Drabble Corner

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Drabble Corner

Michelle Swisz

Here's our Drabble for this month, by Bill West:

Shadow and Light

Light, the ancient enemy, pours down. You sit by the wall, folded in shadow.

Pondering, you lean forward and extend a finger into the sunlight. Skin burns as if in a flame, your finger-bone chars to ash. You would last two minutes you calculate.

Last of your race; King, Emperor, your armies have toppled thrones, conquered nations. And it all ends here in this simple trap, baited with a kiss.

No escape, just this small pocket of darkness that shrinks in the rising tide of day.

Will you remain cowering in shadow, or glorious, rise up to drown in light?

Here's a question for you for June: Do you care? Sometimes we don't feel like we care—but we find ourselves sitting at the computer, at the blank piece of paper, nevertheless. Something is drawing us to write—which means we care about something!

That something wants to come out.

In my own life, I find that the things I often think about and care about often actually distract me from what it is that really wants to come out. So here's the Drabble challenge for June: This time, write TWO Drabbles. The first one is about whatever seems uppermost in your life right now feelings-wise, whether it's a romance or a career drama or something else. And the second Drabble is what comes out after you've written the first one. Send either Drabble to drabble@wvu.org by the 10th day after your box receives this e-zine, 100 words exactly, excluding the title. Check complete guidelines before submitting.

See you next time.

About the Author
Hello, and welcome to Drabbles. I'm Michelle, your Drabbles editor. I live south of San Francisco, with four spoiled cats, near the sea where I love to walk every day. I've tutored English in workshops, classrooms, and individually at San Jose State University, and have worked on the Fiction Panel here at Writers' Village. Comments and questions are always welcome!