Wednesday, December 15, 2004


Their instructions were clear. They were not to move from that spot. They masked their frozen fear with smiles but the thought coursing through their blood was paralyzing. And the responsibility. If they left the stairs the building's balance would irreversibly shift causing the top-heavy structure to tip over and roll down the sloped streets of the town, crushing a lot of fun places. That's what the man had told them. "Don't move," he had said, "I'll fetch a fire truck!" Then off he ran, leaving them in blind smiling terror. They took special care to leave their smiles up. Who knew the effect of lips turned downwards in a frown?

Story #109

2 comments:

The Mushroom said...

Never underestimate the power of positive thinking, as our old buddy Dr. Norman Vincent Peale told us. Just keep smiling and maybe the doom will pass...

And I want to attend this school. Visibly the ratio of females to males is 2:1 and surboards are allowed.

M.P. said...

The power of a smile does come from the heart and not from a situation like this where you're a imposed to smile! But I liked the nonsense of your writing though. If one leaves, or moves a tiny wee little bit... what will happen to their surroundings and to themselves??? How long will they have to be there until they can leave the place safely??? It's just a torture you imposed on them.. LOL.. don't think it's very fair anyway...