The girl just shrugs her shoulders, her blank face flickering blue-black in the television glare. A blender whirs and churns under the touch of a middle aged shopping network Barbie doll, its virtues diced into ticker traffic bulletins that flow like river flotsam across the bottom of the screen. The girl stares, unseeing, unmoved by the Barbie’s ministrations. I can see the failures of her life welling up behind her glassy eyes like aquarium lobsters waiting to die. I reach my hand out to her and she whimpers softly, though I’m not even sure she knows I’m there.
Nic
Nic Addenbrooke is a freelance writer, editor, content creator, radio broadcaster, part-time poet and sometimes artist. Nic has been coming to terms with existence for years. He currently lives and works in Brisbane where he struggles to turn the cacophony of voices in his head into things of substance. It doesn’t always work but occasionally produces a nice veneer of sanity.
A Few Short Words 
26/07/2012 at 07:22
This is frightening and moving and sad all at the same time. The imagery – the flotsam ticker tape, the aquarium lobsters – is perfect. Short and not very sweet, but very, very good.
x
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26/07/2012 at 09:19
Thank you so much. You have to be careful about the words you choose when you only have 100 of them to use.
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27/07/2012 at 20:18
Well, I think you’ve chosen really well – you’ve got the perfect balance between imagery and action here, and it gave me chills!
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27/07/2012 at 23:20
I’m really glad you got something out of it and I appreciate the feedback, it’s always great to know what somebody thinks.
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28/07/2012 at 00:27
No worries – I always worry when I have loads of views on something but no comments, I’d rather know what people thought, for better or worse, as it were!
x
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29/07/2012 at 17:15
I know what you mean. It’s great when people like things, or even bother to look at them, but sometimes it’s nice to know what people don’t like so I can try and do better in those areas.
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