Creative Writing: Stuck in Mud

“Wake up,” that’s what I heard after passing out from all the blows to the face. My vision is blurred I’m trying to stay awake but I lost consciousness; all of a sudden I felt a splash of coldness on my face, and I woke up gasping for air. The man with the deep ominous voice said, “Wakey wakey little man” I replied, “where the h*ll is Mako!” when I was fully aware of where I was, that’s when I started to panic.

“Some people say I was lucky to survive, other will say I deserved it for the choice I made. I’m here to say I was lucky, it’s never ok to say your life isn’t worth living even at your worst you can always look forward tomorrow will come and if you put your mind to it you’ll see that anything is possible.” – Stephen McGregor Professional Paralympian

"Wake up, partners," the trail boss, James called. I sleepily looked up , shivered, and saw I was the only one not up. "Here," James said, giving me the horses' bridles and saddles. "Take these and get the horses ready. We have a long day today." I groaned in reply and set up the horses for the day's long drag. I was the horse wrangler and this was my everyday job but I still couldn't get use to the idea of waking up before the sun and working. We drove the cattle into open plains against the winter's cold wrath.

Katy meets with Gilbert down at the courthouse and sign documents with him and they hand them in to get stamped with photographers and their parents nearby. Their document is stamped with a void and a different document is put in an envelope and passed to Gilbert. He puts it in his pocket and tries to kiss Katy, but she quickly stepped away from him in fear.

By Saturday afternoon, the eighty-seven residents of the rural southern town of Wrongberight have suffered through four days of intense intermittent rainstorms. And to add to their misery another storm approaches the town from the northeast. Now, Clemmy Sue Jarvis since birth has lived here and has a simple philosophy concerning weather. As long as the almighty man upstairs allows her to draw a breath, she will enjoy life, regardless of the weather. At four o’clock, she lifts her petite frame into her rusty Ford pickup, and gradually eases out of her driveway. The soaring Pines that surround her home sway to the rhythm of the gusting wind as she turns south onto Flat Bottom Road and follows it along the edge the Dismal Swamp towards the isolated

“I don’t think you want to hear what I have to say about the way you treat me, now go home and look after your daughter, she needs you,” Silvia demanded, shrugging Walker’s arm off of her body.

Approximately four hours into their travel, a red firework exploded in the distance and previously concealed bandits emerged from behind boulders, undergrowths and covered pits. They charged with the ferocity of a tidal wave, brandishing weapons and bellowing threats. Aloysius halted his horse, made a signal, and soldiers began to move forward.

“Anything that can help us find out who did this.” I said, examining the crime scene. I walked towards what used to be the glass case that held the crown, but was now a useless, shattered cube.

Ludwig looked absolutely pissed. That was the first thing Arthur noticed as the blonde stalked down the halls, hair down for once, clothes askew, and such a strong irritation on his face that Arthur couldn’t help but snort to himself. It looked like someone had gotten up on the wrong side of the bed, Ludwig never let his appearance be thrown together like that. The next thing Arthur noticed, however, was a little more interesting. A small statured man with silver hair, whose head only came to Ludwig’s shoulder, was hanging onto the blonde’s arm, a large grin on his lips. Now who the hell was that? It wasn’t like the Brit had seen him around school before, and Ludwig certainly hadn’t mentioned him.

By nightfall they had finished all of the burials. It was depressing to see how many people were dead, even more so knowing that wasn’t the majority of them. Several times throughout the day new carcasses were dumped carelessly on the dwindling pile, just adding another hole to dig.

One thursday afternoon around 12:30 me and my friends andreas and emily were sitting on on top of the monkey bars at my current school , St. Thomas More talking. Andreas would always jump off the monkey bars to show off to Emily, me and the other girls. We would always watch kind of amazed as Andreas jumped off the monkey bars landing perfectly. He gave us a look as if it was our turn to jump. We ignored him as we made room for Andreas and other girls to come up to sit.

This time the store owner had called the police. Roxy had shoplifted from his establishment before but I had always been able to fix it; most times by paying double the price. Peering through the faceted glass of my front door, I could see Mr. Pachenko pacing the brick-edged sidewalk, his face pale with anger. With his blood pressure, the bright red spots on his cheeks would be with him for the rest of the night.

“You cut you’re beautiful, long hair after your return. Mom thought you were in protesting the war, but I saw you two. I knew the real reason you cut the longest blond braid in the neighborhood.”

At some point, she decides to stop running. It’s been hours or minutes, she doesn’t know and for once she doesn’t care. All she knows is if she doesn’t find refuge soon, she’ll collapse and it’s better to do that someplace that feels secure than in the open.

When Dutch felt they were a safe distance away, he pulled off the road. He and Gilbert jumped out, yanked the Water Company wording and emblems off the truck, and threw them a good distance from the road. Dutch and Gilbert ran to the back of the truck, looked in, and met the gaze of Marcel, Dorian and Saban. They stared at each other in wide-eyed amazement. Marcel chuckled—then laughed. Then they all laughed. They laughed so hard, tears filled their eyes. Even Cedric who was lying on his stomach on the floor of the truck was smiling. With the tension quelled, they regained their composure. Marcel cautioned Dutch to stay off the main roads. By now the Germans were broadcasting news of the raid and checkpoints would be everywhere. Marcel told