Here’s a wildly fun distraction. I’m part of a literary blog relay started by my writer friend Christine Lee Zilka.
This is how the literary blog relay works, as Christine explains it:
One writer writes a 250 word post/story/fragment and then tags the next writer, etc., etc. We can write whatever we want, so long as our posts begin with the last line of the previous post and are linked to a central them; in this case, “Transformation.” Kind of like a track and field relay–except we’re writin’ it!
To read the Chapter 1, visit Christine Lee Zilka’s blog for her beautiful opening post.
Now, here’s my Chapter 2:
I walked unabashed, every nerve on every toe blinking with pain. I should have worn better shoes to kick in that window.
Now, I’m inside. Now I’m telling myself no one will be looking at my feet. The girl I was outside—in the dark, on the sidewalk out front—that girl who everyone passed and didn’t see because no one ever sees, that girl didn’t come in with me. Maybe she’s still out there, some nobody with no place to be.
The girl inside with the bloody foot is going to crash this party.
I’m in a bedroom with a closet full of clothes. I let my jeans fall and shimmy out of my shirt so I can put on this stranger’s dress. It’s black and simple enough that she can’t know it’s hers, if she’s out there in the noise—and I can hear it, the party I’ve invited myself to, its noise. I wipe the blood off my foot and pull the hair from my face. There’s a scarf, a green one. I take it and wrap it around my neck. There’s a bracelet, a silver one. It fits snug around my wrist.
Outside, on the street, no one bothered to see me. That’s how I know they’ll never recognize me when I slip into the crowd acting like I came in through the front door.
This will be the night I fool everyone.
THE FULL LINEUP, IN ORDER (completed posts in bold)
- Christine Lee Zilka czilka.wordpress.com
- Nova Ren Suma novaren.wordpress.com
- Wah-Ming Chang wmcisnowhere.wordpress.com
- Nina LaCour ninalacour.com/blog
- Stephanie Brown scififanatic.livejournal.com
- Jamey Hatley jameyhatley.wordpress.com
- Matthew Salesses matthewsalesses.com
- Krystn Lee blog.kryslee.com
- Bryan Bliss bryanbliss.blogspot.com
THE RULES:
- Start with the last line of the previous entry.
- Poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction all up for grabs.
- 250 words (you can fudge if artistic license requires)
- Thematically linked
- Link to the next person on the list, as well as those who posted before you.
- Post something within 4 or 5 days of the most recent piece.
- Posts should start with an explanation, with links to the previous posts as well as the next.
distraction no.99 