Sunday, February 8, 2015

Without Sin

by Michael Seese

So you know the drill with the Janet Reid contests. Write a (at most) 100-word flash using five key words. This week, the words were:

signal
hour
crane
collapse
homer


I made a conscious effort to try something different... to use the words in unexpected ways. As Janet always explains.

You must use the whole word, but that whole word can be part of a larger word. The word must appear as that whole word however.

Example: Signal/signals is ok but crane/cranberry is not. 


So I looked to see what I could do with "hour" and found the word houri, which Merriam-Webster defines as:

1:  one of the beautiful maidens that in Muslim belief live with the blessed in paradise
2:  a voluptuously beautiful young woman


From there the story fell into place. Here is "Without Sin."



She was a singular beauty, what the locals call a "houri." Even the great Homer would have been at a loss for words.

A crowd had gathered. They were cheering. I craned my neck for a better look. I should not have. But I succumbed to a baser facet of human nature.

Voyeurism.

I couldn’t understand a word of the man’s rabid invective. His stone was the first, and signaled that the orgy of violence could begin. She collapsed in a heap.

I wanted to say something. To stop the madness. But I dared not. For I am equally guilty.

If I may blow my own horn, I'm pretty proud of this one.

Also, I just learned that my entry for Three Line Thursday was named the winner.

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