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10:15 by Lawrence Peters A short story about fate and speed and the things that bring people together. [713 words]
The Go-Between by David Gardiner Everybody in the big city is looking for something. The trick is to find out what. [1,638 words]
Talent Takes Patience by Andrew Allyn Rasmussen This story is an interview with my next door neighbor, Christopher Beier. He has a treme... [821 words]
All For Her by F Luis Alvarez The ultimate sacrifice for the ultimate love. [834 words]
Winston (Part 4) by Wolfa Continuing story about a pitbull and a crazy woman... I don't really see the need to describe ... [3,116 words]
Till Death Do Us Part by Sorcha Colleran A chilling tale about a grieving husband. [873 words]
The Unwanted Doll by Debbie Bailey A little girl finds a lonely doll to bring home for Christmas. [821 words]
The Serpent by Simon King Beware your sins... [6,543 words]
The Promise by Debbie Bailey A fictional account of a woman caught in the WTC tragedy and the firefighter who rescues her. [2,453 words]
The Official Brown Envelope by Anna J McGuire A short story based on the challenges faced in war, by the men at war, and their wo... [829 words]
T-H-E N-U-T-Hare B-A-R-T-E-R-I-N-G R-A-B-B-I-T K-I-D by Christopher Dark This is a true story about the lives of 4 people I know ve... [2,454 words]
The Music Of The Spheres by Simon King Can you hear that noise...? [3,946 words]
The Little Things In Life
The Greatest Gift by Debbie Bailey A woman reunites with the man who got her pregnant 25 years before. [7,498 words]
The Cab by Jeremy Shackleford Four people ride the same taxi at different times and the cabbie realizes between all of them.And in on... [927 words]
Qualities Of A Friend by Andrea Diane Brown John Denton, a high school sophomore, is excited to learn about the new neighbor his age ... [844 words]
Puppy Love by Debbie Bailey Animals do fall in love too! [747 words]
Peripheral Vision by Simon King In some places, the past and the present are very close... [2,838 words]
My Sweetheart by Debbie Bailey A high school student gets his girlfriend pregnant. [12,593 words]
Mightier Than The Sword by Simon King How much do you hate your boss...? [2,506 words]
Melody's Journey by Rose Trimovski It was her journey, her destiny to find the castle and to get the sword that had powers of the... [8,992 words]
Love That Never Dies by Andrea Diane Brown Daniel Jackson lives with his father. Both are having a great deal of trouble overcoming ... [1,273 words]
Finding Fleur by Sue (Sooz) Simpson Katy desperately wants to find Fleur, but does Fleur want to be found? [1,727 words]
False Accusations by Andrea Diane Brown Something's wrong in Sandra Richardson's life, but she just can't figure out what's going on.... [1,304 words]
Dirty Apartment by Sunny Description of my dirty apartment and its cause, me. [756 words]
Deadly Persuit by Sue (Sooz) Simpson Nature at its most cruel .. when it's interfered with by man. [1,541 words]
Dawn Rising by Sue (Sooz) Simpson He looked at his own personal sunrise every morning, yet longed for the warmth of the sun. [1,069 words]
Dark Solitude. by Sue (Sooz) Simpson A woman alone on the moors when a storm threatens, but this is no ordinanry storm and that is no... [1,434 words]
Creeping Up From Behind. by Sue (Sooz) Simpson You can't ever really know what someone else is thinking ... unless they choose to tel... [925 words]
Cold, Cold Night.. by Sue (Sooz) Simpson The night was beautiful but biting, she had to make her final farewells, a cigarette would h... [630 words]
Car Trouble by Sue (Sooz) Simpson Boys will be boys. [496 words]
Breakfast In Bed by Sue (Sooz) Simpson She loved her husband so much, and a sepcial man deserves a special breakfast. [1,633 words]
Barriers by Sue (Sooz) Simpson Everybody's frightened of the prisoner in the cell at the end of the block. [2,913 words]
Bandit At Twelve-O-Clock by Sue (Sooz) Simpson A sinister note drops through her letter box, but who is it from and what's it all abo... [2,144 words]
Attractions by Sue (Sooz) Simpson People stared at the sisters and called them freaks. [678 words]
Apple Of His Eye by Sue (Sooz) Simpson Daddy's little girl, Daddy's little sweetheart. (May be deemed offensive). [1,742 words]
Angel Stew by Sue (Sooz) Simpson The kitchens are in uproar. [826 words]
Agony by Sue (Sooz) Simpson The First in a series of Agony columns written by the unstoppable Aunt Nasty. (May be deemed offensive) [1,200 words]
A Fork In The Road. by Sue (Sooz) Simpson A paradox revolving round the lonely Holker Mosses in the dead of night. [2,835 words]
Madness by Keri McGriff Story based on the life of a woman in the mad house. [593 words]
Thelma's Dilemma by Elwin L Wormwood Thelma Price is about to loose everything she holds dear, until a teenage boy arrives and chan... [3,101 words]
The Medium by Stan A Fowler An engaging and personal battle by an arrogant talk-show host to undermine and expose his guest to r... [4,843 words]
You Verbally Bruise by A Delusion Of Adequacy Just fnding no depth in peope in general. [666 words]
Winston (Part 3) by Wolfa The escaped pitbull forges a partnership with a bum. Meanwhile, the woman Dana believes she h... [2,671 words]
Should Have Would Have, Could Have Been by Alberto Pupo A story of regrets and mistakes.... [638 words]
Observations At An All You Can Eat Buffet Line by Ashley M Smoger Story satirizing Buffet Eaters. [506 words]
Janeska's Story by Ashley Burdett A story of the Holocaust told through a victim's eyes. [5,942 words]
Greatest by A Delusion Of Adequacy The most brutal writing I've ever done. [967 words]
God's Hiding Place by Lawrence Peters - [230 words]
Feng Shui Movers by Kelly Moran My short story involves a reluctant heroine who hides behind new age philosophy instead of tak... [1,922 words]
Dor Omhan by Kai Zi Led "It was... my wife's," Jrudam said, much to Omhan's embarressment, "An earring. I had it made f... [2,810 words]
Describing by A Delusion Of Adequacy The only thing I've written that I like. [532 words]
And Angels Crept. by Duluoz First attempt at writing a novella..(semi-bio)..i'm only two chapters into it but would enjoy... [1,325 words]
Alien Mask by John Barnovsky This is a third-person narration about the encounters of a mountain rescue team with a small clan of... [9,096 words]
The Ticket by Kurt Kitasaki A satire on people who play the lottery. [912 words]
Winston (Part 2) by Wolfa The pitbull, Ripper, plots his escape, and a strange young woman is introduced. [3,397 words]
Winston (Part 1) by Wolfa A brutal, viciously intelligent pit bull -- a champ pitfighter -- makes his way from the dogfi... [3,013 words]
When The Blood Runs Cold by Jack M Brown A murderer surveys his victim, while trying to certify that he has done the right thin... [419 words]
The Medusa Raft by Dimitry Shreders The Medusa Raft is the story of one man ascension from cowardice and personal despair to courag... [7,100 words]
Thanks For Asking by Charles Bishop Twisted Bishop The town that polices it own. [787 words]
Papa by Lawrence Peters For one of the greatest there was. [473 words]
Nympholepsy by Rowen Ravera A bit of prose? attempting to leave the reader aware of violent emotions - particularly relating to... [499 words]
Its A Dog's Life by Ramkumar Menon This story is a poignant description of relationships between human beings. The idea is brough... [1,830 words]
If Not (Dog), Then What? by Jaaffar Munasip A short story of deception and self-believe. [1,344 words]
Devil's Embrace by Black Widow It's an erotic tale of one woman's descent into madness and masochism. [5,139 words]
Boston Blacky by Ken Whan An extended twist on a folk tale. [1,439 words]
An Intimate Conversation With The Powers That Be by Robert G Hagans From the mind of the hopeless cynic, comes a very strange but ... [1,070 words]
When Sylvie Sang by John Kraft A story of love, food and music. [2,030 words]
The Story Of Trading (Featuring Man And Ape) by Rowan Davies 'Tis a humourous tale of the begins of trade. Ape knows the key to... [1,609 words]
The Signal by Tom Campbell What if our search for extraterrestrial intelligence proved fruitful? [876 words]
The Men And The Beast by G Sandberg A descriptive description of the horrors of the D-Day invasion of Normandy. [586 words]
Simple Pleasures In Vegas by R James Hunter One chapter of an in-progress novel. Examines life through one man's ego. [389 words]
Face Your Life by Niall Power Street racing community. [621 words]
Bad Boy by Richard Koss A true story about a bad boy growing up in 1950. Was he just mischievous? Would his behavior be consi... [2,844 words]

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TITLE (EDIT)
The Little Things In Life
DESCRIPTION
This is a story told from the wiewpoint of a man who has spent most of his life in prison and who is involved in a constant battle with insanity.
[976 words]
TITLE KEYWORD
Drama
AUTHOR
Fiona Shine
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
I'm 16 living in Dublin, Ireland. Currently writing a book exploring the meaning of life in a philosophical sense and how it has changed down through the ages. Hope to have it published early next year.
[March 2002]
The Little Things In Life
Fiona Shine



Back then things were different. Everything was different. Everyday brought with it miraculous adventures, adventures which came and went in the blink of an eye. You couldn�t become weary. Time didn�t wait for anyone or anything. To stop and catch your breath would be to miss out on the whirlwind of spontaneity that is life.

Of course it�s so long ago now. My memories are fading. Certain incidents occasionally push themselves to the front of my troubled mind. Eager to be noticed. However even my clearest of thoughts will eventually become part of the dizzy blur of my sub-conscious.

Looking across at the black, unforgiving walls I find myself reminiscing. Thinking about what could have been. I imagine myself lying on my back in a small forest glade. The sun�s rays cut through the leaves of the overhanging trees like dozens of gleaming daggers. A river runs through the clearing. The sunlight twinkles on its miniature waves, which endlessly come and go like the hands of time. I lift my head and notice hundreds of flowers cascading down the nearby trees. They remind me of tiny scented waterfalls. Each one as unique and beautiful as the next.

Why do I do this to myself? Why do I constantly torment myself with such fanciful images? The answer is clear. Without these hopes, these dreams, I would have nothing. These words inside my head are my lifeline. When despair drags me down I cling to them and they pull me out of its dizzy maze of nothingness. Of course these threads of hope are just that. Threads, and eventually they will snap and my hidden desires will be torn from my weakening grip, leaving me with nothing but the unfriendly walls of my cell.

I can feel myself losing my grip. I must hold on. I must not let myself be swallowed by this force. A force that has devoured so many prisoners before me. I try to concentrate on the outside world, the little things in life taken for granted by so many people.

A memory from my childhood springs to mind. I remember the day. A sparkling December morning covered in sheets of fresh cold ice. I recall being struck by the phenomenal magnificence of the sky. A vast blue ocean stretching to the ends of the earth. �Look� I said to a passer-by, motioning towards this miracle. �At what?� they replied puzzled, �There is nothing there.�

There is never nothing in life. No space has been left unfilled. The only voids are those created by ignorance and by the failure of people to notice the countless miracles around them. Miracles so carefully carved to perfection.

People naturally notice spectacles such as the changing of water into wine, but what about the miracle of life or love? These phenomena are seen everywhere. Seen everywhere yet noticed nowhere.

It angers me, this utter disregard for such beauty. It is the peoples� world but they are foreigners on their own land. Banished by the barriers they have created, barriers which are strengthened as each new generation is born.

In a sense they are like me. Prisoners of their own minds. Unable to see through the thick steel bars of ignorance. How can they have lost their appreciation of the little things in life? Monotony is never an excuse. One cannot become bored of something that never repeats itself twice. No two days in life are the same. Each brings with it new feelings and experiences. Each day is in essence a miracle in itself.

It seems somewhat ironic. The little things in life, the parts of life most taken for granted are the parts of life I yearn for so much as I remain enclosed in this dark prison. These small habitual rituals don�t blatantly scream for attention, yet they never fail to intrigue me. How something so simple, so normal can be so amazing.

I am strong. These lifeless prison walls will not triumph, for there is a part of me that reaches beyond my mortal heart, a place so sacred that not even the greedy fingers of death can reach it, an untouchable memory box filled with hopes and dreams. I feel despair envelope me like a thick mist, blinding my senses yet strangely sharpening my awareness.

A sudden urge to be free from these chains of imprisonment comes over me. Then anger. Anger for the shot I fired when I was seventeen, anger for the years spent in darkness without the rays of the sun to brighten my thoughts and above all, anger for those men that are free, yet drink the opium of apathy, finding comfort in ignorance, bliss in discounting the little things in life- those exquisite marvels which grace each new day with their presence.

I break down. I have been a fool. My life has become a symbol of the futility of human effort, a constant whirling roundabout with me as the dizzy passenger, shackled to the center, learning nothing but the word �eternity�. My sobs echo through this mindless prison, reverberating off the iron bars that have prevented me from existing for thirty-two years. I have lost my battle with captivity. It has sucked from me the last bit of hope remaining.

Now I am weary. I close my eyes and let these feelings of misery, anguish and despondency wash over me like the ebb and flow of a gentle tide. As I do this, memories come flooding back. The chains which have kept them from me for so long now vanish into my distant past. I can taste the fresh pine smell of winter; sense the crisp, golden feel of autumn leaves under my feet.

Every recollection I had so carefully stored away now rushes through my veins, filling me with such euphoria. I am freed from the thick prison walls of despair. I have overcome my misery, my anguish. I have triumphed.

 

READER'S REVIEWS (1)
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"I very much enjoyed this piece. It is professionally written, descriptive, poetic in parts. I hope this doesn't sound patronising, because it would be a damn good piece of writing for anyone, but for a writer of sixteen it's all the more impressive. There were just one or two very minor things that I thought might be improved, but really, it would be splitting hairs to mention them here. Excellent. I wish you success in publishing the book you are currently working on, and look forward to buying and reading it :) Thanks for posting :)" -- Simon King, Ilkeston, Derbyshire, United Kingdom.

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COPYRIGHT NOTICE
© 2002 Fiona Shine
STORYMANIA PUBLICATION DATE
March 2002
NUMBER OF TIMES TITLE VIEWED
2043
 

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