, temporarily following us before abruptly coming to a stop. The pursuing police car screeched to a halt, swerving sideways to avoid Needles but still managing to run over him.
“What the hell was that?” I screamed at Frankie, who had somehow managed to close the back door, “You just killed Needles!”
“He was practically dead already,” Frankie grinned, “at least this way the two of us should get a bit more road between us and the cops.”
“I can’t believe you did that,” I shook my head, “he might have been okay.”
“I might have been a doctor if I’d done better in school,” Frankie said, “but I didn’t, and he isn’t. Okay?”
I could feel my heart beating faster as I carried on down the road, trying to shake off the feeling that I might be next to go on Frankie's agenda if we didn’t lose these cops. My vision was getting blurry as I felt tears welling up, and I swiped at them with the back of my hand...
...Which is why I didn’t see the tree.
“Look out!” Frankie screamed. Everything else happened too quickly to judge. I watched the speedometer drop from eighty-seven to zero as the front of the car crumpled on impact. As the dash board pushed its way into my legs, sending my top half flying limply back into the driver’s seat, I saw Frankie, who hadn’t been belted in, fly past me and through the windscreen in the opposite direction. His head disintegrated as it struck the tree, his body spinning sideways and rotating through the air like a rag doll before landing in a crumpled heap in a bush. I glanced from his headless torso down to my legs, which I couldn’t actually see or feel, and watched blood seeping through my shirt from my stomach which must have been punctured by the dash. With no airbags, I had no chance of getting out of this mess unscathed, and I tried to arch my neck to see if the police were coming for me.
Maybe they could have helped, I thought to myself, as a stray spark ignited the car’s fuel tank. I heard a gentle whoosh, saw flickering flames kissing the outside of the car before everything turned white...
Edward wrote: "Title : Chase Author : Edward Davies
Word Count : 1846
Rating : PG13
(Comments & Feedback Welcome)
My fingers drummed nervously on the steering wheel as I peered through the windscreen of my sto..."
I think you've got a winner here, Edward! I really enjoyed this story, (in spite of the ending) -- so fast -paced, I couldn't stop reading it! Good job.
PS: Is Knuckles Frankie's nickname?
Anne wrote: "Edward wrote: "Title : Chase Author : Edward Davies
Word Count : 1846
Rating : PG13
(Comments & Feedback Welcome)
My fingers drummed nervously on the steering wheel as I peered through the winds..."
Oops, I booboo'd! Frankie is Knuckles, but I changed his name! Knuckles and Needles were too similar. Thanks for spotting my mistake!
Edward wrote: "Anne wrote: "Edward wrote: "Title : Chase Author : Edward Davies
Word Count : 1846
Rating : PG13
(Comments & Feedback Welcome)
My fingers drummed nervously on the steering wheel as I peered thro..."
just my opinion, but I think Knuckles and Needles makes a good combo -- it's got that poetic gangster tone that needs no other explanation of the kind of people they are. :)
So I'm not sure how this came out. This is basically the definition of 'out of my comfort zone' so it's probably awful but I really tried my best :) Feedback is always welcomed.Title: Easy Goes...
Words: 1805
Easy comes, easy goes. You like your relationships to be this way, don’t you? You charm whatever girl you consider hot enough with you emerald eyes and your fully-developed arms and they fall. Every single one of them does because you’re the captain of the football team and a senior; who could refuse? You sleep with them once – maybe twice if they’re lucky – before you dump them, promising a phone call and a date that would never come.
Just like that; fast and easy. Until it didn’t anymore.
One day, a girl comes that is not so easily seduced by you and, because you love a good chase, you try and try to make it work. After a few days, she falls but not quite like the others.
“Take me on a date,” she says. “If you really like me, you’ll do it.”
You feel attracted to her – long legs, full lips, big breasts -; how could you not? But you don’t really like her like she wants you to. Still, you lie and tell her you do; the end justifies the means, right?
Having her in your bed is all you think of. You take her to a movie and she finally agrees to kiss you. It’s great and passionate and her lips taste like cinnamon. You break apart for air but you’re not nearly done. As you will lean in for another – and maybe something more – she places her hand on your chest and shakes her head.
“Always keep them begging for more, right?” she smiles mischievously and turn her attention back to the movie.
It takes you a week before you finally admit to yourself that you like her and not in an ‘I really want to sleep with you’ kind of way. It’s more; it’s the way she laughed and how she tilts her head and widens her eyes when she doesn’t understand something. It’s her lame puns and how your lips fit together. Even though you’re scared as hell, you tell her four days after you figure it out. Well, you kind of blurt it out while eating Japanese food.
“Do you want another California roll?” she asks but you don’t really listen. You’ve never liked someone like this before and you don’t know how to proceed; the weight of your feeling is dragging you down.
“I like you, Natalie. Like, for real,” you can’t help but say and she grins.
“I like you too,” she kisses you.
You sleep with her that same night and it’s every bit as amazing as you imagined it. But you don’t leave her after it; instead, she becomes your girlfriend. You, the untamable, popular beast, have been completely whipped by sweet, beautiful Melody. Sex and speed; you had always thought those were the key to a great relationship. No strings attached. But, as you the weeks pass, you realize you might have been wrong all along.
After a month, you’re pretty sure you are in love; she’s everything you’ve ever wanted in a woman and some more. So, when she asks to borrow a bit of money to buy a shirt, you not only give her the money but give it to her as a gift.
“It’s not necessary. Really,” she protests but you shut her up with a kiss.
“I’m your boyfriend, Nat. It’s basically my duty to buy you pretty things.”
As you go through your wallet, though, you realize you don’t have any cash with. No problem, you think. I’ll just use my credit card. You write your pin code, smiling at the thought of a joyful Natalie with a new shirt, never realizing the aforementioned is looking over your shoulder, memorizing every single number. And even if you had noticed it, you probably wouldn’t have cared; she’s your girlfriend and can trust her completely.
You never saw it coming.
The next day, Natalie knocks on your door, tears running down her cheeks. You hug her, worried.
“My dad just got promoted. We are moving to Boston in tomorrow. I’ll…I’ll miss you so much,” she sobs into your shirt and tears fill your eyes as well; this can’t be happening.
“You can’t go,” you whisper on her hair and you voice breaks. “Nat, please don’t go. I love you.”
“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry,” she repeats over and over, never looking you in the eyes. “I’m so, so sorry.”
She stands on her tiptoes to kiss you one last time; your lips collide passionately and she circles your waist with her legs. It´s hungry, it´s fire, yet sad and wet. You can taste both her tears and yours. After you break apart, she squeezes your hand one last time before leaving. The bitter taste of her goodbye lingers in your mouth long after she leaves.
Just like that, she’s gone. You receive a text from her, a lousy final farewell and that’s it. The one that tore down your walls; the one that made you fall in love for the first time; the one you thought were going to be forever with, is gone.
This doesn’t have to be the end of us, you think positively. We can still talk and Skype and visit each other. But apparently she doesn’t think the same way. She doesn’t answer to any of your messages or calls and you can’t understand why. Maybe is just too painful for her.
A week after she leaves, small amounts of money start disappearing off your bank account. You don’t realize it at first; what’s ten dollars in your life, anyway? You probably just forgot about them or something. And then fifty dollars vanish and then two hundred. Puzzled, you tell your step-dad about it and he soon has your card blocked; he prevented some of the damage but a lot had already been made. 3400 dollars had been stolen by some kind of evil mastermind. Left no clues behind; no way for the bank to locate the thief.
You never – not even for one tiny second – suspect that the person behind all of that could be Natalie. Never thought she memorized your pin code or cloned your credit card. Not even in your wildest dreams you think her name is not even Natalie and that she’s just a con artist. Because in just a month – thirty-one tiny, little days – she caught you in her game and turned your world upside down.
Bad luck, Lucas. Maybe you should have stuck with fast dating and one night stands.
This is kind of a prequel to a novel that I wrote (and will eventually rewrite). It's not quite as polished as I would like, but I wanted to get something in. :)Title: Finding Velocity
Author: CP Cabaniss
Length: 1506 Words
Genre: YA Equestrian
The car tire hits a rut in the long, winding driveway, popping me forward into the seat belt and knocking me out of my reverie. I drop my fingers from the back of my hand, where they’ve been tracing the little puckered scars there, and glance toward Emily who smiles as she readjusts the wheel. The corners of my mouth tilt up slightly, almost automatically, in response.
“Almost there,” Emily says as we hit another rut and the car lurches. “I’ll have a chat with Glen about this driveway when we get there. It’s a death trap.”
I nod and glance out the window, watching the horses graze in the pastures on either side of the car as we pass. A few start to trot alongside the fence, racing the car, until they realize there’s no competition to be had and veer off into the tall green grass, speeding away from us. Each horse is different--in color, attitude, height, everything. My mind speeds through the facts I’ve memorized, the pages I’ve poured over, in preparation for this trip, trying to identify the breeds and colors as we draw closer to the barn. It’s harder than I imagined.
The barn looms in front of us--a large, imposing structure with a gabled roof--as Emily brakes, cutting the engine and hopping out in one fluid movement. Within seconds she pulls my door open, motioning for me to get out. Tugging the sleeves of my sweater down over my scarred hands and taking a deep breath, I step from the safety of my seat.
“Don’t worry,” Emily whispers, stepping close so that her arm brushes mine without being too close. “Glen and the staff are nice. You’ll like it here. I promise.”
With another nod I start to worry that I will be unable to say anything all day. If my communication with Emily has morphed into nods and shrugs, how will I ever be able to speak to strangers? Each step toward the barn kicks my heartrate up a notch and the words bad idea keep running through my mind like a broken record. Deep breaths are not doing much.
Someone steps from a stall, into the aisle of the barn, as we step through the large sliding doors into the shade. A smile immediately breaks across his face and he steps toward us with huge, ground eating strides.
“Emily!” He booms, pulling her into a hug.
“Hi, Glen.” Emily hugs him back, an identical smile on her face. “This is my niece, Liza.” She motions toward me as they break apart.
And then his eyes are on me. Soft, brown, kind. “What a beautiful girl.” Glen says, and I worry for a minute that he might try to hug me, but he doesn’t. “You look so much like your aunt.”
“Thank you,” I manage to squeak, my face going crimson. My heartrate kicks up again and I tug the sleeves on my sweater, tilting my head forward so that my red-brown hair will cover the scar that mars my cheek. I know from experience that the scar does not change color when I blush. It just becomes a white streak on a red canvas. Noticeable, glaringly obvious, screaming for attention. That’s what my scar is.
“Liza has really been looking forward to this,” Emily is saying, motioning to the barn around us. “She’s memorized every book I have in the apartment. I can only imagine what she’ll do when she gets her hands on everything at Cliff’s.” She smiles over at me, taking a pointed breath, cueing me to calm down.
“No point in keeping her waiting, then. Follow me, ladies.” Glen swings an arm through the air, striding off toward the other end of the barn.
“Just relax,” Emily encourages as we follow.
“I can try.” Is my only response.
“Come now, come now. Here’s the surprise I had planned for you.” Glen waves his hand, motioning toward a small paddock through a side door in the barn.
Bright sunlight blinds me temporarily as we step outside and I shield my face with my hand, squinting to try and get a look at the horse Glen is pointing at. When my eyes finally adjust to being outside, the horse is trotting toward us, head held high.
Bay my mind screams, identifying his dark brown coat with black mane, tail, and legs. With two stockings, I amend, taking in the bright white markings that run from his front hooves up and over his knees. And a star. The white slash across his forehead stands out as his forelock is pulled back in the breeze. He trots up to the fence, shoving his nose over the top rail and snorting at us.
“This is Velocity, our newest off the tracker,” Glen explains, running a hand over Velocity’s face.
“Off the tracker?” I ask tentatively, taking a step toward man and horse.
“He’s a Thoroughbred, used to be on the race track. He was a lousy runner, didn’t have his heart in it. So now we have him. He’ll make a good jumper, maybe even dressage.”
Velocity blows warm air into my face as I pull my fingers through his forelock, scratching his forehead. “Where did the name come from?”
Glen laughs, patting Velocity’s neck. “Ransomed Velocity is his full name. You have to be creative naming your Thoroughbreds. They can’t have the same name as another horse in the system.”
I nod my understanding, stepping closer to run a hand over Velocity’s neck. He nuzzles my shoulder and I smile, dancing my fingers over his sloping shoulder. He stands five inches taller than my five foot two frame, at least, putting him somewhere close to seventeen hands. His big brown eyes study me with an understanding I had not expected. He puffs another warm breath in my face, tail flicking away flies.
“I think he likes you,” Emily says, stepping beside me to pat Velocity on the neck.
I smile, working my fingers over his sleek brown coat. He nudges me and I catch his muzzle in my hands, feeling the velvety hair around his lips. He groans somewhere deep in his throat, stretching his neck out as I scratch under his chin. I laugh, pushing the sleeves on my sweater up my arms and out of my way, as I continue to run my fingernails under his chin and along his jaw.
“Can I ride him?” I ask, turning to find Emily staring at my hands and arms, now exposed to the elbow, surprise in her eyes.
“Well,” Glen says, turning to meet Emily’s eyes as she pulls them away from my scars. “What do you think, Emily?”
“I’m not sure...You don’t have any experience riding yet, Liza. I don’t want you to get hurt.”
“Please let me ride him. I’m sure it’ll be fine. You’ll be with me the entire time. You can even ride him first.” I push the hair out of my face, annoyed when the wind blows it over my eyes.
Emily bites the inside of her cheek, clearly conflicted. I wait with Velocity’s muzzle cupped in my hands, holding my breath.
“How about this,” Glen says, breaking the silence. “You can help groom Velocity and watch some of my riders on him first. We can put you on Blue, our old lesson horse, for today and you can work your way up to Velocity, as long as things go well with Blue.”
“Yes!” I answer immediately. It’s better than no chance at riding Velocity.
Emily nods her agreement, a small smile on her lips.
“Alright, girls. Let’s get to it.” Glen waves his hand over his head, like he’s rounding us up, and turns to head into the barn.
The sweater tugs over my head easily, exposing the pink t-shirt underneath. I loop the sweater around my waist and turn to Emily. “Can I borrow a hair tie?”
She gives me a quizzical look, handing over an extra elastic she had looped around her wrist, and watches me as I twist my hair up into a bun at the base of my skull. It’s the first time I’ve ever exposed all of my scars so willingly before.
“You really like this guy, don’t you?” She nods at Velocity, who pushes me between the shoulder blades with his nose.
I nod with a smile, pushing the gelding back. Then a plant a kiss on his velvety nose before turning back toward the barn. “We better hurry. Glen doesn’t seem like the kind of person who wants to be kept waiting.”
“You’ve got that right.” Emily laughs, following me back to the barn.
I take a deep breath, feeling my heart race. But not in fear, this time. It races with excitement. The puckered scars stand out on my hands, the jagged line still runs down my face, but my heart races with new possibilities. Behind me, Velocity whinnies, promising new challenges and new hope. I have finally found somewhere I belong.
Courtney wrote: "This is kind of a prequel to a novel that I wrote (and will eventually rewrite). It's not quite as polished as I would like, but I wanted to get something in. :)Title: Finding Velocity
Author: CP..."
I think this is a great story -- well written and I can see it as a good prequel to a novel. Glad you shared it with us & good luck moving forward with it!
Thank you, Anne! I appreciate that. :)
CHARACTERS:
Selena Gray, College Girl
Jasmine Shelley, College Girl
Max Tyler, Fraternity Leader
PROMPT CONFORMITY: Once Selena and Jasmine sneak out of the library, they’re going to hit the ground running at a high velocity.
SYNOPSIS: Jasmine and Selena are at the Braxton University library pulling an all-nighter studying for an upcoming exam. When they finish up and are ready to leave, they look out the window and see the Alpha Sigma Sigma fraternity gathered in the streets chanting “No means yes! Yes means anal!” Jasmine recognizes Max as a boy she went on one date with and had been trying to brush him off ever since. With the campus police short staffed, Jasmine and Selena try to escape the library and the streets without being accosted by the fraternity.