May Essay Contest

Judith is the master of this challenge.  Each month she comes up with a contest in writing and the winner gains a prize of her artwork.  This month she compiled a list of  words for us to use in our essay. Reminds me of Pat's Weird Word of the Week.  There are 33 words but we are only required to use 3.  For the list click the link.. and hey! Write your own essay!!

Please note this is all fiction and only me stretching my creative writing skills. But I must admit.. it would make for an intresting book lol maybe for this Nov.. NaNoWriMo?

The Loft, part 2

The hunter becomes the hunted.  

 I ventured out my downtown loft on a bright sunny Saturday afternoon on the arduous task of finding an aardvark figure for my desk. I knew the search would be almost impossible but I wanted something to place in my line of sight for everyday viewing, as a reminder of where I came from and where I was going. My eyes adjusted as I left the abyss of my new dwelling and the smells and sounds of the city hit me like a sperm to an egg forming life, fertilization of the new me. I had been held up in there for what seemed like days of unpacking and sorting and hanging and cleaning.  If I had known breaking away from my old country girl life and becoming a neophyte to city living was going to be so much work I would of thought the idea not feasible. Sure my momma and papa had tried to warn me of the evils of this place but I assumed they were being bombastic in their description. When I first came to my loft I thought of myself as fortuitous and it seemed like it was more of a palatial then the rat hole it really is.  

My feet hit the pavement and I insisted to myself that I would listen to the new age books I had been pouring over and concede that such a thing as planets and stars being ascendant existed and today was going to be my day. I was unaccustomed at the time to taking such risks as walking threw the not so pleasant neighborhoods of downtown but I knew if I was to prove myself right and survive here I had to learn the ropes and find my way around the famed Devil's Play Ground.  The shy quiet rancher's daughter was starting to die away with each step. I ignored the old women who had a suspicious knowing titter as I walked past and like a native I shouted "What You Looking At!?" to the teenage boy adorned in gold chains ogling me with his shifty eyes.  I noted each landmark I passed as so I would be able to find my way back to my new home. I turned the corner and made it to Market Street where the sellers of fruit divine set up their shops.  I past threw the fresh aromas of orange, pineapples, kumquats, rutabaga and mangoes mixed with the exhaust of the passing traffic.  

As I walked threw the crowds of pedestrians I felt slightly claustrophobic. Everyone felt too close to my personal space and all their faces looked hard and cold. A part of me started to cry out for the wide open spaces of home but I fought the fear down. I was not going to allow this city the pleaser of it's mastication . I was not going to be chewed up and spit out and sent back to the ranch a mush of a women. So I pressed on to the next street lined with racks and tables of black market wears and goods. I kept my eyes wide open as I scanned the make shift flea market for the item I was seeking.

I giggled and shook my head with disbelief as I spied a table holding an old beat up bassoon.  I could not imagine anyone wanting to pay good money for such and it seemed to me a better place for the wreaked instrument would of been a dumpster.  I paused at a counter full of dusty books. I picked up a heavy dirty brown one with its leather binding about to bust open. On the inside cover it boasted to be the complete  adoxography of all the Queen's horses. A pang of guilt welt up as I thought of my Butter Cup and her soft yellow mane and how it was likely almost time for her first birthing pains.  I put the cursed book down and shook off again my anxiety and shame for abandoning my old life.  I took deep cleansing breaths as I continued my walk passing used VCRs and TVs.

As I gazed at my surroundings it became apparent to me that only if it was serendipitous would I find the figure that I had placed such a strong connotation on.  The barbarous thought came to me that I would be better off just getting the image tattooed on my arm, matching my exlover's.  As I examined that idea I knew that it would not line up with my new life and to do so would be fallacious to myself.  I let out an heavy sigh and brushed past an almond colored beauty.  She stopped and turned to me and like an oracle this stranger told me my thoughts.  "Do not give up", she insisted to me. And with a curious expression she said , "the Pink Panther's nemesis is just around the corner. You will find the blue ant eater in a spot you would not think to seek."  Then she left just as she came.  Yes I know this sounds farcical but it is the truth and what she told me spurred me on that day.

 Around the corner I almost ran but instead fought my feet to make a steady stride. I almost passed the odd looking shop but it caught my eye by it's neon sign. My heart was racing and my mind was bursting with expectation of what I would see as I entered the haberdashery. And there in plain sight amidst the trinkets and bobbles and neckerchiefs..sticking out ontop of a worn out cart, a perfect six inch statue of the aardvark!!  

I had found my prize!  Too bad it would coast me one of my eyes.

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If you would like to read more of this story go to the next post.