Post by ArwingAce21 on Jan 10, 2008 19:09:49 GMT -8
500 Word Short Story Challenge, Prompt Two (500 words total, not counting title)
For seven long years I have evaded them. Their agents have hounded me like dogs, hot on the scent-trail of their quarry. Many times they have come close; I have found myself mere seconds away from losing my freedom, my life, forever, several times now. Their methods are sly, cunning, and yes, even underhanded. Yet, I have always managed to stay one step ahead of them. As wily as they are, they cannot match hands with one as crafty as myself.
Truly, it is not a wise venture to slight one of the most powerful Organizations in the land. But, my past mistakes are mine to deal with. And deal with them I have. One error of my past has charted the course of my future forever. My own plans, aspirations, hopes, and dreams? Shattered, all, broken into infinitesimal shards of a past, innocent, being. All this I traded for a bit of money that wasn’t mine. Greed has corrupted my life forever.
In order to set things right, I had to alter my life permanently. In order to win back my freedom from the results of this vile sin and thus elude the Organization that so doggedly hounds me, I had to become another person; assume another identity. As I began this long, laborious process of slowly shedding the serpent’s skin of my past life, I had to take care not to fall into the traps the Organization was so determinedly laying. If I was caught by their vicious Harpies, ever pursuing me, and fell prey to their wicked talons, all would be lost forever. Nevertheless, I managed to gradually become a new person.
Throughout my metamorphosis, I plotted my ultimate escape. To be truly rid of my omnipresent pursuers, I had to escape. Flying from the land where my ill deed was committed; fleeing the authority of the Organization’s agents was the only way to complete my transformation and thus guarantee my freedom. Finding a way out was difficult, as to break through the borders and enter the land of true freedom required me to plow straight through my most difficult challenge yet. The border lines were naught but prison bars to me. If I attempted to clamber over the obstacles, fences, and other obstructions, I would surely be captured. No, I had to earn my freedom legally. Well, as legally as one who is fleeing one of the greatest powers in the land can.
I walked directly into a swarm of my greatest enemies, yet raised no suspicions. If only one of these fiends managed to uncover the secret of my past life, then my current life would effectively end. Somehow, I walked through this veritable stronghold of my enemy and out of the other side.
Freedom! My life is mine to live once more, free from the pursuit of the Organization! The past me now resides only in the past.
---
My first challenge! I know it is as confusing as all get out at first, but I do hope that the bit of humor at the end makes everything lucid. The entire story is basically a metaphor for something.
Anyway, the entire story is designed to make you think the protagonist had wronged the mafia or something huge in a country outside the US. Then, he changed his identity and fled his country all the while evading the mafia. He finally got into the US and gained his freedom.
But, it is really a man in the US who wronged the IRS and had to flee the country. The last bit is supposed to tie it all together and be humorous at once. Hope this makes some sense, my "editor" of sorts (the person I drafted to read it first) didn't seem to think much of it. Maybe some of y'all will get it.
Evasion
A Short Story by ArwingAce21
For seven long years I have evaded them. Their agents have hounded me like dogs, hot on the scent-trail of their quarry. Many times they have come close; I have found myself mere seconds away from losing my freedom, my life, forever, several times now. Their methods are sly, cunning, and yes, even underhanded. Yet, I have always managed to stay one step ahead of them. As wily as they are, they cannot match hands with one as crafty as myself.
Truly, it is not a wise venture to slight one of the most powerful Organizations in the land. But, my past mistakes are mine to deal with. And deal with them I have. One error of my past has charted the course of my future forever. My own plans, aspirations, hopes, and dreams? Shattered, all, broken into infinitesimal shards of a past, innocent, being. All this I traded for a bit of money that wasn’t mine. Greed has corrupted my life forever.
In order to set things right, I had to alter my life permanently. In order to win back my freedom from the results of this vile sin and thus elude the Organization that so doggedly hounds me, I had to become another person; assume another identity. As I began this long, laborious process of slowly shedding the serpent’s skin of my past life, I had to take care not to fall into the traps the Organization was so determinedly laying. If I was caught by their vicious Harpies, ever pursuing me, and fell prey to their wicked talons, all would be lost forever. Nevertheless, I managed to gradually become a new person.
Throughout my metamorphosis, I plotted my ultimate escape. To be truly rid of my omnipresent pursuers, I had to escape. Flying from the land where my ill deed was committed; fleeing the authority of the Organization’s agents was the only way to complete my transformation and thus guarantee my freedom. Finding a way out was difficult, as to break through the borders and enter the land of true freedom required me to plow straight through my most difficult challenge yet. The border lines were naught but prison bars to me. If I attempted to clamber over the obstacles, fences, and other obstructions, I would surely be captured. No, I had to earn my freedom legally. Well, as legally as one who is fleeing one of the greatest powers in the land can.
I walked directly into a swarm of my greatest enemies, yet raised no suspicions. If only one of these fiends managed to uncover the secret of my past life, then my current life would effectively end. Somehow, I walked through this veritable stronghold of my enemy and out of the other side.
Freedom! My life is mine to live once more, free from the pursuit of the Organization! The past me now resides only in the past.
The crime that ruined me? Tax Evasion.
The Organization that chased me? The Internal Revenue Service.
The Organization that chased me? The Internal Revenue Service.
---
My first challenge! I know it is as confusing as all get out at first, but I do hope that the bit of humor at the end makes everything lucid. The entire story is basically a metaphor for something.
Anyway, the entire story is designed to make you think the protagonist had wronged the mafia or something huge in a country outside the US. Then, he changed his identity and fled his country all the while evading the mafia. He finally got into the US and gained his freedom.
But, it is really a man in the US who wronged the IRS and had to flee the country. The last bit is supposed to tie it all together and be humorous at once. Hope this makes some sense, my "editor" of sorts (the person I drafted to read it first) didn't seem to think much of it. Maybe some of y'all will get it.
