Wednesday, August 25, 2010

Prayers

Here are my contributions to the Three Word Wednesday prompt for the week. Couldn't decide which one I liked best so posting them both.

Story 1

Joy knew if she could only abstain a few more months, until she and Todd exchanged vows, her halo would await in Heaven. The only problem was it was getting harder and harder to do. Every time Todd pulled her close and kissed her tenderly, passions ran wild.

Spying that certain twinkle in the love of her life’s eye tonight, Joy offered up a fervent prayer and held on for dear life, hoping God was listening because she knew she wouldn’t be able to hold out much longer without help.


Story 2

Kayla pushed the cheap plastic halo back atop her head, hoping the man she was kneeling before would finish soon. The grimy taste and sickly sweet smell was so bad Kayla gagged.

“Hail Mary, full of grace…”

The prayer caught Kayla off guard. Her usual customer was more the cussing than praying kind. When he slipped the rosary beads around her neck, she knew things were fixing to get even kinkier.

When the beads grew tighter around her neck, Kayla offered a prayer of her own, vowing to abstain from her chosen profession, go to church, help the poor…whatever it took if God would only spare her life. Unfortunately, God was not in the room that night.

Wednesday, August 18, 2010

Small Cases

Here is my contribution to the Three Word Wednesday prompt. Hope y'all like it!



The terrible grimace on the girls’ face signified the end was very unpleasant. Even seasoned homicide detectives such as the two standing over the body were sickened when dealing with crimes like these.

“She didn’t even have a chance,” Gregor muttered, rubbing a weary hand on the back of his neck.

“None of them did,” his partner replied as he tried to push the images of the broken bodies of three other little girls they’d found out of his mind and concentrate on the one in front of him.

Both detectives moved out of the way when the coroner arrived and watched as the next phase of the investigation got underway. They knew crucial evidence was often found on a victim’s body and they definitely needed some evidence in this case. So far, the detectives had no leads and time was running out. Both were all too aware another attack was due any day now because this particular subject killed a different little girl each week.

“See anything that might help us, Doc?” Gregor asked, desperately hoping the bastard had finally left a clue, any clue that would offer a break in the case.

The coroner shook his head. “Nothing yet, Bart. I’ll know more after the full autopsy.”

Gregor and his partner knew the autopsy would be pushed to the front of the line. These killings were too close to home. All the girls lived within 2 miles of the station house, as if the killer were taunting law enforcement, daring them to find him. The fact that all the girls were under four added fuel to the fire and ensured the mayor, commissioner and every cop on the force wanted the case solved yesterday.

“Detective Gregor,” one of the deputies whispered and motioned for him to follow him outside.

“Yes, deputy?” Gregor asked when he and his partner stepped out the door.

“Another girl’s been found.”

“Shit!” Gregor roared.

“He’s testing us,” his partner added. “He usually hides the bodies well enough we don’t find them for a few days. He wants us to catch him.”

“I wish he’d just turn his sorry ass in then!” Gregor snapped before asking the address for the newest girl.

“1243 Center St.,” the deputy replied.

“No!” Gregor’s partner screamed and started running.

Gregor watched his partner stumble and then right himself as the rushed for their car. Yelling for the deputy to send every available unit, he chased after his partner. He reached him just as the man started to get behind the wheel.

“I’ll drive,” he told the distraught man.

His partner raced around the car and jumped in as Gregor squealed the tires and headed out.

“We shoulda caught the son of a bitch by now. I could have stopped it. I’m gonna kill him with my bare hands.”

Gregor let his partner ramble on, knowing there was nothing he could say to ease the pain. He just floored the car and raced toward 1243 Center St., where the man’s ex-wife and three-year-old daughter lived.

Wednesday, August 4, 2010

Broken

Here's my contribution to the Three Word Wednesday prompt. Been a few weeks since I participated. Hope y'all like this one.



Grimacing, Jane picked up her drink and gulped it down, relishing the slow burn despite herself. Her last feeble attempt at sobriety had lasted forty-eight hours. Forty-eight of the longest hours Jane had ever lived through.

Disgusted with herself, she surveyed her fellow drunks. You couldn’t call them anything else because only true drunks were still at the bar come three in the morning. Jane knew this from experience. She’d been a drunk since seventeen. She had figured out way back then that drinking numbed the pain, and her stepfather doled out plenty of pain to numb.

Once her eyes adjusted to the gloom, she spotted him. Jane always wanted someone to commiserate with when she drank. She sauntered over to his table and pulled a chair out. The man regarded her coolly, decided he liked what he saw and ordered her another drink.

Jane smiled and winked at him, pleased to note the blush it brought to his cheeks. She may not know how long she’d go without a drink from day to day or where the rent money was coming from, but one thing Jane could predict with certainty, was that she’d never go home alone. After all, her stepfather always said she was too pretty for her own good.