Time to announce the winners of our quarterly writing contest! This was a first for us! The first time we had a contest that ran for over a quarter and the first time we offered large prizes for a small entry fee! We weren’t sure how it was going to go, but we are happy to say that we had a lot of amazing entries!
We’d like to give a special thanks to everyone who entered and we hope this contest helped inspire you in some small way! And we’d like to congratulate our winners!
First Place: J.E. Klimov
Second Place: Jonathon Jones
Third Place: Karen Coleman
We chose our winners based on both style and originality. We hope you enjoy their stories as much as we did!
Directions: Write a story in 1,000 words or less containing these three story elements:
1- Setting: A singles cruise ship heading towards the Bahamas.
2- Character: A 75 year-old man who’s lived a long and morally-questionable life as a grifter.
3- Problem: Someone recognizes him from his past.
The Grifter
By J. E. Klimov
Ten P.M.
Observing myself in the mirror, I grimaced. Wrinkles carved deep lines around the edges of my eyes and mouth. My swollen knuckles roamed over the liver spots that made their permanent home on my flesh. Streaks of gray peeked through my raven hair.
I used to be blond.
My jeans and button-up were a little baggy, but I preferred it that way. Tight clothes on older men screamed creepy. I pulled out my pocket watch. Instead of ticking, dull vibrations rattled the cabin walls. A wave of uneasiness crashed into me like a tsunami as my gaze lingered. My stomach filled with acid, and it crept up my throat in the form of a heartburn. Shoving it back in my pocket, I exited my room and headed upstairs.
Tonight was the “Final Fling”, the last hurrah on this newly christened singles cruise line. I rolled my eyes; I could’ve gone to the casino, easily slipped under my pit bosses’ radar, and walked away with a sizeable amount of cash, but I shook away the temptation. There was something I must do tonight, far more challenging than anyth ing I’ve ever done.
When I reached the main deck, I leaned against the wall to catch my breath. People stared as I walked, but I steeled my nerves and followed them to the ballroom. They didn’t know who I really was. A puff of sweat and perfume filled the entrance. I squeezed by guys in sport coats and women in strapless dresses.
A security guard who checked purses looked up. “Ernest! Done your shift and ready to party?”
“Do you need to call me that?” I snapped, dropping my charming dealer façade.
He held up both hands. “Sorry… Honest Al.”
I found a seat at the bar next to a brunette in green, fully engrossed in her phone. Eyeing her up and down, I estimated she was my daughter’s age before she died. My heart sunk.
After ordering a scotch on the rocks, I surveyed the room filled with mingling bodies. There were a few spring breakers, but most were in their forties and fifties hoping for a last chance at love…or love-making. This whole cruise was just one ego-stroking escape.
No one interested me. As I bit my cheek, I fought that sinking feeling once more. Dread cloaked me like death’s veil. I’ve evaded his bony grasp on many occasions, but the sands of time were trickling away. I pulled out my pocket watch and traced my thumb over the wolf engraving.
“Ernest?”
Her voice chilled my spine. Thoughts collided like two meteors. The pocket watch slipped from my hand and clattered onto the linoleum floor. The woman who sat next to me scooped it up with her bejeweled hand.
My heart was dangerously close to exploding from my rib cage. Plump cheeks supported gray eyes. Strawberry blonde hair was tied in a neat bun. When she turned the object wolf-side up, her angular jaw tightened.
“Are you Ernest Alamenti?”
Sweat beaded on my hairline. I nodded slowly, unable to unravel my tongue from my parched mouth. When she handed my pocket watch back, I closed my hand over hers. She pulled back, but I held firmly.
“Lily?” I croaked.
She blinked incredulously.
“Lily, come with me.”
Hand in hand, connected by the watch, I led her down to my quarters. Her heels clicked behind me until we reached my door.
“I’m not going in there with you, old man.”
“If you believe I’m Ernest Alamenti, you know there’s nothing to be afraid of. I don’t prey on young women.”
A beep confirmed the unlocked door. I pulled her in gently and turned the lights on. She opened her mouth, but I cut her off.
“Yes, I am him.” My chest swelled in the pregnant pause. “You have your mother’s eyes.”
Lily’s arms fell to her side as her lower lip trembled. “No. You abandoned my mother and I.”
Side-stepping to the closet, I continued. “I’ve waited all these years to find the right time to reconnect, then I saw you in the newspapers and─”
My cheek stung as she slapped me. “And, what? You had your ‘connections’ find me?” Every word was laced with venom. “Have you come to swindle me too? Your own flesh and blood?”
Closing my eyes, I took a deep breath. My granddaughter had every right to hate me. I opened the closet and punched the code to my safe. I grabbed the navy blue satchel and pressed it into her hands. Lily’s forearms twitched as she adjusted to the unexpected weight.
“Open it,” I said softly.
Pursing her lips, Lily tugged the drawstring. It pained me to leave precious belongings behind, but the hole left from leaving my granddaughter was larger.
She gasped and stared at me. “These are…”
I ran my hand over my face. “You’re on this one-way cruise to grow your real estate investment in the Bahamas.
You’re a successful business woman, earning money in an honest way, but you need more capital.”
Lily cast the bag onto the bed and scowled. “You can’t buy back all those years.” Her voice wavered.
I fought back tears. Tears that I hadn’t shed since I walked out of my daughter’s door, twenty-two years ago. I reached for her arms, but Lily jerked away.
“Don’t touch me!”
My shoulders deflated. “Please. Just take the diamonds. If you don’t, then the cleaning crew will. Either way, I’m leaving it behind.”
I stepped past her and opened the door. Turning my head, I found Lily rooted in her spot. “My dear, I’m seventy-five, and I finally found the courage the let the past go. I can only ask for your forgiveness. Even if you don’t, may you never hold onto anger or pride as I did.”
Silence.
Gripping the knob tightly, I stepped into the hallway and left Lily behind for the second time.
Bio:
J.E. Klimov grew up in a small suburb in Massachusetts. After graduating from Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, she obtained her PharmD and became a pharmacist; however, her true passion was writing and illustration.
Ever since J.E. Klimov was little, she dreamed of sharing her stories with the world. From scribbling plotlines instead of taking notes in school, to bringing her characters to life through sketches, J.E. Klimov’s ideas ranged from fantasy to thriller fiction. Her first publication was a short story, The Guardian’s Secret, in “From the Stories of Old”─ an anthology of fairy-tale retellings. “The Aeonians” is her debut novel with Silver Leaf Books, and the sequel, “The Shadow Warrior” will be available Fall 2018.
You can follow J.E. Klimov and stay tuned for news on her latest works among other things on her blog: http://jelliotklimov.weebly.com/, Twitter: @klimov_author, and Facebook page: @klimovauthor.
Process and inspirations for this piece:
This is the shortest piece I’ve ever written- so it took a lot of trial and error, but being given three topics to work from was extremely fun. It reminded me of when I was in the high school speech team competing in the impromptu category. Anyway… My first step in creating this piece was to write down about three or four plot ideas. I immediately scrapped the first two because I knew that those were going to be the most “cliche”. After that, I sat down, played some soundtracks, and worked on fleshing out my main character’s end goal. Maybe the cruise’s destination wasn’t really his destination. That’s when my story unfolded, and I wrote without editing on the spot. I ended well above 1000 words at first, but trimming gave me the opportunity to focus on what exactly I wanted to say. A daunting challenge turned into one that explored a few meaningful life values: self-reflection, regret, family, and choosing what’s most important.
The Cruise
By Jonathon Jones
I gazed out onto the water. One last scam. That’s what I had always told myself. I had been telling myself that since I was 19. I’d spent 56 years grifting, and every scam is my last one. It is my compulsion, my addiction. All I can feel is the thrill of the con.
The blast of the whistle startled me out of my trance. I’d have time to reminisce and psychoanalyze myself on the ship. Right now, I needed to focus. I signed up for this singles cruise for a reason. I needed a mark, a target. An older wealthy woman, lonely, a widow, looking for a connection as her life slowly slipped away like sand in an hourglass. I would comfort her, charm her, give her reason to live again, just for a little while. Then I’d empty her bank account and vanish, just like I had with a dozen women before her. This scam was easy; I wish I had come up with it before my 50s. As it is, there’s no time like the present.
The first day passed quickly and uneventfully. I looked through the ship, ate at the buffet, watched other people sing at the karaoke bar. I faked a smile, shared a glance with a woman, but nothing came of it. That didn’t bother me. I was used to slow starts.
But the second day? The second day, I saw something that terrified me. I ate my breakfast at a seat by the window, and I saw her. I saw Victoria. I had never expected to see a former mark after I was done with them. She was walking on a lower deck. She didn’t even notice me watching her as she chatted with a crew member.
I never broke stride. I sipped my coffee without even a twitch. Even as I appeared calm and relaxed, my mind was screaming. I had never felt such terror. What if she saw me? What if she recognized me? What would she say? What would she do? I couldn’t handle the thought. I retreated to my cabin. I had to fix this.
What could I do? The cruise was to the Bahamas. It would last seven days. Today was the second day. I could jump ship there and fly to America and try again on another cruise. All I had to do was not let her see me. But, what if I ran into her? I had already happened to see her by chance. What would prevent us meeting by chance? I needed to follow her, to know where she was at all times. Yes, then I would be safe.
The first step was to figure out her cabin number. That was easy enough. The cruise line was kind enough to provide its own little social media network. All I had to do was look her up. The result was encouraging, for her cabin was on the other side of the ship. I grabbed my binoculars and started walking.
I found a perch near the pool that allowed me to see her cabin. I sat there all afternoon, watching, waiting. When I saw her enter the cabin, I let myself relax and grab a drink. When she left, I gave my chair to some oblivious stranger. He had no idea what I was doing or feeling. I envied his ignorance.
I followed her when she left her cabin. I followed her to the dinner buffet. I followed her to the cinema on board the ship (she watched Breakfast at Tiffany’s). I followed her as she went to the side of the ship to smoke. I followed her as she returned to her cabin a few minutes past 11.
I did this for three days. I spent three days watching as the person who could destroy me went about enjoying a cruise, care-free, unaware of the power she had over me, unaware that I even still existed. The sword of Damocles hung over my head, and there wasn’t a person on earth who knew it hung there by a thread.
But I made a mistake. I thought I was clever, hiding among groups of people as I walked behind her. It made me less noticeable, true, but it obscured my line of sight. I lost sight of her. Even now, I can’t believe I made such a silly mistake. What could I do? As I stood there panicking, I felt a tap on my shoulder, and I heard a voice. “Peter? Is that you?”
Yes, I had run my little singles scam with a dozen women before. Victoria wasn’t the only victim. I couldn’t remember breaking a mirror in the past seven years, but dementia must have set in early. I turned to face Emily.
“Hi, I don’t believe we’ve met before. I’m Matt.” I pointed at my name badge as I said it.
“I could have sworn you were someone else. Excuse me, I have a date at the bar. Sorry for bothering you!” She smiled, waved, and melted back into the crowd of strangers.
I stood still for a moment, in shock. I couldn’t believe the bullet I had dodged. Now, I was back to worrying about Victoria.
Could I use this to my advantage? Could I bump into Victoria, introduce myself as Matt, and go on my merry way, secure in the knowledge that Victoria knew me only as a stranger at a singles bar? It was the only way I could be sure of her not recognizing me. I had to make the first move.
I bumped into her at a staircase below-deck. This was my chance.
“Oh, I’m so sorry. I’m Matt.”
I only remember one thing more, before I woke up in the ship infirmary, recovering from a nasty fall down the stairs.
“I never forget a face, Jim.”
Process:
Regarding the creative process: the first 700 words were very easy. I wrote them in one sitting, and it required minimal revision. However, the ending stumped me. I had outlined the approximate ending, but I couldn’t make it work. At one point, I shelved the story for two weeks. I came back to it fresh, and wrote the ending in one go, again with minimal revision.
For more of Jonathon’s work, find him on Twitter at @Rikitytikitytin!
The Fire Cruise
By Karen Coleman
He had been on this cruise ship for three days. He hated boats and the water they floated on. He still didn’t know how he got talked into doing a cruise with all these old people. Of course, he was old just like them, but he was young inside. The years were full and passed too fast. Now he was 75. The music was still alive inside of him, as much as it was when he left his family. He had no choice. The music had to come out of him. Leaving his home, knowing he would never see his family or home again, was hard. The only thing he regrets is leaving his unknown mate. His life before the Rock and Roll, feels like a dream. Being in the Bahamas has brought it to the forefront of his mind.
He left home when he was twenty and he had always thought he would end his days on land, but home drew him on this cruise. His life was filled first with the music, then the rocker life. Even at this age, women flocked to him. His band ‘Jetty Waters’ has been together since 1969. In San Francisco, he was free and he loved the freedom of making music.
“Nice day to sit on the deck.”
“Hi, Trudy. Where is Stan?”
“You know where he is. In the casino. He is getting worse. A band practice might take his mind off gambling.”
“Trudy he can gamble all day. He has millions. If he wants to gamble let him. You aren’t his wife.”
“Wife? I am his caretaker.”
“Then quit telling him what to do. His Alzheimer’s is in the early stages. Leave him alone or I will have you sent home. He is a grown man.”
“I was just trying to do my job. I am sorry, Mr. Sandston. I will go sit by the pool.”
Screaming started all around Mako. People were pointing their phones towards the water. Mako got up and walked to see what was going.
As far as you can see, the water was on fire. The fire was fifty feet away from the ship. It wasn’t moving towards them. People went crazy, praying, screaming and crying. The crew was trying to get the people to go inside of the ship, but people were flocking onto the deck instead. No one was going to go inside of a ship that was about to burn.
A dozen figures started to rise in the air above them. Mako watched as the captain arrive on the pool deck. The men with him had guns in their hands. Mako knew this was going to be a bad ending. He walked towards the captain.
“There will be no need for you to use guns. They are here for me.”
The captain and everyone else watched as the twelve figures started downwards. People moved back.
“They can set fire to the ship and we all will be burned alive. Let me speak to them. Do not fire. Captain, do you understand?”
“Yes, Mr. Sandston.”
The figures landed and the fire around them diminished as their feet touched the deck. Everyone was filming. There were seven men and five women that stood before Mako. They recognized him. All of them dropped to both knees with heads bowed. Mako knew this wasn’t good.
“Leader rise and speak”
A woman with hair the colors of the sea, rose and came to him.
“My prince, I come from your brother. He says now is the time for war. Your grifter ways are now over. Your family needs you to come home.”
“My father made it clear that I have no family. What is going on. He would never call me home.”
“I am sorry my prince, the king and queen are dead. We have lost sixty percent of our people. Your brother has called all to arms. These humans are killing the oceans and the lands. They must be stopped. My prince, your brother dies as we speak. You will be our king. You will cleanse the earth.”
“Why have sixty percent of our people died?”
“These humans are killing everything living in the oceans. The Prophet says only you can cleanse it. If not, the earth will die. Will you let it happen because you want to continue to take what these humans have. If so, then I will lead what is left of our people.”
“You are not royal, you can not lead. Why would you say these words?”
“I am Blue. I am your mate. You left us, me! Those left alive on the council insisted that I come and ask you to do your duty. I come with the hope you say no. You can die with these humans.”
He looked at her. His mate. His people. His oceans. They were supposed to be his life, not the music, not women and not the money. To think his father and brother thought he was a grifter, struck pain in his heart. He looked up at the only woman that could give him children. What has he done. Why was the music more important to him than his love?
“Don’t ask. The Prophet said to tell you ‘because, you were to learn human ways, so you can destroy those that won’t change. Mako choose.”
He turned to the captain and all that was watching.
“These are my people. We live deep in the oceans. Your leaders are destroying this world. I have long wondered why I left my home deep in the Caribbean Sea. I told everyone including myself that it was because of the music. I have made beautiful music while others have destroyed our planet. It is time for the all humans to join, so we can heal our planet. I will be keep in touch on the internet.
Mako, then the others turned to fire, rose, then floated into the sea. The fires were no more, for now.
