You've voted on a competition... you've written and submitted your stories... and now it's time to reveal the top 3!
3 writers competing for the heafty sum of 10,000 g.
3 stories that take normal, every day events and items and turn them into something extraordinary.
Who wins? Well that's up to you, the people of Shryiz, to decide! Read the stories and vote on your favorite. the winner will take away the lump of gold and have their story put on the Shryiz home page!
Now, at last, I prestent to you the stories:
From the brilliant Funky_Monk13, I bring you an exciting and dramatic story of love and pain:
Perhaps it would be best to start with the mangled corpse of metal and plastic that had been a Honda Civic maybe five minutes ago. As oil and gas started to pool around it like blood from its horrifying wounds, lying in the streets half dead, headlights flickering dimly, straining to stay alive, knowing that it was a paralyzed car. That it would be better to die here, or never drive again. It was a sad thing to see the crystal blue hull that had made it so beautiful twisted up and mashed together as though it were the victim of some deranged homicidal modern artist.
And now added to the mixture of oil and gas is blood, and an agonizing cry of someone in pain so unbearable. Her wrist is shattered, her left leg is broken two places. The first break is horizontal on her shin and would be easy to recover from, however the second break ran vertically down her once sensual femur. Her right calf had been viciously torn open by shrapnel from the door. Needles to say, dragging her broken body out of the now deceased Civic, whose headlights had finally shuddered out of existence, had become a chore. As she rolled over, her electric blue eyes reeled and darted over her torso. Her perfect body now had two ribs protruding from her chest and hung on the torn fabric of her dress, chalk white and glistening red. She felt her make up running down her face as she cried. She didn’t know if her date was alive. The steering column had pile driven him in the face busting his nose up pretty bad and ruining his face. The steering wheel itself had clipped his chest and when the air bags deployed left an ugly dark purple and green bruise on his chest. She stared at him longingly; she wanted to get him out of the heap of rubber and spare parts but was limited to her only good arm. She sobbed silently on the highway feeling absolutely helpless.
But how did this happen? Using the art of subtraction we’ll back up about three hours. He sat in the restaurant feeling relatively calm as he glanced at the watch on his wrist. She was late and could be standing him up. He’d have to thank his friend for setting them up. Just as he was thinking this however; she walked into the restaurant and the noise of the crowd was gone. Time slowed down and naturally everything in the restaurant blurred into unfocus and she was the only thing in sharp, distinct clarity. Her hair bounced with her step and seemed to be indecisively chestnut at points and staggering red only offset by those firework blue eyes and her gentle smile. She wore a solid black dress that hugged her frame’s every curve and flowed like liquid as she walked towards him; ending at her knees.
As she opened the door to the restaurant she saw him sitting there staring back at her and felt her breast rise as she inhaled feeling her heart speed up in exhilaration. His soft mahogany eyes and obsidian hair complimented each other and were decisively sharp in color and texture. His mouth had voluntarily opened and she smiled. The dress was a good choice, she thought to herself as she sat down she apologized for being late but her car was in the shop. This didn’t matter to him anymore because she was perfect. She introduced herself as Samantha and she loved tomatoes. She was blatantly honest with him about his taste in music. Likewise, she appreciated Nick’s sense of humor and strange way of describing things, arms gesticulating and filling in for when he couldn’t think of the word. She couldn’t be sure from the first date but she had a feeling she would spend the rest of her life with him.
She would need a ride home and he’d be more than willing to being the gentleman he was. In the cool black leather interior that encased them as though it were a metal cocoon softly and silently carrying them to what would surely be the perfect ending to this Hollywood evening. Or it would be had they left the restaurant five minutes earlier or five minutes later. As she leaned over to kiss him, one of a few brave things she’d done that evening, her peripherals caught something. Those same paralyzing ice blue eyes that had ensnared nick were wide in horror as a drunk driver slammed into their Honda.
Nick suddenly coughed and felt tears come to his eyes as he opened them to find the windshield crushed and his legs trapped. He couldn’t move from his seat. His chest was in agony and he couldn’t feel anything but his broken nose on his face. He was certain his foot was broken as well and as he happened to glance at his watch he spoke, “What the ******** man…” This caught Samantha’s attention, which despite all her own physical trauma and the discovery of two more sickening white spires, she was happy to hear Nick was alive and stared at him curiously, “That was my father’s watch.” He said showing her the watch.
The leather band was bloody and the face was cracked and unreadable, the second hand stuck ticking between thirty-four and thirty-five seconds. A big goofy smile came to his face and she laughed despite how painful it was. “I suppose going back to my place is out of the question,” he said from his throne in the shattered body of his car. He could just see her over what was left of the hood of his car and felt relief surge through him, it was certainly an exciting start to a promising relationship.
From the creative Red-Queenie I bring you a curious and amusing tale of how a normal morning can lead to a not-so-normal discovery!
Morning
Julia awoke to the sound of her alarm clock blaring. She groaned slightly as she rolled over on to her stomach and stared at the infuriating thing. It was 7:15 and she was supposed to be catching a bus to her school soon. She pushed herself up on to her elbows and looked out the large window of her apartment. She had liked that spot for her bed because she got to see what the weather would be like and on nice days it lit her white room beautifully.
Julia rolled on off of her bed and padded across her room. She was wearing a large, white shirt and a pair of boxers. They weren’t a lovers or anything, she just liked the way they felt. She walked in to the bathroom and sighed. She did not want to go to her physics class. The teacher was impossible to please. She ran a hand through her blond hair and then picked up her tooth brush and was about to start brushing her teeth when she saw a man dressed in all black standing behind her in the mirror. She screamed bloody murder.
Julia whirled around, her tooth brush poised as if she was going to use it as a weapon. As if it would do anything. The man was leaning against the wall, a coy smile on his handsome face. She gulped, took a step away from him and towards the door.
“W-who are you?”
She asked, her voice wavering. The man’s smile grew and he pushed himself up off of the wall, taking a step towards her. She flinched and made a move backwards. His grin only widened at her reactions. Her mind was running a mile a minute. She was going to die, killed in her pajamas holding a tooth brush up for defense. ******** pathetic. She had so much more she wanted to do. Like go to China and help an orphan child find happiness or something like that.
“Why hello there. My name is Nathaniel and I am your new servant. There is also Thomas and Shane”
With that he bowed, still smiling, glancing up to see her reaction. For a second her face was blank, as if she couldn’t fully comprehend what he was saying. Then she dropped the defensive pose for a second as she glared in distrust at him. There was no way she could have a servant, she couldn’t even afford to get a maid for a day. This guy was crazy. Crazy and in her apartment.
“Your on crack. I don’t have servants, if you didn’t notice. I don’t know what loony bin your from, but you need to leave. Now.”
She had managed to reach the doorway of her bathroom and was about to run for the door when another voice from behind her made her freeze. It was a dark voice, humorless, but attractive.
“This is our new mistress? What a joke.”
Her eyes widened and she whirled around, pushing her back against the door frame, her heart pounding in her chest. She wanted to scream, but her voice had stopped working. All she could do was gape at the other man dressed in all black who was standing by her bed and the younger boy who was grinning at her. They were ridiculously good looking and, if they hadn’t come to her house unannounced and were probably going to kill her, she would have thought she was really lucky. Luck wasn’t the first word that came to her mind though. It was more like s**t.
“Who are you people? What are you doing in my apartment?”
She yelled, freaking out. She was wearing men’s underwear in a man’s shirt clutching her tooth brush like a sword and about to be killed by the most beautiful men she had ever seen. The second man, who had hair that was as black as night, rolled his eyes as if she had said something stupid. The young boy, who couldn’t be more than eleven, started giggling as if she had said something inconceivably funny. And the first man who had such light blond hair it almost looked white came to stand in front of her, looking slightly confused and amused at the same time.
“Don’t you know?”
He asked, his head tilting slightly. She was still frightened, but now she was just getting angry and annoyed. Obviously if she knew whatever it was he thought she did she wouldn’t be freaking out and she would know why the hell they were in her apartment.
“Does it look like I know? Why the ******** are you in my apartment?”
She yelled, frustrated. She glared at the three of them. The blond man looked shocked at her cursing, the snooty man looked almost appalled and the kid looked like he was going to start crying. She suddenly felt a little awkward and mean, but they had just randomly walked in to her apartment and weren’t telling her why.
“I’m sorry.”
The blond said, his voice quieter now, more calming. It was as if he was trying to coax a lion. It didn’t help only made her more annoyed. Apparently it showed because he quickly started to talk again.
“We assumed Mr. Dave had already been by and informed you of your situation. We weren’t aware he hadn’t.”
Her eyes narrowed slightly, wonder what situation she was suddenly in. She relaxed slightly, her defensive pose loosening. She hoped he wasn’t just trying to pull her leg, get her to calm down before he sprung and stabbed her to death.
“Situation?”
She questioned, raising an eyebrow. The blond was about to speak when the doorbell to her apartment rang. The young boy suddenly leaped in to action raising his hand as he exclaimed excitedly.
“I’ll get it!”
He then ran to the door and opened it, ushering someone inside. A man with light brown hair and glasses walked in. He looked like the nervous sort, but he seemed kind. He gave the three a disapproving look before looking at her and bowing slightly.
“Hello Miss Mulberry. My name is Dave, it is a pleasure to meet you. I am, or was, the lawyer of Mrs. Mulberry, your grandmother. I see you've already met the boys.”
Julia stared at him blankly before shaking her head and raising a hand to her forehead. This was all to much. She had just wanted to get ready, go to school, come home and then relax. Now she had four good looking men in her bedroom, all unannounced and three of them were telling her they were servants. Now her rich dead grandmother’s lawyer was coming to her house. What the hell was going on?
“Your grandmother left a will behind after she died. While I realize this might seem odd since she died five years ago, she wanted me, or rather my father, to wait five years before it was carried out. You see, your grandmother left you her entire estate, all of her possessions and money as well as these three men, who have been servants of your families for generations.”
Julia’s tooth brush fell from her fingers and hit the floor. She remembered the woman as being bitter and cruel. She didn’t like any of her children, though she couldn’t blame her after the way they greedily went after her money. She hated her mother since she had been “beneath” her father, may his soul rest in peace, and, as far as she knew, there was no love for either. Now she was being told that her grandmother, her bitter, old grandmother who had left her children nothing in her will, had left her, the only grandchild but the daughter of her hated mother, all of her estate, all of her money and possessions and now servants?
“I feel like I’m going to pass out.”
She said before she wobbled slightly. The men looked shocked and all made a move to catch her, but the quicker one was the snooty one. He caught her and helped her over to the bed. She muttered a weak thank you as she put a hand to her head. This was to much, way to much. Her mother wouldn’t believe it. She didn’t believe it. It was all to impossible, to otherworldly. Yet there it was. Four men watched her, wondering what she would do or say. She looked at them, disbelief still on her face. She then sighed and ran a hand through her hair.
“How big is this estate?”
Three of the four mens' faces brightened, all except the raven haired brat, and they started to explain to her what it was like at the house she had never been to. It sounded monstrous. She didn’t notice the pair of cool, gray eyes staring at her with disapproval. She couldn’t believe that just getting up would cause her this much trouble and she had a feeling that it would only bet more bizarre and extraordinary. At least she would be surrounded by good looking guys. That was always a good thing.
From the wonderful Zetsubou Darkness I bring you an intriguing and unexpected tale of mystery and mirrors:
A Broken Mirror
Sarah looked deeply into the mirror that hung in the basement to her house. The old mirror had been there before they bought the house and even though a large piece was missing, she had refused to let her father throw it away. "I'm the only one thats going to live in the basement." she said "It should be up to me what stays down there right?" Her father eventually caved and let the broken mirror stay upon its wall. Sarah found that if you stare into your own eyes for long enough you began to feel lost, your features around your eyes blur and change and eventually you start to feel numb, or maybe it was just her imagination. Her bright green eyes shone before themselves, and she could not look away. The deep emotions one feels when staring into their own eyes is a wonderous thing, she noted.
This time was different, around the time she began to feel numb she attempted to move her eyes away from the mirror, she couldn't. The bright green eyes that shone before her were to interesting to look away from, she felt a pang of panic as her eyes refused her will. Suddenly a box tipped and spilled her still-packed cd collection to the floor, the noise was enough to break her focus. Hurrying to pick them up she put the fear she had felt of being helpless in her own gaze aside, "It was a silly thing to be afraid of, after all they're MY eyes." Her father called her upstairs and she happily fnished cleaning and skipped up the steps.
"Sarah, I found this in the attic." he said, handing over something flat wrapped in cloth. "It seems like a piece to that mirror you have, maybe I can fix it for you with some glue." Sarah practically beamed with excitement, she loved that mirror, its elegant wood carved surrounding was evough to make her like it, and having it complete will make it even better. "Thanks dad, Im glad you found this." she gave her father a hug and went downstairs to finish unpaking.
A week later she came home from school, her father was downstairs at the door to the main room. "Ah, your back, Im glad I caught you. That mirror of yours is all better, the piece fit perfectly!" he laughed as she peeked around the corner, and made a small noise of excitement. "Thank you dad I love it, now I can stare at my pretty green eyes all day!" Sarah's father stopped and took a step closer to her, "Sarah..." he said "Your eys are blue."
The End
