Complicated

Slowing down every time she glances around, he continues to trail her petite figure down the pedestrian infested street, transfixed on her silky strands of chestnut hair gliding in the wind. For months, he’s dreamt of being at the wheel of the knife that accelerates into her heart; for years, he’s loved her.
Now, he has the courage to end it.
The photo of them sits by his bedside. He remembers her whispers of “Catch me, catch me,” the invitations of playful innocence ricocheting off forest trees and royal skies. That summer, she had delivered back his heart mutilated and dried of love, sewn together to produce the handiwork of a blind woman. No matter how hard he has tried to relieve the pain that counteracts every attempt to think of her, his trials only culminate with more pain.
Her goodbye was said with eyes that felt sorry for this epitome of queer. A fusion of disgust, sympathy and guilt radiated from that farewell hug, a cold warmth that he’ll never forget. Since then he has tried to cope, but her figure still dances over him when he sleeps, mocking him with the impossibility of ever being able to embrace her again. Never a day passes when he doesn’t wish that he were one of those men she greets with her grandeur, that he had the luscious pleasure of bathing his eyes in such radiance.
What a star.
As the forecasted rain begins to drown his clothes in a weight lighter than sound, he smiles, thanking God for his assistance in obstructing him from her view. However many times he has tried to cleanse his soul, the holy water from God’s basin cannot wash away the emptiness that subdues him. The pattering rain dances off the ground, glowing in the evening gloom. The rain dances off of her back, too, skidding off her irresistible aura.

She retains the role of the only one that he wants, the only friend he needs. What he needs is to moisturise his fingers with her life source, rub them into the folds of his dry skin. He is the south to her north, only she didn’t want to admit it.

The rain falls heavier now, a beat to his song of lust. Very soon, she will reach the quiet road on which she turns and finally feels at ease. He feels his hands turn to wax in his coat pockets, melting at the rush of heat that echoes through his veins.
Her pace quickens, and so does his. Her wet black jeans suffocate her refined legs as she strains her muscles to get home. He licks his wet lips, blaspheming without words as he does so.
Devoid of a warning, she stops. Slowly, she turns around, her face alert of something out of place on this autumn evening. He turns quickly to the shop window beside him, staring into a conveniently placed lingerie shop as though intrigued by the intricate displays of cheap love, lace and silk. Straining his eyes, he stares to his left as far as his sockets will allow. She takes a few steps forward, seeking help from daylight to guide her towards the threat she senses nearby. He scratches his head and peers deeper into the window, almost touching the glass which has yet to be introduced to a friend called soap. Patting his coat in search for his purse, he motions his feet in the direction of the shop entrance, swaying her conceptions. She moves off quickly after, determined to reach home. Unsure of whether or not she recognised him, he waits thirty seconds before turning back onto the pavement to follow her again.

As she collides with oncoming pedestrians in a flurry, he laughs to himself. Washed with rainwater and battling fear, she is desperate to clamour her way to warmth and reassurance. She turns at the junction into her road, a quiet, slim, neglected street. He too, turns, now only a few metres behind her. He can smell her, and she begins to jog away from his near grasp.
“Heels don’t make good running shoes, do they?” He says.
Reaching her, he grabs her arm. Terrified eyes stare back at him, the same eyes that had suffocated him with her pity. She is too stunned to speak, too paralysed to move, unable to pull free from his kiss. She feels the warmth on her jumper, the stickiness of fluid in between his body and hers. He feels her lips tremble under his and pulls away, staring at where lipstick meets blood.

Dropping to the ground, she grasps the hole where a draught can be felt from her insides. Blood empties out onto the street, contaminating her bag and her clothes with the cream he could never place a price on. He bends down, rubbing it into his hands, enjoying the texture of death as the rain washes it off only for him to re-moisturise his hands again. He wants to say goodbye, to say how sorry he is, but all he can see is her smile, now mocking him with the impossibility of ever having her alive. He hadn’t known that she was his sister until that summer, he hadn’t known. Even as he reaches for the knife and stabs her once last time, he hates the fact that they both know.
He fixed it, and now only one of them will have to.

Complicated

“We are fighting to maintain peace! Think wisely, my dear countrymen, think wisely. Do you wish to give your country away to people who have previously had transactions with the terrorists? The terrorists who vowed to kill you. The terrorists who wanted your land.

Dear Ladies and Gentlemen, SA was no ordinary Army General. He was scandalous, his whole existence I’m sure is scandalous!”

I was in deep sleep when I heard a glass break. I opened an eye to look at my dad’s reddened face. He was yelling at my mom who was listening calmly, she seemed to be more worried about the broken glass than about my dad’s banter. It took me a while to realise that my dad was yelling to my mom instead of yelling at her.

‘This is outrageous!’ he yelled. ‘How could they say something like this?!’

‘What’s outrageous?’ I sat up to have a better view of my dad, and when I did, I noticed the broken glass and right next to it was a news paper soaked in coffee which read “The SA scandal” in big bold letters.

‘What’s the matter dad?’ I asked, now knowing the source of the problem.

‘PA has told such lies about General Siripala Amarapala! How could they?! He won the war for us! He could have easily spent another two years doing nothing, but he stepped down refusing all the promised wealth. He is now running for president only to give our country the change it really needs!’My dad has always been a ANP (Active National Party), fanatic, a party which is now represented by Former General Siripala Amarapala for the presidential elections.

‘Nah, this whole issue… I don’t think it will have any impact on peoples’ minds, and anyways SA can rebut the statement in today’s campaign’.

‘Yeah, that’s what I thought at first, but you see son, if the GA do manage to convince the people, then I don’t think SA will be able to change anything.’

‘Hmm... .’

“‘Good morning, you are with Sirasa TV News 1^st. We have just received another election result.’

‘In the Ampara district, President Eshan Hettiaracci has secured a majority of eighty five percent of the votes while Former General Siripala Amamrapala has secured just fifteen percent of the votes.’

‘Stay tuned for more election updates, this is News 1^st, Pollanca TV.’”

‘Hello?’

‘Hey mom, how’s dad?’

‘Oh, so you heard the news… Well, he’s taking it better than I expected.’

‘Cool, I’ll be home around at four ok? I’m off…’

‘Wait!’

‘Huh?’

‘What exactly do you know about the results so far?’

‘I know that Siripala has lost… and… I think that’s about it.’

‘Hmm.. ok, there is more to it. I’ll tell you the rest later ok? Be safe!’

Click!

What else could possibly go wrong? GA (General Alliance), wins the elections and continues to ruin the country. That’s what was predicted, but considering the amount of inaccurate predictions given so far, I don’t think I should be relying on them anymore.

I was in an overly packed bus, passengers were nearly spilling out of the foot board while the bus conductor squeezed through the narrow gaps between people issuing tickets and yelling the names of all the stops at the top of his voice. The radio was turned on. It played a soft, slow voice singing to a relatively loud backing track; a weird combination even for native music.

The music stopped abruptly and was replaced by a rhythmic, monotonous voice.

“Good evening, this is 24.9,Gamey FM. We’ve just had breaking news. Former General Siripala Amarapala is currently surrounded by armed troops at the Inter Continental Hotel. I repeat…”

It was my stop to get off. While walking home I pondered on the events so far. At first it had seemed very simple; the current president, Eshan Hettiaracci will win the elections because he was the only politician able to take the credit for ending a twenty-five year long war. Then tides changed as the Army General announced his resignation and his entry into politics. His popularity began to soar and was eventually predicted to become the next president. However, President Hettiaracci managed to win another term as president using blatant rigging. The votes were counted by the army and all troops were brain-washed in order to erase any form of loyalty towards the former general. The election commissioner was under house arrest and his verdict on the election wasn’t aired live for the first time in history.

Just as I was about to reach the door, my happy-go-lucky brother materialised besides me.

‘Hello my beautiful little… whatever,’ he yelled in my ear.

I screamed. ‘Don’t you ever do that again!’

‘Mom’s not at home.’

‘Really?’ She hadn’t told me.

‘Yeah, didn’t you get the text?’

Just then my iphone bleeped.

‘That must be the text’, I said as I tapped the screen in order to get the light on. As the light came on, a message was made visible. “You no longer have Internet Connections” it read.

‘Hey! I got that message too’, my brother sounded relieved. He probably thought that it was a problem with the signals, but I knew better.

The events that that have occurred so far seems to me like a big, entangled ball of thread. It looks strong from the outside, but as you remove the outer layer you see a complicated mess acting as the core to strengthen the outside.

I stepped inside the house only to let out a deafening scream! There lying on the floor was my dad. He was beneath a shattered chandelier, his blood soaking the carpet. He had a thick noose around his neck which was connected to the chandelier. No! How could he do this to himself!?

Complicated

Complications after complications. One problem leads on to another. You can’t cope any longer. You can’t take anymore. Many times you have heard the phrase ‘life’s a bitch’ well, the bitch strikes again.

You thought you could handle it. You were wrong. You thought conning a gangster wasn’t a big deal. You were wrong. But thinking you could get away with it. Big mistake.

There will constantly be a pair of eyes watching your every move. You can run but you can’t hide. You will always be seen. You can’t trust anyone; so called `friends’ will stab you in the back, and will desert you so that the enemies can contort the dagger your friend left.

But you didn’t think of that, did you? You thought you were never going to get caught, well now open your eyes, around each and every street corner there is a thug watching, waiting, hunting for its prey, you. You will never be able to escape this nightmare, there’s nowhere to run, nowhere to hide. You are trapped. And there is only one thing you can do about it. Surrender. Give up. Die.

There is a certain line between danger and death, what side are you going to step to? Choose carefully, there will be no turning back. Choose danger and live a life of constantly looking behind your back. Constantly on the run. Constantly fearing for your life. Constantly feeling a horrendous chill down your back. Get close to anyone, and they will be wiped from your life. Forever.

But time is running out and you will have to make your move. The world is turning against you, piece by piece. You are lost in life’s games. It isn’t too late.

They will find you. They will rip your guts out. They turn you black and blue. You will never see the sunrise again. Your eyes deep blue portray an immense amount of panic.

The banging of the door is battering your ears. Your time is about to end. The last of your critical seconds are disappearing, fast, taking your life with it. Tick. So what is your decision? Tock.

It’s too late. You are too slow. The banging at the door has stopped, but are you still safe?

You’re not. The door comes crashing down. Men that are taller than lampposts come buzzing through the door. Your mind has turned blank. You move your lips but no sound is coming out. The bigger man of the herd asks you the question you have heard ten times already, ‘Did you think you could get away with it?’ He smiles. His dark grim eyes widen. He raises his gun. You know what he is about to do. Your heart starts to beat faster. Tears of sweat trickle down your long face. Your hands are on vibration mode. There is nothing you can do. Nothing you can say. You’re surrounded by ugly bold faces. You take a breath. He aims. He shoots.

Now you’re lying on the cold laminated floor, standing over your limp body is the man that shot you. You can’t move. Your speech is slurred. You can’t feel anything. He shoots again. This time pain attacks.

Your sight turns from black to white to red to white and back to black….

Your senses have faded. Absolutely vanished.

You are dead.

Complicated

If my childhood could be bottled and brewed, leather and lace would be the leaves in my tea, and the malt in my beer. If my childhood could be worn, lace and leather would be the fragrance of my finest eau de toilette. Leather and lace have the incredible ability to turn the hands of time, squeeze life’s oranges to a pulp and concentrate youth’s best bits into a glass or two of juice. Every sip is a capsule from the past - do you remember slipping on sun dried socks on washed feet, or sniffing cherry blossom shoe polish on shiny leather shoes. The taste of burnt sugar and banana flavoured medicine. I certainly do. As the years roll by, time starts to become the mind’s worst enemy. Memories burn away slowly from around the edges, until all that’s left is a camera without film; a photograph without a negative. Here I sit, writing by lamplight, as the Orient Express journeys through day and night and sunshine and showers. My journey from limbo to enlightenment will be a much harder feat than the one I am battling to overcome right now. Travel sickness and insomnia all have cures. Heartbreak doesn’t. Once the china pot is broken, no glue can fully mend the cracks from the fall. The pieces can, of course, be stuck together, but beauty is a state of the irreversible. Once it is lost, it will never return. It makes you wonder about the mercies you are spared every once in a while are really mercies at all. One day, age will bless you with a new – born wisdom, and you will realise that their reason for existing is only to inflict pain you would never have suffered if life hadn’t been so generous.

Our carriage window is open; the evening air is infused with meadowsweet and the bitter notes of burning coal. The smell is strangely therapeutic and every sharp intake of breath quells the nausea burrowing deep down in my stomach. I walk to the open window and poke my head out just enough to let the wind caress my face. Its slender fingers massage my cheeks and iron out the stress lines too many sleepless nights had scrawled underneath my eyes and forehead. Minutes are eaten away, yet the sand in the hourglass has surpassed the pull of gravity. Another of life’s short – lived mercies. A chain of pictures run past my eyes, not one identical to the other. Each one whispers a thousand different words to me. The sky is less complicated, and has only one question to ask. I however demand many answers to which the sky is forever silenced to expose. I just stand, watch and wonder, while I let the inevitable play out in front of me. I would consider this to be one of my greatest achievements if it was anyone other than Mother Nature drawing the curtains for the night. The splashes of orange in the sky begin to fade. A sea of black engulfs them. Midnight is arriving. I hail its welcome by slipping on a cardigan over my silk nightdress. Despite this extra layer, the raw winds cause a surge of goose bumps to blossom on my arms and neck. I slowly pull down the window, trying hard not to make a noise that could wake Benjamin. It would be against my last wishes to die in the presence of the living. I stare at his eyes. I can’t see his soul, but I can read his mind. Benjamin hasn’t yet said his first word. Words are worth little. His eyelids are glued together, almost as if he is making a wish. Some might call me selfish as I smother his face with my pillow. I would call it entitling my baby to what he deserves – and that is freedom. Mothers are meant to protect their children. One sip of liqueur from the goblet will only kindle a dislike towards the plentiful jug of innocence. I open the carriage door, pick my dead son up and hold him in my arms. Together. That is how we belong. Heaven. That is where.

Leather and lace. They were never meant to be this complicated.

Complicated

Life is, somewhat. I am, sometimes. My integration back into the acceptable need not be.

A motto bestowed upon my vulnerable, overeager ears instructed me to 'live a life without walls', the only problem with this however is that in a life without walls, roads cannot be built, paths cannot be established and the scenery cannot be set without accentuating the obvious. I am stuck in a world where grievances are hollowed by a lack of matter. I am the prime suspect in this ironical game of whodunnit, I don't have much competition. I might smear the town walls with big red streaks that, once connected spell out contact details, 'have you seen this man' etcetera etcetera. Funny; the one time I try to go undetected (until I am me and you're six foot too far to care) I end up catching more attention than a strategic murderer who spells out ransom notes with whatever he's got left.

It all started about a week ago. I say started, really it was an ironical cocktail that had a splash of opening and a rather considerable measure of closure. It left you shaken, the residual ice cubes stirred my conscience to an almost penultimate scenario. You greeted me in such a way that what was once a confident, fearless and almost faultless being instantly established the same level of rapport that a rabbit makes with a set of instantaneous car headlamps. I didn't like that.

I'm not a builder so I don't see how I could have bridged the divide that now existed. A Luciferian dream whistled through my head just light a summer scented breeze, I smiled.

People say 'what doesn't kill you can only make you stronger'. I followed you. It didn't make you stronger.

So here we were, I smiled you... didn't. Not so much a Da Vinci more a sort of Pollock, maybe even a Warhol if you look real close. I convinced myself the twiching wasn't fuelled by any sort of emotions, just a side effect. Things are simpler now. No emotions tying us down. Just me and you. We're together now.

Complicated

We all know life is hard, and sometimes you can be all alone. But there is one thing that everyone has to come to reality with, and thats complication.



Have you heard of the story "The lost Boy"? Well, that's me then. I'm lost. The only thing I have is this grotty old orphanage and that just seems to be going too. I bet you're wandering why I'm stuck here. My life is complicated, but here I am. Bad luck boy they call me. Everything I touch, everything I say, anything I do is jinxed or so I believe.

The dead end to my world started like this.



It was a wednesday. 8 o'clock as I remember, I just finished having beens on toast, then I heard them shout. Was it my fault I had made them lat? Hell no, they were the ones who didn't know what to wear and now they're getting all bothered about my sloppiness! Anyway, I made them late I dont know why I started crying but I did. 9 o'clock, this really wasn't good timing for me.

They rushed out of the door, and before they left me their words, their final words "We are leaving" pained me, I knew what it meant but it pained me in a different way.



Oh gosh. Their...their accident was reported an hour after leaving. It was all my fault, I made them late, I made them want to hurry, I caused their deaths. I didnt know what to think anymore, its like what they said before they went came true. They really left me that day.

Well I think we all know what happens next. There were no realtives even willing to look after me, so they dumped me.



Orvani Street Orphanage. Dead end. This was my stop, at the end of a dark street the orphanage was built. I guess it wasn't that bad, but how they try and make out on T.V that it's haven. It's not, it's anything far from that. It's hell- that's as simple as I can put it.



We wake up, eat breakfast maybe go out and play or just sit and waste our lives until their finished, and then eat lunch again waste time. Sleep. Thats my life so far if not simpler. Five more years of this torture then I'm free. 11 years of age and 7 months in counting.



Oh, birthdays. That's another subject. Mines on August 5th. Summer thats the best time, not really. Not for me it isn't. They say people that are born in the summer laugh alot. I don't, I cry. I guess I should have been born in the winter, or maybe not have even been born!



The days of our births our nothing special, unless getting a cake and a few measly presents form your mates inside the house- which by the way get stuff from your own room and say they bought it for you is special.



Life here isn't really all that special, but at least someone's looking after you. We dont get all the treats the outside kids get. We don't get all the privilliges. We may not have money, or a proper home. We may not even have parents, but we have faith, and people that can help us belive once again. Everyone will come o that stage where they think they are going to fall, but someone is always going to catch them. My life is full of complication.



Life is hard, life can be unfair, it can suprise you and it can devastate you, but there is always one thing that it can make. It can make your life alot more.



Complicated.

GOING OUT WITH A BANG

As you might have guessed, due to the lack of activity on the site at the moment, it is becoming increasingly difficult for me to make sure, every month, that ALL students post on time (and to the best of their ability), and that all moderators comment on time (and in detail).

Nobody is to blame for this - sometimes life just gets in the way. And it is important to remember that the Wordvoodoo project has been going for almost 3 years now, during which dozens of students have benefited from the experience, and I have seen such a vast array of amazing writing from so many of you all.

However, all good things come to an end eventually, and I have taken the decision that Wordvoodoo has now passed its 'best before date'. Therefore, the blog will soon close, tasks will no longer be set, and moderation will terminate.

BUT... it is essential that it does not just fizzle out; rather, I would like us to go out with a BANG!!!

We are going to finish the project with a COMPETITION - with all entries to be posted on the blog itself.

All submissions will be open to moderation from ALL/ANY of the moderators who are able to do so.

The moderators and I will privately judge/score each entry, and, together, decide on whom to offer a 1st, 2nd and 3rd prize.

The prizes will be as follows:

• 1st place = £75 book tokens
• 2nd place = £50 book tokens
• 3rd place = £25 book tokens
• 1st, 2nd and 3rd prizewinners will also each be assigned a Wordvoodoo moderator to act as a 'writing e-buddy' for at least a year, giving you someone with whom you can share your own creative writing during this time, and to whom you can go for advice and guidance as you develop further as a writer yourself.
• ALL blog members will be given a certificate to celebrate their contributions to the blog, which can be kept as a souvenir and also included in any portfolio or Record of Achievement in the future.

And the task for this final competition?

Well - no fancy rules this time...

Title: Complicated

Word count: 600-1000 words

And just use this opportunity to show how competent and stylish a writer you have become, and how much you have learnt from ALL the comments you and others have received over the months/years.

I would like ALL submissions to be posted on the blog NO LATER THAN Saturday 13th February. I will endeavour to ensure that all prizewinners are be notified by Monday 1st March.

Any questions, just ask.

Let's make this the most EXTRAORDINARY piece of writing you have EVER produced!!!