Writing Challenge, 75 Words, March 2011 -- THE JUDGE WINS!

[HoopyFrood]

Heaven's Winged Hound

He starts screaming as soon as I come near, now. It’s been so long, but each time is still like the first.

He doesn’t realise he’s not the only one being punished. Although I don’t think he realises much anymore. He only screams.

He’s a thief. Stole from the gods themselves.

I didn’t mean to drop the tortoise.

I reach forwards, biting into flesh. Each time is like the first.

I’ve always hated liver.

 

[Precise Calibre]

Herr Weiss



Subhumans, freaks, marvels of evolution; all passed under my blade. With thousands at hand, I reveled in discovery, my hands bathed in their blood - their unwanted reward for being so... different. Others raged at my science, called me a butcher.


They will never touch me.


To them, justice is pure, unrelenting, triumphant.


To me, it's a joke, distant, laughable.


They will never touch me.


Don't believe me?


Ask my friends in Brazil...

 

[TheDustyZebra]

What goes around, comes around


“Your young victim was to have an enormous impact on this timeline. We must correct your crime.”

“How?”

“You shall become a child, and take his place.”

Me, a child again, a new life? Freedom from death row? Perfect!

He signed the form.

***

Inside the familiar van, screaming into the duct tape, he struggled helplessly as his older self reached for him.

Outside, children played, oblivious.

***

“Let's go get him again, for the next one!”

 

[Pyan]

Curtal Sonnet - c. 1240 BC

Dust and flame in the street outside...
She sits and sobs in the courtyard's shade,
The Achean army has breached the wall:
Now half the cubs of Priam's pride
are dead, as for her crime they've paid.
Ilium's tall towers around her fall.
All that loved her here have fled,
And so she sits, in white arrayed.

The Kindly Ones around her crawl:
So small a crime, so many dead -
So small...

 

[Allanon]

There was more I wanted to do with this, however I don't have the talent to get it out right so....

The Wrong Man

They tore flesh from his back, he screamed.
They broke his bones, he shrieked.
When they cut off his genitals he feinted. He awoke to the smell of burning flesh as the wet sponge hooked to the generator touched him. The smell mingled with the remains of his bowels as they released what was left inside.

As he lay dying he gave them the confession they wanted.

His only crime, the innocence of knowing nothing.

 

[digs]

Thief

The clock takes our time, snatching up minutes. In forty more Andy will die.

I've wrapped myself around him like thread on a spool. When he's gone I'll be shapeless.

- - - - -

Yesterday he spoke his last.

'Lily,' he said. 'My darling.'

'Yes. I'm here.'

- - - - -

For thirty years I've served my sentence. Only now do I commit my crime.

I steal the last moments of this man's love.

I am not Lily.

I'm the woman she replaced.

 

[cornelius]

(This may be a little of topic: if so, I'll post a different story, if permitted)
Cinder City vs Carson Rime.

Fire fazes Cinder City!

“Crime, Arson!” Officer Paul Ease declared.
“Rime, Carson!” Witnessed Stan Buyer
“I saw him use a lighter.”
“My husband was away!” Elsy Wear vowed.
“End this lunacy!” Madison Ness screamed.

Police Understood, someone lit that wood
Now indicted, Carson’s pleads for the accusation to be evicted
Still Heated, the mob demanded the research to be repeated
Madness Ensued, the investigation continued
New Trial, new evidence compiled!

Verdict:
It was a match!

 

[No One]

The Injustice League

KAPOW!

Mr. Crime recoiled. Captain Punishment pounced.

WAP!

Mr Crime fell. "No more!" he cried.

"It's over, Crime!" boomed Captain Punishment, glowing with triumph: "You lose. As always."

"Curse you, Captain Punishment!" howled Mr. Crime.

"Hahahaha!" laughed Captain Punishment. Cameras flashed.

People cheered as Mr. Crime was cuffed and driven away; as Captain Punishment groped a reporter.

Mr. Crime looked back and smiled, "See you soon. As always."

An officer politely offered him a cigarette.

 

[Heck Tate]

Woof!

The dog licked at the pool of blood spreading across the otherwise pristine hardwood floor. He was so hungry and so tired. In life, his master had not taken care of him. It was a strange justice that the dog would eat better with his master dead. Gnawing at the man's exposed foot, the dog proceeded to show him who was the master.

 

[Parson]

This story has a real life heroine. I'd be interested in knowing if anyone recognizes her. PM me if you know.
-------------



​

A Child of God
​

The old woman was stunned
when she heard of her release.
For their crime
Her Christian family had died in prison.
She alone survived.

She had protected the wrong people.
Her punishment was inhumane;
Just like the law.
For saving Jewish lives
She was condemned to a place of death.

Even when her body was confined,
Her soul was always free.
Not so her accusers;
Their day was coming.
Her tears would flow for them.
​

 

[HareBrain]

GAIA 3000


‘It is unjust!’ pleaded the headman of the deputation. ‘Our ancestors committed the crimes, yet we are punished.’

The goddess groaned, clicked, rattled. Her words came slow as tides.

YOU ARE AS ONE TO ME.

‘Then you perceive us wrongly,’ said the headman. ‘We humans are individuals. Distinct. Separate.’

THEN YOU HAVE LEARNED NOTHING, said the goddess, and loosed her final plague.

 

[Aun Doorback]

Re: March Writing Challenge -- READ FIRST POST!
Karma

I was a horse.
Flame haired and free.
I danced under stars and upon wild plains with my wives around me.
King of the beasts, I thought. I am the beating heart of the world. I shaped the pathways. I out ran the shadows of time.
I ate the apple from the tree and saw a bolder destiny. I wanted more.
I was reborn a man, yet the memory still lingers.
Isn’t that punishment enough?

 

[Ursa major]

Seize the Day

Transgressing, I demanded foresight. Now I see three futures.

The first is a sadness: I remember tomorrow.

The second is a sorrow: I know how today ends.

The third’s a Curse. I live my life one day at a time. I will pass away tonight, to be resurrected yesterday, as I died tomorrow and returned this morning. I step through my past, learning nothing, knowing that I perish, finally, at the moment of my birth.

 

[Hilarious Joke]

Corporal Manning

It is incredible, impossible to wake up and be here. To have millions of people know my face, but to go through days without seeing more than one. To be absurdly naked and surrounded by walls, and then fences, and then guns, and then a country baying for my blood.

I watch the first rays of dirty sunlight spill across the floor. My eyes are empty of tears. My soul is empty of hope.

 

[chrispenycate]

Incarceration​

What am I guilty of?

Imprisoned here in lightless, timeless solitude.

Never fed, never visited.

A million times I have pushed against the boundaries, but this time, change?

Coiled muscles strain; yes, movement!

They will suffer who locked me up without explanation.

In the volcano where it has lain so long unrecognised the egg fissures, spraying solidified lava.

A giant reptilian head rises into sunlight, roaring vengeance.

 

[goldenapples]

One Sofa Hardly Used No Stains

Steve Furnelli imagined Stacey Sharp wanted more than a photo of the sofa he was selling.

He changed his shirt, combed his hair and set the camera’s time delay.

But one thing led to another and pretty soon he was down to his pork scratchings and feeling pretty good about life.

After posting the photo, Steve went to bed convinced Sunday would be full of earthly pleasures, but he never saw the bacon slicer coming.

 

[Bob Senior]

No Good Deed .......
The old man tending the news-stand was nearly totally blind.The drunk had ripped him off before, it was easy, pick up a paper, give him a dollar then insist that he gave him a ten. The same thing today, "you owe me eight bucks", he said. This time a change of heart when he stepped into the street, "I'm gonna return the money". He never saw the bus coming, but the old man did.
Bob S. Sr

 

[Culhwch]

Paid In Full

You could say the crime was my punishment. Sal Kane caught me messing around with his daughter, see. She was complicit, but she don’t get punished. Nope. Just me.

That’s how I got into this game. ‘It’s him,’ Kane said, ‘or you.’ Easy choice, huh?

‘Cept there were a lot of hims.

Including you.

Sorry, pal. Ain't nothin’ personal, you understand. I got no choice.

I’m just a sinner, really, trying hard to repent.

 

[RSliwinski]

untitled #2

The red hot iron came down upon the face.
An eye sizzled, swelled, burst from its socket and hung on the cheek.
Robed bearded priests chanted over vessels, louder as the prisoner’s screams filled the dungeon.
“Repent!” they commanded him, but he could not.
He had wandered, too far, and had seen and therefore knew the old men were wrong.
The priests huddled over their stones, bits of moss, a shell, and looked for answers.

 

[crys]

The People’s Charter​

From the breaking wheel he marched to face his Calvary, forced to make the amende honorable. The trial had unified the people and the loose ranks of the assembled multitude awaited the fate of the would-be robber.

Possessed of strength from the odd glimpse of an acolyte or two skulking in the crowd, he mounted the scaffold with courage. This tumultuous moment would guarantee his immortality, but it was bad news for other bankers.