Twist of Fate: Thursday Doors Writing

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Thursday Doors Writing Challenge

 

 

Twist of Fate

—

James sat on the stairs

After all those years

Would he now go?

He was taking it slow.

Sweat formed on his brow

Could he exit RIGHT NOW?

James looked left and right

No one in sight

He was alone there

felt glued to the stairs

pondering this chance

made fists with his hands

They forgot to lock the gate!

Could he finally escape?

 

His heart beat fast

Adrenaline blasts

Seville jail was home for 10 years

Parole delays brought many tears

Corrupt foreign courts

Guilty from false reports

All about the bribe

Kept him locked up inside

 

Patiently he waited for this time

When he could cross the line

Leave this place

walk through that gate

 

While in Seville, he trained more than 40 pups

Called them all “Buttercup”

He also spent many days in solitary confinement

“For his safety,” he was told on each assignment

Memories of those ten years

Flooded

while sitting on the stairs.


Looking around again

James saw a friend

Walking on the street beyond the gate

What fate!

A friend to help him leave

Could it be instant reprieve?

Exhaling slowly, James rose

Knees cracked as he straightened his toes

Relaxing his shoulders, he descended the stairs

Slowly exhaling to suppress the fear

He reached the gate and saw his friend – now further down the road

This was it –  His time to go.

One foot over, then the other

Through the opening he went

Pulling the door shut as he bent

To remove his ankle monitor

(which he loosened long ago, hoping one day to finally go)

He fixed his shoes

Then, with nothing to lose

He began to walk away

slowly

Forcing a casual stroll

So nobody would know

he was an escapee 

fleeing to be free

Picking up the pace, he reached his friend

And that…

is how this story ends.

James escaped 

successfully made it with the help of his mate

Who just happened to be there

Right time, right place

all because

– crazy twist of fate-

someone forgot

to shut the gate.

***

—

 

Closing Notes

– Today’s short story uses the character, James, from story chat @Always Write. Charli Mills wrote As Far as a Prisoner can Go” –  here – and readers were invited to add an extension to the original story.

– Thanks to Dennyho for the door prompt. There were so many great doors to choose from but I knew right away that I wanted the gate with the S at the top. At first I thought about writing historical fiction and having someone donate this gate for the war effort in the early 1940s. Then I considered bringing Marcel back, a character of mine from other stories – but my muse led me to Charli’s prisoner, James.

– Thanks so much to Dan Antion @No Facilities for hosting this door-themed writing challenge. 😊  If you want to read all of the entries this year – the stories are listed here:

https://nofacilities.com/thursday-doors-writing-challenge-2022/

 

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36 thoughts on “Twist of Fate: Thursday Doors Writing”

    1. Hi Robbie – thanks for the idea- that getting shot at idea could have added some “action” to his slipping away!
      And I started reading your story go the #TDWC and will be back to finish later
      😊☀️🙏

      Liked by 1 person

  5. Thanks for joining the challenge with this lovely story, Yvette. This was an intriguing door. You wrapped a wonderful tale around it. James is free! Thats a good thing.

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    1. Dan, I liked that you have us so many door options this year and noticed that it inspires some folks to write two entries – I still need to read them all.

      With James – I tried to show he should have been free (corrupted courts and bribes) so it wasn’t a bad convict escaping

      Liked by 1 person

      1. I was very happy with the photos that were contributed. I know it made it easy to be encouraged. I was only planning to write one story, but I ended up writing three. If I had had another week, I might have gotten to the door you used today.

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        1. Three – nice, Dan. And one per week sounds like a good pace.

          I am looking forward to reading all of the entries a little later this week!✍️

          Liked by 1 person

    1. Yes, where now? Away from a place with corrupted courts and needs to find honest employment (bathroom and kitchen remodeling?) hahaha

      Liked by 1 person

    1. Thank you so much….
      James slipped on out (and in the original story he spent all his money 💰on a bus ticket 🚌that left him at a gas station where he made his first new friend, a disabled Vet with (wait for it) a dog named Buttercup!🦮

      Liked by 1 person

  8. Yvette, you did a great job getting James out of jail. It could grow even longer. It definitely explains how he might easily run into Buttercup. I laughed at that line naming all 40 of them Buttercup. Hmmm ulterior motive, maybe. I thought for sure his friend outside the gate was going to be one of the famed Buttercups. I’ve been struggling through T.S. Eliot’s poetry. I like yours so much better. Though beautiful, his poetry makes me feel retarded – stunted in my literary knowledge. Characters either I didn’t know or have forgotten – Greek and Roman mythology, Shakespeare, and the list went on for pages and pages. I spent probably an hour or more limping through the footnotes which explained where he got almost every line. Even better for you – the lines of your poem were all original. 🙂

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Hello Marsha – whew – reading TS Eliot sure can be a weighty endeavor- and for many of those “heavy writers” I also soak up the footnotes or find outside commentary to get more from it. And so how cool
      That your reading muse brought you to such an acclaimed author this month – —

      📚💛📚

      My idea to connect to the Story Chat entry was very last minute – and having you read my entry here was wonderful because you know charli’s story so well! 🐾🐾

      Looking forward to the June story chat next week
      ☀️☀️☀️

      Liked by 1 person

      1. I’m so glad you did connect. You took her story to an entirely different audience. Thank you so much for the mention, and the wonderful story.

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  9. I so enjoyed this escape story. It was quite nerve-racking at first, but you really had me rooting for James and then cheering as he stepped over the threshold to freedom. Well done, Yvette.

    Liked by 1 person

  10. Pingback: Thursday – No Doors – No Facilities

    1. Thanks so much for checking out this short story – and the door (gate) was from Dennyho – I need to ask her where she found it.

      😊☀️

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  13. Oh I so loved this story Yvette and you ran away with it in such a clever way delivered with such enticement that kep my attention to the very end!!! 💖

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  14. That was intriguing Yvette and I was waiting, waiting, waiting to find out – would he/wouldn’t he leave and would he/wouldn’t he be discovered and sent back to prison? You kept us wondering about James’ fate, especially in lieu of the media coverage of the recent prison escapees Casey White and Gonzalo Lopez.

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    1. Hi Linda
      – I knew I wanted the story to have an interplay with the stairs and the door
      I even briefly chatted with my son about ideas – and that was fun! But then those ideas fizzled and I ended up – almost naturally – connecting with the story from Marsha’s story chat (the story for May 2022 featured James out of jail and off the bus…)

      Thanks for taking the time to read this story

      Liked by 1 person

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