A few blogs back I told you guys about a writing contest I entered hosted by NPR.
It's called 3 Minute Fiction and the guidelines are simple, write something that is 600 words or less, something someone can read in less than 3 minutes.
The theme for this round is to write a story where a character find something they have no intention of returning.
Over the last few weeks they have been posting a few online and tonight they announced the winner. As I mentioned before I was not it, nor was I among their list of favs.
I'm ok with this. I know that there will be hundreds of rejection letters in my future and while I didn't actually get a letter telling me no, I was not among the posted list. The important thing I put myself out there and gave it a whirl. It gave me a great idea for a book and I got to do something that I was really proud of.
Congrats to the winner, and to all those that were posted on the website and read on the radio. If any of you are interested in reading any of the stories you can find them here.
So without further ado, here is my story. I hope you like it.
The Key
I leaned over to spit more blood into the dirt at my feet. I couldn't lean too far with my hands tied together at the wrist and looped over a hook protruding from the stone wall above me. I lifted my head again to look at my captor with the most bored look I could muster. The small stone cavern we stood in tilted wildly then righted itself making my stomach churn in response. I must have taken one too many blows to the head.
“Tell me where
it is.” my captor snarled, “You're a smart girl. You know this
only ends one way. Give me the key and I'll let you walk out of here
unharmed.”
I raised an eyebrow
and looked down at myself. My cargo pants were torn in places and
exposing gashes and bruises. My once white tank top was gray now
from the dirt with a nice red stripe down the front from the blood
coming out of my mouth or my head, I couldn't tell anymore. The
normally blond hair that hung down in front of my face was also caked
with mud and dried blood.
“You're right,”
I muttered around a swollen lip, “a quick shower and I'll be as
fresh as a daisy.” I laughed a little then, I couldn't help it.
The whole situation was suddenly funny. I shifted my feet, the hook
above me was high enough that I had to stand on my tip toes to
support my weight.
I spent years
scavenging through old libraries and exploring caves to find the very
door on the opposite side of the small cavern. Once I had found it,
I spent another few years trying to find a way to open it. As luck
would have it, I found directions to the key's location on an
unrelated cave exploration written in some old clay tablets. I could
barely contain my excitement. If I had known it was going to land me
in this predicament I would have thought this through a little
better.
My laughter only
seemed to raise Jayce's ire. He stalked over to me looking like an
animal about to strike. “WHERE IS IT?” he screamed in my face.
I looked at him for
a few silent moments while he stood there panting. His breath
blowing the snarled strands of hair out of my face.
I wiggled my
fingers furiously to show him I had nothing. “It's only for the
worthy, you don't qualify.”
He hit me just
below the ribs, hard. I made a move to block the punch but my bound
hands kept me from doing so. His fist landed in my side with a
resounding thud. Again all I could do was laugh. He moved to hit me
again but this time I was ready. I grabbed on to the hook and
jumped. I lifted my feet up to kick him square in the chin. He went
flying back to land against the opposite wall, out cold.
I jumped up again
to release my hands and quickly freed myself. I dug a small silver
object out of a zippered pocket on the inside of my waistband and
held it to my lips. Oh the things I endure for my craft. I smiled
at my personal joke and walked to the door.
I held the key to
the door. “Please.” I said
A rumbling could be
heard then the door opened slightly. I pushed it open the rest of
the way and walked through.
