Storyteller's Challenge Story Special #2: CYCLONE'S FURY
My note: I couldn't find the entries of other people. I know I saved them somewhere, but...
Story Special #2
The Muse's note:
Lara Mia Veronica submitted "Cyclone's Fury" for SC's Profanity Challenge. On its own, this story beginning or snippet works well. There's strong emotion and violence, and no profanity.
SC had decided that this submission, used as a story beginning, might have several conclusions, so we've presented this as an additional Profanity Challenge. Read and we think you'll understand. Let's see how many directions Aster can take.
To Lara Mia Veronica: SC hopes you don't mind what we've done.
Behind an oaken table was a little girl. Pearly drops of tears fell on the floor where her father lay, on a pool of blood. He was stiff as stiff could be. It was more than a little girl could take.
Now, sixteen years later, Aster remembers the scene vividly. Three bearded men who were her father's closest friends had come for coffee that night. They were laughing and sharing jokes. Her father even let her sing for them, but Joey, her father's best bud, wanted her to dance.
Aster cried that night. Ellis, her dad, did not like Joey mistreating his only daughter. Aster watched as he stood up and punched Joey on the nose. The sad thing was, the other two, Mark and Henry, took Joey's side. They even got little Aster and forced her to dance.
This really got on Ellis' nerves. After all, a father must protect his daughter. These may be demented men who do not give any thought to their children, but he was different. Ellis took Aster from her dance and when he was about to put her in her room, Joey grabbed her.
"You have no right to force my daughter to dance. She's your god child, for heaven's sake!"
"Dance for us, little Aster, dance," Joey teased.
"Have you got the brain of a skunk? Or maybe the skunk has more brains than you," Ellis shouted as he tried to rescue Aster.
"How dare you insult my intelligence," Joey snapped back, giving Ellis a piercing stare, and pushing him from his daughter.
Then Mark and Henry started agreeing with everything that Joey said. This time they forgot Aster was in the room. The little girl was afraid to move.
"You are all sons of the prince of darkness," Ellis shouted.
The three men encircled Ellis. The little girl screamed, but they did not hear her. They started hitting him. The blows were hard. Ellis was almost decapitated. After some time they noticed that they were out of their minds. The men, fists sore from the blows, stopped and looked at each other and then at Ellis. The room was deluged in blood. They had left the house in haste leaving Aster to tend her dead father.
This had been Aster's nightmare for sixteen years. Now that she was old enough, she wanted to make those men suffer, suffer much more than her father had. She pondered deeply searching for reason, but could not understand how good friends could do that to one another. Was there something she did not know, she asked herself.
Whatever the reason, Aster did not care. There was a cyclone inside her. She could hear roars of thunder. Flashes of lightning passed through her eyes. The storm swirled. An earthquake shook her small frame. A volcanic eruption was building deep within her soul. She had to device a plan. These men were free as birds. They ruled the country. She looked at her image in a mirror and practiced her speech for Joey.
Lara Mia Veronica ~ March 6, 1997
"Cyclone's Fury" Entry #1
Is there something I don't know? she asked herself.
Meanwhile, trickles of sweat were forming on Joseph Hagar's skin. Diana was half an hour late and that was not like her. He met Diana six months after his wife died. Since then he had wild dreams about Diana. Something was vaguely familiar about her but he just could not point what it was. He looked outside the veranda of his penthouse suite. Every minute was agonizing. Every second he pined for her. Last night she told him she loved him and said she wanted him to partake of the nectar of her youth.
Diana was only nineteen, but she was beyond her years. Something about her told Joseph that her wisdom had started from childhood. It was that wisdom and her strength that weakened his knees. If she were any other woman, he would have just claimed her right from the start whether she liked it or not, but Diana was different. She was the type he could bring home to his mother even though his mother was sleeping at her final resting-place.
"Where are you?" He could not wait any longer.
Aster now stood outside the elevator and stared at a door. Inside, Joey was waiting for her. She wore a wig and shades that changed the shape of her face. Under her coat, she wore sleazy garb. She also wore leather gloves. She could not take any chances. She looked around for hidden cameras. She saw one and decided not to remove her disguise. She rang the bell. Joey opened the door for her.
"Who are you?"
Aster put her hand on his shoulder then said in a sultry manner, "Why don't you know me?"
"Diana!" He wrapped her in his arms. After releasing her, he scooped her then carried her inside, kicking the door behind him that automatically locked. Aster asked him in a whisper if there were more cameras inside.
"Why, my dear?"
"I have a surprise for you that I don't want you to share with anyone."
"There are no hidden cameras, my dear."
"Then put me down, my love."
He put her down gently. Slowly, she opened her coat. It made his heart beat faster. While he was concentrating on her female anatomy, Aster carefully got from her pocket a syringe that had a formula made by a chemistry classmate. An overdose of it would kill a person. Now, her coat was off. Joey's sweat was no longer trickles, but a sequel to the cause of the building of Noah's ark. As he went closer, he pressed the syringe on his stomach. A few seconds passed, then he was gone. Aster carefully packed the syringe, put her cloak, then pulled the heavy man with all her might. After gathering all the evidence and looking at herself in the mirror, she started to leave the place. The cameras were fooled.
"Bye Joey." One down, two more to go.
Aster was still in front of the mirror rehearsing her speech for Joey. She was in tears. She pulled the syringe out of her pocket, threw it into the trash bin and covered it with trash. "I can't. I can't," she whispered.
Joey was giving up on hope. Three hours have passed and still there was no Diana. When he was about to leave, the doorbell rang. He opened the door to see Aster.
"I thought you weren't coming."
"I thought so too."
He closed the door then gave her a warm hug. She was stiff as stiff could be. "Baby, what's wrong?"
"I'm not Diana." He was speechless. "I'm not Diana, I'm Aster, your best friend Ellis' daughter." Walls were about to crush Joey when Aster said, "I planned to kill you and your friends, but I know it is not right. It would just be a never ending cycle." Aster knees were weaker than Joey. "I couldn't kill you."
Joey went near to pick up the poor girl. "We were acquitted because we did not mean to kill your father. You know that."
"No," she said weakly. "I was too young to understand."
"Ellis was my best friend and things just..." Aster knew he was about to lie to save himself so she put a finger on his lips. "I don't want to know. What you might tell me would make me change the way I remember my father. I don't want to hate my father and I don't want to hate you forever by letting me hate him."
"Why?"
Aster did not know what to say. Should she really tell him? Joey waited and waited. Each moment he could not breathe. It was like he came back from the dead when Aster said, "It's because...I learned to love you. During the six months that I've known you, I found out you're not the Joey I once hated."
Joey took Aster in his arms and embraced her tightly and she embraced him back. Thank you God. Thank you, he said in his mind.
Ten years passed. Aster looked at her husband and their two sons. He turned out to be a good husband and good father. She had no regrets at all. The sea of tranquility was flowing in her heart. She looked up the sky and smiled. "God, this is better than revenge."
Lara Mia Veronica ~ May 9, 1997
Story Special #2
"Cyclone's Fury"
The Muse's note:
Lara Mia Veronica submitted "Cyclone's Fury" for SC's Profanity Challenge. On its own, this story beginning or snippet works well. There's strong emotion and violence, and no profanity.
SC had decided that this submission, used as a story beginning, might have several conclusions, so we've presented this as an additional Profanity Challenge. Read and we think you'll understand. Let's see how many directions Aster can take.
To Lara Mia Veronica: SC hopes you don't mind what we've done.
"Cyclone's Fury"
Behind an oaken table was a little girl. Pearly drops of tears fell on the floor where her father lay, on a pool of blood. He was stiff as stiff could be. It was more than a little girl could take.
Now, sixteen years later, Aster remembers the scene vividly. Three bearded men who were her father's closest friends had come for coffee that night. They were laughing and sharing jokes. Her father even let her sing for them, but Joey, her father's best bud, wanted her to dance.
Aster cried that night. Ellis, her dad, did not like Joey mistreating his only daughter. Aster watched as he stood up and punched Joey on the nose. The sad thing was, the other two, Mark and Henry, took Joey's side. They even got little Aster and forced her to dance.
This really got on Ellis' nerves. After all, a father must protect his daughter. These may be demented men who do not give any thought to their children, but he was different. Ellis took Aster from her dance and when he was about to put her in her room, Joey grabbed her.
"You have no right to force my daughter to dance. She's your god child, for heaven's sake!"
"Dance for us, little Aster, dance," Joey teased.
"Have you got the brain of a skunk? Or maybe the skunk has more brains than you," Ellis shouted as he tried to rescue Aster.
"How dare you insult my intelligence," Joey snapped back, giving Ellis a piercing stare, and pushing him from his daughter.
Then Mark and Henry started agreeing with everything that Joey said. This time they forgot Aster was in the room. The little girl was afraid to move.
"You are all sons of the prince of darkness," Ellis shouted.
The three men encircled Ellis. The little girl screamed, but they did not hear her. They started hitting him. The blows were hard. Ellis was almost decapitated. After some time they noticed that they were out of their minds. The men, fists sore from the blows, stopped and looked at each other and then at Ellis. The room was deluged in blood. They had left the house in haste leaving Aster to tend her dead father.
This had been Aster's nightmare for sixteen years. Now that she was old enough, she wanted to make those men suffer, suffer much more than her father had. She pondered deeply searching for reason, but could not understand how good friends could do that to one another. Was there something she did not know, she asked herself.
Whatever the reason, Aster did not care. There was a cyclone inside her. She could hear roars of thunder. Flashes of lightning passed through her eyes. The storm swirled. An earthquake shook her small frame. A volcanic eruption was building deep within her soul. She had to device a plan. These men were free as birds. They ruled the country. She looked at her image in a mirror and practiced her speech for Joey.
Lara Mia Veronica ~ March 6, 1997
"Cyclone's Fury" Entry #1
Is there something I don't know? she asked herself.
Meanwhile, trickles of sweat were forming on Joseph Hagar's skin. Diana was half an hour late and that was not like her. He met Diana six months after his wife died. Since then he had wild dreams about Diana. Something was vaguely familiar about her but he just could not point what it was. He looked outside the veranda of his penthouse suite. Every minute was agonizing. Every second he pined for her. Last night she told him she loved him and said she wanted him to partake of the nectar of her youth.
Diana was only nineteen, but she was beyond her years. Something about her told Joseph that her wisdom had started from childhood. It was that wisdom and her strength that weakened his knees. If she were any other woman, he would have just claimed her right from the start whether she liked it or not, but Diana was different. She was the type he could bring home to his mother even though his mother was sleeping at her final resting-place.
"Where are you?" He could not wait any longer.
Aster now stood outside the elevator and stared at a door. Inside, Joey was waiting for her. She wore a wig and shades that changed the shape of her face. Under her coat, she wore sleazy garb. She also wore leather gloves. She could not take any chances. She looked around for hidden cameras. She saw one and decided not to remove her disguise. She rang the bell. Joey opened the door for her.
"Who are you?"
Aster put her hand on his shoulder then said in a sultry manner, "Why don't you know me?"
"Diana!" He wrapped her in his arms. After releasing her, he scooped her then carried her inside, kicking the door behind him that automatically locked. Aster asked him in a whisper if there were more cameras inside.
"Why, my dear?"
"I have a surprise for you that I don't want you to share with anyone."
"There are no hidden cameras, my dear."
"Then put me down, my love."
He put her down gently. Slowly, she opened her coat. It made his heart beat faster. While he was concentrating on her female anatomy, Aster carefully got from her pocket a syringe that had a formula made by a chemistry classmate. An overdose of it would kill a person. Now, her coat was off. Joey's sweat was no longer trickles, but a sequel to the cause of the building of Noah's ark. As he went closer, he pressed the syringe on his stomach. A few seconds passed, then he was gone. Aster carefully packed the syringe, put her cloak, then pulled the heavy man with all her might. After gathering all the evidence and looking at herself in the mirror, she started to leave the place. The cameras were fooled.
"Bye Joey." One down, two more to go.
Aster was still in front of the mirror rehearsing her speech for Joey. She was in tears. She pulled the syringe out of her pocket, threw it into the trash bin and covered it with trash. "I can't. I can't," she whispered.
Joey was giving up on hope. Three hours have passed and still there was no Diana. When he was about to leave, the doorbell rang. He opened the door to see Aster.
"I thought you weren't coming."
"I thought so too."
He closed the door then gave her a warm hug. She was stiff as stiff could be. "Baby, what's wrong?"
"I'm not Diana." He was speechless. "I'm not Diana, I'm Aster, your best friend Ellis' daughter." Walls were about to crush Joey when Aster said, "I planned to kill you and your friends, but I know it is not right. It would just be a never ending cycle." Aster knees were weaker than Joey. "I couldn't kill you."
Joey went near to pick up the poor girl. "We were acquitted because we did not mean to kill your father. You know that."
"No," she said weakly. "I was too young to understand."
"Ellis was my best friend and things just..." Aster knew he was about to lie to save himself so she put a finger on his lips. "I don't want to know. What you might tell me would make me change the way I remember my father. I don't want to hate my father and I don't want to hate you forever by letting me hate him."
"Why?"
Aster did not know what to say. Should she really tell him? Joey waited and waited. Each moment he could not breathe. It was like he came back from the dead when Aster said, "It's because...I learned to love you. During the six months that I've known you, I found out you're not the Joey I once hated."
Joey took Aster in his arms and embraced her tightly and she embraced him back. Thank you God. Thank you, he said in his mind.
Ten years passed. Aster looked at her husband and their two sons. He turned out to be a good husband and good father. She had no regrets at all. The sea of tranquility was flowing in her heart. She looked up the sky and smiled. "God, this is better than revenge."
Lara Mia Veronica ~ May 9, 1997
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are products of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
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