I is for: Immortal #AtoZChallenge

If I combined all of the moments I’ve spent wondering about when the end of my life would come, their number would exceed the number of days I have lived. Mortality is a funny thing. The living hold on to the knowledge of mortality as the driving force for all actions. We know we are going to die, but as we gravitate towards the end of our days, we spend most of our moments trying to survive. It is the never ending futile game of preserving this existence. I wanted my demise to come as a whisper in my senescent ear as I fall asleep with years of memories surrounding me to cushion my exit. I wanted to control it. I suppose I’m not the only one who doesn’t hope for it to come anytime soon. However, I am in sparse company when considering what I have done to ensure death and I would never meet.

G is for: The Grab #AtoZChallenge

Two minutes, sixteen seconds, four targets, two armed. One truck, four vantage points,

F is for: The Face #AtoZChallenge

The building was an exact copy of the other five lining the street on which it stood. It was part of a neighborhood created to provide suitable housing for those in need and at some point during the planning, someone decided that income level should directly correlate to uniformity. It was not a neighborhood of “Good Mornings.” and borrowed lawn tools. Scowls greeted outsiders from porches and stoops instead of welcoming smiles. Unfortunate events occurred more often than positive ones, so when The Face appeared on the unassuming building with five identical brothers, the residents immediately considered it evil.

E is for: The Elevator #AtoZChallenge

Eric and his wife exchanged weary glances as they waited for the elevator in the beachy, bright lobby of their Key West resort hotel. They were about twenty minutes away from the kids’ nap time but the two youngsters showed no signs of slowing. They were locked in a rambunctious battle using a pool noodle and an inflatable shark as swords with their soggy flip flops thwacking loudly on the floor.

D is for: Dallas #AtoZChallenge

He hadn’t been elected. The time it took to follow the steps of democracy was not a luxury still afforded to them. Dallas was old enough to remember how the nation once painstakingly mulled over these decisions. This was different. Leadership had been shoved into his hands like the hot potato no one wanted to be caught holding when the clock stopped. The center-set faucet of the sink before him was suffocating beneath years of grime and rust but it was still inviting. Dallas wanted nothing more than to turn its handles and splash a refreshing dose of clarity in his face but poisonous liquid flowed through city plumbing systems now. Even the simple pleasures of their life before were like a dream to him.

C is for: The Cabin #AtoZChallenge

“Don’t blink, don’t breathe, don’t move,” He told himself over and over standing at the window. For fifty-one nights he stood this post, repeating the same line and staring out into the dark void of the woods surrounding the cabin. “Don’t blink, don’t breathe, don’t move.” Fifty-one nights of pounding heartbeats and moist, nervous hands gripping the slick steel of the shotgun he held close to his chest. He didn’t dare sit, fearing even the slightest bit of comfort would make him vulnerable. He had to be ready to fight for his life, he needed to be alert. “Don’t blink, don’t breathe, don’t move.”

B is for: The Beggars #AtoZChallenge

They cry out at night. The noise makes it difficult to sleep but Father says we must ignore them. I try but, it’s difficult. Especially since my brother made the mistake of saying my name last week when we were out in the yard. Now, all night they call for me. They repeat my name like a mantra to take their minds off of reality. Some of them beg to be released, some of them desperately plead for food and water and some curse but they all use my name. I know I am the reason they will never leave the shed. I felt the guilt far before they started moaning, “Bailey, please help us.”

A is for: The Apartment #AtoZChallenge

Stella was exhausted with apartment hunting. Apparently, her realtor was as well. She could see her tight expression through the windshield of her egg-shaped white Prius. The tense woman exited her vehicle and joined Stella in front of the formidable three-story brownstone.

My First Blog Challenge! #atozchallenge

I never intended to be a blogger. It took me a while to understand how essential blogging would be as I continue to grow as a writer. In the final semesters of my creative writing program, when I mentioned I didn’t blog people tended to look at me like I had two heads growing out of my neck. After starting The Girl Who Wrote it All Down, I began to see the light.  Blogging is life. Better yet, blogging is write life. So, I’ve decided to participate in the Blogging From A to Z Challenge.