Alice opened the box with building delight as she dug through the packing paper to discover her treasure. She gingerly held up the red sparkly heels to the light. Each red sequin playfully tossed a ruby sliver across the room. These shoes could take Alice where to other pair could.
She slipped off the brown Mary Jane's which were slightly stained from her last adventure through snowy forests. Alice wiggled her toes in anticipation as she then slipped on the kitten heels she had just received. A new adventure began when the slippers were secured on her feet. Alice hopped up from her chair and skipped to the bookcase to find Frank Baum's world where these shoes would take her. She pulled the weathered yellow volume off the shelf and clicked her heels together. Only Frank Baum's book could take her to Oz, but only these shoes could take her on this journey to Oz.
Now that she had the right shoes for her journey she danced across her study to flop comfortably into her large arm chair. Alice lived in a noisy apartment building in Los Angeles, but when she opened the book the shoes and the pages took her where, "Dorothy lived in the midst of the great Kansas prairies..."
Saturday, March 12, 2011
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
Faithful Words
Emily watched the words come out of her mouth in slow motion. For a brief moment she thought they might freeze in the cold February air, drop to the ground, and shatter into a thousand little pieces. Those words weren't faithful; those words weren't right. They were deadly weapons launched to attack Madeline.
Instead of freezing they continued steadily on their dreadful course. Emily tried to reach out and grab them, but her arms were like lead, and her fists stayed motionless at her side. Her eyes widened in horror as the moment of impact approached. The first word sliced Madeline's cheek and dissolved behind her. The next two hit in rapid succession, actually drawing blood. Madeline reeled back as she was bombarded by the series of words. By the end of the sentence several thin lines of blood criss-crossed across her face. She squared her shoulders after the attack was over.
"Okay, Emily, that's good to know."
There was only one thing Emily needed to do to undo the wound she had carelessly inflicted. Two words would remove the bloody lines. Three syllables would create a balm for Madeline's stinging face. Emily was stupefied, and stammered a response.
"I-- I'm--"
It was difficult to get the appropriate phrase to come out after the self-gratification her first sentence brought. She was gagging on the remedy.
"I'm sorry," She finally gagged out.
The two words took incredible energy, but Emily watched in satisfaction as they rushed to Madeline's face to soothe the pain inflicted by her thoughtless words a moment before.
Instead of freezing they continued steadily on their dreadful course. Emily tried to reach out and grab them, but her arms were like lead, and her fists stayed motionless at her side. Her eyes widened in horror as the moment of impact approached. The first word sliced Madeline's cheek and dissolved behind her. The next two hit in rapid succession, actually drawing blood. Madeline reeled back as she was bombarded by the series of words. By the end of the sentence several thin lines of blood criss-crossed across her face. She squared her shoulders after the attack was over.
"Okay, Emily, that's good to know."
There was only one thing Emily needed to do to undo the wound she had carelessly inflicted. Two words would remove the bloody lines. Three syllables would create a balm for Madeline's stinging face. Emily was stupefied, and stammered a response.
"I-- I'm--"
It was difficult to get the appropriate phrase to come out after the self-gratification her first sentence brought. She was gagging on the remedy.
"I'm sorry," She finally gagged out.
The two words took incredible energy, but Emily watched in satisfaction as they rushed to Madeline's face to soothe the pain inflicted by her thoughtless words a moment before.
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
Falling Up
Melanie stared out the classroom window and watched snowflakes tumble down and fall back up into the sky. Gravity had no effect on the frozen flecks; sometimes she felt like gravity had no effect on her. Junior high was impossibly difficult. Everyone around her seemed to have developed an identity over the summer and hardened into a clique by the winter. Melanie felt like she had missed out on this miraculous transformation, and rather than being a social butterfly who could navigate through the school, she felt like a snowflake pushed aside by the force of some proud butterfly's confident wings.
When the bell rang to end class she stepped through the doorway among the throng of thirteen and fourteen year olds rushing to enjoy the flaky precipitation. The other students were screaming and shouting in delight. A snowball fight broke out within seconds, but Melanie was on the outskirts of the battle. Even now as her peers rushed through the door to ravish the snow covered playground they pushed past her, tossing her to the sidelines of society. The snow still flurried from the sky and Melanie watched the kids influence the path of the snowflakes by simply running past.
She didn't like that other kids could influence the path of her own life simply by running past, but she had no idea how to change that unfortunate insecurity. How could she discover her identity?
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