Third Campaigner CHALLENGE

The Third Challenge in The Writers' Platform-Building Campaign was all about "show not tell." Here's what we had to do:

Write a blog post in 300 words or less, excluding the title. The post can be in any format, whether flash fiction, non-fiction, humorous blog musings, poem, etc. The blog post should show:

• that it’s morning, 
• that a man or a woman (or both) is at the beach
• that the MC (main character) is bored
• that something stinks behind where he/she is sitting
• that something surprising happens.

Just for fun, see if you can involve all five senses AND include these random words: "synbatec," "wastopaneer," and "tacise."   (NB. these words are completely made up and are not intended to have any meaning other than the one you give them).

I think I managed to pull off the main part of the challenge, and even though I didn't use the funky words, I'm pretty sure I used all five senses. I hope you all enjoy it.

*****

BEACH BUM

They will be the ones to find my body.

They walk barefoot, the warm Gulf water teasing their toes, lapping their ankles. Their first coffees of the day breathe steam over their creased faces.

I met them on the bench where I slept. She always said I looked cold, even when my braid stuck to my sweat-slicked neck. He always said I looked hungry, even when I’d just devoured an old sandwich from the trash. But they were right; I was always both. They brought me sweaters and sandwiches. They slipped me cotton-soft folded bills. They never preached at me - go to a shelter, go back home. Maybe they knew somehow that I belonged here, on the beach. Now I would belong here, to the beach, forever.

They will find my body. It sprawls behind me, right where those boys left me to die. The stench of my unwashed flesh and terror-loosed bowels mixes with their semen and sweat and urine. The wind wafts it over me but the sea takes it away.

The man gives her his cup, then plunges his gnarled hands into the water. He pulls up a sand dollar, holds it, triumphant.

I wept. I raged. I begged the universe for another chance to make my life right until I bored myself with my ragged pleas. Now, I am weary.

The woman gestures at the water. Dolphins.

 I stand. The dolphins swim close, closer. I walk into the water. The dolphins dart and dive, rise and arc. They wait. For me.

I lift my arms above my head, rise onto my toes, bend forward. Just as I disappear into the waves, I hear the woman gasp.

They have found my body.

*****

[Fellow Campaigners, I'm #57 if you'd like to "Like" my entry. :)]