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Stories in the Detail
Use the image to inspire a short story. Pay close attention to the image's details and center the story around what is in the image to explain how those details came to be.

So Simple an Object

The years had been good to Jocelyn and her room was proof of that. The teenage trappings of posters hung about the room depicting beautiful boys she had “celebrity crushes” on throughout the years and the smell of fruity perfumes hung cheerfully in the air, disturbed only by the moving fan and the summer breeze coming in from the window. She lay on her comfy bed and stared into her closet, quietly cataloging her miscellaneous toys and clothes that had washed into the dark cove as the current of time flowed on. She had a lot and not all of it could possibly come with her, most even had to be left here.

Her mom blustered up the stairs with boxes for packing. Jocelyn made a face as she realized her mom would likely say something about her not helping but surprisingly her mom just set the boxes down and walked back downstairs. Jocelyn did not mind. She hefted herself off her bed and went to the boxes, two big ones with two smaller ones inside, and a roll of trashbags in one. Jocelyn went for that first. It’d be easier to go through her room first to get rid of things than it would be to go through and pack.

Her first goal was her dresser. She sorted the make-ups and the perfumes and the pictures of people and tossed them casually away as she decided she did not need or want them anymore. Then she decided to tackle the rest of the actual trash in her room, those wanton papers under her bed, in her dresser drawers, closet, and end table. Jocelyn was surprised to find that it only filled half the bag but set it aside so she could begin putting the things in bags she would be giving away.

Retrieving a fresh bag she again started with the dresser getting rid of a flowery blouse here, out-of-fashion Capri’s there, and so forth. That was one bag down. The next bag was dedicated to her stuffed animals which were piled up in the corner under her window and had been so for as long as she could remember. She smiled as she put them away, ready to be rid of the things that made her a child, but stopped when she put her hand on one that felt a bit crusty. It seems her cat was nice enough to yak on the doll. With an air of disgust she tossed it away towards the hallway. She put another few away until one remained.

The mangled brown teddy bear had been lucky to avoid the cat barf, but from the way it looked the word “lucky” might have been withheld. For Jocelyn, however, this bear brought back unexpected memories she had hoped to avoid. She could not and as she reached for the bear she remembered when she had first got it.

*

Jocelyn was six and it had been soon after her birthday and nobody had given her a happy birthday at school so when a young boy walked up and handed her a teddy bear with a bashful “happy birthday” Jocelyn had been quick to give the boy a hug. She hurried home that day to tell her mother and father about the boy who remembered her birthday at school and happily showed the teddy bear off to them, promptly naming it “Henry Jr.” after the boy. And so the journey of Jocelyn, Henry, and Henry Jr. began. Jocelyn stuffed the bear in her pack and lugged it around school with the rest of her books and attached herself to Henry who opened up more and more to her as time went on. The trio became inseparable, going so far as forcing the parents to set up play dates and even a few sleepovers.

This glowing friendship lasted quite some time until Henry and Jocelyn reached twelve years old. That was when Henry got stupid. At Jocelyn’s twelfth birthday party a few of Henry’s guy friends he had invited decided to snoop through Jocelyn’s room. They looked through the usual things boys look through, her panties, her closet, and when they came across her diary one could not help to read it. Within the older entries were multiple references to Henry Jr. who, at the time, was sitting on her dresser staring blankly into the room. The boys naturally started making fun of Henry, knowing full well whom the bear was named after, and one grabbed it. Henry tried to get it back as the boys played “keep away” with it, tossing it among themselves and quite successfully keeping it away from poor Henry.

The noise was heard by Jocelyn downstairs and she, along with her girl friends, ascended the stairs to check in on the boys, who they believed to be in the office opposite her room. Jocelyn, nor any of the girls, was not prepared for what they saw when they arrived at the top of the stairs. Henry Jr. was caught in a vicious tug-of-war between Henry, who had hold of the bear’s arm, and Josh, the leader of the obnoxious boys, who had hold of the bear’s ear.

Without so much of a noise out of Jocelyn she watched in dismay as her poor teddy was torn asunder between the two boys. Henry Jr.’s ear came off and he ripped in such a way his eye popped off and the tear continued down under his arm. Jocelyn screamed. Henry tried his hardest to hold back tears.

The party for the boys was over. Their parents took them all home while Jocelyn was comforted by her parents and her friends. Her mother went upstairs to gather the pieces of Henry Jr. in the hope of sewing him back together, but Jocelyn said she did not care because she hated Henry. Hated him. Her friends agreed with her and for a month all the boys were given the cold shoulder by the group of girls who had been at Jocelyn’s party.

The only thing that had got Jocelyn speaking to Henry again was coming home one day to find Henry Jr., with his eye and ear still missing, sitting on the table with a note in Henry’s poor handwriting sitting underneath. These things her mom had placed there in the hopes of Jocelyn not letting a great friendship go to waste. Jocelyn sat and read the note. Henry wrote a million apologies and tried to explain what happened in her room and how it was not his fault.

As Jocelyn read it, curiously, she cried. She had missed Henry and Henry Jr., who was now being cuddled in her free arm and she could not stand to go another day without saying something to him. So she did.

Jocelyn could never point out when, but sometime over the next few years she and Henry and fallen in love. The bonus of being best friends forever only added to their love and they remained as inseparable as they had been as children, only now with romance.

Neither of them were prepared for what had happened next.

Henry’s father received a promotion in Henry and Jocelyn’s sixteenth year. It was a great promotion and celebrated by not only Henry’s family, but Jocelyn’s family and whoever else they invited to the party. At this party Jocelyn joked with Henry that she’d be marrying into a rich family just like her mother always wanted, but was met with uncomfortable silence from Henry. This went on the whole night, Henry remained silent throughout the festivities and Jocelyn finally dragged him away on their own to demand him telling her what was going on. So Henry told her.

His dad’s promotion meant they had to move across the nation, to the headquarters. Which meant that Henry was not going to be there anymore, which meant no more relationship once he was gone.

Which meant Jocelyn cried.

They both tried to fight the hopelessness that encircled them. They both came up with plans and pacts and promises, but it was no use. A month after Henry told her, his old house became still and Jocelyn’s heart shattered into pieces as she cried into the stomach of Henry Jr. Never before had she felt such a loss and the broken teddy bear, without his ear or eye, was the perfect analogue to how she felt. Like a patchwork slowly moving through the days.

Jocelyn and Henry wrote and phoned each other, but after a year the notes and calls receded on both of their ends. Until one day they stopped. Soon after that day Jocelyn made the conscious decision to bury Henry Jr. underneath the pile of stuffed animals and get rid of the notes, the pictures, the everything, everything and anything to forget him.

*

Jocelyn lay on her bed, the bear in her arms with her fingers tracing their way across its stitches. Her eyes were misty with the dew of memory. At nineteen and on her way to college she was prepared to do away with the past just as she had done away with Henry and Henry Jr., but now, holding the well-traveled bear, she realized her mistake. She could not just get rid of memories like she could her clothes or her toys. They would always be there and like she did now with Henry Jr. she would have to embrace them.

The girl got up from her bed and placed Henry Jr. on her dresser. She went out into the hallway and called to her mom as she ran downstairs. There was a chance in a million that they would still be under the number she was given so long ago. But a chance was a chance. Retrieving the address book from her mom she looked up the name and number and dialed. A moment of ringing passed followed by a male voice;

“Hello?”

Blazer was a warrior- a Paladin of the Dreamscape, to be fanciful. It was his duty to ensure the safe and sound slumber of his Lady, and to dash asunder any evils that dare disrupt her. By all accounts he was a great Paladin, a shining beacon of hope for the weak and weary. He was quick with an ephemeral sword and keen with a phantasmic shield. Despite all his skill, Blazer was in trouble. He was already missing an ear to the foul demon's credit, but he'd suffered far worse before- one need only glimpse his stitched form to know that.

The Nightmare was a large creature, its muscular skin taut and midnight black. It gnashed rows of teeth like poniards in its aggravation, lashed out with limber and long arms that ended with three razor-sharp claws each. Blazer repelled the assault and threatened to run the Nightmare through with his claymore, eliciting a rasping hiss of disdain from the far larger creature. Fed up with Blazer's interference and irate enough to ignore any potential harm, it swept the bear aside with one hand, but lost said appendage in the process. It did not bleed- most Nightmares did not, for whatever mystical reason- but the harm it suffered was apparent. It slithered away, cowered briefly in the darkest corner of the room while it bemoaned and assessed its wound.

Blazer lay slumped in a corner, weaponless and defenseless- and without him, his Lady could no more resist the Nightmare than Blazer withstand a flame. His assailant loomed over the bed! The monster was sure to startle Shelly now! He must! For her! For all that was good in the world! Blazer the Teddy Bear and Paladin of the Dreamscape had to reach deep within himself to find the strength required to regained his cotton bearings, reclaim his sword and shield, and leap onto the headboard. There was still time as the Nightmare was now erring on the side of caution, coming around the bed slowly.

Blazer's little stuffed legs propelled him across the mattress- right past slumbering Shelly- as fast as they could, launched him airborne, put him on an interception course with the Nightmare. He drew his sword back, ready to bury it in the demon's head; he raised his shield, prepared for the inevitable retaliation; time seemed to slow for them and in those seconds that stretched out toward the infinite, Blazer's whole career flashed before his remaining big green eye. This was it, the moment of Truth!

"FOR SHELLY!"

And this Challenge is officially DONE. That means it's time to vote. Do NOT vote for yourself. Voting has two steps: the first is to utilize the poll. You can vote a SECOND TIME, if you post in this thread which one you voted for AND WHY (you should be voting for the same entry twice). If you do not tell why, it cannot be counted. This is to encourage constructive criticism which is integral to a writer's development.

Thank you to all who participated and I hope to see more for our next CHALLENGE!

Thank you Venom. I personally was quite enthralled with Jikial's. I also see that there was quite an effort to draw an emotional connection with the bear in everyone's story. I'm sure it's significant in the psyche of man.

Had to go with Jikial's. It was a fascinating read.

I also voted for Soaring because it was a good balance of bittersweet with good writing and characterization (who doesn't like a cynical teddy). The dialog was particularly well done.

Well, it's been plenty long so we've counted the votes and Have a Winner!

Jikial - So Simple an Object

A bit whimsical and bittersweet, Jikial's story tugged at our heartstrings and won out over more adventurous entries. He also would have won 5,000 gold if he'd not been going to donate it for the prize.

Now let's take a moment to give the runner's up some props too for their gallant efforts:

Mr. Blackbird Lore - Paladin of the Dreamscape

..s.k.i.t.t.l.e.s.. - Soaring

Don't forget to take a look at the Summer Event and keep an out for the next Challenge.